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papers4me · 3 years

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Fruits Basket Manga Review , ch 111

sigh~~~ I feel that my recent posts are a bit negative towards the anime, but thats cuz the chapters I’ve read so far are either unbelievably important character depth content cut for no valid reason or content in the anime but packed with million other things that it lost its purpose or importance. Basically tohu’s ep 6 which consists of 4 chapters & now ep 5 which is a momiji ep & yup, packed with 4 chapters as well... so, I apologize for any negativity, my intention is just analyzing artistic & story-telling aspects, I love se03, but yeah it screwed up lots of important characters due to its not so thorough plot decisions & harmful character insight choices.

today.. we explore Momiji... but only before his curse breaks.

Furuba anime struggling to know how to design an episode based on various plot-heavy chapters?

so, they decided 13 eps, & decided one ep for momiji cuz motoko’s graduation & the fanclub is the core of the furuba & have already cut tons of tohru, cuz who cares? she’s kind. be like her. end of lesson. No. really, jokes aside, how to do this?

How to combine several chapters in one ep? collect small snippets from chosen chapters/content like a bee does flowers? you gotta skip some content, you gotta highlight others. The ep is only 20 min after all & you got an op & Ed that you cant always skip.... so.. furuba team decide that momoji’s ep should be true to his zodiac animal, this is the rabbits last appearance in spirit. so, they went with quick hopping from one chapter to the other like a rabbit?

No really, ep 5 is really like a rabbit in its flow, you can’t savior a moment enough before jumping to the other: we learned momiji grew up!! loves toheu romantically, challenged kyo, really meant it, wanted a fair love game, got freed, lost tohru romantically & faced momiji! but that’s not all? we still have space!! quick add akito’s moodiness & love triangle with her dog & her submissive bed partner, add a happy comedy for no reason whatever & make shigue kiss tohru & wish shes 'was his lover instead!!!!!!!!! Mind you all this happened in the anime before shigure hurt tohru with his “the truth of the zodiacs talk & them accepting & feeling consolance that kyo is doomed”talk.

-Gets whats my biggest surprise after reading this chapter ?????????

Shigure is consistent!! He isnt a rabbit hopping here & there. The dog is loyal & is tired for good reason! Him being depressed & his weird talk with thoru makes so much sense given the manga’s order.

Kyo is consistent!! In the anime, momiji surprise him with confession he loves tohru & challenge him, then kyo la~la~la~joins them downstairs for curry. Not a single expression on his face, where is the expression? it will appear when the plot is forced to address it: by the end of the ep when momiji face hin again. Then we get kyo’s reaction.

I need someone to tell the anime that actions require a reaction. You can refrain from showing a certain reaction if you can’t address it now, but you can’t erase it, negate it, then make it appear when have to!!!! couldn’t they make kyo refuse to join them & eat together? the other characters wont be surprised they think he’s needlessly moody. The audience will know that kyo is troubled with momiji’s challenged & it will excite them!!! having kyo just go eat & watch the momiji/hiro/haru/yuki comedy skit is weird.

The manga’s author wanted kyo to join the dinner, like the anime did. but huge difference. the author actually cares for logic reaction & understands that the audience aren’t dumb little kids that will sit & wait for kyo’s turn to...react! nope! she did this: (a) & (b) below.

-Lost Small Bits/ Panels from the chapter.. But Sadly Big Huge Chunks for Characters buildup & Growth:

(a) addressed the fact the hiro noticed kyoru is in love & dressed that shigure was right!! the cat being in love is a weird concept to the zodiacs! hiro reacted naturally & the author used hiro to flesh yuki’s (the rat), momiji’s (the rabbit) & haru’s (the cow) decision to silently watch the kyo (the cat) makes his own decisions to live!!! They won’t interfere or tell akito or remind him of his state as the doomed caged cat. So sad this moment is cut from yuki. Why must yuki only interact with kyo to beat him (all seasons)? why must yuki only think of kyo to envy him (all seasons) ? Here, yuki’s growth towards kyo as a person & his relationship with tohru is 1000 times better than all tohru is my mom’s sh!t & I envy kyo’s Sh!t we saw in the anime over & over till we memorized it.

(b) kyo didnt just go la~la~eat with momiji after knowing he loves tohru. Nope, there’s small bits missing: called logical emotional reaction. He was surprised he’s caught pining over tohru! cuz yuki, the audience representative, has told us in the previous chapter that ppl in love dont notice anything around them. Kyo thinks him being cold hid his feelings. the dummy’s feelings are as bright as the sun in the Sahara, tohru too. a child read her! such small thing that wont take much space from the ep but was cut cuz kyo only needs to be responsive at the ep’s end. & this scene of kyo & tohru looking awkwardly at each other is minor in space but so important cuz kyo is determined to let go but his decision is challenged by not only momiji, but his natural attraction to tohru. Here he knows he’s caught & exposed... here he knows momiji is a better choice for tohru cuz he wont didn’t hurt her mom... here he knows that even yuki is better cuz never had to pretend to be cold to her... here he knows the world is better than him... & here he just cant help by smile & walks towards her... T_T ... another lesson in writing slow burns by Takaya-san.

-Why would the anime team pass on this?? drawing kyoru closer after the epic tear in Cinderella ep, cuz they want empty suspense~! The anime team thinks that if kyo & tohru stand next to each other, then it means all their issues are solved & the audience are so stupid as to forget tohru’s mom, kyo’s imprisonment, kyo not confessing his sins to tohru & tohru’s need to make a choice wether to fogive hom or not.. nope! you see, they think, ppl who read mangas are smart, so the author can give this epic symbolism & pp would still be not sure kyoru is end game & tohru will forgive him or kyo even fogive himself, but ppl who watch, oh no, gotta cut all the plot worthy content, produce a graduation song for a minor character, cut all kyo/tohru interaction cuz it only means romance & not at all character depth & oh if we show yuki actually formulating deep thoughts that aren’t centered around him, the audience might forget his se02 struggles! or that might ruin yuki’s upcoming growth moment in the finale where he .. you guessed it hits kyo.. as he always do & sulk & think abt himself cuz yuki can only do monologues when he’s directly involved.... man~it is so sad how the anime is dumped down.. Who is the target audience again? not kids as young as hiro cuz even hiro is smart!

-just look:

Momiji talks abt kyo shouldn't give up loving tohru & the authr shows this this ghost!!! his mom! The author reminds us that kyo isnt da~~~~ forgetting anything. He’s a deeply troubled soul & hos mom wants him locked cuz she too was locked in a cage & thinks that’s safer...why oh why you dump ur own story! sh!t~

Side Notes:

I like the closeups on Kisa’s face as she interacted with kyo. It’s very rare for kisa to have a world beside the endearing parental/big protective bro/big doting sister love she has with tohru & haru & off course the romantic love with hiro which was perhaps since their birth or sth. lol. Kisa & kyo arent much on the brotherly side as they rarely interact, but its one of those refreshing interactions she has that helps cast a new light on her as tiny as it is, but its sth out of the norm around her. She sees him around tohru & gets to perceive his true unprovoked character. “He is nice guy”.

I really wanted to punch kureno this chapter.. like Shigure is a jerk shitty dog for sleeping with akito’s mom but kureno... dude.. you submissively sleep with the guy’s eternal love interest & still walks in on him talking to her!!! lol. you’re mentally, emotionally & physically weaker than him & yet, she puts you on her bed, not him & you, tho not wanting her at all, dont walk away. No wonder shigure is defeated & wishing for someone like tohru, lol! Even if shigure met an older tohru-like person, it wont work. shigure deserve someone like him mean, schemer & loves playing power games. Tohru is someone who values honesty & commutation, not saying she’s an angel on earth, but tohru knows who suits her.. except fate is saying: NO. .... currently. lol.

I know kureno’s weakness is part of his character & I love that such characters exits. There are ppl ike that in real life. It’s just this chapter, I felt shigure’s frustration. XD

Yuki in this ep is the best yuki. no exaggeration here, I love when yuki is calmly thoughtful of others & here its kyo of all ppl !!!! cutting this scene is sad.. without it, kyo & yuki remain a cat & rat in the anime. Only ever thinking abt each other thro envious binoculars or hateful words or yuki giving kyo comedic hitting or life’s problem-solving hitting. Why can’t anime yuki be interactive outside his self-centered issues is beyond me.

Momiji & kyo’s interactions are always the best! whether comedy or drama.

I hated the curry cooking scene in the anime... so weirdly out of the ep’s flow.. very forced comedy... in the manga it had a purpose! not just quick add comedy cuz next shot momiji curse breaks & drama & we’ll close the ep with tears & sadness & glimpses of hope...

I love haru’s answer to hiro... so him.. “a guy can’t fall in love?”so chill.. so..simple.

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #manga spoilers #fruits basket manga #manga review #sad paper #mad paper #I'm having shitty personal day dont mind me #sorry for extra anger #if it sounds like I;m screaming or shouting #I'm not i swear #I really love the anime & se03 is the best content among the other seasons #its just have big giant issues in plot & characters....

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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers (February 22nd, 2021)

Hello! Here’s another collection of anon ask answers all put together in one big post.

This might be strange considering how upbeat yall are about the fandoms for your games in general, but is there any particular trope or ship you WOULDN'T want us writing/drawing/etc. in relation to your stuff? (IE, any canon you don't want us 'overwriting' or something like that?)

Of course we would want the fan content people make to not be racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted, harmful, etc. But in terms of generally doing non-canon pairings or adding in headcanons or stuff, we really don’t mind that. People are welcome to have fun and explore their own ideas.

for the 1.2 Android update was it meant to download as a separate app? I really want to keep my previous save files but they don't show up (also thank u for the updates I'm really excited to get back into the game!!)

We had to change the name of the file and unfortunately for some phones that meant it’s treated as a brand new game. I’m sorry your saves didn’t transfer over to the new version. You can try to look up your specific phone and see if there’s a way to access save files for games on your device and then transfer those saves over to the new build manually. It may or may not be possible.

I'm having some trouble figuring out how to get the update from Itichio without losing my save files? Is it the same game or a folder I can put in the properties? Sorry if this question is not worded well or if this isn't the avenue you'd want to take technical questions on

Are you using Android? If so, the above answer may apply to you. If you’re on PC or Mac, the save files will automatically still be included.

Hey. I really loved playing our life. It was a fun experience and I never thought I would like it this much. I do have a question, I am currently replaying the game and I am choosing choices I never chose at first. In step 2 during the road trip arc, I decided to ask Cove about what he liked to see on people. One of his response was anklets and black eyes. My MC have just happens to have black eyes. Do Cove say black eyes cuz my mc have it or it was just a coincidently programmed into the game?

He uses your eye color intentionally! If you changed your eye color he’d change what he said.

Will step 4 have 10 moments like steps 1-3?

Step 4 is only an epilogue. It plays like the openings/endings of the earlier Steps where it’s a bunch of scenes all in a row, there aren’t any individual Moments.

hi! who was/were the artist(s) for our life?

who is the artist for Our Life: Beginning and Always?

Main Sprite and CG Artist: Addrossi

Main Background Artist: Vui Huynh

Main Interface Artist: Winter Slice

Other artists who helped out can be seen in the credits of the game.

In the new ol, there are two main love interests... Would it be possible to pair them together or is that weird?

You can’t stay single and pair them together. If we are going to add all the extra content to have a route where the two LIs get together, it’d be a full poly route where them and the MC were all dating. And that’s not a for sure option yet because it’d add a lot of extra complications. But either way, in OL the relationships all gotta be about the MC, haha.

In OL2, there will be extra LIs in form of DLCs? Like Dexter and Baxter.

Maybe! We’ll see how it goes.

Since Cove will have 2 diff body types in s4, will the storyline and dialogs reflect this? Or all of it will be the same? Btw love the game and sorry for bad english. Hope this doesn't sound rude 😅

Some descriptions and pieces of dialog will change, but it won’t impact the story really. And you don’t need to apologize! It’s all good.

Will you ever release the transparent sprites of the Our Life characters?

Probably not, I’m afraid. They’ve got a lot of pieces and it’d just be kind of hard to deal with, aha.

Something I was curious about, what was your inspiration for making a game with so much customization?

Initially, the idea was just about having a romance where you actually grew up with the LI. But it was pretty stressful to try deciding how fast the relationship would progress with it taking place over such a long period of time and with no real storyline carrying it. People might not wanna play a game where the characters don’t get along as kids, but other people might not bother with a game where kids immediately liked each other. So the obvious answer came, just let the player pick themselves how it goes. From there we simply continued to add more flexibly with the MC due to the same thought process of wanting to make sure people were onboard with how their life was going.

What made you decide to change the artstyle for ol 2 so much? I of course respect all your decisions and will buy the shit out of everything related to ol 2, but i love the original style and i m honestly not a fan of the styles shown on patreon, despite me liking the painterly style in general. (I don t mind the style being changed, just that the examples shown so far all feel like there s something wrong with them.)

We’ve always used different art styles for each of our projects. They all have distinct looks from each other. It’s just nice to do something new. I’m glad you really like how the first game looks, though. And those samples were only general concepts, rather than the exact options being decided between. We wanted to see reactions to different options. The art style we’re going with won’t be exactly like those, though I personally like all of them. I think players are gonna enjoy the style Our Life: Now & Forever when it’s revealed.

Hey! Is it ok to ask what gender ourlife2 protagonist will be and if we'll be given the same opportunity to customize an MC? Totally understand if you're keeping this under wraps for now if u don't wanna say!

OL2 will have the same type of MC customization as OL1, but even more refined! So their gender will be up to you.

Hi! I happened upon Our Life on Steam by pure chance. It is such a great game, I am super excited about the DLC, and I just want you all to know that you are awesome! :D I have a question, and I'm sorry if it's been asked before. Do you have plans of making more games similar to Our Life, with customizable player character? The customizable player character was probably the one thing I personally have been desperate for in romance VNs. So glad there finally is one and would love to see more.

Thank you! And yep, we do have plans for more games like Our Life, most notably is another game in the franchise- Our Life: Now & Forever. We’ll also likely have other, non-OL, games with customizable MCs, though we may still have some games with set MCs in the future as well.

On the patreon dlc just curious but is it possible to play it without actually sleeping together/getting the nsfw content? I just want to spend more time with Cove

Yeah, you can still choose not to go that far. Though the event is shorter if you pass on the 18+ stuff.

At the beginning of Step 2, did Cove end up accidentally falling asleep in your bed? Or did he fall asleep on the floor?

He fell asleep sitting on the floor with his body/head leaning against the side of the bed.

This may seem like a weird question, but what exactly is the difference between "direct" and "relaxed" on the comfort scale?

Direct is blunter and more teasing, relaxed is lighthearted and goes with the flow.

can the MC have tattoos in step 3?

Not in Step 3, but you can in Step 4.

how would Cove react if he visited somewhere like North Carolina in winter where it can get in the 20s(F) at night sometimes?

He would be shocked and unprepared for what serious coldness is really like, haha. The poor beach baby would wanna go home.

Hello! I just joined the PATREON!! It’s amazing! I love your games! I have a question, approximately how much after will the nsfw be out? After or before the dlc 3 and step four? Sorry my English isn’t the best!❤️❤️❤️

Thanks so much! The NSFW DLC will be out after the Step 3 DLC but before Step 4. And you don’t need to apologize for that ^^.

This might be obvious but, will step 4 have dlcs? Also, where will the nsfw dlc happen? Won't bother me at all if it s in in our or his house but i do think it d be moderately funny

Step 4 will have the Cove Wedding DLC and the Derek and Baxter romance DLCs each add a lot of new content to Step 4, though they’re also partially set in Step 2 and Step 3 respectively. The NSFW DLC happens in Cove’s room.

I keep wondering what would've happened if Mr. Holden met Lizzie first instead of the MC. I can't see that turning out well somehow lol.

It wouldn’t have made a difference. He met the MC’s parents first and they told him about their two kids. He wanted the MC specifically to be Cove’s friend because the two were the same age.

Even though we have a way to go I'm really excited for OL 2! I was curious though, is the next main character going to be adopted again? I thought it was really clever to make the first main character adopted so when players are customizing, they can make them look how ever they like without worrying about pesky genetics. Just wondering!

The OL2 MC is not adopted. We wanted to go for a new dynamic. Instead their parents are their biological single mother who is partially customizable and an off-screen sperm donor father. So the mom will look generally like the MC and any other traits not from her can be assumed to come from whoever the father was.

—– —– —–

Thank you so much for all the asks ^^

FAQ If you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

#our life #Our Life Beginnings & Always #ourlifeba #ask #gb patch #gb patch games #Our Life: Now & Forever

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the-insomniac-emporium · 3 years

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I love the way you write! Especially your word choice, descriptions and just the overall way you convey emotion! Any writing tips you wanna share? If not, Who's your favorite to write for and why? Thank! -🦉Owl anon

Danke, owl anon! I can try to give some tips, but I'm not sure how useful/coherent they will be.

1: Always think about sentence structure, and try to keep things varied. Sometimes have a short sentence. See, that was an example, and now here we have something longer. Every sentence defines the flow of how it reads; changing how sentences are arranged affects how it feels to read, even changing how a scene feels! For example, action sequences often have more short, simple sentences than other scenes. This can convey tension, or even panic! I also tend to use super long, run-on sentences to show anxiety, because reading it is very reminiscent of having an anxiety attack and feeling like your mind is moving a million miles per hour. Overall, regardless of how a scene feels, sentence variety helps keep the reader from getting bored.

2: Similarly, pay attention to how you start your sentences. A lot of inexperienced writers tend to overuse certain words ("the", character names, pronouns, "you" if they're writing second person). No matter how great the rest of the sentence is, the reader is likely to start getting a little bored, due to the story feeling "repetitive". Trying to reorder the actions in a sentence can help, although some people (more often academic writers than other kinds) don't like it if you use a "passive" voice. That's, like, a real writing term I learned back in school, but I honestly don't remember a good way to describe it.

3: There are "rules" you probably learned in school that do not apply to creative writing. Like "don't start a sentence with the word 'and'". For one, it works in dialogue, seeing as humans don't always follow grammatical rules. Secondly, we've already gone over a bit of how sentence structure can change how a story reads. Let's compare two quick examples:

In the end, you were as replaceable as any other Maiden, and that thought was what made you do a double-take.

In the end, you were as replaceable as any other Maiden. And that, that as what made you do a double-take.

Adding the period makes the reader automatically pause, like taking a breath. In this scenario, it mimics the feeling the main character has, as they realize something serious. Now, even though the period makes us pause, one could argue that the word "and" isn't necessary, and we could have simply started the example sentence with "That". Which is true. However, I would argue that using "and" shows us that it's a continuation of the previous thought. We didn't end the first sentence because we needed to, we ended it because there was a break in our thoughts. In other situations, using "and" at the start of a sentence can add personality to the text. Just like someone doing so during dialogue, the narrator can end up feeling a bit sassy.

EX: They were running for their lives, barely dodging past blasterfire and explosive debris alike, muscles burning from the effort. And they said this wouldn't be fun!

Choosing which "rules" to follow and which to ignore is a very situational based thing. Experiment a little, and don't feel obligated to break rules just because you can.

4: Read a lot. Seriously, read a lot of stuff. Classics, new stuff, fanfiction, basically whatever you can get your hands on. Try examining the text for techniques the author uses. If there are particular scenes that you love, read through those! What makes it so good to you? Does the author convey emotions particularly well? Do they use personal/informal language that makes you feel connected to the text? Does their dialogue have a nice balance of realism and cool hero quips? Etc, etc. This also helps a ton with expanding your vocabulary, especially if you try to read books that go a little outside of your comfort zone.

5: If you're having trouble figuring out how to continue a story, there's a decent change you might want to go back farther than you think. Always save what you've started though! Just go back a few sentences, or even paragraphs, and try writing an alternative version. Maybe switch some dialogue, or change the order of actions someone takes. Sometimes a little change can make the rest come more naturally.

6: Seriously though always save your work, even if you intend to scrap a section. Personally, I keep a section at the end of my documents where I host "abandoned paragraphs". Most of them don't end up getting reused, but sometimes reading them gives me new ideas I can input elsewhere, possibly even in an entirely different story.

7: Accept the fact that different writers use different writing processes. Sometimes you might read some tips or suggestions, and they just won't work for you. That's totally normal! Like, I have severe ADHD, so most of the pre-writing/outlining tips I've tried do not work for me at all. Taking notes/planning things out is always a difficult process, but I've slowly figured out a way to balance writing ideas down with storing things inside my brain (my memory is only good when it comes to things my brain hyper focuses on, which thankfully means most of my stories). Don't be afraid to try new things, but don't feel bad if they don't work out.

Hopefully some of that makes sense and is at least somewhat useful. As for my favorite to write, that's a hard choice, and one that probably varies day by day. Right now though, it's probably Cassandra and her soulmate (so specifically for Bound Blood). They're just feral? And unhinged? But in slightly different ways. Makes for fun writing when I get to unleash all the dickery and rudeness that I'm way too polite IRL to normally let out :D

#j says things

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butterflydm · 4 years

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The Untamed Rewatch (ep 9)

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NHS is really cute in this episode, you guys. It’s also a really good episode for the building of the partnership between Wangxian.

I like the tense vibe that we pick up with, having the shadow-bird fly across the moon and only very briefly showing the puppet-people. That's a good editing choice.

Nie Huaisang does come across as relatively sheltered in these scenes with LWJ and WWX. Even though they're all roughly the same age, he comes across as younger. Or more in need of protection, anyway, which is a vibe that he uses to his benefit much later. He's not a fighter. He never becomes one — even when he's at his most desperate, we don't really see him directly using violence against others, instead tricking other people to use violence on his behalf. I don't think it's a moral issue one way or the other; I don't think indirect violence is more morally wrong because it's sneaky or whatnot. It's just an interesting character note. I also think it's interesting that when NHS is panicked, he calls out both WWX and LWJ using the more intimate nickname form — he says Wei-xiong and Lan-xiong. He doesn't usually use that with LWJ, I think? But he does in this scene.

I like the little fire & ice vibe we get with the… are they called 'spells' in cultivation? LWJ pushes them back and it looks cold, then WWX pens them in and the form he makes looks more like fire. LWJ and WWX are all for charging out and poor NHS is just so panicked over the idea. Oh, honey.

So, this next bit is a really big thing that CQL changed from the novel! Wen Qing uses a flute to control the puppets and make them leave (or, wait, since she's blowing in the end, is it a xiao? But it's so much smaller than the one we saw LXC use, so maybe it's another woodwind of some kind? help, I don’t know musical instruments). As I understand it, in the novel, WWX literally invented all of this stuff, while in the drama, he doesn't invent it but does refine it beyond what it has been before. I'll probably have more feelings about that, one way or the other, once I've read the novel. When I was watching through the series the first time, all this felt like it flowed pretty naturally from the plotline that the drama had set up with the Yin Metal. It is one of the things, though, that makes CQL kind of an alternate universe version of MDZS rather than a straight (ha!) adaptation. None of the other practitioners of demonic cultivation in the drama, though, show the same kind of… ah, elemental mastery that we see WWX show. He becomes almost a force of nature in himself, feels almost like an avatar of death, when he's embracing the power. And we don't get that vibe with any of the other characters we see who try to master demonic cultivation. Other people may have dabbled with demonic cultivation in the past, was the vibe the drama gave me, but only WWX mastered it in the end.

The girl doing windmills with her hands while holding the basket kinda cracks me up. Maybe it's partly because her clothes are so bright?

Jiang Cheng comes in to add some levity to the atmosphere. He's actually quite sweet, almost but not quite confessing how worried he was about his brother. He does have a very hard time being emotionally vulnerable, though that's a trial for a lot of characters in the story, but Jiang Cheng covers it up with anger rather than a smile like WWX does. Different coping methods for different personalities. Jiang Cheng gets very indignant when WWX immediately moves to deflect any blame away from LWJ and onto WWX instead.

I really like the scene with WWX, LWJ, Jiang Cheng, NHS, and Wen Qing, because there are several different agendas and levels of knowledge at play, all butting up against each other. WWX and LWJ work very well as a team here, supporting each other's moves while they try to figure out the best plan of action. We know from the previous episode that WWX is already considering himself and LWJ as partners on this trip, and they really do get to act like it here. They're the only two people who are on the same page; everyone else has their individual agendas but WWX and LWJ are working together and with the same knowledge set.

I don't have too much to say about this next bit, but I do love it. I think it looks quite nice, they look very pretty in the fog, and I love seeing WWX and LWJ back to back and there's a bit of cute banter. And both WWX and LWJ get to contribute to the goal.

Oh, is that A-Yuan? The timeline is pretty short in the drama, then!

NHS continues to find WWX's brashness charming while poor Jiang Cheng is just so over it all. Even in the midst of the silliness of the three bros, WWX is thinking of his mission and partnership with LWJ, as he does pretty clearly take advantage of the chicken hunt to give LWJ and himself a chance to question Wen Qing.

Partners! Partnership is one of my favorite ship dynamics — Fraser/RayK (due South), Clois (Superman) — complicated, dynamic partnerships with affection and bantering is one of my great weaknesses in fictional relationships (and for a man who talks as little as LWJ does, he holds his own against WWX). And they have a moment of silent communication at the end of the scene, because they've come to know each other that well already.

The question of how much loyalty you owe to the people who adopted you gets brought up here with Wen Qing and Wen Rouhan, and of course the question always applies to Wei Wuxian in these cases as well. Like WWX, Wen Qing possesses great talents that mean Wen Rouhan give her more latitude than perhaps he would otherwise (in her case, she's an extremely talented doctor) and that the younger of the blood siblings shows jealousy of because of that latitude. Both Wen Qing and WWX act impulsively to do the right thing, even when it goes against the interests of their own adopted family.

They part ways with Wen Qing (and possibly NHS, though we don't see a goodbye scene with him. Maybe he's still chasing that chicken), with another of the layering of the bittersweet almost-romance between Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng.

And it's been a bit of travel, because WWX has changed clothes between scenes. LWJ and Jiang Cheng still look the same, but WWX was definitely in dark blue in the previous scene and now is definitely in black. There's some interesting non-verbal interplay here between LWJ and WWX that poor Jiang Cheng must helplessly watch — WWX drinks some wine, but immediately stops when LWJ walks away from him, grabs LWJ's shoulder ribbon, drops it when LWJ looks at him, then grabs his arm, and then drops that when LWJ looks at him again. Just major push-pull vibes.

Oh, there's Nie Huiasang! He's meeting up with Meng Yao here! We don't get any Meng Yao in this episode but I really do kinda miss him and his dimples.

I love WWX's technique here so much: "Hey, any weird deaths happen around here recently? We are such big fans of strange death!" I mean, it works, so more power to him, tbh.

The scene here with Lan Zhan feeling the effects of the Yin Metal (and, hey, they told Jiang Cheng about it! He's not surprised! So that's nice) and Wei Ying trying to calm him through it is a neat reversal of the dynamic we'll see more often in the future, with Lan Zhan trying to get through to Wei Ying. I like that; parallels and reversals are fun.

The scene of the three of them walking into the Chang home is very eerie and has a good, strong tragic vibe. So, we're getting Xue Yang in this next bit, and Xue Yang dresses in black. It makes me wonder if that's part of the reason they had WWX change clothes — in the previous episode, they wanted us to associate him with the Jiangs, and Jiang Fengmian in particular, but now they want us to be thinking of Xue Yang, maybe?

Hmm.

Next episode: Xue Yang! Xiao Xingchen! Song Lan!

Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode

#mdzs meta #cql rewatch #wangxian #the untamed #the untamed | chen qing ling #mdzs #mo dao zu shi

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booyaxboy · 4 years

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Thoughts on The Surge

If you ask any Dark Souls fan what that game was missing, somewhere on list someone is boud to say “robots”. Action/RPG title The Surge attempts to tackle this exact issue. Released in 2017 The Surge is the second attempt by Deck 13 to make its mark on a relatively new genre.

WHAT IS IT?

In the simplest terms The Surge is a “Soulslike” or an Action/RPG title with an emphasis on timing and the conservation of precious resources against relentless foes, each more devious than the last. Where The Surge blazes a new trail is the added layer of having to target and sever specific limbs off enemies in order to collect their sweet sweet loot. Like all Souls-likes defeating an enemy rewards the player with currency that can exchanged for upgrades to their character or gear with ever increasing cost, known here as “scrap”. Engaging with the limb targeting system will also reward the player with new gear and upgrade materials. The system is simple: decapitating an enemy wearing a helmet will reward the player with said helmet, if the player doesn’t already own it. If that piece is already part of your collection than the player is rewarded in upgrade materials that correspond to that particular body part. If the arms are targeted there is the added bonus of collecting a new weapon or weapon upgrade materials. Each part (head,body, arms, legs and weapons) uses their own unique material so there is no worry of overlap, and any farmer of materials can be focuses with no worries of a random drop not given you what you need. There are also many enemies that may not have armor equipped, these areas can be stuck for bonus damage bring the fight to a quicker close. The system even extends to non-human enemy types, as different parts of the robot enemies can be targeted and broken to slow them down or reduce their offensive vocabulary.

The Surge is also visually distinct from the Souls games that inspired it. This adventure trades the Souls medieval fantasy swords and sorcery setting for a high tech future of robots and exo suits. The story begins with a man named Warren who signs up for a new job with tech giant CREO. Warren begins the game bound to a wheelchair but thanks to the exo suit technology of his new position is able to walk again. The player takes control after the surgery to graft the exosuit to Warren’s body goes very, very wrong. Instead of being put under for the operation the automated process begins with Warren fully conscious and what could only be described as pure torture plays out. Screws and bolts are drilled directly into his body, including his head, until Warren eventually passes out. The game begins in earnest an unknown amount of time later when Warren awakes in junkyard with most of the CREO facility in ruins. From here its up to the player to survive against malfunctioning robots, exosuit wearing psychos, and a militaristic security force trying to keep Warren from unraveling the secret of what CREO was really up to.

THE NEGATIVES

The biggest issue that I had was, funnily enough, with the mechanics of the combat. Not the controls or the UI elements, but with the invisible numbers behind the scenes. Back when I first tried Dark Souls I got a grip on the flow of combat fairly early. After leaving the initial tutorial area I wandered, like many into the nearby graveyard. Unlike the enemies in the tutorial zone that felt in line with my stats, the skeletons in the graveyard were taking whole chunks of my health with a single attack with I did barely any damage at all. I had come into Souls knowing its reputation for difficulty, but this initial outing led me to think that difficulty came from a lopsided power curve opposed to any form of elegant design. I eventually figured out by watching a Let’s Play that I was heading the wrong way, and would go on to become a fan of the series. The surge is this first feeling of lopsided stats, but through the whole game. No enemy save the small drones is more than 2 hits away from taking Warren down. But said drones are never alone, and should a hit land they present a very real threat of stun locking the player until a heavier hitting baddie finishes the job. The amount of times I was one-shot but a scrub level enemy was absurd, and the amount of ambushes that occur mean there will be many a loading screen between being able to learn what you did wrong and being able to execute what you learned. Unlike in Souls when each level up gave the player a slight boost in defense, The Surge’s upgrades are tied to a plug-in system. Health and stamina boost, healing items, and this game’s version of a ranged attack are all mapped to one of a limited number of slots, and limited in effectiveness by the players power level. They system works and brings something new to the table (more on that later) but having any kind of survivability meant loading up on health boosters and heals, leaving little to no room from anything else not related to being able to tank 3 hits at a time. I can see advance players being able to do without the boosters, and a no damage run is definitely possible, but for a newcomer learning the games patterns and traps it was choice between limiting add-on to health or getting very familiar with the games loading screen.

Other smaller issues are present as well. The game takes place entirely in the CREO complex, as such doesn’t have a lot of diversity when it comes to environments. Warren moves from on ruined concrete structure to a darkened factory and back again. Literally back again, close to a full third of the game takes place backtracking through a single manufacturing complex at different points of the story. Each of the locations is also honeycombed with identical maintenance tunnels, that can keep the player running in circles if they are not careful. Adding to the confusion is a lack of general direction with level design. While most times it works fine just working through the path of least resistance, there were two spots in particular where I had to look up what my next move should be, due in combination of a lack of signaling that I should return to a previous zone and the level’s labyrinthian design preventing the game from presenting a clear goal. The visuals area to area are so similar it prompted by wife to ask, after three evenings in a row, if I had made any progress at all as what was on screen now was so similar to what was there all week, despite my location in the game being two zones later.

The sameness of the environment also bleeds into the enemy roster. An overwhelming majority of the foes in Warren’s way are other humans in different armor types with one of a limited type of weapons. Most of the games later half has Warren facing off with the CREO security force, all wearing identical armor and weapons. One new heavy variant is introduced in the second to last area, but that is also a de-powered copy of boss from just minutes before that area. They are also flanked drones, but even those are just palette swaps of enemies seen through the whole game. The truly imaginative designs come in the games last area with two new types of enemy. Both are based on nanomachines: one a shape shifting blob and the other another humanoid, but one that can change his armor locations and weapon type on the fly. Of course the earlier statements of difficulty by numbers holds true, and I never bothered engaging any blobs that weren’t immediately outside a safe room due to the myriad of ways an encounter could go south.

THE POSITIVES

If it seems like I’m down on this game I’m not, it’s just kinda like that friend you only want around occasionally because he gets really aggressive for no reason, makes every one else really uncomfortable and once in a while breaks something, but mostly he’s a good time.

The general feel of combat is the games strongest point. Weapons, even those in the same class, feel distinct thanks to variations of moveset. Animations and sounds create a visceral portrait of the future that had me looking for the next fight. The aforementioned upgrade system allows for a wide range of experiments without worrying about being locked into a build, if the player is competent enough to shed some of the health upgrades. Even in the face of the blandness of the levels, the intricate design of each on a wireframe level was very cool. Following the path forward would eventual cut back into itself, unveiling a shortcut back to the level’s safe room. If a player got the layout down then no destination was more than a minute or so away, despite a level being hours long from start to end.

An undeniable win was the games approach to boss battles. Each fight could be approached is classic video game style, hit the guy till the bar goes away, or in a new way unique to each fight. Fighting a bibedial machine not unlike the big thing from Robocop I was able to trick its own homing missiles to hit the boss instead. A late game example was being able to trick a boss into damaging the environment around us to prevent reinforcements from joining the fight.

THE SUMMARY

The Surge was worth the time I put into it at the end. I can’t say it was worth the money, as I got the game for free through Xbox’s Game Pass program. It presented a new wrinkle in the Souls-genre and unlike the studio’s last outing, Lords of the Fallen, kept me interested enough to see it through to credits. The game presents a challenge for those looking for one, and the number of options presented to the player makes the road to success feel like your own despite the limited number of actual options. Fights are tense, enemies are readable if overpowered, but no challenge ever feels impossible despite seeming unfair.

Overall: Positive

[+] Intense, gritty combat is always engaging

[+] Criss crossing level design makes every shortcut a welcome sight, and keeps whats around the next corner a mystery.

[+] Limb targeting for loot makes farming player driven without the worry of random drops.

[+] Boss battles are unique and memorable

[-] Enemies and environments lack distinguishing features, leaving a feeling of sameness past the game’s second area.

[-] Most of the games challenge comes from over powerful enemies, even basic units can kill in a single hit.

[-] Conveyance of the next objective is not always clear, often going objectives are found by following the path of least resistance as opposed to being presented as a goal.

#videogames #video games #the surge #thesurge #xboxone #ps4 #xboxgamepass

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kokoronopikuseru · 5 years

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Review: Pixelogue

A little late to post this, but I intend to share details and reflect on the editing of Pixelogue, in hope that it will help editors and organizers who need advice. (If you’re not interested in editing info, just skip to the last section)

Details are in Chronological Order -

# Software:

I designed everything from scratch in AE, with all the stock plugins. I had to relearn everything I used to know about AE; I last used it extensively in Pixelophobia years ago and furthermore, I wasn’t really used to the new CC interface. I had to seek tutorials for every simple effect I wanted to execute. It sure was difficult for me. For english speaking editors, this is probably your main tool if you intend to do simple video animations and graphics.

# Planning: Song Choice

I had intended to use a Korean Indie Track as stated in the collab details page. Sadly, the music really didn’t fit the music. I spent about 3 days rearranging the clips in every permutation I knew. I didn't really manage to find an arrangement that suited the clips. The unfortunate reality for editors is that we are usually at the mercy of the submission clips. I finally chose something Tigres’ described as “Shawn Wasabi-like”. It was a major challenge for my editing since I wasn’t exactly used to creating work that is colourful or cheerful rhythm-wise. I had to have major re-planning if I wanted it to work out.

# Editing: Draft

My process for editing clips always starts from arranging the combos. I used Vegas for this since, well, it IS a video editor, and it is pretty fast in processing clips. For learning purposes, here is the link of my very first draft (https://youtu.be/kRDwXTnxXGw). I think it’s necessary to spend a longer time at this stage, so as to visualize how its gonna turn out. And of course, to ensure that this is the flow of the CV you really wanted. By this stage, you should also have planned out the fillers (as denoted by the empty instances in the draft) and roughly how long your intro and outro will be.

# Editing: Intro

I didn’t really want to make something too kawaii. But yet, I can’t really escape the colourful imagery I imagined the intro to be. I compromised and made something that alternates between some modern TV visuals and old school TV visuals.

Modern TV; I was greatly inspired by those colour wipes that vloggers used for their youtube channels. It was one of those common and simple transitions that AE users exploit regularly. I found ways to incorporate it in a radial and a rotating wipe. The font animations were all plugins in AE that I found. I wasn’t gonna edit every alphabet like the previous CVs I made.

Old School TV; I took most of my inspiration from the adjustment knobs on analog TV. I found that it goes well with the subtle static noise in the music track. Hence I employed selection circles, and drew an actual knob (not sure if you guys realised that was what it was supposed to be). I also warp bulge the static background as well as the words, to emulate the concave glass distortion present in analog TVs.

And in the final burst of images, I made the clips alternate between 16:9 and 4:3, just to show the juxtaposition between modern and old school.

I really hope people notice all these small details. I didn't feel it was impactful enough, but I guess these are probably cool facts for those who are interested.

# Editing: Combos

I always render my CV in a 16:9 resolution, simply because it IS more pleasing to the eye now that computer monitors are no longer square. My preferences have yet to change. However, with regards to the clips, I have read enough indirect feedback that the cropping wasn’t something that most people liked. I took this criticism pretty seriously, and thought it was time for me to hop on the bandwagon, to try the new-age style of CV editing.

I had to put in much more effort to retain a 4:3 combo in a 16:9 visual space, with an additional need to create a secondary background layer. But because of this decision, it gives me more freedom to explore options of panning and perspective movements.

I create a blurred and expanded duplicate of every combo as a background. I thought it was great that I could retain the original colours and give the clips a “floaty field”. No one has done something like this before, so it was instantly cool and hip. It also gives more room and potential to play around with the transitions too. Eg, fading the background before the clip (transition from Tigres to popte). Interestingly, all the backgrounds all have different properties, namely position, scale and degree of gaussian blur. The reason was really because some clips were seizure inducing due to their extensive movements. I thought it would be nice to vary all of them, which adds a unique aesthetic touch to all the combos.

I am pretty new to editing in a 3Dimensional Space and camera tracking. I was intending to do something as simple and fluid like Talentica Neue. Well, I learnt it wasn’t as simple as I thought. I had about 5-6 Parameters of camera movements, and frankly till now, don’t really know what each one does. I highly suggest for editors who wanna try 3Dimensional camera tracking, watch more tutorials and try simple practice projects. Learning how to utilize it properly will extensively improve your editing game.

Oh yeah, remember to use the graph editor for EVERYTHING. Acceleration and Decelerations have too much aesthetic value to miss out on.

# Editing: Outro

Because I have spent so much time on all other parts of the CV, it’s only responsible for me to put in some effort on an outro which I am usually way too lazy to make. Yeah guys, it’s important to make outros too guys. I used the same warping and television static effect from the intro to retain a sense of continuity. It's simple and nice, I liked it.

# Combos; (Warning: Difficult to Stomach)

I’m gonna be a little too frank about this- the quality of combos I received were lower than what I usually work with (I love my UPSB submissions tho). I guess this is the huge downside of organizing sign-up CVs to an international community that is slowly dying and regressing. It was even harder when most didn’t submit on time. I had only 7 clips by the deadline. I wanna admit that I had moments regretting that I was organizing Pixelogue as a majority-signup CV. Some of the filtered combos either didn’t fit the style of CV (really sorry padrace) or was just bad due to the lack of effort. Mostly bad.

But here’s the heart of the matter, this might really reflect the standard of the international community.

I’m not sure if I am the only one who feels this way, but I feel that most of the current international CVs can be separated into two groups, the JEB invites, and the rest of us. Don’t get me wrong, I do acknowledge the high standards JEB spinners deliver. But I’m not comfortable with the fact that they don’t submit better materials since their combos are guaranteed to be featured, and mainly because the quality of an international CV is often a 50/50 hit or miss (could be lower). Who can blame them really. Even so, their names are usually enough to make the lineup look great.

> Pixelation was an all JEB sign up CVs. Pixelarium, Pixelophobia, Pixelography, Pixeholic were invites-only CVs, a mix of international and JEB guys. <

Most of my CVs have a JEB last spinner or a JEB dominant lineup towards the end. (coffeelucky 6th is also guilty of this). Clearly, you can see how much we use japanese invites as a way to boost the “quality” and hype of our projects. Yeah, sucks to admit it, but I am sure these are common sentiments shared with many of us international CV editors for a pretty long time.

Well, its not something I’m really contented with. In fact, I don’t like the way this becomes the norm.

More recently, around the time I released “Express 12.1.18”, I really wanted to believe in us - the international community veterans, the borderline pen spinning retirees, that we can perform. I didn’t wanna believe that the international community was any inferior. I finally felt ready to edit something solely from our pool of people. I can accept that I don’t have to rely on japanese invitations to superficially enhance the CV. We have enough to make something great ourselves.

I fondly assert that the international community does NEED this kind of confidence. Otherwise, we will always be second rated. Seen as the lesser beings. Y’all JapEn tiering meme-lords know what I’m talking about. I personally needed this to prove to myself that it will work out for us even when the scene looks pretty shitty now. And yes, I did feel better after this.

# Conclusion

It didn’t really garner much attention especially when there was a flood of CVs being released around the time it was released. But I do love it a lot. It’s made up of familiar spinners that I cherish, good combos that I’m thankful for, and finally, an editing that drained my whole summer holiday away. Yeah, I do love it a lot. Definitely one of my proudest work.

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rocksposting · 3 years

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Melora Ghirga things

Since I already revamped the NaraRox arc, im going to revamp the Melora arc soon !! I dont wanna type it down yet but here are some ideas:

- It will start off with the guard approaching Melora’s cell and telling her that she’s out, parallel to the way Rox’s arc started

- Zephyr will be removed from this arc, because I have something planned for him that’s tied to Aurora’s, but he does get pierced by the arrow shard. But he fully manifests his stand years later.

- This arc will also focus on the spiritual link between Narancia and Melora as father and daughter. - Livin On The Edge’s humanoid form will be introduced earlier on

- The story will show the development of Melora’s issue on opening up to people, i mean, the whole reason why she joined the gang was to get away from opening up to her parents?

- but throughout the story I’m gonna make her slowly realize that she needs assistance with these stand things and just her mental being in general. Even during one battle, when she felt like she was about to die she utters “Dad, where are you?”

- YAY FINALLY THE VILLAIN WILL BE GIVEN A NAME!!

- At first Mel will come off as a whiny, showy jerk that always thinks that she would not need help in anything, thinking she can do all things by herself. But in reality she comes off as whiny and showy as a way to hide her insecurities. And she’s closed off to her parents and even if she wants to reach out for their help upon finding out she has a stand, she’s afraid to do so. In fear that she will be regarded as crazy considering that she knows other people can’t see LOE. (She does not know that her parents are stand users) She first sees Aerosmith during her discovery of her stand but thinks its a government issued drone. Melora later recognizes the red plane later, later on when her Dad comes to the scene to help them out.

- Her stand discovery will play out slightly differently, instead of running to the mall for comfort, she goes there to buy some supplies for her room when she sees a jewelry store robbery. That’s when she notices that a slot opens up on her arm and tape starts rolling out of it, creeping its way to the robber to strangle him on spot, with Melora having no control over it.

- The Chain makes a cameo when Mel notices a small golden chain by the kitchen counter, she blinks and suddenly it’s gone.

- She awakens her stand during her first encounter with Mellini, Mellini starts to understand that Melora isn’t a threat and that she has potential so she gives her a card with her contacts on it and tells Mel about the gang, giving her the choice whether to join or not. With the goal of finding out what’s going on with her body, Melora joins. - Mel’s backstory is an amalgamation of both her parents’ backstories. The reason she got into prison is due to a scenario similar to Nara’s cause of arrest, but instead of assault it’s vandalism. And as stated previously, her introduction parallel’s Rox’s introduction.

- MISSING posters of Melora will pop up by the 2nd half of the story, making it harder for her to complete the mission since cops, investigators and the public are keeping an eye out for her, so she gets her hair cut and a new outfit, She keeps the headband though, because it “feels personal to her”

- Father-Daughter spiritual links will happen often throughout the course of the story, it starts off vague until it becomes reoccuring.

- One of the villains fought will be a previous villain that fought Nara and Rox. This is also the fight where she gets the “Ghirga Scar”™️ - I’m still keeping Melora’s Volare Via moment at the end, it’s my favorite lmao

- ok so spiritual links start off with Narancia getting a random cut on his arm during his search for Mel, the exact moment Melora got the same cut during a fight. Then at another point, Nara starts tearing up because it has been a week and there has been no sight of his daughter yet. And at that moment, Melora is speaking to one of her allies when suddenly she starts having tears flow out of her eyes. Her face isnt red, shes not crying, there’s just tears coming out of her neutral expression. And a key moment where the spiritual link has a huge impact is when the team is talking about their next location in the hotel, Melora is listening but unbeknownst to her, Narancia can hear everything too as if he’s listening from her ears even if he’s miles apart. For him, it sounds more muffled and echoey but he can understand what they are saying, giving off the location of where Melora is off to next, he heads there. He arrives at the perfect time when the team is having their final battle and Melora is struggling holding off the main antagonist. - Basically this story is about a parent finding their missing child, finding nemo but with more violence…i think…

- After some character development, Melora would be friendlier and more casual to her allies, occasionally cracking up absurd shower thoughts, talking about her lunch, making jokes and even taunting enemies playfully albeit taking the fight seriously

- throughout the story, Melora starts to grow more and more worried about her disappearance at home but she does not talk about it

- Melora, 4′11 and 17 years old takes down a side villain, 6′9, 30 years old.

- the Zephyr and Melora realization scene will be replaced with Melora opening up to Bellini about her life at home, it will still have the same outcome as the Mel-Zephyr thing though

- This part will have two halves:

The first half will be Melora joining the gang in search for answers about her stand situation going on

The second half will be Melora pursuing the villain and hopefully catching up to him before he can harm her father

- “Mela Grigio” gets exposed as Melora Ghirga when her driver’s license accidentally gets dropped out of her bag

- “Mō akiramete….”

- There will be a musical fight just like Rox’s Holding Out for a Hero.

- The villain will be tied to the ACT I Giorno arc I’m working on

- Melora’s stand cry will be VOLA VOLA VOLA but without the Volare Via until the last fight. Narancia never taught her this, it’s genetic 😳 (i mean look at dio and giorno and jolyne and jotaro- -)

- another thing id like to add, this story’s dynamic is a scared daughter (Melora) facing off against a grieving father (the antagonist).

- Melora and Narancia’s parent child relationship isnt complicated, in fact Nara as a dad is pretty supportive and loving. It’s just Melora who’s scared of opening up in fears of being deemed “crazy”.

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lovingnikiforov · 6 years

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Regarding “All Dolled Up”

Hello to anyone currently reading where your loyalties lies! I recently received a question regarding the companion fic/extra posted to AO3 titled All Dolled Up and I wanted to address it here as well in case there are similar questions floating out there.

I won’t be sharing this specific conversation because the question was posed with the best intentions, I understand where the reader was coming from, and my explanation cleared up some of the confusion.

Essentially, it was suggested that I delete All Dolled Up as an extra and make it an interlude within the main story of the fic instead. I was also asked to explain my reasons for why I posted it as a separate work. My response is placed below the cut due to both fics being rated ‘Explicit’ and because this is a long post. Spoiler warning for chapter 13 of where your loyalties lie, please don’t read this if you still are planning to catch up on the fic because it contains a big spoiler.

If anyone does have particular questions about a decision I made in the story, please don’t hesitate to message me directly as I’m always happy to explain what I can.

As mentioned above I don’t want to share the conversation so I’ll just be paraphrasing the main points made:

In the main story, Chuuya goes home annoyed and wakes up in bed annoyed because sex didn’t wear him out.

The revelation about Dazai and the taunt about Chuuya ‘spreading his ligs for his parents’ murderer’ would be more intense with the vivid memory of All Dolled Up

It would amplify the sensation of him feeling used.

To be blunt, I will not be adding this companion to the main story unless there is a drastic change in how I want the big picture of the fic to be. I have made deliberate choices on what exists within the main plot of the fic based on where I want the story to go.

Because it was never something I planned to write, this scene would cut into the pacing and flow of the story I'm trying to create. I’ve used interludes for past stories but that doesn’t fit with the style of story I’m experimenting with. This is my only skk chapter fic to be in present tense because I want the fic to feel fast-paced and almost alive. Flashbacks and interludes are two things I’m trying to limit my use of as much as possible to this same end.

I wrote the extra because it was requested, and whenever possible I love to write extra snippets based on what people are asking to see. Unless it was something that I intended to put in the story or adding it will be negligible in the story’s pacing/tone, I will not add those extras to the main story.

Additionally, the above reasoning for why it should exist in the main story works against the characterization of Chuuya I'm been trying to build as well as the tone I want the story to have.

Despite wyll being rated Explicit, it is my hope that by the close of the story the focus is firmly on the emotional aspects of their relationship rather than the sexual. Really only the people who have been following me on tumblr for a while (like dazaisosmu days) would know this, but I don’t particularly enjoy writing smut. It wasn’t in my other skk fics because I prefer to skip over explicit sex scenes when I can get away with it. The addition of smut in this story does not stem from people’s requests to read more smut from me (bc if it was I’d be doing a shoddy job since I’ve written 2 smut scenes in almost 100k words) but it’s because there are particular shifts in Dazai and Chuuya’s relationship I want to foster and highlight when one or the other is at their most honest. They can lie to each other until they’re blue in the face, but there are tells written into these sex scenes that indicate the true intentions or emotions of at least one of them. All Dolled Up does not represent a shift in their relationship as it maintains the stalemate that’s already been established, and there’s no significant tell about how Dazai or Chuuya feel about each other so it doesn’t follow the pattern I’m creating.

Yes, Shōhei made a taunt about Dazai and Chuuya's sexual relationship in chapter thirteen, but that’s more indicative of Shōhei than it is of Chuuya. In previous chapters, Shōhei has made similar derisive comments about their relationship. In chapter thirteen, Chuuya does not acknowledge the sexual taunt because his focus is on the revelation of Dazai’s part in his parent’s deaths.

There's a lot of emotions and sensations Chuuya is feeling at the end of the latest wyll chapter and I do not want him 'feeling used' to be the main takeaway (or even a tertiary one). This will make more sense when the next chapter is posted and as the story progresses because there's still a handful of reveals that I haven't disclosed yet. In a broad sense, the Chuuya I’ve been trying to write and the Chuuya I hope you’re seeing is someone who works extremely hard to have his own agency and is unwilling to be played with. Chapter 13 does include a single sentence about Chuuya's 'skin crawling', however the paragraph just before the close of the chapter is where I would like to draw your attention to:

The fact that Dazai spent weeks playing an equal partner, shaped his lips to form murmured praises, to suggest he values Chuuya more than the Nakahara-kai while his hands were soaked with the blood of Chuuya’s parents is more than a dagger to the back. It twists deep into Chuuya’s core, ripping through every moment of honest vulnerability he ever allowed Dazai to witness and tearing what fragile strands of trust were starting to form.

When the dust settles with the story, where the relationship between Dazai and Chuuya stands is going to boil down to trust more than anything they do in the bedroom.

#dessa.txt #t: my fic #fic tag #fic: wyll #long post

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broadwaybydesign · 7 years

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Rainbow Tour: Costuming 1979′s “Evita”

As teased last night, today’s review is going to take a look at the 1979 production of Evita, the Broadway run of the musical based on the life of Argentina’s First Lady, Eva Peron. This musical is one of my all-time favorites in terms of its music and lyrics, and the original production features Patti Lupone, one of my favorite Broadway actresses. The costumes for the 1979 production are quite interesting, and while it was a challenge to find sufficient color stills for a full review, I think I have pulled it off!

The musical itself was well-received, nominated for 11 Tony Awards and winning seven of them, including Best Musical and Best Leading Actress for Ms Lupone. While controversial to some extent because of the way it portrays Eva Person, the musical has experienced a number of revivals as well as a moderately successful 1996 movie adaptation starring singer Madonna. But one of the lasting impacts of the musical was through its costuming, a joint effort by designers Timothy O’Brien and Tazeena Firth. The musical oozes classic 1940s and 1950s style, accented by the design elements of the late 1970s when the musical was produced.

I’ll apologize in advance for the color being a bit washed out in some of these stills; the lack of digital photography makes examining some of the details more difficult. But I really wanted to present this review and then contrast it with the 2012 revival in the next review. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this journey to the past (to borrow a phrase from a current production on Broadway!) as much as I enjoy this beautiful, storied musical.

We’ll start by looking at one of the costumes from the early part of the show, when Eva, played by Patti Lupone, is still a young girl in a rural slum with big dreams of an acting career in Buenos Aires:

While the primary focus of this review is the costumes of Ms Lupone, I do want to take a moment to mention the vest being worn by the Augustin Magaldi character (played here by Mark Syers). This is what I meant by mixing classic 1940s style with the design of the 1970s; the ruffles on the shirt would have been out of place in the era of the musical, but instantly recognizable to a 1970s audience. I’m not sure it’s a great design choice, but I understand the how and why of its inclusion.

Onto the dress worn by Ms Lupone! Remember that I stated in my Bandstand reviews that patterned fabrics were only just becoming more affordable; such is the case here, and in fact, this particular dress has a rather cheap feel to it that is intentional on the part of Mr O’Brien and Ms Firth. The character of Eva at this point in the musical is a poor girl from a rural part of Argentina, and would not have had access to anything that’s fashion-forward--but of course, you do not want to costume your leading lady in anything boring. As a result, the compromise is to try and craft a dress that looks mass produced, as this red and black polka dotted number does. Note also the very low waist in comparison to the English and American-set productions I’ve reviewed. That’s a nod to the more conservative fashions in Latin America during the era in which Evita is set.

Eva does get her shot in Buenos Aires, and becomes an aggressive social climber, working and sleeping her way to the top. There is a montage number (”Goodnight and Thank You”) which explains it in the context of the musical, but the costume for that number helps to show a different side of Eva:

Whereas the previous dress gave off a girlish vibe (appropriate, since Eva is still a teenager in her first scene), here we have a much more sexualized number, appropriate to a montage of her many lovers she used to get ahead. The bathrobe is a combination of white silk and flowing white feathers, and designed to be both eye-catching and provocative. Notice how the fabric both flows and clings to Ms Lupone’s figure, while the feathers add a kind of whimsical feel; there’s still a feminine element here, but it’s one that is more bordello-chic than runway fashion.

Notice also that the robe and feathers are stark, crisp white; in Western culture, white has always taken on a tone of innocence and purity, which acts as an almost farcical counterpoint to what happens in this scene, as Eva bids farewell to love after lover who she’s used and discarded. The theme of white against a musical background of sin and a lust for power is one that will recur a few times throughout this production, so keep it in mind as we proceed.

Naturally, the story of Eva Peron would be incomplete without the figure of Juan Peron (played here by Bob Gunton), the President and dictator of Argentina who used his wife’s star power and almost cult-like admiration from the common people to cling to office. The two begin their romance early on in the production, and the costumes show Eva’s maturity into a young woman. There are a couple different shots of the O’Brien/Firth designs I want to look at here, because I think this costume is important in the context of the musical:

Having made it (in the musical) as an actress, Eva’s wardrobe has been given a serious upgrade. No cheap fabrics or simple garments does she wear now as she courts the elite and powerful of Buenos Aires society. Successful as an actress and with a string of wealthy lovers, she’s now kitted out not only in a more designer dress (detail to come), but in luxurious furs, the kind of coat she could only have dreamed of at the musical’s start.

But the dress itself is interesting, because it’s in an abstract pattern that I haven’t seen before in looking at costumes. Most of the time, abstract patterns take the form of some kind of geometric design, or floral elements, or else the pattern itself is fully floral. Here, however, the dress is simply a series of color swaths and blotches, as this still (from before the production, but using the same costume) reveals:

The colors are a pastiche of oranges, greens, and even some light purples, and the design is once again more 1970s than it is 1940s--or more appropriately, the pattern is more fit to the 1970s. The pinched and geometric neck and cleavage of this dress is appropriate to the era, but the pattern makes it a mixture of the decades, once again an intentional choice by Mr O’Brien and Ms Firth. There’s something about the design, though, that hits me the wrong way, and it may simply be an effect of the lighting in this shot and in the stage stills; I think the pattern does not work as well as intended, even if the overall look of the dress is just fine.

Eventually, Eva becomes Peron’s wife and helps him to secure power; this is covered in the show-stopping Act I finale, “A New Argentina.” In the stage musical, much of the action takes place in Eva and Juan’s bedroom as they talk through the way to power, and throughout the scene, Eva is once again clad in snow-white, showing off a purity that the audience now knows she simply doesn’t have. Take a look at the new robe here:

While still pure, she’s set against a background, intended to be the streets of Buenos Aires, of working class people rising up in favor of bringing Juan Peron to power as the new President. But there’s a key line in here that reveals that, at least in the musical, Eva is as much the one who desires power as Juan (”We’ll...you’ll...be handed powrer on a plate”). The costume is a counterpoint to the music and lyrics, which is important here, I believe.

In previous reviews, I’ve mentioned that sometimes costumes can tell a slightly different story than the music and lyrics do, and that is the case with this white robe. It imparts an innocence to Eva that she doesn’t really possess...but that deep down I think she thinks she possesses. She doesn’t see this all as a power-grab, but rather as the logical conclusion of her quest to get her due. The white robe offers her a kind of shield against accepting the reality of her circumstances.

The theme of white continues as the curtain rises on Act II, and we get the musical number for which Evita is best known, “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.” Mr O’Brien and Ms Firth took their cue from the real dresses of Eva Peron for this number, and it is appropriately spectacular for this enchanting aria. Eva is now the First Lady of Argentina, and the Spiritual Leader of the Nation, an official title that gives her a cult-like following and tremendous power through her charisma and charm. But she is still costumed in an almost angelic ball gown designed to catch the eye and drive home that this is not only a formidable woman, but one who retains the early femininity of the musical but with a new untouchable quality. Take a look first at this Martha Swope promotional photograph of Ms Lupone as Eva:

This is the first costume in the 1979 production that I would really describe as sumptuous. Layer upon layer of tulle and chiffon form the body of the dress, while it is heavily accented by silver sequins that completely cover the bodice of this strapless gown, and which then flow and trickle down the body of the dress in a silvery cascade. I love the visual effect this gives off: the sequins catch and reflect the light, while the tulle and chiffon add a kind of softness to it that once again offers a counterpoint to the character herself. Take a look at this closeup shot for proof:

The musical number in which this dress appears is one of the most heartfelt and moving in the whole of Evita, and surely has to be in contention for one of the most heartfelt arias in modern musical theatre. But it’s being sung by a woman who, even if she believes the words she sings, is still after the ultimate prize: power. The fact that she’s costumed glamorously hides the fact that this is only one step towards her seizing greater power and influence. But that glamor also hints at what is to come: she’s not going to be content to be styled like this only once. She’s going to need couture and glamor from here to eternity.

What is also fantastic about this gown, the real masterpiece of the designs put out by Mr O’Brien and Ms Firth, is how it works in the context of how the musical is staged. The design team for the costumes also designed the relatively simplistic designs for the sets in the 1979 production, and therefore they knew precisely how this dress would look on stage. Have a look at this still from the musical’s staging for an idea of what their vision entailed:

The interplay of light, shadow, and the reflection from the sequins imparts both a powerful and a sinister image. At the apex of accomplishment, her innocent and beautiful gown is cloaked in shadow, and the light catches on the sequins, giving her an almost jeweled appearance. I think that this was intended to do something that I referenced in my Here Lies Love review: make us wonder why we find this figure, who loves power more than anything, so compelling and why we find her aria so memorable and beautiful. Looking upon this costume and this scene, we have to confront something very real: power can be beautiful, seductive, and alluring--even when the source of that power has ulterior motives.

The costuming for much of the rest of the second act is simpler, but no less beautiful. There are hints of couture (and even an entire number dedicated to Eva’s desperate, cloying need for high fashion), and we can see her outfitted in a Christian Dior-style suit here:

The 1940s and 1950s were the era where women’s skirt-suits became incredibly common, and here we see a beautiful white (remember the white theme from earlier? it never went away) suit with black accents. The skirt is simple and neutral, while the jacket flares at the hips. I really like the black lapels with this jacket, because I think they add to the overall mixed-message of the costuming for Eva: she still wants to portray purity to the people of Argentina, but she is now consumed by a dark need to spend at their expense (and indeed, Eva Person spent wildly, much like Imelda Marcos). She’s a woman in control of herself, but at the same time acting in a manner that is out of control. The crispness of the suit can’t conceal that, and the darkness creeping out in the lapels and buttons gives that away.

There is no such innocence to Eva’s final costume for the musical. Eva Peron famously succumbed to illness at the age of 33, and after her death, Juan Peron elevated her memory almost to godhood, which is where a lot of the controversy over her legacy begins, even taking into account her lust for power. Her final costume is one that is tinged with sorrow and regret, and she has to be supported by two other figures in order to even stand:

Eva gives her final address to the people of Argentina clad almost entirely in black, with just a hint of detail work in the stitching on the lapels. The suit she wears is classic early 1950s style, and it offers a counterpoint to the more elegant designs she’s worn throughout the musical. The overall feel it gives off is mournful, but the audience is left to question for what Eva is mourning. Is she mourning her imminent demise and the loss of her power over the Argentinian people? Or is she mourning something else, the knowledge perhaps that her memory will be used to justify repression of the people who she claimed to love?

Those are questions that, I think, I can’t answer for my readers; I think we all have to answer them for ourselves, just like the final costume in Here Lies Love.

The costuming that Mr O’Brien and Ms Firth came up with for the Broadway production is, in my opinion, a bit hit-or-miss. Some numbers, like the “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” white ballgown are absolutely spot-on in that they combine the style of the era of the musical with heavy symbolism and counterpoints to the musical’s lyrics and feeling. Others, like the patterned dress from her courtship of Juan Peron, just seem to fall a little flat, in that they merge too much of the modern day (or the modern day for when the musical was first staged) with the designs of the past.

Overall, however, I really do enjoy the costumes in this musical. But I’m looking forward to seeing how they compare to the costumes in the 2012 revival; I have a feeling that they may be even more interesting given the changes in technology and in costume design in the thirty years between the two productions!

That wraps up my first Evita review. Next time, I’ll be taking a look at its Broadway revival, and I’m really looking forward to that. As always, if you have questions or feedback, feel free to send in an Ask, a Submission, or drop me a Message any time!

Until next time, dear readers, stay tuned!

#evita #patti lupone #broadway #theatre #musicals #timothy o'brien #tazeena wirth #costumery

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terryblount · 4 years

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One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 PC Review

It’s that time again folks! Put on your straw hats, check your log pose and join anime’s most endearing gang of pirates as they beat up more marines than you can physically count. After five years, Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have finally shifted the focus of the Warriors/musou series back to the One Piece anime, and the potency of this crossover is as clear as it has ever been.

Truth be told, One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 hardly strays from the classic musou design that developers used in their recent titles, but it is clear Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have become really good at making these games. Even if the fourth incarnation of this Warriors sub-series doesn’t reinvent the wheel, the polished gameplay and obvious passion for the anime adds up to a very appealing new entry.

Gold D. Roger, the pirate who hid the One Piece. This review features screen shots only from the first part of the game to avoid spoilers.

Return to the Grand Line

As with previous Pirate Warrior games, Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have used the chronological events of the One Piece anime to guide the progression of their fourth game. The major fights within the single player campaign, named ‘Dramatic Log’, features six different story arcs to play through beginning with the Alabasta Arc, and ending with the most recent Wano Country Arc.

This adds up to A LOT of One Piece episodes, but the devs used a strategic mix of nicely recreated cut scenes and story exposition to provide something like a crash course on the anime’s narrative. Whether playing through the enormous siege on Alubarna, or the massive battle at Marine Fort, the game’s storytelling succeeds in making the player feel immersed in these moments.

One of the first story arcs to play through. Each arc features around six missions.

There is just one unfortunate problem with the gameplay being driven so heavily by the anime’s narrative: Pirate Warriors 4 creates a minefield of spoilers. I can speak from experience here because I am just about reaching the middle of the Whole Cake Island Arc in the anime, only to feel my jaw drop at what I learnt in the Wano Country Arc (which follows) while playing the game. You have been warned.

All aboard the Going Merry

True to its name, Pirate Warriors 4 is every bit the unique flavour of spectacle fighter that Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have become famous for, and the combat really does its genre proud. This is not a game where enemies necessarily represent a danger, nor does this game know the meaning of the words ‘dodge’ or ‘block’.

Just look at all those enemies!

In short, enemies are just fodder for the player to show off their almost comically overpowered fighting moves as thousands of them can get mowed down within a single mission. The usual buffet of attacks, heavy attacks, special moves and charge attacks are yours for the picking, and the combos from joining these movies are easy to pull off, even for a cack-handed slowpoke like me.

Further bolstering your journey to becoming the flashiest fighter is also a skill tree (depicted as a nautical map with islands). Here the player can choose to spend in-game currency on everything from extra slots for super moves, to boosting the power of basic attacks. I could never figure out why you can choose between a general skill tree or a character-specific trees, but the option is there.

You have a separate map for each character… but I am not entirely sure why.

By the time I had built up the muscle memory for the particularly brutal combos, and my uhm… skill islands had filled up, I began to wonder if Pirate Warriors 4 wasn’t a bit too easy (even on ‘normal’ difficulty). For players looking for a more earnest challenge this might be true, but that would be missing the task.

Instead, Warriors games have always been set apart by becoming skilled in their combat system. This holds true for Pirate Warriors 4 as the game really encourages flowing seamlessly from one attack into the next, and rewards the player with watching hundreds of enemies fly. Playing this game is the digital definition of a power trip.

Many pieces

Aside from the show’s epic fights, another reason why One Piece transitions well into a Warriors game is due to the excellent (and remarkably quirky) cast of protagonists, enemies, and everything in between. This is an area where Pirate Warriors 4 really excels because the roster of playable characters has been raised to a respectable 43 for this game.

The choice of characters in each mission is usually split between power, speed, technique, and airborne fighting styles, which basically hints at where they do the most damage. Take Roronora Zoro for example and his moves to keep even stronger enemies off the ground. Juggling a bunch of marines for a long time is an absolute breeze with him, making their health bar drain before they can even touch the ground to attack.

Luffy on the other hand is an enthusiastic combo linker with one mother of a stamina bar. When fighting in the air, he usually lets enemies drop before I could pull off a prolonged attack sequence. On the ground, however, I seamlessly strung one chain of combos to the next while using dash as a cancel attack. If the map had longer, straight sections, Luffy was invariably my first choice.

Luffy and the thousand fists

Unfortunately, I never made friends with the camera; it felt like I was constantly fighting to bring what I wanted to see onto the screen. This was particularly a problem when pulling off special moves since characters execute their attacksin the direction the camera is facing, and not necessarily towards the enemy in front of them. Not a huge problem per se, but enough to tinge the experience with frustration at times.

A nice new age of piracy

Given how slick Koei Tecmo and Omega Force have designed the gameplay and how committed Pirate Warriors 4 is to the One Piece IP, both seasoned musou fans and first-timers could enjoy this game. Veteran Warriors players would find their hard-earned skills rewarded, but this game is still a forgiving entry point into this lucrative sub-culture of gaming.

Gosh, to think this scene is going on for 18 years old.

After that being said, the ideal player for Pirate Warriors 4 is undeniably a still an up to date One Piece fan. This is not just to avoid spoilers, but also due to how deeply saturated Pirate Warriors 4 is in the colourful and really weird world of its source material.

If that sounds like you, play this by any means possible since there are few games that really gel with One Piece as much as Pirate Warriors games. This is a lovely culmination of everything great about musou games, and should be, at least, on your wishlist if you need to catch up a bit on episodes.

Re-imagined old story archs

Responsive controls

Lots of replay value

Real voice cast

Many playable characters

Some awkward cut scenes

Not the best graphics

Clumsy camera

PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox One Contoller

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josephkitchen0 · 6 years

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Igniting the American Homesteader Dream

By Lori Davis, New York

Changes are underway as the country’s demographics shift in significant ways, casting shadows on the traditional American homesteader dream and transforming it into something entirely new. In all, it’s the start of a profound alternative affecting how our nation farms, how the next generation is getting involved, and how it is going to improve food systems.

America’s founding fathers established roots in this country based on the quest for personal liberty and freedom. The American Dream, at our nation’s inception, was something we have always been attempting to live up to, that every man had the opportunity, through his or her own effort, to own land and succeed without barriers. It’s taken a while, and we are still trying to live up to that high bar, but progess, albeit slow, is being made, and now is being led by a new generation—the Millennials—American homesteaders who are more diverse, educated and socially aware than any previous generation to precede them.

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Sustainability, and growing your own food, used to be the only choice for many. Soon after America was founded, the federal government concentrated on distributing new frontier land to willing settlers. America’s lands were cleared, farms were built and our great nation rose from dirt, sweat, passion and tears. In 1790, farmers made up 90 percent of the total United States labor force. In roughly 1830, the government began to help American homesteaders grow more crops and the government established new universities (under the Morrill Act of 1862) that were tasked to find better methods of farming. By 1850, farmers made up 64 percent of labor force with 1,449,000 farms in operation. In 1862, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was founded by President Lincoln to help farmers with good seeds and information to grow their crops.

When World War I arrived, it brought a great agricultural boom. Food from United States’ farms accompanied the flood of soldiers having left the farm fields, headed to Europe. Along with our young men, so too our nation’s farm-produce helped feed the allied forces. This was the first globalization of America’s farms. In 1916, the Federal Farm Loan Act created cooperative “land banks” to provide loans to farmers. With the end of World War I, our soldiers came home and many returned to the farm. Farmers experienced a major contraction in commodities exports due to shrinking demand overseas, hurting farms domestically.

America’s farms peaked in 1920 with farmers comprising 27 percent of the total labor force with 6,454,000 farms in operation in America. In 1929, the Great Depression hit, substantially eroding the viability of many American homesteaders’ land and farms.

President Hoover’s administration supported farmers by providing them better credit and bought farm produce to stabilize prices. When President Roosevelt took office in 1933, his advisors felt that the depression was caused by the slowdown in agriculture. The government instituted a series of experimental projects and programs known collectively as the New Deal. Farm support was a major linchpin of these efforts. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps of 1933, the Farm Security Administration of 1935 and 1937, the Soil Conservation Service of 1935 and the Rural Electrification Administration all were established during that period.

Farms stabilized with government assistance and then America went to war once again. World War II moved young men off farms and onto foreign soil in defense of freedom. Along with our soldiers, American homesteaders’ farms once again provided food for our allies abroad. Agriculture experienced another boom during wartime.

What would happen at the end of World War II would change the face of agriculture in America forever and would also re-define the American Dream. With America’s soldiers returning home after attaining victory, President Roosevelt introduced the GI Bill (1944) in gratitude to the returning soldiers. This was likely the biggest single shift in American cultural identity since our nation’s inception due to the cascading events that flowed from that single piece of legislation. The GI Bill enabled returning soldiers to buy homes via loans from the newly formed Fannie Mae. The GI Bill also enabled our fighting men to go to college to further educate themselves for urban white-collar jobs. The American Dream shifted from “freedom to pursue,” to government providing access to low cost home ownership and a college education if an American citizen served. President Roosevelt‘s Economic Bill of Rights advocated, “…the right to decent housing, to a job that was sufficient to support one’s family and oneself, to educational opportunities for all and to universal health care.”

A rural scene, still beautiful, but becoming more rare to find. A lot of young people are hoping to change all that.

It was at this juncture in American history, where entitlements and assumptions of “affordability via loans/debt” for the American lifestyle also began and consumerism soon took over.

Farms lost young men as many moved to urban settings for greater financial opportunities. Also, vast tracts of American homesteaders’ farmland were acquired and converted into suburbs for new homebuyers. During the war, America had been feeding Europe with our exports. But unlike World War I, America continued this provision post-war under the premise of keeping the world safe, fed and free. Since that time we’ve seen a bifurcation in food, homes and land with agri-business monopolizing the food supply chain and land being moved to either corporatists for big agriculture or sold for suburb sprawl. Many small farms and homesteading communities have died, gone bankrupt, been sold, or are barely holding on.

So, we now arrive at America in 2017. Unfortunately, the unaffordability of the American Dream at personal and national levels is wreaking havoc on the wellbeing and social fabric of our nation. United States’ national debt is $19.4 trillion, and 43.5 million Americans are on food stamps. In a 2015 study by Pew Charitable Trusts, it found that eight in 10 Americans are in debt and are carrying debt into retirement. A New York Times article states household debt has increased by $35 billion, to $12.29 trillion in 2016. A 2014 Urban Institute study found that 35 percent of Americans have debt so far past due that the account has been closed and placed in collections. The statistics tell a story, of debt driven nation living beyond its means in pursuit of the American Dream.

Farms and rural American homesteaders’ demographics have also changed. From USDA’s census data, as of 2012 there are 2.1 million farms in America, a 68 percent decrease from 1920. Farmers and homesteaders now make up two percent of the workforce, compared to 90 percent at our nation’s founding. Eighty-eight percent of all farms today are still small family farms, and farmers on average are approximately 55 years of age. Indeed, a majority of our farms are owned and operated by people nearing retirement age.

We can now begin to see with emerging trends why responsible agriculture (by way of homesteaders and farmers) is beginning to move forward once again. Research is showing that demand is being shaped domestically from our own citizens, coming from outside the mainstream agricultural industry. This movement is being driven substantially by the millennial generation—defined here as people born between 1980 and 2000—and retirees.

The Next Generation of American Homesteader Awakens

Millennials are proving to be the antithesis of boomers in terms of what the American Dream looks like. Millennials prefer simple homesteading and small homes to McMansions, very much due to the recession Millennials witnessed as their parents suffered paying their mortgage. Millennials are cash and debt conscious, opting for an affordable home, or even staying longer living at home with their parents. According to Pew Research Center, 19 percent of U.S. adults live with their parents or grandparents, up seven percent since 1980. In a recent article in the New York Times, “How Millennials Became Spooked By Credit Cards,” it states that data from the Federal Reserve indicates that the percentage of Americans younger than 35 who hold credit card debt has fallen to its lowest level since 1989.

“It’s pretty clear that young people are not interested in becoming indebted in the way that their parents are or were,” said David Robertson, the publisher of The Nielson Report.

Millennials, generally speaking, are cause oriented and are looking for ways to relate to the products and services for which they pay. Millennials care about their food because they want choice, quality, authenticity and stewardship in their foods’ brand values. In fact, The Food Network had it most successful year ever. Last year was Food Network’s most watched year to date, holding its spot in the list of Top 10 cable networks for the fourth year in a row, states Gavriella Keyles in Millennials and Farmers: An Unlikely Alliance?

Millennials are also big organic buyers. They want to know if foods are sustainably grown and where the food was raised. And, they will pay more to have that value-add in their food packaging. They are used to information at their fingertips and expect such information to be available about their food. High-end restaurants around the country are figuring this out and are identifying the local farm the beef, lettuce, honey and jam came from. Such restaurant techniques are infusing a value-added identity to the food and people are paying more.

Millennials are also tech savvy, opting away from big advertising and choosing instead to use digital media to find gourmet high-quality products. Research done by SocialChorus found that only six percent of millennials in the United States consider online advertising to be credible, while 95 percent of millennials believe friends are the most credible source of product information. McDonald’s is suffering from this realization while healthy food chain Chipotle, before its recent food poisoning and labor disputes, was considered the number one best brand to have effectively appealed to millennials.

“Millennial food preferences are already changing the food system as we know it,” says Matthew Davis, Creative Director and Co-Founder of The Savage Bureau, a San Francisco-based design studio that specializes in branding, user experience design and development. “Our firm understands the millennial market and we believe they are transforming just about everything they touch: knowledge, food, healthcare, entertainment, lifestyle, housing, finance, everything. What companies need to understand is that millennials are digital natives. They crowdsource solutions and value sharing. The emergence of a true sharing culture is a profound shift that millennials are spearheading. Opinion matters. In a ‘sharing economy’ a poor food review can close a restaurant. For digital natives, technology self-polices quality and creates true competition. They can be selective with their dollars and buy the best. This is why fresh food, knowing where it’s from and that it’s been sustainably grown all matter to millennials. They trust technology and find new tech platforms such as the near fully automated restaurant Eatsa, exciting. Robots don’t scare them; poor quality and high prices do. In San Francisco, we are seeing breakouts such as Munchery, Sprig, Blue Apron, GrubHub, UberEats and GoodEggs all stepping in to disrupt the traditional food distribution model. We expect radical transformation in the nexus between food, farmers, and consumers over the next 10 years driven by the millennial market demanding change.”

The Scales Are Tipping

I’ve addressed food before farms in terms of emerging trends because these food trends are the forcing function for change on the agricultural industry across all farm segments; big agri-business, emerging small, organic, diversified, rural and urban farms.

Research is beginning to show that there is clearly both “back to the land” and “farm-to-fork’” movements will influence the course of agriculture for the next 50 years. With 1.3 trillion dollars in buying power, millennial shifts in American Dream sentiments regarding farms and food could not have come at a better time with the majority of farmers currently over 55.

I had the opportunity to interview Jill Auburn on this topic. Auburn is the National Program Leader for USDA’s “Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program” operated by USDA’s NIFA (National Institute of Food And Agriculture). I wanted to understand what the USDA is doing to help assimilate new emergent non-traditional farmers and American homesteaders into the agricultural spectrum to harness this growing opportunity of homesteading today.

Jill Auburn, USDA

Auburn shared that the USDA is dedicated to assisting new farmers and American homesteaders that fit a new/non-traditional farming profile with new programs well funded by Congress in recent years. NIFA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program began in 2009, and offers multi-year funding for more than 100 organizations around the country each year. These funding grants are geared to new farmers and ranchers who are in their first ten years of farming or who are interested in beginning farming. The program helps interested farmers collaborate, network and get access to knowledge and hands-on experience.

“NIFA hosts an annual competition that funds projects up to three years. Funding runs the gamut of workshops, incubator farms, hands-on learning, production practices, business planning, marketing, buying or acquiring land, etcetera,” Auburn said.

Additionally, Auburn shares that in the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress required five percent of total grant funding to be allocated to projects serving military veterans entering the farming sector. The increase in demand for these programs demonstrates the growing interest in farming by people of all ages and demographics. Auburn says that while the USDA sees both 65 and older and millennials as key constituencies, they are also seeing many second career professionals entering farming. These are people who are leaving their current careers and are seeking out farming instead. Auburn has been with the USDA since 1998 and has seen a big shift in those who can live off the land, from a strong emphasis on large-scale traditional farming operations to the smaller scale diversified farms and homesteads run by people with non-traditional farming backgrounds. With all the positive initiatives moving forward at the national and state levels, Auburn shares that there are of course still barriers to entry: “The three biggest barriers we see for new farmers are access to land, access to capital and access to knowledge.“

She highlights the USDA’s national clearinghouse for data sharing, video, and knowledge to also assist new farmers.

The Changing Dream

The American Dream truly has changed. Agriculture and food and the opportunities they offer are exciting once again but in fresh new ways. Not so unlike the old ways before America scaled to feed the world. The imagination, individuality, creativity and passion of millennials cannot be overlooked. Their preferences are already redefining markets and shaping a new American Dream. Expect exciting things in the future regarding food and farms.

Generation Z, the younger children who are following the Millennials, are expected to be even more closely tied to the land and conscious of food.

DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS & STATISTICS

Consider:

• Millennials are bigger than the boomer generation and three times the size of Generation X, numbering roughly 77 million — Nielsen Report 2014

• Retiring Baby Boomers, and then millennials, are top two demographics of new farmers — Jill Auburn, USDA

• Millennials in the United States wield about $1.3 trillion in annual buying power — Boston Consulting Group

• One-third of older millennials (ages 26 to 33) have earned at least a four-year college degree, making them the best-educated group of young adults in U.S. history — Pew Research Center

• More than 85 percent of millennials in the U.S. own smartphones—and this is their primary tool to validate their brand loyalty — Nielsen Report 2014

Do you consider yourself an American homesteader living the Dream? How are you working to achieve it?

Lori and her husband operate an organic farm and apiary in New York specializing in value-added products such as honey, salves and organic buttermilk specialty soaps along with raising sheep, goats, alpaca and chickens breeding stock for other homesteaders and new farmers.

Originally published in Countryside January/February 2017 and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Igniting the American Homesteader Dream was originally posted by All About Chickens

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liveprojectyoko-blog · 6 years

Photo

Monday 23rd April

As we head into the latter half of half of the project there seems to be a higher level of focus directed at specialist areas. For my own involvement this is mostly around the design and creation of the NIL magazine. Tasks perhaps that took up time initially are no longer required to be attained or were finished in the week before. This is a good opportunity to really press on with NIL and hopefully finish on schedule for the 8th of May. A lot of the content is coming along with NIL and strong progression is being made.

A section of work I focused upon today was any preparation required for the Flat lay photoshoots scheduled to take place Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The purpose of the flat lay shoot is to photograph the Image and communications students work to a very high standard whilst also making them all look consistent so that they flow well within the magazine. It was noted in previous NILs (shown in screenshots below) that the communication work looked cluttered and random in its organisation and layout. To avoid that this was the solution we best saw fit.

I spent the majority of the morning looking for inspiration for flat lay designs. I have never really shot flat lay photography especially in regard to publication/magazine layout, so I felt this could definitely be insightful research for tomorrow shoots especially to print off and reference on the day. This project has definitely encouraged me to always prepare and bring physical research to reference back to and this is particularly important within shoots. I definitely found this to be the case with the NIL shoot and therefore I definitely wanted to prepare in the same way. Below are a number of images that caught my attention when scrolling through Pinterest. I have included a brief description to why I liked each one and perhaps how I wish to replicate some of the features found.

I felt this flat lay presented a really innovative and creative way of laying out perhaps more than one piece. If tomorrow, we have to capture a publication that is quite content/ written word heavy this can create a more artistic feel to the photograph. I like the different shapes and angels created from the positioning of the artwork here. I am not particularly keen on the use of an all-black background, not that this would go with NIL’s colour palette anyway, but I don’t think it makes the photo that inviting especially the contrast of the red and black. I therefore do think consideration of background colouration and the colour palette of NIL is crucial to get a more aesthetically refined style.

I love the simplicity and minimalistic style of this photograph. The NIL magazine this year is going for a colour yet minimalistic style and therefore I think aesthetics like this could fit in very easily with most colour palettes including our chosen one. The use of props helps to set more of a scene and tell a bit of a story behind the publication being shot, whilst also increasing the aesthetical and creative styling of the shot. I think keeping the styling very basic and uncluttered works nicely with just the inclusion of a few ‘interior/ lifestyle props’. I think using props to almost create the image of the consumer reading the publication works well, making it feel more personal.

Again, the same publication is used with a variation in styling and prop use. Keeping the number of props to a minimum works really in the favour of these shots. I think simple uses of plant/ flowers and interior decoration features work well. The background colour of this flat lay and the previous one could be incorporated well within the publication, something neutral and clean will work. Particularly if it is to be placed upon brightly block coloured pages it can contrast to far against this.

This flat lay shot displays the options for placement of many pieces of work. It should be considered that some students may want to display a number of physical attributes therefore an understanding of how to lay multiple pieces of work in a minimalistic and aesthetically pleasing manner can be done. Here the flat lay focuses upon a range of books, ranging in sizes and shapes but clever layout and placement has created a strong photograph. Again, a similar background colour to the other flat lays has been used and I think it works very effectively.

The style of this flat lay caught my attention as it worked with quite a brightly coloured background colour. As the colour palette we are using has quite strong and bold shades potentially incorporating these into the flat lay photography could be difficult and therefore looking and reference photography could help to achieve this. I do feel that using bold colours as the background tones is quite risky considering we have not yet seen any of the students work and the colours that come across from their pieces could definitely clash with ours. It may therefore e easier to use a natural, monotone background shade to avoid this.

This flat lay shot plays with angles. The positioning of the magazine is angled slightly which is quite different to the flat and straight angels mostly seen in this style of photography. I think it adds something a little different and perhaps could be used to alternate the looks of students work when baring in mind around 30 flat lays will appear in the magazine so making them looking interesting and diverse is key. A strong use of simplistic placement of props works well. I think the layout of the flowers in the top left corner brings more substance to the photo and fills the shot out more. Shooting on a fabric that looks similar to a cotton bed sheet adds texture to the photograph which can be lacking in using plain block colours.

The insertion of a model’s hand into the shot can make the flat lay feel more personable. It gives a sense of character and life to the shot. This shot uses no props apart from the hand and this could be a feature used across a set of the shots tomorrow to add some differentiation.

This shot again plays with the angels of the publication being laid out. I think the angels work well for showing the cover of the magazine as well as perhaps the inside content pages. Could work for students work who should display both front cover and inside sections. Noted that neutral background colours have been used again.

Although I think this shot feels a little cluttered due to the sheer number of props being used I think a reduction in props could have created a really strong image. I like the use of a neutral textured background it adds more aesthetical consideration and quality to the shot. The combinations of colour on this image are beautiful and work very well together.

Consideration behind students work who have used interesting packaging techniques should also be thought of. In previous years Image and Communication students have tended to present their publications in very innovative and stylized ways, capturing this could create really strong and interesting flat lays. This flat lay does it well whilst also playing with quite an interesting angle for the magazine to be laid out like.

The use of lighting and shadowing in this image is what drew my attention. It creates different perceptions and angles of light that create shapes across the publication. I think it creates a very interesting display. I like the simplistic use of one prop in the top left-hand corner again it fills the page out more and creates greater substance. I think playing with natural and synthetic lighting tomorrow will be key in producing aesthetically varied imagery and could produce some very nice results.

This image like a previous one used hands in the image. I like the personal and character like feel including someone’s hands feels. I think it could definitely be attempted in tomorrow’s shoots.

This image shows how publications could be shot effectively without the use of props. I understand that the props included into some of tomorrows shots may not be suitable for all due to a clash of aesthetic or colours etc. Therefore, imagery like this show a very simplistic and minimalistic way of beautifully displaying physical work like publications. By using quite, a busy double page spread the page definitely doesn’t feel bare or empty and your eyes are drawn right to the content of the pages. I like the neutral coloured choice of background.

This shot plays particularly with the spacing and positioning of content. I like the way the items are spread across the space with some even going off shot. It keeps it interesting and varied. The usage of props again has been done in a considered and simplistic regard.

I like the combination of considered positioning and layout of both the publication/ content and the usage of props. The varied angels and interaction between the props makes it interesting to look at and therefore draws the viewers eyes right in. To me there may be a little too much going on here. I do prefer the use of less props but also consideration of the layout and positioning of the props should be considered well like in this shot.

This flat lay again explores using a brightly coloured background in case we choose to work with this. However, I think using block coloured pages of the actual NIL publication instead to incorporate the colour palette will work more efficiently. I think this shot works well because of the combinations of colours used, but as the colours that will be displayed on all student’s work will be very varied it is difficult to predict this.

This design presents another very minimalist and simplistic style of flat lay. This aesthetic is definitely my preferred one and I think it works a lot better than using too many props or trying to incorporate colours into the background. I like the use of overlapping of the two products in this, and although aesthetically looks great could also work to fit more elements into a shot without making it look cluttered.

I like the combinations of colours in this shot. It gives a more contemporary style, which gives it more character and personality. However, achieving this with the varied amount of publications, content and products will be very difficult. I like the interesting angels used and the minimal use of props.

The rest of the day I spent progressing with the layout of the final NIL publication. I hadn’t actually worked on the magazine since I initially created the layout concepts way back in the first weeks of the project. As the content was now coming along well I felt it would be good to make a real start on the magazine. I want to create all the pages that do not rely upon the NIL shoots, flat lay photography or articles and slowly begin to put these in as they are created/ given to us. I have begun filling in information that perhaps was just filler text before and also experimenting with layout and design. For some of the publication I have used placeholder imagery to get a sense of layout in respect to particularly the flat lay imagery we hope to produce this week. From my previous research today, I decided I think the best aesthetic is simplistic prop use with a plain monotone background that experiences frequently with angels and positioning to keep it interesting and varied. I wanted to see how that could be incorporated into such a brightly coloured publication and pages. I think it works very well and demonstrates this aesthetic needs to be achieved tomorrow as it looks so strong inserted into the publication. Below is a flat lay of the layout of the current pages of NIL. I think they work very well together whilst also being varied enough keeping each page interesting.

The client- Iain also came in for a brief meeting so there were a few things I wanted to relay to him before I progressed upon them. Firstly, we wanted to include a short snippet of description behind the Image and Communication course and we felt this could best come from senior lecturer Vicky. I needed to get Iain’s opinion and for him to okay that this was to be included. However, when set to him he actually suggested a really strong idea. This was to in the tone of current students write our own piece on both the Image and Communication course and design course here at AUB. As NIL is often given out at open days it is a good idea to provide potential future student an informal and personal insight into the course. The other option he suggested was to have a dictionary like description of the course like exploring what the words ‘communication’ mean etc. or perhaps a combination of the both. I also received some feedback and guidance into the conduction and portrayal of the Coast interview scheduled for tomorrow. To perhaps vary the tone and style of the article by using a similar technique Iain referred to have been used in Graduate Fashion Weeks recent interviews- A Q&A style of article. I think this again was a very strong idea to use to vary the content and keep it interesting and easy for the readers. There may be the potential of them scrapping the Coast interview as they feel it may not be relevant enough for the magazine, but they are mostly leaving it down to us to decide. I am happy to interview and write the article regardless as it is very good practice for my writing skills. Overall, he seemed very pleased with the whole groups efforts.

Karen also spent some time looking over my ‘Where are they now’ article which received positive feedback. She felt it was very well written and loved the descriptions and case studies used. There may perhaps be one major adaptation to the article in that they may remove George Hollins piece from the article. Karen felt his perception felt inherently negative which is not the result they are wishing to demonstrate. The consideration may be to keep it to three case studies or perhaps interview a different graduate that they select. The article was later given to Iain to read so I will wait for feedback and then act upon that.

PLAN FOR THIS WEEK

-Conduct Coast interview.

-Write up Coast interview.

-Photograph and collate flat lay photography for Image and Communication students.

-Progress with all areas of NIL that are not reliant on photography or detailed written content.

-Finalise shooting remaining graduate collections for NIL.

-Finish ‘Where are they now’ completely.

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chloehenderson · 6 years

Photo

AM I FUNNY ENOUGH

I’m keen to inject a sense of humour into my work.

My filming plans are based around creating the surreal out of making everyday things ridiculous with use of jewellery as props/costume.

In most films, jewellery features as a prop/costume to: further the plot, to further develop the character wearing the item, or to set a mood/visual aesthetic. Jewellery is an accessory. I want to make my wearable artworks the central focus of my films, and not just an afterthought, or add-on.

youtube

As you can see from this behind-the-scenes clip from The Mighty Boosh, costume is quite often an afterthought.... a very very important afterthought, but still not quite at the forefront of the filmmaking process. Costume also tends to be created as a quick prop, rather than as a design object. Everything looks better in films/photography, so the costume doesn’t need to be made perfectly. I’d always suspected this was the case, but that thought was confirmed during my visit behind the scenes at the REP Theatre, where we were shown around the costume department.

**edited to add** this quote is a snippet from a conversation I had with Katie Mayes, after she had read this blog post. I really love that art creates different reactions in different people, and in this case, both of our takes are equally valid, and equally relevant...

“Your blog was so interesting - I really like your take on that Boosh clip, because it's so different from what I thought when I watched that a while ago haha! I loved that they had created costumes/set/makeup etc out of no time and not much money...it made me feel like I could do it too, you know.”

I want my jewellery to be both a prop/costume to further it’s story within a filmed context, as well as being a beautiful design object. In this way, I can experiment with the narrative filmmaking, as well as giving my work a life after the film. That life could be further films, it could be more traditional exhibitions, and events, but for me, it’s important that I create beautiful pieces.

You’ll notice I’m using the word “costume” and the word “jewellery” in the same context. For me, the boundaries between the two are starting to blend as I traverse both world. I am a jeweller, I’m creating wearable jewellery objects... but using them in a filmed context as costume to further a narrative. I’m happy creating work that sits in the niche between the two disciplines, but I need to remember to keep an awareness of that in mind in order to figure out exactly where my work sits in the world. As I create it, I can be more free in my design choices, and film concepts... but upon release, my thoughts need to be more considered around how to “market” my work. I mean this in a non-commercial way, more just how to attract and beguile an audience!!

I’d like humour to be my hook. Which is odd... as I don’t really consider myself to be inherently funny!! But I do have a solution to that problem = collaboration. I will plan the concept, create the wearables, and then collaborate with actors to create amusing short films.

For this first test film, I’m using people that I know as actors and co-collaborators, but for future films I intend to put my feelers out (which I’ve already started) to find more suited artists. By utilising the experience of others, I will be able to make work that is richer, and contains more depth than my limited experience could provide.

I’m excited to cast myself in the roles of artist, jeweller, and director!

However, that does mean I need to brush up on my knowledge of filmmaking, and comedic style to be able to explain what kind of film I’m attempting to create.

I’m a fan of the kitsch, the cult-classic, and anything a little alternative. One of my favourite comedians, Andrew O’Neill said (of comedy) “the less people find it funny, the funnier I find it” and I found that that completely resonated with my own viewpoints. I feel the same with the kitsch: the uglier others find it, the more likely I am to like it!! Perhaps this is just a quirk of my own personality, but it is one that will always seep into my work. We create what we like, so I’m going to conduct my research by watching the films, and comedy that I like.

I want the deadpan deliverance of the ridiculous as seen throughout Taika Waititi’s What We Do In The Shadows, mixed with the surreal comedy of Noel Fielding in The Mighty Boosh, and combined with the soft, lilting , slow narratives of Jim Jarmush’s signature filmmaking style...

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As I mentioned in my previous Filming Plans post, I’m intending on screening my films via social media. Using Instagram for “the artist” character, and YouTube & Twitter for “the filmmaker” character. This means my films will be made up of lots of short clips. The Instagram films being very short: no more than 30seconds, and the YouTube films a little longer: from 5mins-20mins.

All of these with the plans to create a longer finale style film towards the end as my “final piece”

Due to this, I don’t plan to copy what I like from the above films, but merely emulate the styles I like within them, and use them as inspiration to create my concepts... as well as opening an easily understood dialogue with my co-collaborators.

I want to create a soft narrative, something that flows slowly, but is ultimately charming. I want to create surreal humour by downplaying the ridiculous to make it twice as funny. I want to leave incidence weirded out.

Film plans are set. Future plans are being considered. My design is developed, and the wings are being made. This first piece of my collection is coming together!!

Onwards...

Chloe out.

Image and Media Credits Mindmap drawing by Chloe Henderson The Mighty Boosh What We Do In The Shadows Only Lovers Left Alive

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realitycrazy2017-blog · 7 years

Text

Up-to-date flow from up to date updated, Mac

New Post has been published on https://realitycrazy.com/up-to-date-flow-from-up-to-date-updated-mac/

Up-to-date flow from up to date updated, Mac

Deliberating making the jump from Home windows up to date updated the Mac? Already switched from Pc up to date Mac and have a mac os, however, feeling up-to-date lost and stressed – wondering, possibly, up to date locate your way around the brand new setup, or up to dateHow updated discover replacements up to date favorite apps and features? You’ve got come updated the right region.

In our giant migration guide we solution the massive questions dealing with the ones brave (and in our opinion practical) souls swapping from the Windows up-to-date the MacOS platform. When you have any unanswered questions add them inside the comments and we’ll make sure up to date deal with them in the future replace.

This year, as in previous years, Apple’s share of the conventional computing marketplace has expanded. No question this is up to date the fact updated the creation of the new MacBook Pro 2016 TouchBar variety has introduced a whole new era of switchers up to date the Mac platform. So what higher time for a bang-guide updated switching from Home windows up to date Mac? Examine next: A Lapupupdated users’ guide up-to-date using a Mac

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I am uninterested in MacOS. up to date Just wipe it and install Windows? Modern Macs are Simply every other Pc… right? Even though Macs in recent times use Intel CPUs and are up-to-date a Lapupupdated, they’re sufficiently exceptional updated you can not genuinely insert a Windows DVD/USB stick and install it over the existing MacOS operating gadget.

The primary problem is the unique Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) used by Macs that controls booting. up to date use a non-MacOS running device, this desires up to date be configured via the Boot Camp Assistant app it truly is built in updated MacOS. Boot Camp Assistant will also create a USB stick full of the necessary Windows drivers, and repartition the disk up-to-date make the area for Home windows.

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