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foreficfandom · 4 years

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The Arcana - Cooking For MC (Headcanons)

-- Asra --

Life as a street orphan makes cooks of us all. If he wasn’t a child desperately stealing fruit, he was a teenage magician earning coppers to buy scraps from the butcher and bartering for old, bruised squash. He quickly had to learn how to stretch his meager rations as far as he could, and cooking was the way to do it.

He’s come a long way from the one single pot he and Muriel would squat over while hiding away in the docks. Now, he and you happily enjoy a consistent diet of fresh groceries, sometimes he cooks and sometimes you do.

All his cookery he learned in Vesuvia - pasta, lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, cumin, basil, ocean seafood. The both of you don’t quite earn enough to splurge on the good cuts of beef, but you never have to worry about going hungry.

And you don’t have to worry about bland, burnt food, either. Asra can reliably hold his own in the kitchen. He doesn’t exactly follow recipes, just tosses together stuff according to what feels right in his heart. A holdover from the days where he had to improvise all his food.

There’s more holdovers; he hates tossing away uneaten food, or groceries that have gone bad. He’ll keep the chicken bones to make into a broth for tomorrow. He never peel potatoes or fruit ‘cause the skins contain valuable nutrients. He cringes at people who throw away the heads of fish. The leftover fat in the pan is made into gravy, or pastry frosting, or soap. Occasionally, he and you give away your leftovers to the urchins that hang around the neighborhood.

When it’s his turn to cook, expect traditional Vesuvian cuisine like flatbreads, hummus, and vegetable soup. Herbs used in the shop are sometimes thrown into the dish, like thyme or myrtle leaves. Asra’s cooking regularly gets to grace your stomach, and it’s very lovely and nice uwu

-- Julian --

Everybody who knows Julian holds vehemently that he can’t cook worth a damn. He’s not gonna poison you, but it’s true that he can’t do more than toss various things into a pot and pray that it comes out edible.

So when he’s forced to cook, everything ends up tasting like the same sort of bland, unspiced mush. And it’s almost always boiled, never roasted or fried. He just seems incapable of not burning anything, so he avoids pancooking ingredients if he can avoid it. And even his soups tend to have burnt residue at the bottom.

Not only that, but traditional Nevevion cuisine ... can be an acquired taste in itself. Like pickled herring covered with beet mayonnaise, cold aspic on toast, and really, really salty fish roe. He grew up eating actually good food cooked by his adopted family, but it’s unfortunately easy to turn a cabbage and potato recipe into nasty gross mush, especially under Julian’s hands.

He knows he’s shit at cooking, but sometimes it can’t be avoided. Ready-made takeout isn’t always available in their world, so if someone needs to eat, they usually gotta cook. Cue boiled chicken and carrots a-la Julian. At least he added some salt, this time. He blames his Nevevion heritage for lacking an affinity for spices.

With shitty cooking skills come an ability to eat anything. Julian doesn’t turn down a dish if he’s hungry, even if it’s some bullshit. Except for spicy stuff - it’s like the only pain he doesn’t get off on. Just a little jalapeno in his rice will turn his entire face red and give him hiccups.

So say you don’t have time to cook dinner for the both of them tonight, he’d much rather the two of you go eat at an inn than force your divine tongue to be sullied by his dreadful meals. However, he can be taught to cook if you two can find the time, and will eventually get the hang of it. You and Julian in the kitchen, warm and cozy, teaching him how to make a good macaroni? Now that’s an afternoon date in the making.

-- Nadia --

Growing up royal meant Nadia never had to cook for herself. To some, it’d be very improper for someone of Nadia’s standing to ever cook, especially in the same kitchen as the servants. But in-between her piano lessons and fencing training and literacy/history/mathematic/public speaking tutoring, she also devoted some personal time in reading up on skills she wouldn’t have been taught - like gardening, jewelry craft, and also cooking and baking.

She had this stint of candy-making when she was a teen, after seeing sugarspun candies in the market that were shaped into different, multi-colored animals and flowers. She would sneak into the kitchen and, with the help of particular cook friend, make candied nuts, meringues, taffies, marzipan. And with the skills she learned making candies, she also learned how to bake and cook various things.

Rarely did she ever get to exercise her cooking skills beyond a mere pastime. She had no one to cook for, nor enough spare time. So very few people knew she bakes a mean butter cashew cake.

One day, she just kinda absentmindedly mentions that she knows how to cook a few things, so you insist she show you, which kinda takes her off-guard and she’s a little nervous, because it’s been a long time since she busted out the ol’ apron, and what if you don’t like what she makes??

She goes to the kitchens and almost bails out, even briefly entertains the thought of passing off the chef’s cooking for her own, but chases that thought from her mind. The palace servants gets to witness the Countess roll up her sleeves with a determined grunt and go ham on some pistachios.

You wait patiently in the solar (as she instructed), and Nadia brings up a beautiful tray of brightly colored nut-flour sweets with tea. Nadia herself is a little worse for wear, with a dusty face and tangled hair. But she’s thrilled to see you enjoy her cakes. They taste wonderful, doubly so because of the love she put into them.

-- Muriel --

He almost always cooks for himself, ever since his street urchin childhood, and his skills have only improved while living in the woods. He’s no longer scraping mussels off of dock beams to boil in a thin cauldron, he’s hunting 8-feet-tall elk and using every inch of the animal, from boiling the hooves for aspic, to making sausages out of the intestines (the antlers are powdered for their magical properties).

It’s rarer that he ever wants for something he can’t produce himself. He boils his own sea salt, curdles his own cheese, presses his own oil. The problem is that he doesn’t make an effort to make delicious-tasting food. Unlike Julian, who cooks like shit but still enjoys the finer things in life, Muriel has access to super fresh and good-quality ingredients but is ruled by his practicality.

Living in the woods is tough. If the harvest was bad and all Muriel has is last autumn’s rice harvest, then its porridge for the next month. There’s nothing for it; hunting is unreliable even in an expert’s hands, fishing only a tad less so, and a simple wet season or early frost can ruin a garden quicker than a plague.

Muriel may have said he didn’t need your help around the hut, but your help truly did make a difference when it came to food security. An extra set of hands made for less time and lighter work. Your influence also shined through his cooking; now, he actually does care if something tastes good, because you were eating it with him. Muriel could survive just fine on perpetual pottages, but you deserved better.

Hence, roasts that are actually seasoned, bread with jam and butter, and salt not just for preserving purposes.

Cooking stopped becoming just a means, but a creative outlet for Muriel. He wanted to treat you, and in turn it became something special for himself, too.

-- Portia --

The Devorak siblings have one collective braincell, and Portia’s got dibs on it. So she’s got the cooking skills that seemed to have eluded Julian, and she’s very good; the best out of the six.

As a hand-maiden, cooking isn’t part of her duties, but to even get hired she had to prove she could hold her own in the kitchen on par with royal cuisine. It’s beyond simply being able to replicate a recipe, she knows how to carve game into the right cuts, memorize the seasonal harvests, estimate temperatures by touch, and other complicated kitchen sciences.

Portia spent her life traveling on ships, so she’s witness many a worldly cuisine and it’s influenced her skills. Nothing impresses a table more than introducing some ‘exotic’ spice and using it right. Her own personal favorites are from all corners of the land. Her dinner spread can consist of Hjalle shrimp pancakes, Galbradian green bean broth, Prakran flatbread, and lamb roasted in an underground oven like they do in Firent.

Once she has the opportunity to cook (or bake) for you, be prepared for a storm. You’re never gonna have to want for good cuisine again, not if Portia has anything to say about it. Even the little things she makes, like her strawberry jam or workhouse-style bread, taste great. You ask her why she doesn’t pursue a career in cuisine, and she replies that cooking is an outlet for her, not a job. Plus, she’s far from a ‘truly skilled cook’, according to her. That honor’d go to Mazelinka.

A lot of her budget she’ll happily relinquish to cooking, such as imported spices or the expensive cuts of game. She knows that the smallest difference in quality - such as in the salt, or vinegar, used - can make or break a dish. Her kitchen is always fully stocked with groceries and ingredients. One of her big splurges was investing in an icebox, and before she had you, a magician, in the picture, she was indeed buying ice to keep her meats fresh.

Whether its a wrapped lunch or weekend roast dinner, Portia will always want to spoil you in the best way she knows how; through your stomach. Your waistline might be less happy, but like heck Portia’d take pudge as a negative.

-- Lucio --

He’s been Count for over two decades, but before that he was a rough-and-tumble mercenary. And before that, he grew up in the infamous Scourge Lands, where etching out a living was always a matter that teetered on the brink of a knife.

He had to learn how to live tough. The Scourge Lands are no lush forest like Muriel’s backyard, it’s a flat tundra with limited vegetation and even lesser animals that aren’t more likely to kill you before you kill them. The entire clan’s been living off of bitter turnips for weeks, but finally a family of boars are scouted. Now you just have to take down a bear-sized boar while circling around five others who all want to gore you.

Even cooking can be a struggle. Life as a mercenary meant trying to strike fires on cold, damp wood in a freezing drizzle, and keeping it lit long enough to roast the skinny fish you managed to spear. It meant knowing which plants were edible and which caused three nights of stomach pains, and also being willing to resort to digging up grubs when you’re really on the brink of starvation.

So does he know how to cook? Yeah, he can roast meat over a fire and know when its safe from pathogens, but other than that he’s lost. He was so happy to finally have cooks and servants to serve him entire banquets. Never did he learn (nor want to learn) how to bake bread, or fry potatoes, nevermind suckling pig or creme brulee.

If come a time where you and Lucio are away from the precious palace kitchens, he’ll rely on his wallet to buy the two of you a nice meal. If the two of you are lost in the wilderness, don’t worry, Lucio to the rescue and you can trust him to forage something, and grill it on a hot rock. No salt, though. Not even water to wash it down, if you’re really unlucky.

Still, it’s kinda a surprise to eat Lucio’s emergency field cooking, because it’s not awful. The best anyone can do in the circumstance, even. Make sure to tell him that, he’s always fishing for compliments.

#the arcana #the arcana imagines #the arcana headcanons #asra alnazar #julian devorak #nadia satrinava #muriel the arcana #portia devorak #count lucio

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lsgingasblog · 3 years

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On Yashahime's squandered potential

I watched out of nostalgia for Inuyasha, but I'm beyond exasperated by the level of incompetency in telling a decent story with yashahime.

They had so many fillers and so many things are crammed into the last few episodes that it feels dumb they couldn't have used their run time more efficiently and spread out development and content evenly throughout.

This just feels like a cash grab from Sunrise studio and they're doing the bare minimum. I get Gintama franchise is ending and love live is their thriving franchise after the mecha genre suffered a natural death years ago, but it's frustrating as a fan of the original.

Inuyasha was by no means perfect and had too many fillers, but it was airing at a time that you can have more episodes alloted for your run and the characters were flawed but they learned and grew throughout the story and it was satisfying to see. Especially when final act happened and we finally got an ending to inuyasha.

Or so we thought! And even if you argue the shorter length of YH explains the lack of development that's still BS.

1) Repeating same mistakes (towa's naitivity legit made me facepalm more times than I can remember) or their attempt of developing a character came with a too late backstory (setsuna) or continually used as comic relief or fairly unimportant to the plot in general; I love moroha, but she doesn't shine or a win nearly enough, and I get she's a quarter demon, but isn't she part of the main trio?

Also feels like super disappointing as someone who liked inuyasah and kagome that they are still stuck in the black pearl and nothing has been mentioned anymore, I want their to be at least 1 short scene with them out and being with moroha, but sadly by the looks of it their gonna drag their feet with a season 2. Of which I hope I'm wrong. Either way this show has squandered it's good will that even if it does decide to do a s2 I'm out.

In regards to squandered potential my 2nd point is that despite knowing the anime industry nowadays mostly tends to do more concise stories, it could've condensed and cut out a lot of throwaway stuff and had an actually decent product.

Heck even if they took their time a bit as long as we got good storytelling and good development and didn't butcher the og characters of inuyasha to the degree of stupidity like the flashback episode, I would even be ok with a 2nd season, but instead I feel annoyed at its utter lack of competency and wasted episodes.

The last few episodes weren't bad in the sense of relevant/consequential stuff happening, but the fact that they crammed them so late and introduced concepts so late game, like spinwheel of time or even what even is gonna happen with butterfly one? Especially given preview episode if what is baited is to be believed, it makes the whole drive of the butterfly seems immensely inconsequential, but guess we'll see. Overall it just feels messy though.

Also what is up with tessaiga just breaking? Oh no! No more dragonballs equivalent!

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" is zero to a T. I Just feel like her reasoning is weak, but hey guess jealousy makes you do crazy stuff at times. I mean at least kikyo was someone I loved to hate for the majority of Inuyasha, but the degree of pettiness feels silly for someone that was a near immortal demon, lol sesshy's mom's digs tho were amusing.

Well that's my word vomit, gonna write some bullet points of stuff I actuallg didn't mind/I'm curious or liked enough of YH, I mean not many works are completely without merit despite how disappointing or not good it is xD.

#yashahime #inuyasha #sunrise studio #moroha

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lordeasriel · 4 years

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I started following you because I really enjoy your And Then There Were None gifsets and posts (I genuinely laughed at your reasons to watch ATTWN one), but I'm super intrigued by His Dark Materials now. What's the show like? I think it was based on a series of books. It looks delightfully dark.

Oh, that’s lovely! Thank you! I hope your enjoying the mess that is this blog lmao I love that attwn post, honestly my best content lmao I’m glad there’s people out there enjoying my attwn content, I feel like I’m all alone out here just talking to myself about it lmao

If you haven’t seen the show yet, and haven’t read the books, I think I recommend the books first - if you want to read, of course. The books are somewhat edgier - not necessarily darker - than the show, and they’re very fun (and I am very biased but the first one is the best one). The show is based on the main trilogy, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and the first season covers the entire first book plus a bit of the second book as well (which is why I often recommend reading first, because the show will spoil book 2 for you a little).

The show is good, is considerably well adapted (back in 2007, there was a film adaptation called The Golden Compass that didn’t do so well and it wasn’t super well adapted either) and it definitely tries to be darker than the source material is. But, and I feel like I need to point this out especially cause you mentioned ATTWN and that’s a very dark book and even darker show, HDM isnt extreme. They do go a little harsher on the story, they make it less colourful and whimsical and much more stark and melancholic, but it’s nothing extreme, it is a family show after all. I do recommend it tho, I probably should make a powerpoint for HDM too lmao

A quick list of pros and cons because I write a lot, sorry about that:

PROS:

Great visuals and great acting for most of the cast, with Ruth Wilson pretty much stealing the show. (This makes a lot of sense cause her character is super popular in the fandom).

Beautifully scored!!!

If they continue to adapt this well enough, this is a story with great philosophical discussions and the story gets bigger with every book, so it is supposed to be of epic proportions if and when it gets to season 3 (assuming season 3 matches book 3 as well, of course);

A incredible female lead, as well as a great character design for Mrs. Coulter, especially in the books. The show is not so bad in their adaptation either, just less edgy.

While it has fantasy elements to it, they do not play a big part in it (except for the daemons, the animal companions) and all the fantasy/magical elements blend it seamlessly with the world, which makes it all feel real and grounded.

Enough shipping Material to last a lifetime, though the fandom is usually hyperfocused in a main pairing which I’ll not disclose, despite thinking you’ve already been spoiled by it lmao

The book has a very particular and methodical criticism of Cristianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church and it is spread throughout the three books (and the second trilogy as well) in the form of a copycat institution that oppress the world of His Dark Materials. This is and has been one of the most important element from the books, that unfortunately is always butchered to some degree in any of the adaptations, and the show does a better job than the film did, but I feel like this element still is missing and aloof in the story, but it can improve with the next seasons. If you’re into this sort of philosophical and social debate, you probably will have a good time anyway, but I think it’s worth mentioning because it’s what made me enjoy the series in the first place.

CONS for the show, mostly:

The writing can be a little cringe, at times, even for non-book viewers, but it’s nothing so tragic that it can’t be enjoyable.

There is an incredible lack of daemons in the show, which if you decide to read, you’ll notice it’s a severe adaptation problem because they are the second most important element to the story. As a non-book viewer, the lack of daemons and daemon interaction may make you feel confused because they matter to the story.

There is also a severe lack of worldbuilding and meaningful consequences to the world in the show, and sometimes it feels like they’ve written it with the book fans in mind, and didn’t bother showing you the bigger picture, which I can only assume it’s confusing for non-book fans!

For the book, there is this downgrade in characters in book 2 especially, specifically the main character, but I won’t elaborate much to avoid spoiling you! But it’s still readable and the show is rumoured to have fixed that for season 2, so I’m waiting to see how that goes!

And I think that’s it! I’m a hardcore book fan, so I am aware I am hard to please lmao But I tried to be fair and impartial so you can have a clean take on His Dark Materials. I do recommend you watch it, it’s a fun story with deep messages, and should you decide to just watch it, I’d love to hear about how you feel about it. It’s rare to find people who never had any contact with the books or the story through the 2007 film! Sorry I wrote a lot! I hope you have a nice day!

#asks #thank u for the message and for the follow!#and again sorry i wrote a lot lol i usually do #and if u have any more questions about it just let me know #always happy to help #endlessnightlock

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perfectlywisedelusions · 3 years

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A Diagnostic Almost-Essay On The Last Airbender Movie

The Last Airbender is one of the many bad book and/or anime adaptations that have plagued the 2000s. Like all of these rage-inducing two-hour long torture sessions seemingly designed to make fandoms crawl into a corner and cry, The Last Airbender was incredibly unfaithful to the beloved source material. But there are two differences that set this movie apart from all the other depressing studio flops-namely, the fact that the show was made in America, and the fact that the movie fails as a movie and an adaptation. It has always been a divisive factor among ATLA fans on whether or not the show is an anime. It’s made in the anime style, but it was also made in the US. Most anime adaptations that fail miserably can probably be attributed to the fact they were made by studio executives who would never want to watch the source material and as such completely miss the point of the original. For the Last Airbender, though, it was a massive hit in the US. M. Night Shyamalan said he took on the project because his daughter was a big fan. The show has a clear plot and tone, and it’s even in English to make things easy for the screenwriters. (Except that there were none. It was written by M. Night Shyamalan.) So how did a $150 million blockbuster manage to fail to successfully adapt a children’s Nickelodeon show? By putting M. Night Shyamalan in charge. Shyamalan had only really made horror movies, and his most recent ones had been less than successful. A struggling horror director whose trademarks are a bunch of characters staying in one location in a realistic setting as they undergo internal struggle and mounting suspense seems a great choice to direct a fun action adventure movie that relies on different locations in a fantasy world, right? Needless to say, Shyamalan was out of his depth, and it really shows in the movie. It starts out strong, with the Nickelodeon logo and the classic shots of 4 benders bending their respective elements against a red background. And then, rather than transitioning to the iconic opening narration, we get Nicola Peltz reading a bunch of exposition in the same manner than an embarrassed elementary schooler would read an essay in front of the class. And then, as if we weren’t tired of listening to this girl talking, we get voiceover from her explaining who the characters in the scene are and what they are doing. This does not go away. It is in the entire movie. You will become very sick of Nicola Peltz’s voice by the end of the movie, but you don’t notice it because you have either a.) turned the movie off and/or left, or b.) you are too distracted by everything else. If the incredibly amateurish opening exposition dump isn’t enough of a red flag for you, then the sight of our two main heroes should be. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a very diverse show, representing Japanese, Chinese, Inuit, and Tibetan cultures as well as others. The first shot shows white actors playing characters who are decidedly not white. It would be slightly more forgivable if the actors were decent. But they’re not. Nicola Peltz, who plays Katara, supposedly got the role because her father was big in the production of the movie. And the actor who plays Sokka, Jackson Rathbone, is perhaps best known as a background character in Twilight. Clearly, this movie has a high caliber for acting. When we eventually meet Aang, he is also white and played by Noah Ringer. Noah Ringer was cast as the lead role in a $150 million dollar film because he could do martial arts. He landed the lead in a blockbuster movie with zero acting experience. The awful acting is a lot like the Phantom Menace, except nowhere near as funny. Every single character in the movie acts strangely. One noteworthy thing about the show is that it develops every character, giving them realistic traits and flaws that allow us to see them grow as well as giving them lovable personalities. (Except Azula and Fire Lord Ozai. They’re just evil. But they’re really good villains.) In the movie, everyone just says their lines with varying degrees of emotion. (Or lack of it.) Things like character traits or, you know, personality, are completely forgotten about even though we need to see these things on screen. It’s not like they had to write a whole cast of characters from scratch. M. Night Shyamalan was literally given characters with traits, backstories, flaws, conflicts, and motivations-basically everything needed to make a movie. But he failed spectacularly. What’s really sad is that Noah Ringer is apparently really friendly, and played jokes on the cast offscreen. Sounds like a certain beloved character, doesn’t it? If M. Night Shyamalan had just let Noah be himself, we could have had a decent Aang. I mean Ong. Because not only are the character’s appearances and personalities butchered, their names are too. Aang, Sokka, Iroh, and even the word Avatar are all mispronounced. M. Night Shyamalan said that this was to be true to the Asian pronunciations of the name, which could be understood if he hadn’t whitewashed the cast. Not to mention the fact that the lore of the show is completely changed for no reason. This lore is very important in later seasons, but M. Night Shyamalan decides to just change it. After the initial rage over the blatant disrespect to the show, viewers may notice the incredibly rushed pacing. 5 minutes after finding Aang, Katara decides he is her responsibility, despite the fact she doesn’t even know his name. 2 minutes after that, they are best friends and traveling the world together. Then Aang gets captured without a fight and is taken to a camp designed to imprison people who can control rocks. This prison consists of low, naturally occurring walls made of rocks. After an amazing fight scene were six men do an intense dance to move a tiny rock very slowly toward one firebender, the movie, unfortunately, continues. They rush through one of my favorite episodes, the Blue Spirit, and what is a great fight in the show is, again, incredibly lame. Then our group of “heroes” make it to the Northern Water Tribe, and Sokka and the princess “become close friends right away”. Basically, rather than showing these two characters becoming friends, we are told exactly this line this by Katara. After exactly one scene together, which is really just exposition (again) Sokka and the princess fall in love. Then the bad guys attack, with drill helmets, another really dumb battle happens, a fish is made into fish sticks, and the princess, who we have known for literally five minutes, dies in a very moving scene because we all care so much about her. Then Aang makes a giant wave and lets it down gently rather than turning into Koizilla and the movie ends. And just as you are about to sigh in relief because it’s over, we see Azula in a cliffhanger because the creators of this abomination thought it was good and they were going to make a sequel. Then we get the best part of the movie, the end credits. The credits not only mean that the movie is over (thankfully) but the animation they added in isn’t bad. The movie is awful and no one likes it. It’s a bad adaptation and a bad movie. Either it’s the movie version of the Ember Island Players play or “there is no movie in Ba Sing Se.” There’s supposed to be a live action show on Netflix but the creators left and almost no one has any hope for it anymore. Long story short, this movie was doomed because they left out the most important character, the Cabbage Merchant. Although even he and his ill-fated cabbages could not have saved this movie.

#movie #avatar the last airbender #the last airbender #m night shyamalan #movie reviews #bad adaptations #anime

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novaent · 5 years

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** This episode was uploaded at 12PM on Nova Entertainment’s official YouTube channel.

The second episode starts as the last one ended. After the opening scene is done with, what shows is the front door of their dorm, the text on the screen letting people know it is the 2nd of March. Cameras all around the place record the trainees as they’re guided somewhere by their coaches. The end of their journey is inside a practice room, but this is actually only the start.

Inside of it, they find their beloved CEO, Hyun Bin, waiting for them in all of his glory. “Hello and welcome, trainees, to the first day of the SN Project!” His voice is intense but his expression is inviting.

Instead of stopping at that, the scene continues, every so often shifting to the trainees’ reactions to what is said. The coaches leave them and stop beside the CEO, forming a line of the four members of the jury. “There are 15 of you here today, but that does not mean every one of you will be here with us at the end of the show. This project will not only decide your future but the future of NOVA as a whole. To achieve this, you’ll go through missions every week so we may test your abilities and choose only the best of our trainees at the end of the process. Those who make it to the end will be awarded their debut.” He pauses both for emphasis and so the cameras may catch the trainees’ reactions more appropriately.

“These will be the coaches in charge of shaping you to become the best Nova trainees you can be: Han Yonghwa, Kim Hyemi, and Park Minsoo.” As he mentions each of their names, the screen splits to show their faces to remind the public of their part from the previous episode. “Any new information will be given to you through them. I’ll return to evaluate your progress at the end of every month.” Hyun Bin nods and shifts his gaze to the man furthest to his right.

Minsoo nods along before continuing with the announcement himself. As he speaks, the instructions turn into animations to make it easier for the people at home to understand. “Each week you’ll be given a brand new assignment to work on along with an evaluation to show what you’ve learned. On the fourth and final week of the month, you’ll have to combine everything you’ve learned for one final performance in the presence of your CEO. However, you should dedicate yourself to each and every one of them.”

“And that’s not all,” Hyemi continues. “At every end of a month, your progress and dedication to the project are what will definite your future. Elimination isn’t certain, but it is an option. We do not plan on keeping all of you here at the end of the process, so always keep that in mind. You’ll be a total of three months inside of these walls, each week working on a different assignment. If you have what it takes to be a Supernova you’ll be here to learn what’ll come next.”

Yonghwa is the last one to speak. “Your first assignment is one you’ll all get to know, so listen to it carefully. During your first week, you’ll work on your vocal training with me. On your second week, you’ll practice your rapping with Minsoo. The third week will be spent with Hyemi when you’ll have to show just how well a Nova artist is expected to dance. Your fourth week, however, we’ll make sure to leave it as a surprise.” He smirks and then looks back at Hyun Bin.

“I’m sure you’ll all work hard on your assignments, and if you don’t, next time may be the last we’ll see each other.” He stops, looks at each of the trainees in front of him, and then proceeds. “Prove yourself to be worthy of the Supernova title and you’ll be given it. For the time being, you’ll continue as trainees, and training is what you must do.”

An ominous tone plays in the background as the camera zooms into each trainees’ face. This will be the start of a long, long challenge.

The camera shows an image from the top of the girls living room as some of them pass by, and then it changes to the boys. While the images play on screen, the words on the bottom change from ‘Month 0, Week 0’ to 'Month 1, Week 1’.

“Week one of the competition,” Jungwoo's voice breaks the silence. He sounds chipper as he bounces his way to Wendy in the practice room. In one move, he offers her some of the dried apples from the package he's holding. “How are you feeling? It's singing, so you have to be good, right?” The girl accepts the offer with a smile before replying. “I feel okay, I guess. It's like an exam where you know you have to do well because you know you can. I have to admit, I'm putting more pressure on myself than I should be.”

“I don't think we're on the same team this time,” the boy continues as a reference to their time on the third season of the MGAs. “But that wouldn't be fair if it was, right? Everyone already knows that you, me, and Ricky are a winning team!” Jungwoo takes one of his dried apples to eat while his own voice appears o the background. “I'm glad our first evaluation is singing. It's the skill I'm most confident in, so I feel like I'm starting off strong.”

The new scene is of the boy sitting on a chair by himself in a private interview. A voice is the only other thing there to guide him. “Do you think you're the best singer in the project?” It only takes him a moment to consider it before he replies: “I think I'm one of the best. Maybe the best amongst boys?” And so the scene returns to him and Wendy in the practice room. The girl bursts out laughing. “Together we are unstoppable. We have to spread the goodness to the world!”

Who's next in the confession room is Wendy herself. “I know I'm supposed to be a little more confident in my singing skills, but somehow, I feel like there's pressure? You know how you’ve been doing relatively well in class all term, and everyone, including yourself, expects you to get a perfect score in the final exam? That’s how it feels for me, I suppose.” She takes a breath. “I just feel like I can’t afford to let myself down this week. I feel like I have to start strong doing something I feel like I can do. This is still some sort of competition, and I have to use any advantages I have wisely if I want to win.”

This time, it's someone else in the practice room. Ricky (who was just mentioned previously by Jungwoo) attempts to sing the lyrics to his chosen song. The coach of the week, Yonghwa, points out his mistakes. There were flats and sharps, wavering notes, misplay breaths, mediocre melodies. “Can I do it again?” And they only show a few of his lines and then the boy asks again if he could repeat. “How are you feeling after your first week of SuperNova?” A voice asks. The boy replies from his seat, albeit a bit hesitant. Good, I think. Well… yeah, good. It’s weird not doing anything else but singing all week. I’ve been having trouble sleeping, I think because my body wants to dance. Even though I’m not very… confident in my singing.” While he speaks, scenes of him turning in his sleep appear on the screen.

“I'm terrified,” he adds. There's a strong exhale, clearly showing the honesty in his words. Ricky tries to cover it with the hint of a smile, but the mood was already set. “It’s a lot of pressure… I think, because I’ve been training here for so long, everyone is expecting a lot from me. I’m expecting a lot of me.” Images of him appear on the screen of the time he spent practicing. Some of the same frustrated expressions from before made their cut. “I still have a lot of improving to do. I want to be confident that I’m ready to debut, or that I will be, soon, but… there’s no guarantee…” He swallowed past it, his eyes flickering downward for a moment, a sudden unwelcome urge to cry arriving. “I’ll continue to work hard,” he declared quietly but firmly, with a small nod and a determined, pursed-lip smile, as if he hadn’t wavered at all, “no matter what happens.”

The first one to perform in the episode is Ricky himself. As much as he had said, the boy does a good enough job with his song. Being the first one to be shown gives the people no one else to compare with, which is probably one of the points that help him sound better. What comes next could be seen as a bit troubling to him. The next one to be shown is no one other than Jungwoo. For someone who talks a lot, the boy does have the talent to back it up. It's the singing week, and Jungwoo clearly aimed for the best vocalist spot with the skills that could be considered of one.

Next comes Wendy. To the boys a Jungwoo, and to the girls a Wendy, it sounds like. Her song of choice was rearranged by herself and her voice is a good one to listen to. Being the stars of the third season of the MGAs wasn't a pass, but the talent that gave them that title was obviously true. After her, comes another boy. The following season highest ranked Nova trainee, Hosung, takes the center stage. There's a notable difference, but maybe if he had been first the change wouldn't have been as much. He's still a talented singer, but is it enough to be worthy of a debut?

“Thoughts on your performance?” A voice asks, and Hosung replies. “Ah… I'm still lacking as a singer,” he admits with a nod and a hand running through his hair. “I felt… like it went okay, but I still need more coaching and technique to become even better. So even though I'm happy with what I accomplished, I will strive to improve myself to the best that I can be.”

A new round of scenes commences, this time with Kaeun sitting by herself when Yongsun approaches her with a wave. “Kaeun-ah, do you know what you will sing?” The other girls appear surprised before answering. “Oh, Yongsun-ah. Sorry, I must have zoned out for a little! I… don’t really know what song to sing yet, I don’t think I have that many options either if I don’t want to butcher the song.” She chuckles, but the lack of a song in the back makes it sound a little sad.

Kaeun is now with BamBam together inside a training studio. The girl holds onto a lyric sheet which most probably contains the lyrics to her chosen song. It is heavily drawn upon with arrows and letters telling her what to fix. There's a launchpad on her lap which she uses to help with practice. “Let's start from the beginning…” she says before attempting a go at the song. A few words in and her voice cracks. “No, hold on.” Kaeun stops playing and looks at BamBam.

The girl is then sitting by herself in front of the camera, as others were. “Everyone here just seemed to really know what they are doing in terms of performing, sometimes I feel like I’m just so far away from everyone else. I signed up to learn, but one week down, I just feel… I want to be better. But I don’t know how to get there. My mind doesn’t seem to work in sync with my voice. ‘Why is it like this?’ the way i imagine myself singing to the song and the way it actually sounds is different. Honestly, it gets a little frustrating.”

Her voice crack replays and eventually gets to when the two trainees are staring at each other. In the split of a second, they're both laughing at her mistake and then, as suddenly as the laughter had started, it comes to an end. There's a moment of silence, and BamBam fills it. “I feel the same way. The exact same way.”

“How are you feeling right now?” The voice asks. “scared and a little overwhelmed. I’m a rapper really… I don’t think I’ve focused much on improving my vocals.. so honestly…” The boy leaves it at that, so the voice asks him another question. “Were you excited when you heard about the project? Did you want to do it right away?” It doesn't appear like he needs to think much about it. “Honestly. yes. I’ve been a trainee for about four years now.. and I’ve felt like I had come to a standstill. This was a chance to debut and so I could just do anything, I’d do it.”

The next on the chair is Huidong. “How was your week?” They ask him. “A … little difficult.” He smiled a little, but mostly a tired sigh escaped his lips and he rubbed at his face. “We had some difficulties, right? The pronunciation is always a hard thing for me… I have to work harder at it than anyone else who is a Native Korean.” The man shakes his head before they show the public a few of his mistakes from practice. “It’s better now, though, than what it was. But it’s been pretty full on. I miss people. Being isolated like this makes you feel a different type of loneliness.”

A camera hangs about the corridor leading to a practice room where Solji is spotted walking down. As she nears the door, the girl nearly bumps into Sunmi, but the two manage to avoid getting into an accident. Solji bows her head to the other as an apology. “Have you picked got song yet?” She asks. “I think I did find a good song that isn't too challenging but suits my voice. How about you?” And Sunmi replies. “I know you probably expect to do really well this week. You have a nice voice, Solji-ssi.”

The older girl appears on her confession chair. “I'd say I'm adapting better than I expected. I had originally thought that it would be a dog eat dog kind of environment but I'd say that everyone has been very collaborative so far.” With a simple cut, she's back to her place next to Sunmi. “Oh, thank you! There's just a lot of great songs. Which song did you end up deciding on?” While Solji is older, Sunmi has been a trainee for longer and gives the other a smile. “I think I'm going to play it safe. So a song called 'Hush Hush’?”

Solji appears surprised by the other's reply, the camera zooming in to how her expression. “Is hush a safe choice?” But their chat is great at that when she says “anyway” before the scene returns to her interview. “It's been a nice learning experience to be here. We all want to improve and grow.”

Next is the image of Chaeyoung knocking against a door before entering. “Hey Solji unnie!” She calls while holding onto a polka-dotted notebook. “Are you busy? I might need help from Nova's ballad princess.” Solji was sitting in her room and smiles to the other girl while closing the journal she was reading. “Sure, what are you thinking?” so the girl sits beside her, handing her the notebook. “Do you think it'd be a good idea to go for a song with a… slower tempo? I worry that a son like that can be a bit boring to listen to especially if it's not executed properly.” Chaeyoung reasons as she crosses her arms. “I don't think it's a bad idea.” When it is Chaeyoung’s turn on the chair, there's a serene aura in the air.

“When I found out that this week we would be focusing on singing, it reminded me of when I was younger and this was sort of how my everyday life was… or at least during vacation.” She chuckles at her latter statement. “I’d spend early in the morning going through all of my warm-up exercises and then spend a good amount of my time practicing and memorizing songs. Every few days my vocal teacher would show up, ask me to perform the song, give me feedback, and then teach me the next lesson. It feels a bit like that.” Taking a brief pause, she then goes on with her story, “but once in a while, my grandmother would check on my progress. Sometimes she would ask me to show her the song that I’m working on and it’s one of the memories I kept thinking of lately because it was something that we could bond over. Whatever happens to me this week or in the upcoming weeks, I want to cherish each moment that passes by.”

But the aura quickly shifts when Meiqi takes over the scene. “I'm glad I'm not in the other room.” The girl says. Some scenes show her and her roommates before taking a look at who was in the other room. “I haven't spoken a lot to Solji or Kaeun. I guess I'm kind of intimidated by Solji because she's the oldest female trainee.”

The second lineup of performances brings Solji as first. After much talk, the girl had a chance to prove herself. Known for her voice, the girl went with an unexpected song. That doesn't exactly mean a bad choice. It gives the show the upbeat it needed not to be as somber as it has been. She's a good singer, and she proves herself as so. Meiqi goes next. The start is lacking, although she tries to pick it up after that. She's quieter when she doesn't need to be, and maybe she isn't as great of a singer as others would think.

The girls continue on this time with Kaeun. The tone of her song is clearly softer and cuter, which is what helps her keep her balance. As much as she tries, though she clearly falls short on her skills. At times she's higher than required; at others, she's lower than needed, yet somehow continuously shaky at one point or another. BamBam serves as her partner when he starts singing next. He closes his eyes for most of the song. While he did better than Kaeun, the performance was nothing more than okay. If anything, the order only made him look better.

With two left for this part, comes Chaeyoung. While holding the title of a rapper, the girl does amazingly well. Her youthful aura also contrasts well with the song choice. The one left is Huidong who, after struggling with something as basic as pronunciation, proves that he can be more than a dancer. It's not as impressive of a performance but the man does his job and a good one at it.

“So, how're you finding this whole show so far?” Hyuna asks. We're back to a more held back scene as the trainees left get their time on the screen. The woman sits next to Yongsun, the one she asked the question to. “Hmm,” she starts replying with a smile to her face. “I guess I didn't think I'd be in one so soon after the MGAs… How about you? This is your third one, isn't it? Show like this I mean?” Hyuna grins at Yongsun, shaking her head. “Fourth one.” She answers, lifting her hand to count all the survival show’s she’s been on “MGA season 3,“ she bends her index finger, “Royal Survival Show,“ her middle finger follows, “MGA season 4,“ ring finger “and now SuperNova.“ Her pinky follows and she runs a hand through her hair with a small shrug.

“How do you feel about the SuperNova project? Having any issues?” A voice asks her. “Not really, like, I’m glad I don’t find it hard. It’s my.. fourth time being in a situation like this, dedicating so much time to a single project and… I never know how it will end.“ she chuckles, a bit sad, a bit off, and straightens back up fingers drumming on her thigh as she thinks about what else there is to say. “It’s not difficult; I don’t find it difficult.”

“I’m worried about Haknyeon,” Jungwoo reappears suddenly and says very sincerely. “He’s probably my best friend in the project, even though I’m close to most of the trainees. He hasn’t been training for very long so he hasn’t had a lot of practice singing yet.” It is Haknyeon's turn to appear on the screen and defend himself, but when they ask him “how was your week?” the reply isn't very confident. “Overwhelming,” he replies honestly. “… I’m scared,” he says after a moment. “We’re doing singing for the first evaluation and I… I know I’m not a good singer. Compared to everyone here, I’m probably the worst singer. It’s the first evaluation and I’m already afraid that I’ll do badly. I’ve been trying my best so far so I just… I hope I’ve improved. I’m really trying.”

Someone else appears to also have his doubts. “I’m surrounded by a lot of talented senior trainees right now, so the pressure is one,” Hugo starts saying. “I have been with Nova for a year and four months. This isn’t that long compared to a lot of the other trainees in this project. I want to show my skills and talents so everyone knows why I was chosen to be here with these big seniors.” Except the way he leads his interview takes the conversation to a completely unexpected point. “Hyun Bin sajangnim is very kind, I think he gets a bad reputation for being cold. He doesn’t show a lot of emotion but I think he is just trying to be strong for his company and artists. He looked really cool when we walked into the training studios here for the first time. I thought ‘wow, this is someone I want to make proud and impress.’” The editors sew in a scene of Hyun Bin ready seen before, except this time with a soft filter on.

The last few trainees get their turn to perform, starting with Hyuna. It's not as easy to find rappers that can sing as it had been. While she falls short, it's not as bad as it could have been. The woman decides to play the guitar and it probably helped set the mood. Overall, an average job. It's a good contrast for when Yongsun comes along. To the great trainee that is Wendy, Yongsun came for the competition. There's no denying that this is something the girl is good in which is truly not what follows.

If this was supposed to be a hard week for someone then it was to the rappers. While some of the girls managed to keep themselves safe, the boys didn't appear to be having the same luck. Hugo goes next, too close to the end. People now know what a true singer sounds like, and maybe this isn't it. He still does a good job for the title he holds, but it was nothing more than average. What keeps him afloat is that Haknyeon follows next. There was a reason why the boy was so terrified. His voice is soft and that what keeps his image. Saving him for last placed him in that exact same position. While he smiles to the lyrics of the song, his skills still leave a lot to wish for.

And so, the first week is done with. It is done as it was done before, except the camera shows an image from the top of the boys living room this time, followed by the girls. While the images play on screen, the words on the bottom change from 'Month 1, Week 1’ to 'Month 1, Week 2’.

The order goes a bit differently now, buy Jungwoo continues to be one of the first ones on the screen. Hyuna is beside him and shares with him an interesting memory. “I remember you rapped during MGA 3.” She drags a chair next to the table he was sitting at before continuing. “It was cute. You ever did it after?” The look on his face is clearly not a good one. “Was it that bad?” He laughs at the thought he probably would have preferred being kept as only a distant memory. “I was hoping that everyone had just forgotten about that part of the MGAs by now… I wasn't good. I didn't think I needed to be good at everything, but now I'm starting to wonder.”

He returns to an interview now a week older. “Bad week?” The voice asks him. Jungwoo smiles a bit. “You should say that. Definitely a challenging week. I think I know what the rappers must've felt like last week now.” The interviewer continues. “Are you worried about your performance in this part of the competition?” As he answers, the boy wrings his hands absently. “Absolutely. Everything matters. If they want a triple threat, I don't think I can fit that role. But some other trainees can, and it's scary. I'm like… a dachshund trying to keep up with a greyhound. We're not running the same type of race.”

The next scene shows Hyuna with Sunmi instead as they discuss the current mission. “I'm not worried… not entirely.” Sunmi starts. “I just want to have a good delivery. I know my rap style isn't as natural as everyone else's but I'm also not a rapper.” She immediately huff's, an in a second she's the one standing in the middle of the room to perform her song.

The years of practice keep her good and simply good enough. As expected of anyone who doesn't call themselves a rapper, the girl mumbles when she isn't sure of what to say, her tongue twists here and there. It's different when it's Hyuna's turn. The girl had proved herself times enough before for this simple assignment to be nothing to her. She's good and she most likely knows it too.

It isn't the same to be said for the one she was joking with earlier on. Jungwoo sits below the other two. While rapping wasn't normally a requirement for a singer, it was still sad to watch, and even worse to listen to. He should feel thankful the one that goes next is Yongsun, someone who probably felt the same way as he did during the week. It's an unpleasant portion of the show, but one all.had to go through.

Once she's done, Yongsun is shown in her interview. “Well-” she starts. “I think I can safely say that I am more of a singer than a rapper.”

“That was horrible, wasn't it?” Except it's Wendy who says it. She sits next to Hugo on the floor to what is about to become a very intense practice session. The girl starts slapping the floor rhythmically, but it still looks odd. “That's how the beat goes, right?” There's a frown on her face but Hugo simply nods along to the beat. “Yep! You got it, just go with that.” And so Wendy starts to rap the lyrics to her chosen song, all while slapping the floor with the rhythm. It doesn't last too long before she cuts herself before she screws up, letting out a frustrated noise. Hugo flinches a little. The girl checks her lyric sheet again before speaking. “Thanks for taking the time to help me, oppa. I owe you one.” And so she gently pushes him in the arm.

“Of course, I'm here to help. Here- I'll slap the time out, and you try to rap along. I'll hit louder on the stressed parts, so follow my rhythm and practice that way.” Hugo is now the one slapping the floor rhythmically. Before the girl can give rapping another try, it changes to her private interview. She sighs. “It's just that rapping has never been a skill of mine, despite my best efforts.” While she speaks, the scenes intercalate between the interview and her slapping the floor. “My hands actually hurt from trying to get the rhythm right.” She raises her hand for the public to see. “Hugo oppa's been helping me a lot though! I know when I'm defeated and need to ask for help.” Wendy chuckles.

Next is Hugo during his own interview. “I've been asked a lot for help with rapping by people who don't rap much and are more singers. Everyone is trying really hard, but I think it's a tough week for some people.” Meiqi appears in a different scene, also in front of Hugo. “Hey, Hugo. My friend. My creative soulmate. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever told you how nice your hair looks? Or how well of a rapper you are? Or… I don’t know, how sweet it is that you’re always willing to help your friends?” It's visible he's trying not to laugh, but a few chuckles escape him. “My hair?”

And then he's back in the interview. “They've come up with some interesting ways to practice. Like Wendy for example.” The scene begs to be repeated again. “It's a little funny to watch, but I think it's actually effective in helping her. It's hard seeing my friends struggle, all I can do is try to help them when I can.”

“You look brighter.” A voice adds, and now it is Haknyeon who appears on the screen. “We're doing something I'm confident at this week.” The boy smiles. “Rapping is something I think I'm pretty good at. I think since this week is rapping, I really want to show everyone what I'm made of, you know? I want to show them how much I've improved and how good I am at it.”

The boy sits by himself when someone taps him on the shoulder. It's Hosung holding tightly to his lyric sheet. “Hey, Hak, um… could you like… help me with my rap? I've been practicing my pronunciation and speed but… my flow is off sometimes, you know?” The younger boy gives him a warm smile. “Yeah! Of course, hyung. Don't worry about stumbling on the words, confidence is everything.” Hosung grins and pulls out his phone so he could play the song. “Well… here goes!” What comes after is an attempt. He bops his head along with the beat, taps his foot against the floor. Still, it sounds like he's running out of breath. “Oh my God I think I'm dying?” He wheezes. “It was bad, wasn't it?”

Haknyeon looks like he prefers to keep himself positive. “Good job, hyung. My ears are all good. At least you got all the words right, hyung!” He says. “I try to have as much fun as I can when I rap an upbeat song. What I find most important is the way you deliver the lines! Rapping is confidence and swag. You've got a cute kind of swag, hyung!”

So Haknyeon performs next. Unlike the previous week, it feels like he has more leverage on this skill than with singing. Being one of the youngest, people would normally not expect much of him. Still, the boy proved himself worthy of his position the show, as well as of the one on the show he was in before. Hosung, on the other hand, couldn't follow with the same line of thought. Haknyeon was a good rapper, but probably not as good of a coach. He's stiffer than you'd like for a rapper to be. While he performs, his hand taps against his leg to keep him stable. It's not of much use.

The other person who appreciates the technique, Wendy, goes up next. Instead of the floor, the girl uses her tight to keep up with the beat. Instead of the funny scene of before, it just kind looks a bit sad. If only the method was actually working, but the girl ends up missing the timing of every other line. Who was supposed to be her savior, Hugo, picks up the level of the scene. It's like someone threw a bucket of cold water to wake the mood up. For a rapping week, it was missing a lot of rapping. The boy gives the good vibes of what a rapper should sound like and makes the point of what people are here to watch. They want the winners, not the losers It's what separates him from the next performers. If Huidong had a tough time with singing then rapping was definitely his worst. It's a good thing people got two doses of rappers this time around because the mood wouldn't be settled for that.

The song starts, and Meiqi already looks lost. Her first verses are filled with stumbles, but nothing that other trainees hadn't gone through themselves. Eventually, though, the girl runs out of breath. While the music plays in back, the girl mumbles a few words here and there, but it's clear that she's forgotten most of them. It's tough to watch, and her posture tells them it's tough for her too. Minwoo's face shows for a brief moment and it reeks of disappointment. The cameras outside capture the girl after she's done and runs off crying. It's tough watching the dark bedroom with the loud sound of sobbing but only lasts for a moment before the screen fades to black, transitioning to the next session.

“Kaeun-ah,” Solji appears calling out for the other girl. “Do you think you could help me with this?” Kaeun smiles and scoots a bit closer. Suddenly, the mood is back up again. “Sure, what are you looking at? Have you picked a song?” The look on Solji's face clearly showed she wasn't too happy with how things were going. “How was your week?” Her expression hasn't changed much. “Difficult. Really difficult,” she nods her head slowly. “I've never felt so frustrated at myself for being unable to do something well. I mean, I want to say I did to the best of my abilities, but…” Solji sighs softly. “I just wished those abilities were stronger, you know?”

Meanwhile, Kaeun appears to be having a different week. “How are you feeling?” She smiles. “Good. Better than last week, thank you for asking, seongsangnim. I think I’m getting used to living in the dorms. It feels nice to have meals in the morning together, too. Sunmi unnie, Hyuna unnie and Wendy would make nice food so it feels like we’re always well fed, heh. Seeing a fully stocked fridge also makes me happy, heh. Thank you, Nova.” She laughed, directing her last words towards the camera in the corner as she flashed a thumbs up, then returned her eyes onto what's in front of her.

“Chaeyoung, could you please help me with something? I wrote some lyrics for the evaluation, but I was hoping to get some thoughts on it.” The younger girl appears impressed. “You wrote some lyrics? I'd love to give you some feedback on it.” She smiles. Kaeun pushes a paper towards the other where her lyrics were written on. “Thank you. Here's all that I have right now… the big gaps are where the hook should be. I was thinking between something like ‘heading for the dreams’ or ‘living day to day, it’s okay’ but it’s not really catchy. Ah, let me play the beat!” Chaeyoung nods her head and smiles.

Kaeun returns to her interview, still as joyful as ever. “Ah, rap making is fun! It’s nice knowing what I’m doing, after last week. Yes, I haven’t completed it yet, but I think I’m almost there. I hoped you’d like it. But I’m excited. Very much so. 100%.” Then it shifts to Chaeyoung's own confession time. “For this week, I decided to do something that I don’t do as often. If I was selected to be a part of this project and I wanted to prove why I deserve to debut, I might as well start this month with a bang, right?” Chaeyoung smirks before winking at the camera. “I won’t let you down. I’ll do my best as one of the rappers in this company and show that we certainly do have some talented trainees.”

The last few trainees of the week. Solji appears first. She's supposed to be a good singer, but would she be able to prove she's more than that? Well, for a singer, she certainly did better than some of the others in the competition. It wasn't the refreshing sound of a triple threat, but more on the level of better than what was shown before. It's a good stepping stone to lead the public to Kaeun. While certainly no Hyuna, the girl makes up for the previous week. It was refreshing to see development, and she managed to show that.

BamBam goes next, a step above Kaeun. While he was mainly a dancer, rapping was his second best skill. It helped keep the energy flowing. While not a step above, having Ricky next keeps the session stable. Being who was, the pressure he thought was on him was only justifiable. The boy finishes his performance with only a reasonable amount of mistakes, leading things on to the final performance. While rapping was more associated with male idols, Chaeyoung does her role as the last. It's a strong song, and her cute image is easily taken away for a moment. This was a competition, after all, and you had to show what you had to show. Needless I say, ending on her was a high note.

EPISODE THREE TEASER: “We'll reveal the fourth week challenge.” Someone says, but the cameras are too busy capturing everyone's stressed expressions. “Elimination.” This time, coming front Hyun Bin's own mouth. People are shown dancing as hard as they ever had, because, after all, that's what's expected from Nova. Who'll become a SuperNova?

**Note: None of the performances were shown fully, but separate videos will be posted IC on Nova's official YouTube channel during the week of each trainee's full performance.

#nova:sn #nova:snep2

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comfreycompost · 3 years

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The Enigma of Wilderland

20 minutes south of Whitianga lies an anarchist community called Wilderland. Pine trees stud the gravel road, which is not council maintained and winds for two kilometres past several other farms. Pine tree roots have a symbiotic relationship with fly agaric mushrooms (Amanita muscaria), and as I walk up the road one winter night shortly after lockdown it is almost as if the toadstools are guiding the way. As strange as it sounds, it feels as though I am following some sort of Hansel and Gretel crumbs into fairyland.

[Caption: Amanita muscaria at Wilderland]

Every so often a handpainted sign reads “WiLDERLAND,” with an arrow pointing the way. A lot of people get lost finding it for the first time, and I am no exception. I am walking the road because I had taken a wrong turn and got my 1992 Toyota Starlet hatchback stuck in a farmer’s muddy field during a rainstorm.

[Caption: The long and winding road]

Wilderland is an example of a self-sufficient community, of which there are many in Aotearoa. The difference is, while most such communities are closed, anyone can go to Wilderland. All you have to do is apply on their website and commit to a full month of work (unpaid, of course). New intakes arrive every second Sunday. With the exception of a handful of long-term residents, the 20-30 people living at Wilderland at any given time are always changing. If you are serious about learning how to be self-sufficient, or just curious to see if it is really possible, you can go to Wilderland and see how it’s done.

In 1956, the land on the property that became Wilderland was abandoned by its owner. A long-term resident called Ken, who is in his 60s, tells me that the reason was that the land was too difficult to farm. The original farmhouse still stands on the property, although it has been condemned by the council. Ken tells me that a family of six used to live there before it was abandoned 65 years ago. Today, the house is thoroughly overgrown with jasmine and stands in the middle of a forest. One needs a machete to cut through the jasmine into the house, and inside there are only two items: a 30-year-old newspaper and a picture book, Grandma McGarvey Goes to the Zoo.

[Caption: The original farmhouse]

In October, 1964, Dan and Edith Hansen purchased the disused block of land (roughly 170 acres) on the Whitianga Estuary and founded Wilderland. At the time, it was one of Aotearoa’s only organic farms. Before he died, Dan Hansen donated the land to the Wilderland Trust, meaning no actual person owns the land. The Wilderland Trust is a registered charity in Aotearoa and the farm holds the Organic Certification. There is a lot of accountability that goes along with all of that which is taken quite seriously. For example, drugs and alcohol are not allowed.

The farm is collectively managed by trustees and the long-term residents, each of whom have voting rights. Anarchism as a philosophy is generally misunderstood: far from lawlessness, it is actually a highly organised system where power is decentralised and given to the community to make their own decisions on anything that affects them directly. At Wilderland, there are multiple meetings every week, discussions ranging from who should be allowed to stay, how money should be spent, what produce (if any) should be sold, what projects should be prioritised, whether the cat should have a bell on his collar to prevent native bird casualties, and so on. Everything is voted on. There is always work to do and everyone has their own pet projects. Conflict is natural, but it is reduced compared to a typical eco-village, because no one actually has their own financial resources tied up in the community.

In January, 2017, a fire destroyed about 25 acres of forest and four houses that were on the property. “We've managed to save more homes than we lost, but I feel very sorry for everyone from that community... there's not much left,” a rural firefighter was quoted as saying at the time. In the aftermath, 4000 new trees were planted to begin the recovery process but many long-term residents left. Wilderland has faced many challenges in its long history, and it is something of a miracle that it still exists when most of the other 1960s communes failed. One can read about the history of Wilderland in detail in one of the many postgraduate theses that have been written about it, or on their website, so I will focus mainly on my experience. The fire is worth mentioning, though.

On my first day, I am inducted with the rest of the newbies. The visitor host, Khan (named after Genghis), shows us around. We are shown the various gardens, the orchards, the buildings, the compost toilets. The tour ends with us planting some spring onions outside the main hall. The community hall is a rustic, rectangular structure containing a kitchen (vegetarian only), extensive library, musical instruments, personal lockers, couches, tables, and art supplies. Food is cooked using a wood burner oven, which also heats the hot water for the shower. The fire is lit at 7 am and usually burns until past 9 pm. Herbs are hung upside down next to the fire to dry, destined to be brewed in tea or sold at the roadside stall on State Highway 25.

[Caption: Herbs drying in the community hall]

My accomodation is a metal shed which contains a bunk bed (long-term residents live in the houses, visitors sleep in cabins or tents or vehicles). I share the shed with a 22-year-old Australian man named Bryce. Over the month we live together, we become good friends. The shed is crawling with cockroaches and it becomes part of our nightly ritual to evict as many of them as possible using a jar. As soon as they are thrown outside they start coming back in through cracks in the walls. Cockroaches like to crawl on you during the night, and I regularly wake up in the night and turn on my torch to find myself surrounded. At times like these I simply read until the sun comes up and I can get out of bed. By week four, the sleep deprivation is really getting to me.

[Caption: A compost toilet and a cabin for sleeping (left to right)]

Every weekday morning at 8 am we meet in the community hall for porridge and the morning meeting. The main purpose of the morning meeting is to decide who will do what jobs that day. The work is varied and interesting, involving much more than just gardening: there is building and maintenance work, roads to be fixed, community lunch to be cooked (using food foraged from the gardens), a roadside stall to be manned, administration to be done, firewood to be chopped. Planting and harvesting is planned based on the phases of the moon and the solstices and such. At 1.30 pm every day, a massive bell outside the hall is rung by whoever made lunch that day and everyone finishes their work and eats together.

My first experience of the “lunch circle” is a bit of a culture shock. Everyone forms a circle and holds hands. Thankfulness is expressed. “Thank you for helping me today in the Dolphin Beds,” says one hippie to his helper that day. “Thanks for brushing your teeth,” says another to his girlfriend who stands slightly outside of the circle, brushing her teeth. Then announcements are made, and finally, when everyone simultaneously senses the moment is right, hands are lifted with a universal cry of “WOOOOO!” Then lunch is served. After what is sometimes up to five minutes of someone sweating into my hands, I always have to scurry off to wash my hands before lunch, so I am always last in line.

[Caption: The kitchen and the table where food is served]

The food is always incredibly good. Eating a diet of mainly fresh and seasonal produce is highly beneficial for physical health, and it gets me thinking about food — its effects on the mind, body, and spirit. Food is one of the most important needs of the human animal, after water but before shelter and fire. After a few weeks of eating food grown on the land I am living on, I begin to understand something J.R.R. Tolkein once allegedly said, according to C.S. Lewis:

❝ Tolkien once remarked to me that the feeling about home must have been quite different in the days when the family had fed on the produce of the same few miles of country for six generations, and that perhaps this was why they saw nymphs in the fountains and dryads in the wood — they were not mistaken for there was in a sense a real, not metaphorical connection between them and the countryside. What had been earth and air and later corn, and later still bread, really was in them. We of course who live on a standardised international diet — you may have had Canadian flour, English meat, Scotch oatmeal, African oranges, and Australian wine today — are really artificial beings and have no connection, save in sentiment, with any place on earth. We are synthetic men, uprooted. The strength of the hills is not ours. ❞

Time passes differently at Wilderland. It takes me about two weeks to adjust to the rhythm and the silence. In the afternoons after work I bathe in the rock pools or kayak in the estuary or try to learn a dusty accordian in the hall or do any number of other wholesome activities. Poetry club happens on Wednesdays. Every second Thursday is pizza night (cooked in the outdoor woodfire pizza oven). Every Friday night is Meat Club — a group of meat enthusiasts pitch in for some sausages and steaks from the Whitianga butcher and cook it outside on a fire far away from the hall, paired with lots of cheap red wine (another contraband). On the weekends everyone does their own thing — I spend mine exploring.

It is worth mentioning the stars. Being treated to blazing constellations every night with no sound but the morepork feels like a massive privilege. But it shouldn’t be. For thousands of years, humans looked to the stars to find meaning and our general lack of ability to do that nowadays is one reason why we are so spiritually impoverished. Bright stars are an innate human need and light pollution has taken that away from us.

As a layperson, my understanding of permaculture increases slowly. One day, I am working with Khan and he says something that connects a lot of dots for me. “Permaculture gardens are like tiny forests. There are tall things and short things and things that exist mainly underground. There is a throbbing animal and insect life and there is mycelium, a brain that connects everything like the internet. There is biodiversity. There are bees. And everything works together in the same way as a forest.”

[Caption: The Dolphin Beds — apparently a dolphin was buried here once]

[Caption: Hina Hina, where a famous battle took place in the 1860s]

On my first Friday morning, I have another culture shock. One of the strange traditions in this place is to have a “Dialogue” every Friday morning from 9 am until 10 am before work. In theory the Dialogue is an open platform where anything can be discussed, in reality though the main topics that get discussed at the Dialogue are “What is the Dialogue?” and “Why don’t we replace the Dialogue with x?” No one really knows what it is for. Newbies are thrown in the deep end and long-term residents regard it as sacred and any attempt to abolish or replace it as subterfuge. Emotions run high. People storming out is common, crying is common, and cigarettes are smoked afterwards.

[Footnote: Like any isolated community, Wilderland has its own unique politics. I adopted the renegade view of “Dialogue Abolitionist.” I suggested that a much healthier way of purging the tension of the group would be to have a fight club, but this was not well-received.]

It is my last day. Apparently I can’t just leave. Everyone gives me a hug; I am the recipient of several group hugs. A jar of local honey is pressed into my hands, entreaties are made for me to return. I realise that like the plants I helped to cultivate, I have roots here now.

[Caption: Saying goodbye]

What is Wilderland? Is it a hippie commune? An eco-village? A cult? It is none of those things, really. I see it as more of an educational community. It models self-sufficiency, although it is partially reliant on the outside world. It models anarchism on a micro level. It teaches the patience of permaculture to a world drowning in Roundup. Most of it all, it clearly demonstrates what is possible. It is no secret that dairy farms are causing Aotearoa excessive droughts. Importing and exporting and transporting food exacerbates the climate crisis and makes us reliant on the global economy (which as Covid has shown, is frighteningly fragile). Wilderland proves that things could be better. For 56 years, Wilderland has represented a choice — the possibility of a better world where nature is worshipped and humans have freedom.

[Caption: Scarecrows]

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allen-d-rivers · 7 years

Text

Imitates Art

Beginning of my latest project. Hopeful to pitch it to publishers after this current round of submissions. Thoughts?

By the end of this story I will either be dead or imprisoned for the rest of my natural life.

And I’ll deserve it, too.

There will be no injustice, simply consequences for the atrocities I have committed. Things that are heinous. Things that are vile.

Unspeakable, even.

Some claim that all writing is autobiographical. That, to a degree, everything the author writes comes from experience, whether it be a character, place, story, or observation. This book is autobiographical in that sense.

But also another.

We think of autobiographies as creative works spawned from a lived life, but what if the inverse is also be true? Perhaps sometimes, it is the art that creates the artist.

Art is what makes us human, after all. Without our imagination, our ability to create alternate realities, we’re just the same as any other animal. Miring in simplicity, there would only be the mundane, with existential suffering the sole respite.

Art is what sets us free.

It keeps us entertained. Inspired. Fulfilled. It provides us purpose and individuality. Identity. It even allows artists to live beyond their physical years.

Everyone wants that taste of immortality.

Even if it’s a knock-off brand.

I may die for my expression. Others already have. Their bodies have been butchered, mutilated; the savagery an intricate detail of a beautiful process. In death they have become a part of something so much more magnificent. Once this production is completed, regardless of the consequences, it will all be worth it. Every horrific thing I’ve done will be absolutely worth it.

There is no art without sacrifice, after all.

She’s looking at me amorously, lashes fluttering as she bats her eyelids up and down in an intentionally slow motion. Her eyes are locked onto me, honed in on every movement, waiting for every word, but she looks dazed, in a dream-like state.

It’s the type of look you’re flattered to receive but ashamed to enjoy.

I stand in front of the class and wonder what the hell I’m doing here. Tall and skinny, my suit billows around me, wafting with every motion, somehow the correct size and baggy at the same time. My tie is too tight, so much so that it feels like I’m choking, and my glasses just won’t seem to stay on straight.

What am I doing here?

Sure, I had signed on to adjunct this course. Yes, it was research for the next novel, and of course I had a lesson plan for the class…

But I’m no professor.

Even as Melody Brooks, the curvy brunette Junior stares at me, plugging me into her hot for teacher fantasy, I do not fit the role of professor. I did not go through a rigorous Ph.D program; I’ve never taught a course in my life.

I’m just a writer.

A New York Times Bestseller of transgressive fiction, gory and grotesque works at that, but a writer of books all the same. If you tear away the titles, labels, the fanfare, we’re all just human deep down.

Well, most of us.

I walk back and forth in front of the classroom, surveying the bored and distant faces of my students. I am surprised to see that they look incredibly young. I’m barely in my thirties but this crowd looks wide-eyed and babyfaced. I’m supposed to feel out of place, intimidated even, but the sight before me eases my woes.

“Write what you know” is a principle nugget of wisdom used by many writers. Fiction is more engaging and authentic when it’s been seasoned by real thoughts and experiences. My latest novel is about a college professor, Thomas Murrow, a stuffy pompous type from a privileged background. He’s been a refined egghead all of his life, and currently is residing in his ivory tower, but soon something else rises to the surface.

Something savage.

My last two books, while commercially successful, have been panned by critics as hollow, inaccessible, inauthentic, and too sparse. They say the books lack a “genuine voice.” Thus, I contacted my alma mater, the University of Drayton. I offered to adjunct a course, one per semester, nothing intensive, just a way to dip my feet in and experience the life of a professor.

I write a phrase on the whiteboard, a light thumping noise echoing throughout the room as I construct the letters, underlining the phrase when I am finished. There are fifteen students in my class, and I will attempt to learn the names of a handful, the types that distinguish themselves as memorable.

If life was a book, would you be a named character?

Would you be mentioned at all?

“The first line of a novel is the most important,” I read the words in a cliffhanger tone. I survey the sea of faces in the classroom, each staring to me in one of two ways. A few are interested, leaning forward, lips pursed together and brows furrowed. A majority of the students choose the second option, vaguely glancing my way with glazed, glossed over eyes; attention as a mere formality.

I pace back and forth. I stare at the faces with an air of challenge to my expression.

The first line is the most important in a novel because it’s the baited hook. It’s what captures the reader or lets them slip away. People won’t read stories that don’t interest them, that don’t speak to them right away, so it’s imperative to begin the book with an intriguing message or description.

The students stare at me. One lets out a yawn.

While the hook is very important, it is nothing without some line to keep reeling the reader in. If the hook is followed by fluff, unnecessary description and needlessly long words, it’s practically literary masturbation.

Is that writing done for the audience or the author?

A student snickers at the word masturbation used in an academic setting. The metaphor catches the attention of a few of them, whose eyes shoot open in surprise.

A student raises her hand. She’s a blond and reveals her name to be Leah. She asks me, in a soft and timid tone, if any writer can truly create art. If the practice is not purely subjective.

Postmodernism at its finest.

I tell her that art is certainly subjective, as everything is, but within subjectivity is a form of consensus, a type of hive mind if you will, where certain techniques and works strike a chord with an array of hearts, truly touching humanity. In this way, the artist has engrained themselves within the viewer in a meaningful way, changing their perspective or outlook, in their own sense, becoming part of the viewer.

A good book never leaves us, after all.

The girl appears unconvinced but nods, biting her lip and not following up her question. It’s a topic we will get to in time, and I make a mental note of Leah’s name. She may prove herself worthy enough to end up in a book one day.

I scan the room and see that some students have offered me their attention, however, there are others who still slack. In particular, the scruffy kid in the second row, who taps away at his phone while barely bothering to hide it. His hair is oily and greasy, draping down in limp curls over his pudgy face. If I were pressed to describe him in one of my books, I’d call him doughy and forgettable.

I remove a pen from my shirt pocket and walk over to him, twirling it in my fingers. The smile on my face is warm, soft, and welcoming; the type of look one would reserve for an old friend. I slam my hand down upon his desk and he jumps.

He looks up at me, face lit with surprise, and opens his mouth to apologize, a harebrained excuse en route just as I cut him off.

By stabbing him in the throat with my pen.

This is called a tonal shift.

I drive the fountain pen (solid metal and with the finest of ink, no expense spared) into the zit-pocked nape of his neck. He lets out a stunted cry, the sound of violin strings snapping, as I sever his jugular. The screams of his classmates rise around me in a chorus.

I seize hold of his shoulder, fingers digging into his shirt, and rip the pen from his neck. A rush of blood sprays out, a line of it shooting across the aisle and dousing another student. She cries out and falls from her desk to the floor, wiping her face like a maniac.

The student (Gary, I believe his name is) lets out a wet choke and slaps my arms away. He falls from his seat to the floor but I’m upon him, standing over him as I drive the pen down, piercing his throat again. I grab hold of him, continually stabbing him with the pen, the side of his face and neck turning into a punctured jelly doughnut.

I stare down at the frantic, dying man, and think about how this is an excellent teaching moment for my class.

A central challenge of writing transgressive fiction is balancing the descriptions of violence and gore to the point where they are effective yet not too gratuitous as to push the reader away. For example, I could describe how, through the mutilated mess of Gary’s neck muscles, I can see his ravaged artery flapping as blood squirts out of it. While this detail would be powerful to describe the pure intensity of the scene and truly convey the utter savagery of my action, it would be ill-advised since it borders on the grotesque, a move that would simply be gore for gore’s sake.

Gary flops around like a fish out of water, splashing in the blood pooled around him, leaving streaky hand and shoe prints on the floor. His face is a torn and ragged palate. I take a moment to appreciate just how much damage I’ve done with a simple writing instrument.

The pen is mightier than the sword, after all.

The students are shrieking. Gary’s breaths are shallow. He looks to me, his eyes glazed and listless, a bubble of blood caught on his lips. His complexion is pallor, his ghostly white skin staunchly juxtaposed by the dark puddle growing around him. I stand over him, leaning down for our final exchange.

“Use of technology for social media purposes in class is expressly forbidden,” I say.

Gary stares at me.

I drive the pen into his eye and erase Gary from existence. His body jolts before going rigid. A final wheeze of air slips out from his lips before he exits the world.

I stare down at my body. My hands and suit are stained with blood, My hair is wild with gore. I must look like some kind of psychopath.

I clear my throat, regain my composure, and turn to face the rest of the class.

“Now it’s time to cover the syllabus,” I announce.

#amwriting #writing #creative writing #author authorlife reading book

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