I think a good thing about being away from social media though is just caring so much less about all the internet argument stuff. It’s so much less stressful just focusing on me and my health and the people close to me.

Especially with AI stuff. Of course I don’t agree with it scraping from artists but I love when artists reclaim it as a tool and I think it should be used as such. You can’t stop a program from existing, it’s useless. But you can make guidelines to ensure it’s uses are ethical and practical — basically to make jobs easier and not over-work artists, not to replace them.

I think there’s so much to still work-out in that regard, obviously.

Another thing that used to stress me out was those “press 3 buttons to save my pet” videos. I always try to do the copy link think and get interactions up but it started triggering me my anxiety which wasn’t good. Have you guys experienced that, and how did you deal with it? /gen

Late Stage Swiftgron Part 1

Update from November 2021 - I really don’t believe much of this is meaningful at all.  I don’t think they’re sitting around referencing one another on social media or anything but some of Dianna’s interactions with Karlie are interesting Dianna shows up explicitly in Taylor’s life a couple more times so I’m leaving these sections here.;

From here on out everything but the 2014 AMAs and Dianna’s somewhat shocking appearance at Taylor’s 2019 SNL performance are just odd social media shenanigans (or subtweets) between the two, and Taylor appearing to release at least one more song about Dianna (Babe in 2018) (and let’s be honest you can make a strong argument for The 1 being about Dianna as well other post 1989 songs.)

Some of this might be complete crack or coincidence but as you all know I want this to be the most thorough Swiftgron document possible.  

If anything it proves they both certainly still have similar interests and they really do seem to be in touch.

There are some interactions claimed by others to be Swiftgron related that I’m not going to include because they’re just a bit too reachy for me (though I completely support the theorizing!) but in general, if I personally can see the hint of a Swiftgron connection, I’m going to include it here. Draw your own conclusions and take everything, particularly the alleged subtweets/social media shenanigans, with a grain of salt.

And yes there’s tons of Kaylor and other Gaylor/Gaygron content that will be left out of this segment because this masterpost is focused on Swiftgron.  Someday it would be cool to make a giant masterpost/timeline that documents all of it, but for now it’s just going to be Swiftgron stuff. August 26, 2014 - Dianna tweets, and then deletes “Withdrawals, clearly…we had fun.” 

There’s no screen shot of this tweet but some retweets/responses of it remain:

If Dianna is indeed referencing the song Clean (in which their relationship is compared to an addiction hence, “withdrawals” from it) then Taylor would have had to give her advanced knowledge of the song since 1989 did not come out until October 2014.

Taylor did claim she ran 1989 by the muse that inspired it and they were both in LA in late August 2014. Maybe this is when.

November 1, 2014 - Taylor posts about Clean

November 19, 2014 - The 2014 AMAs Kaylorgron Explosion Extravaganza:

Taylor, Karlie, and Dianna are at the event.  Taylor and Karlie are clearly on a date and Dianna is there to present Sam Smith’s performance of I’m not the only one.  Dianna seems a bit out of her element/gloomy when interviewed on the red carpet and Taylor flexes Karlie hard, dancing with her throughout the night and even sitting on her lap during an interview.

Click here for photos, video, gifs, and a live L chat reaction to the night.

December 28, 2014 - The writer for the tv show The Originals, Carina Mackenzie, tweeted that 1989 was about Dianna:

It’s of course notable that someone in the industry is “confirming” Swiftgron on main (particularly before gaylor went mainstream with Kaylor being so obvious in 2015/2016) however what’s even more interesting and notable about this tweet is that an actor named Michael Trevino was on the show The Originals and he dated Jenna Ushkowitz from 2011-2014.

Not only that but Michael was at Dianna’s 26th birthday when Taylor was in attendance as well.

It’s possible that Michael witnessed Swiftgron in real life and spilled a bit to the writer of the TV show he was on.

January 5, 2015 - Taylor likes a Swiftgron related post on Tumblr of Dianna saying she’d go on the road with Taylor and carry her bags at the Giffoni Film Festival in 2012:

February 9, 2015 - Style is released as a single

February 13, 2015 - The Kaylor “Best Friends” on a road trip Vogue Spread comes out.  You’re probably familiar with it but if you aren’t google it.  It’s incredibly romantic and pda filled.

The Style music video is released on this day as well.

We don’t have to go through the whole video but one egg I just have to note is the cave pictured in the MV is in Morocco the same country Dianna seemed to flee to after Swiftgron was outed:

February 14, 2015 - Dianna tweets 143 remember those days (for some reason it has not been deleted) seemingly in response to the Kaylor vogue shoot:

143 is a code that means “I love you” that originated from Mister Rogers.  Both Taylor and Dianna have publicly shown that they are fans of his.  Taylor has even made certain songs 3 minutes and 41 seconds long seemingly referring to this number and wore a Mister Rogers pin on a jacket for a photoshoot once.

Here’s a bit more in depth analysis on the significance of the 143 post.

This tweet is how we know that it is 100% in Dianna’s character to occasionally subtweet Taylor and why a lot of this social media analysis has been done.  

February 16, 2015 - Just two days later Dianna attends a fashion show in which Karlie walks and is noted to “have kept a smirk on her face” during.  Dianna doesn’t clap at the end of the show and looks miserable in photos of the event:

February 17, 2015 - Taylor releases Wonderland

I’m going to pause here and discuss the song Wonderland for a brief moment because it is some of the most incredibly airtight evidence for Swiftgron available.

Dianna’s favorite book of all time is Alice in Wonderland.  She brought it up in interviews all the time, tweeted about it, auctioned off a signed copy of it for charity, her private Tumblr and instagram account are called whosirmesir which is a reference to it, her private Tumblr is filled with reblogs about Alice, and her public Tumblr was called fell down the rabbit hole.

So the fact that Taylor writes an entire song describing a relationship through the lens of and packing full of references to Alice in Wonderland is incredibly interesting.

Let’s take a look at some of these lyrics:

Flashing lights and we, took a wrong turn and we Fell down the rabbit hole (literally Dianna’s tumblr name and url)

Didn't you flash your green eyes at me (Dianna is famous for her beautiful almost hypnotic green eyes and yes they are green)

Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds (queer coded)

Too in love to think straight (queer coded)

But there were strangers watching And whispers turned to talking And talking turned to screams (seems to reference when they were outed) You searched the world for something else (Dianna very publicly went travelling around the world right after April 2013 when they seem to break up)

Taylor literally put Dianna’s Tumblr URL in the song.  Frankly I’m kind of shocked she released this song at all it is so obviously and clearly about Dianna.  Truly a Swiftgron anthem!

Back to the timeline...

March 8, 2015 - Taylor posts Flamingos for her dad’s birthday:

The caption was “Happy Birthday, Dad. Thanks for all the unconditional love, sarcastic comments, and interesting Christmas presents.”

May 1, 2015 - Dianna posts a flamingo for her birthday (post is now deleted):

The caption was “This is 29. Spoiled rotten. Funny enough, at work they were painting the hallways white and the roses (hallway doors) red, then I actually went to Wonderland (@AliceUnderLdn) and came home to a surprise flamingo. Here we go. Another year around the sun…feeling lucky and loved and loved and lucky.”

Taylor also gave Emily, another rumored ex, a flamingo bandana for her birthday.  i also think it’s odd that Dianna mentions Wonderland specifically in the post.

January 15, 2016 - Dianna’s engagement to Winston is announced and Kaylors notice Taylor is liking sad posts on Tumblr including several posts related to Clean:

November 7, 2016 - Lorde’s birthday party where Kaylor is together in public for the last time for 20 months.

January 5, 2017 - Claire (who is still very close with Taylor) comments on one of Dianna’s Instagram posts):

March 2, 2017 - Dianna posts her James Dean inStyle UK photo to Instagram:

This is actually the second time she has posted this as a throwback photo.  She also posted it on February 4, 2016 with simply the caption “TBT” and did not include the “rebel without a clue” bit which is a reference to James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause). She’s never posted the same TBT photo twice before or after this (as of the writing of this post in October 2020).

It I may be permitted to go real far out on a limb here it’s almost as if she wanted people to connect that photo of her in the UK InStyle magazine to James Dean.  James Dean is of course the way Taylor describes her lover in the song Style.  

At any rate it’s very odd that it’s the only photo she’s posted twice whether it’s related to Taylor or not.

April 25, 2017 - Fans notice Dianna is having her script tattoo removed:

This is significant because a part of the tattoo was dedicated to Alice in Wonderland - it said “We’re all mad here” 

Tattoo removal is a years long process:

So it’s possible she started getting it removed around the time that Wonderland came out.

It’s also possible part of the tattoo was dedicated to Lea (the part that said “here I am”) so this whole removal situation is very interesting.

In 2019 she was still getting it removed and commented this at a Cafe Carlyle session:

"i was like i don't know i wanna explain all my tattoos or the one that i'm getting removed on my side...you know you're like...WHATEVER we're stopping we're moving on"

February 13, 2018 - Dianna attends the Carolina Herrera fashion show, so does Karlie. Dianna is introduced to Karlie by Derek Blasberg and very audibly calls Karlie “gorgeoouusss” as they meet. 

Kayda play “Gorgeous” by Taylor Swift.

Click here to keep reading!

if it’s not too intrusive, how do put out so much content? i’m not too familiar with the things you’re involved in but i assume you’re a busy person and as a fellow writer myself, it’s hard being a full time student and putting out content. inspiration never strikes unless it’s the most inconvenient time for me and when i do find a good time to write, it’s literally impossible to think of something.

specifically with TB&TB do you already have all these chapters lined up so you’re ahead of ur actual posting schedule? or do u start a new chapter after posting one and u manage to finish it before a week passes? do you have a set schedule you stick to or you write whenever you can? i know giving people advice when it comes to timing and writing is hard but are there any tips you have on being consistently active on tumblr while balancing several other things?

obviously writers have their own individualized schedules, and i really try to post when i can, but i take such long breaks in between each post that engagement decreases and decreases each time. as a consequence, my motivation to write declines too. there are so many times i question why i even continue to write for tumblr. i’m sure this happens to you all the time but what do you do to not lose motivation or how do u pull yourself out of that lull?

thank you so so so much in advance

Not too intrusive at all! So, firstly, I am an attorney who works a standard 9-5 job M-F. I personally find this schedule easier for writing than a full time student. However, I did write when I was a full time law school student and had a legal job.

Inspiration is the biggest block, I think. I completely understand it only happening when it really shouldn’t. The biggest thing for me is that when I get to a point where it is a good time to write, I literally just write, even if I don’t want to. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s how most authors operate. You can always go back and edit something bad, but you can’t work off nothing.

It’s an unsatisfying answer, but it is the one most authors give: Write it badly.

For TB&TB, I have up to Part 19 outlined. Up until this week I usually had a pretty good head-start before the weekend. This time I am running a bit behind, although if I have a good writing day tomorrow, I’ll do just fine. I like having fics ready to go, but it’s hard work to maintain a schedule like that.

I write on my lunch breaks, when I get home, and on my weekends. I try to write every day for something (even just a couple words). I read my old work and edit if I’m not in the mood, because it reminds me of mistakes or old phrases. It gets things moving again (you can read other works, too!). Other ideas for helping get in the mood to write are talking to other writers/fans or listening to music, watching the source material, etc etc. Whatever works for you.

But at the end of the day, the key to consistency in writing and posting is just doing it. It’s a terrible answer, but it’s the truth. My friends always hear me say “I don’t want to write, but I should.” I usually end up enjoying myself, but sometimes its just hard. We all have days like that.

As for tumblr... The fandom is dying out in a substantial way. Fic writers who used to get 1k notes easy are maxing out at like 500 on a good day. You aren’t alone there, and you shouldn’t base your worth or your skill on that. I know what you mean, though. It’s hard to be motivated when it feels like no one will care. If it helps, Archive of Our Own is MUCH better suited for long breaks between updates.

If you ever need someone to hype you up, all writers are always welcome to my Discord. We talk about prompt ideas, hype each other up, post previews, etc. It really helped me stay engaged with the fandom, even as people cycle in and out.

I know this isn’t a very helpful answer, lol, so I’m sorry. But I hope it did something! I’m sorry you’re having a hard time. I know the feeling well.

Padme Amidala part one; why did the madonna/whore complex give this woman sharpshooting skills?

This is going to be part one of a two part post about the star wars prequel films (sorry in advance about that), specifically Padme and her role as the only important female character in the 90s triliogy. This post will talk about the first two films, and the next post will talk about the third and final film. Keep in mind that I did not see the prequel films until I was an adult (which is kind of weird, since the prequels have a lot more kid oriented jokes (from C3PO getting assembled wrong on the assembly line in film two and making a series of bad puns to everything about jar jar binks (which, as a side note, YIKES we dont stan racist comedy here, but the "humor" with him was clearly directed at kids)). That being said I think the three films over all are a hilarious product of the 90s and I'm not trying to start discourse about wether they're objectively good or bad-- they are both, and that's okay. What I'm interested in is Padme. The "Madonna"/"Whore" dicotemy is a freudian idea. I don't neccisarily believe that it happens with all men in real life, and I certainly don't think we should excuse it in real life, but I DO think it is previlant in writing, and the way female characters are written (both presently and in the past). The madonna/whore dicotemy basically boils down to the idea that men view women either as "good" virtuous people (the madonna, a maternal figure and an eternal virgin) whom they love but could never sexualize, OR as sexually interesting companions (the whore), whome they desire but could never love. This of course, in the real world is a bullshit excuse for putting women into patriarical boxes based on their outwards apperance and if any man ever gives you "well now I genuinely care about you so I feel like I can't sexualize you" it's time to go because that sexualization inherently included violence if he's now worried about thinking like that around you. There is plenty of feminist literature written about this concept and I highly reccomend a look into it because it's fascinating (try starting with even just the abstract for this paper: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-04940-001). However! What I'm here to talk about today is how writers unconciously use this dicotemy with their female characters, and why, specifically, when Padme gets graduated from Madonna to Whore in Attack of the Clones, she suddenly knows how to fight when she couldn't before. My aim is not to conclusively say why, because I've been analyzing these films for the past couple days and I still have no idea why, but rather just to bring the question up, and provide evidence, as it is a fascinating phenonmeon of the 90s that I feel many female characters got treated to (with Padme as a prime example). Lets talk about Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and the Madonna/ Whore. In Phantom Menace we're introduced to Padme (Natalie Portman) as an intellegent diplomat. When she's not done up in her planet's traditional leader's dress, she's in long sleeved simple dresses, tights and braids. She wears natural make up in her "maid disguise" for which she is in ninty percent of the film, and in the famously creepy "tucking in anakin" scene she is for some reason in the whole royal maid getup which includes gloves and covering her hair. Cultural modesty for the royal maids was written in to the worldbuilding, but it seems to have been done larely so that they could get away with having Natalie Portman play young Padme in this film and not be "sexy" until film two in which she is teenage Padme. Padme plays an extremely maternal role for Anakin in Phantom Menace, from physically protecting him to the aformentioned tuck in scene at 1:19:30 where she quite literally tucks him in for bed. This of course has been analyzed all to hell already as exceedingly WEIRD because the two eventually marry and have children together (so the freud analysis here is valid). We'll take a quick break for a digression here on Padme's age. I've refered to her in Phantom Menace as "young Padme", but realistically she is just Portman minus the makeup she's allowed to wear in later films. We know that she's the "child-ruler" of her nation, but she also realistically feels like she's in her early teens in Phantom Menace, and is certainly treated like an adult by her peers; we see her throughout the film making decisions on foriegn policy, wartime politics and wartime sacrifices. Anakin was most definietly a child in the first film, and was replaced by an adult actor in the subsequent films as his character aged, and this difference makes it feel like there's a very large and very weird age gap between the two characters. But fully back to the matter at hand, Padme is a very maternal, modest character in Phantom Menace both in apperance and in dialouge, and she clearly establishes that she views Anakin as a child. In Attack of the Clones, when the romance plotline starts, suddenly Padme is allowed to be sexy (by 90s standards anyways). She gets jewlery, she gets makeup, and she gets a whole lot more ARMS and shoulders showing that she was previously allowed (specifically see 44:30 when they travel back to Naboo). Of course this is to coincide with her growing up, but the fact of the matter is that Padme gets to be attractive when the script calls for Anakin to be attracted to her. There are still some traditional queenly outfits, but by the time they're ready to go rescue Obi Wan, she's in a skin tight white jumpsuit (which eventually, at 1:47:06, becomes a crop top when a monster somehow slices her back and makes her entire shirt cut in half). For the next 15 minutes we then see Natalie portman running around in a white crop top while fighting). We get such lines from Anakin as "I am in agony... if you are suffering as much as I am, please, tell me" and "we could keep it a secret" at 55:10 in a darkly lit room with Padme's weird black leather dress and gloves combo. (Yes, I know Padme tells Anakin she doesn't want a relationship with him in this scene, but the scene's whole function is to establish why society says they shouldn't be together, but why Anakin is attracted to her anyways, and for this Padme is presented to the viewer as an inherently sexual object which Anakin can't have which A) gross but B) fits into the whore achetype of characterization). In both physical presentation and characterization Padme flips to the other end of the dicotemy and Attack of the Clones now gives us Whore Padme. The other huge character change that happens at the same time for Padme is her ability to fight. In Phantom Menace she's primarily a diplomat; she has a few moments of sprinting around and brandishing a weapon, but she almost never uses it. In Attack of the Clones we get a direct quote from her at 1:36:00 that she's "not interested in getting into a war" and that she'll find a "diplomatic solution out of this mess". However she then proceeds to pick the lock to her shackles, pick up a gun she's never used before, and fight off not just monsters, but also hold her own with the literal jedi against the enroaching droids. The movie leads up to this scene in terms of their relationship, and when Padme admits to Anakin that she loves him too she is somehow also graced with the ability to fight. Again, I'm not really sure why; my best guess is that the other female love interests of the 90s were extremely capable women (ie. good at things like fighting and even fighting in crop tops), and that the capable women who was still romantically submissive was so dominant of an archtype it just bled into her charactization without any writer stopping to consider that she's never cannonically been trained to fight like the jedi characters and therefor should be way out of her depth in this battle. I'm all for female character who are physically strong and capable (obviously), but having her develop fighting skills as a side effect of wearing sexier outfits is very weird writing. Padme of course goes back to falling off things and needing saving during the climax of the film and indeed she'll do it again in film three, but for this moment of romantic tension finally resolved and Padme fulling moving from motherly figure to sexy love interest, she can suddenly fight. Food for thought and I'd love to hear any suggestions as to why you think it might be.

Wynonna Earp 1x05 Digging Up Bones

Spoilers disclaimer (please read before sending messages or writing comments.)

Stray thoughts

1) Does Wynonna have prophetic dreams like Buffy? I mean, she’s obviously haunted by her dad’s and sister’s deaths, but I can’t help but think there must be some underlying meaning to her nightmares…

2) #same

And something about the camera angle and the lighting gives this scene a dream-like quality? Is she still dreaming?

3) Ugh this dude is still there?

Well, I guess not any more…

4) 😊

I love how distracted Wynonna is by looking at Dolls because, let’s be real, who wouldn’t?

5) I’m guessing Wynonna has some kind of history with this judge guy.

6) What do you know, Purgatory is as corrupted as Sunnydale or Neptune. But at least Dolls knows how to play the game.

7) See? They are a Scooby Gang!

DOLLS: Waverly will stake the place out during the raid and photograph anyone she sees. Doc will come down, see if he recognizes anyone - from the old days.

8)

WYNONNA: Aw, there's a little rebel in there.

DOLLS: Not that little.

9) The creepy-crawler dude has it out for Doc, but like, Doc only did what Bobo ordered him to?

10) I feel Wynonna not playing by the rules is going to be both her saving grace and her downfall in this journey. For instance, she pushed the situation at the trailer park until she got what she wanted – she got Bobo arrested. But Bobo saw Waverly taking pictures, and we know Bobo has a special place in his heart for Waverly…

11) I agree with Dolls, though. Wynonna will have to learn when to play by the rules and when to break them. She needs to learn to walk that thin line because if she doesn’t, it could backfire.

12) Holy shit, this scene!

My heart was thumping during their whole exchange, it was so tense and scary. For the first time, I was legit terrified of Bobo and what he could do. I mean, I don’t think there was much he could do (although I suspect he could’ve broken free if he’d wanted to, he was probably just being smart and trying to play nice.) But just the way he stared at Waverly and talked to her and pointed at her? CHILLS.

And this?

WAVERLY: Why, when I was little, did you choose me to manipulate? Huh? Because I was gullible? Weak?

BOBO: Weak is something you've never been. I chose you because you were angry.

WAVERLY: I wasn't angry.

BOBO: You sure?

WAVERLY: I'm not, OK?

BOBO: You've got depths that neither of us know the bottom of yet. Trust me.

What will be these depths Bobo is talking about?

13) WHAT THE FUCK!!! HOW DID HE DO THAT!!!

Like, he couldn’t use it, but damn if he didn’t prove a point! And what type of superpowers does he have? And WHY? What makes him more special than the rest of the revenants? Is it the fact that he knows the name of the Stone Witch?

14)  Miss Stone? Is she the Stone Witch????

15) Wynonna just got kidnapped by a revenant and guess which is the dynamic duo coming to the rescue?

16) If it wasn’t the judge the one who tipped Bobo off about the raid, then who was it? There were only so many people who knew it was going down, right?

17) So this guy conveniently knows who The Seven are? He even has photographic evidence? And he’s Doc’s bestie, apparently?

18) Is Bobo being… abused?

19) She’s definitely the Stone Witch. Constance or Clootie or Miss Stone.

20) Okay…

This was some twisted fifty shades of weird stuff. What type of relationship do they have? He’s suggested he has some power because he knows the Stone Witch’s real name, which is why he’s the only one who can leave the Ghost River triangle limits. So I assumed that gave him some power over her, but it seems he’s totally submissive in their relationship? And what did she mean when she said that she could “hear them”? I don’t think she’s talking about the revenants…

21) How did Wynonna not realize that this dude was gay? Like, he was drooling over Doc. Then again, who wouldn’t be? Also, I really love the implications that Doc probably knew about his sexuality and was supportive of him? That’s some progressive shit for the Far West…

22) She keeps staring at his lips as he talks and I’m here for this shit…

23) “Earps. Always trying to cut filthy little deals whenever it suits them.” Is he talking about Wynonna’s father? And what type of filthy deal did he cut? Will we find out?

24) Oh, this fucking dude is channeling her father’s voice! That’s messed up!

25) This reminded me of Buffy in When She Was Bad…

26) Creepy Crawler Dude was the photographer! Does this mean that Doc knew who he was when he pushed him over the limits and tied him up? Like, he met up with his old buddy and knew that he’d given his soul mate a death sentence and didn’t say anything?

27) Did this dude really think he’d remind Wynonna of what they’d done to her sister and she’d let him live?

28) Ha!

It’s science.

Favorite out-of-context line.

29) Hahaha I died! The boobs didn’t work, Doc had to flirt with the ladies!

30) Dolls stopped playing by the rules when the judge insulted Wynonna. And is the judge a fucking child molester? I hope someone gets to cut his dick off.

31) I couldn’t take this scene seriously because of his fucking face hahahaha!

Did she put a spell on him or something?

32) Okay, Doc didn’t know that Levi was Fish’s partner. That makes me feel better about him chaining him up.

33) Eeewwww he chewed off his foot????

I thought he’d just cut it off!

And I just realized maybe that was barely any better.

34) Will this give Wynonna a different perspective on revenants?

I mean, how can it not?

I really love this idea that not all revenants are psychopathic criminals, and that some were people who made poor choices in life. It cannot be all black or white, and I think this will probably be one of the toughest lessons Wynonna will have to learn.

She’s gonna kill them and I’m not ready for it.

35) What the fuck is her deal?

Who are her boys? What is this “lead” she’s promised Bobo? And why is she scared of Doc? It didn’t seem that way when they met earlier��

36) holY FUCJJLASLDJLAD

I literally spent 5 minutes rewatching that scene… It really caught me off guard, and I was so caught up in what they were talking about because it felt like a defining moment for both of them, you know? Wynonna coming to the realization that she cannot be driven only by revenge, and that she needs to face the fact that not all revenants are demons; Doc defining himself as a monster and embracing his thirst for revenge, even though it seems he’s blaming Constance for a choice he made? And then Doc saying that he and Wynonna are exactly the same… and then… yeah, that was a defining moment for both of them, alright...

Damn, that was hot. I think it’s going on my Epic First Kisses list. Damn. I need to watch that again, excuse me.

I really didn’t expect them to go there this soon into the show? Like, the chemistry between Wynonna and Doc was obviously off the charts, but I thought the writers might want to milk the UST for a while before getting them together? Or maybe they would keep the sexual tension unresolved?

And now I’m freaking out because I fear it might be a one-time thing? Please don’t let it be a one-time thing.

37) Why was Doc in that well, by the way? Did I miss it or hasn’t it been explained yet?

38) Oh shit…

That’s probably the last picture of the Earp sisters together, isn’t it?

39) OH FUCK

So it was the fucking child molester the one who tipped off Bobo!!

40) Now that was some an episode alright! The plot advanced A LOT: we saw the face of the Stone Witch and learned a little bit more about her relationship with Bobo – although I still have so many questions! Waverly confronted Bobo and he hinted at her having some powers, we’re learning more about the involvement of the authorities in covering up the revenants and their dirty deeds, Wynonna learned that she cannot be driven by revenge and WYNONNA AND DOC FUCKING KISSED.

Also, I died!

This really felt like a pivotal episode, and I truly can’t wait to see the next one!

41) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi.Thanks!

i'm confused about the JK Rowling thing. I mean surely not every story has to represent everyone right? I get that people are upset with the way she's responding, but why were they attacking her in the first place? Is it because it's so wildly popular that people think it should be more inclusive? I can understand that, but how would she have known that in the beginning? I don't know i guess i'm clouded by my white privilege but i don't quite understand what people want from her at this point.

I know what you mean, anon. Although I’ve been part of the HP fandom on here since I first created my Tumblr account, I don’t consider myself actively involved in it (by which I mean that I avoid current topics/gossip/drama), but for years I’ve been aware of the voices of the fans questioning JKR’s lack of representation in Harry Potter. It’s exploded again recently because of the reveal of Nagini as a person (more specifically, a Korean woman) in the new FBAWTFT film and there’s a post here that you can read that explains that. 

Warning, discussion below on sensitive topics regarding representation of minorities, race/racism, sexuality/homophobia, disability and colonialism. 

Firstly, you are right that no story has to represent everyone, because that would be impossible. The truth of it is that any writer has the agency and choice to write the characters and story they want to. Speaking from a personal perspective as someone that loves to write and is a straight, white girl with no disabilities or part of any minority group (that I’m aware of), it is significantly more challenging to write characters that are from minority groups. The reason for that is because I myself do not identify or fit into any of those labels (I can’t think of a more appropriate word, so I’m gonna stick with labels, forgive me if it’s a poor choice of word), so I don’t completely understand what it is to be gay or black or physically disabled and what if I can’t bring justice to a character that is those things? What if I offend someone that reads it that is gay, black or disabled? And these are the kind of issues that representation can pose for writers. Having said that, all of this can be resolved with one simple word - research. In my case, it’s very different because I only write for fun and recreational purposes (although there’s always a certain level of research that goes into my writing), but for a professional author, they should be working their asses off to do research to ensure they do their characters justice. 

Personally, I think concerns over representation being raised are always valid. We live in a world where there are more voices speaking out against injustices and particularly, injustices that are more subtle or that have been normalised and widely accepted, such as the lack of representation in popular culture. Having said that, I don’t agree with sending hate and/or being violent or aggressive in raising those concerns and at times, I think the HP fandom can be guilty of that. 

As I pointed out to the tags in my post, I really don’t think JKR did anything wrong in not having diverse representation in her books for a number of reasons. The most obvious reason is that she simply wrote characters that were relatable to her and that she was in touch with in her daily life. It’s important to bear in mind the context of the time in which she was writing - people, particularly young people, seem to forget how much progress has been made in such a short time and how much more liberal societies (I’m particularly referring to the UK here, since that’s where I live and JKR lives) have become over the last few decades. When I was a child I didn’t know anyone that identified as anything but straight until I was around 19/20 years old and then slowly I had friends and people around me that came out as gay, bi and pan; I didn’t meet anyone that was trans until I was 22 years old; at my school I only knew one child that was physically disabled; at my primary school there was only one child that wasn’t white. 

Obviously I can’t comment on JKR’s personal character since I don’t know her and I don’t follow her or engage with her through social media, but the lack of representation doesn’t immediately mean she’s inherently racist or homophobic or biphobic or erasing any kind of minority group deliberately. She was just writing what she knew. But what I said and you have agreed with is that she hasn’t handled things right. Her reactions to fans complaints have sometimes been childish and the Nagini incident shows that she’s grasping at straws to try and pacify people by providing them with the representation everybody is asking for, but it’s only making things worse for all the reasons the post I linked above explains. 

However, shifting away from the whole JKR drama and reflecting on what you said about white privilege - it’s a topic that I’ve been researching a lot recently for educational purposes (this is really just my opportunity to discuss an area of research I’m thoroughly enjoying and finding fascinating, so I apologise in advance if you don’t care about any of this lmao). I’m currently studying a module at university about Jim Crow in South America which is an exploration of black history in America starting from Reconstruction following the end of the Civil War right up until the 1970s (I think near the end of the module we may even touch upon Black Lives Matter). I’m also researching for my dissertation which is about experiences of African American soldiers in the Vietnam War and what’s fascinating to me through the research I’ve been doing is the construct of race and ‘whiteness’. It’s an issue that’s too complex to explain, and you may not care or be interested, but the short version is that race biologically and scientifically does not exist. There is no biological differences (except external appearances) that separate a black/brown/yellow person from a white person, it has quite literally been constructed by European white colonialists and scientists as a way to suppress people of colour, usually for economic purposes. You might be wondering why this is relevant, but it’s because until about 2-3 years ago, as a white person I had no understanding or knowledge of race and how it impacts people’s entire lives - socially, economically and politically. You’re right that white privilege clouds your judgement, particularly when it comes to issues of race, it clouds the judgement of every white person in the world, but what’s worse is that most white people don’t even recognise that white privilege exists. I see so many white people around me in my daily life and on TV (the most recent example I saw was on Celebrity Big Brother UK, which made me so angry I could create an entirely different post on that) claim “racism doesn’t exist anymore” or “this is a equal society” and it infuriates me beyond belief. White people don’t see racism because they don’t experience it and they’re not living it. 

To finish on a final point that’s relevant to your original ask, at this point you’re right that there’s nothing JKR can do to make fans happy. When a series is as popular as Harry Potter and has such a huge fan-base, there is always going to be someone complaining about some aspect of it. If it wasn’t an issue of under-representation, it would only be something else. Nothing in this world is ever perfect and there’s always room for improvement. Honestly, I think the best thing for JKR to do is leave the Harry Potter universe the hell alone. The series is not without its problems, but generally it’s so well-loved by millions of people globally and the fact that she keeps trying to add/retcon certain aspects of the universe and/or characters is what’s frustrating fans more so than anything else. She should just admit that it doesn’t have the representation it could’ve had, learn from that and in any future projects, she can be more aware to be diverse with the characters she writes. 

After finishing taping The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Emma raced out of the Ed Sullivan Theatre and made her way through Midtown to meet Karah at the legendary Strand Bookstore for a conversation with the one and only Ariel Levy:

EMMA ROBERTS: It was interesting that you said during your conversation with Emily [Nussbaum] that The Year of Magical Thinking is the bible on grief because the last time Karah and I met up and chased after a writer at an event, it was Vanessa Redgrave and Joan Didion at St. John the Divine…Early that day, I had been at a photo shoot and they were like, "You're not going to make it to your book event," and I started crying, and I said, "I have to see Joan!" And she [Karah] was waiting for me outside, and we ran in laughing. So tonight I was at Colbert and I ran here and met Karah outside, and it was a Joan moment…

ARIEL LEVY: I just think it is the coolest, best thing in the world that you're putting your weight behind books.  It just makes me so fucking happy, I can't even tell you.

EMMA ROBERTS: We literally love books. I think that's been the strongest part of our friendship. We met through mutual friends, and it was one of those things where people thought maybe we wouldn't really become that close, but we ended up becoming really close because of...

KARAH PREISS: Books.

EMMA: ... a love for reading and just wanting to learn more, read more and ... she [Karah] really imposed such a reading list on me.

ARIEL: It's such a gift to writers that you guys are like, instead of using the power of social media to sell a handbag... KARAH: Tell her. EMMA: You tell her! KARAH: We said we want to do what Kylie Jenner has done to lip kits ... EMMA: ... for books. KARAH: For books.

EMMA: Well I know you said The Year of Magical Thinking obviously influenced you, but before, even when you were a teenager, what were some books that you remember that you fell in love with, or even just ... ARIEL: When I was a teenager I read some weird things. When I was in my early twenties, or when I was in college, I was super into Grace Paley, who I still love. Grace Paley, was super important to me always. I think when I was right out of college, I was reading Jeannette Winterson…I think that may have also been when I first started reading Joan Didion, actually, like Slouching Towards Bethlehem. And also Janet Malcolm, who's now my colleague, who I worship. I think probably the first thing I read of hers would've been The Journalist and the Murderer. But my favorite Janet Malcolm book is Two Lives, about Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein. When I was at Wesleyan, there was no core curriculum, and I was very committed to having a canonical education, so I took a lot of Greek mythology and Victorian literature. But then when I was out of school is when I got ... I was really into short stories. I was really into reading short stories. I particularly love American short stories. I think we're good at that. I mean, not me, but other Americans who can make things up. EMMA: I love short stories. Would you write short stories? ARIEL: I can't. I can't think of things. I can only ... EMMA: I beg to differ after reading this book, I think you can ... ARIEL: I can only think of things ...I can't make things up. EMMA: Did it ever cross your mind to maybe rework this book into a novel and not write it as a memoir, or was it ... ARIEL: I probably should've so I wouldn't have hurt people's feelings as much, but... no, I really think of myself as a nonfiction writer. I think that's what I do. I'd feel like I was fronting if I was just like, "It's a novel!" EMMA: You'd maybe slip up in press, too. ARIEL: Yeah, I can't ... I just am not, I don't have it. Liz Strout told me that the way she writes is like a character comes to her, and she just sees it in her head and then she starts writing from that character's point of view. And Zadie Smith told me not that, but something enough close to that, that I'm like, there's a thing that is being a fiction writer, and it's not what I've got. I've got a desire to see the things in front of me and write about them, and try to convince readers that that's the world. EMMA: Yeah. Well, it's a gift. You do it really well. KARAH:  Very, very well.

ARIEL: How old are you guys? KARAH: I'm 27, and you're [pointing to Emma] 26 ... EMMA: I'm 19… ARIEL: Yeah, yeah, yeah. KARAH: I was just wondering, from when you were 20 up until now, how much have you grappled with domesticity versus ... your wild life?

ARIEL: A ton. A ton! ... in my twenties and my early thirties, that's all I thought about. I think I thought about all that stuff constantly, and I think that it's very much a human conflict, the fundamental human conflict between the desire for adventure and novelty and excitement versus the desire for stability and intimacy and safety. That's humanity ... But I think it's extra-complicated for women, because ... I think that men have been able to have both without much trouble for generations. And it's only recently that the world of adventure and being the protagonist in your own life is even available to us. So I think that this whole thing where people are like, "Can women have it all?" It's like, well no one can have it all, but the reason we're asking that about women is because, until recently, we didn't get to leave the bloody house! So of course we weren't out having adventures! Of course you didn't grow up reading stories, other than Pippi Longstocking ... it's always a boy. You had to learn how to project yourself into the male protagonist because it would be boring to always identify with the female sidekick. EMMA: Well, I think also it feels like it's being asked more and more now because ...the question is allowed to be asked louder, which is a good thing. ARIEL: I think that is a good thing, and I also think it's not untrue that being a mother is demanding in ways that are unique. Physically, for one thing. I mean, I think that pregnancy, breastfeeding, all the stuff that you have to do as a female animal as opposed to a male animal when you have an offspring, it's a different project, and it is ... just because I can't have children doesn't mean that you have to pick between being an adventurer and being a mother... all those women I was just talking about. Janet Malcolm, Joan Didion, many of my colleagues- ... they all have kids. They've all managed to do both. It just didn't work out for me. And that blows! That's a sad thing. And now I have so much extra maternal energy that I have an almost inappropriate reaction to younger women. Like, I'm like, "I want to raise you." I have a lot of extra maternal energy. EMMA:  ... you have hands that are ... like when you were talking up onstage, I was like ... ARIEL: I have the hands of a Muppet, it's true. EMMA: No, very ... comforting.

EMMA: When did you realize the title of this… ARIEL: The initial title I had in my mind was: To the Blue Sky and Back, because it was like, "to the blue sky and back adventure," but also the hotel in Mongolia was called the Blue Sky. EMMA: I love any reference to Blue. Bluets by Maggie Nelson is ... ARIEL:  Oh, it's a beautiful book. EMMA: ... the Rebecca Solnit Field Guide to Getting Lost, she talks about “the blue…” ARIEL:  And Joan Didion has Blue Nights. EMMA: Blue Nights. My eye starts twitching when I think about Blue Nights, literally. ARIEL:  But my editor convinced me, and I think she was right. She was like, "It sounds too dreamy..." Don't call it that. It's too dreamy." And I thought it was like, it should have a more aggressive title. EMMA: I also like it because The Rules Do Not Apply to some… that is actually a positive thing sometimes, like the rules don't apply to you, so it's kind of ... it's a little ironic at times, obviously in this [book]. ARIEL:  It's both. That's what I always look for with New Yorker profiles. I'm always trying to write about women who, like Edith Windsor, or Diana Nyad who swam from Cuba to Florida when she was 64 years old, just who are like ... "I'm just not going to be constrained by society's definition of women or the expectations of my gender." So I think it's a very positive thing. I mean, I don't think we'd have many of the advances we've had. You wouldn't have gay marriage, for example, if someone hadn't been like, "No, that's a bad rule. I'm not following it." But it's also the case that once you're like, "I'm free to do anything I want," you can get into the delusion that you have the power to do everything you want and that you can control things. Your life. KARAH: Well, I was going to ask you a follow-up about visionaries being narcissists, do you think that's ... ARIEL:   No. No! I don't think visionaries are narcissists, I think that it just happens to be the case that the Venn diagram of narcissism and the Venn diagram of visionaries intersects, and that they think the rules don't apply. So like Donald Trump doesn't think the rules apply to him, right? He doesn't have to tell the truth, disclose his taxes, have a press co-, he doesn't have to do anything a normal president has to do. That's bad. That's narcissism. But it's also true that Hillary Clinton thought the rules didn't apply. She was like, "I'm going to be the first woman president." So it's both a liberating, exciting, fantastic way to look at the world, and has the potential to be a perspective where you don't realize that there are limits to every life.

EMMA: I love the Lamar Van Dyke quote, you quote her in saying, where she's like, "We weren't all looking at our screens, we were actually doing stuff ..." I love that because I feel like, as much as I'm a part of social media and I like social media, and even starting this book club, social media is a huge part of it and we get that, but there is a love-hate relationship with it of when to step away and when ... ARIEL: When to be in the world and when to be ... EMMA: Exactly. So I was just wondering what your relationship is with social media and with your phone in general, and especially being a journalist… ARIEL: Well I use the recorder like you guys do a lot, so it's become important, like I always have it. EMMA: So what is your relationship with social media? ARIEL: Really, really glad you guys are helping me with it, because … I don't quite get it. EMMA: Honestly, I feel like I was so ahead of everything being a millennial, and now everyone who was a toddler is now a teenager, and so they know more than me, and now I'm the person that doesn't know anything. My sister's 16, so I'm like ... so now I'm the idiot. I was the genius, now I'm the idiot. You know how it goes. ARIEL: I know exactly. I read you say how you always like the book itself. EMMA: People make fun of me on trips because I'll bring a tote bag to the beach of all these books, and they're like, "Put it on your iPad!" and I'm like, "No, I want to see what I'm reading, I want to look at my ... I want to see it all, and I want to have my notes." Also, how many times have I gotten on a plane with one of my stupid friends whose iPad's dead, and I'm like, "Hm! I guess you're going to be bored the whole flight." That's a diss, by the way. That's my version of a diss. "Your iPad died, loser, you don't have a hard copy." ARIEL:  That's tough stuff. You pack a punch.

EMMA: Anyway. Karah? KARAH:  ... in the book, there's a line, I think basically where you had decided to have a child, and you said, "I decided that I no longer wanted to be ruled by wanderlust” and I don't know if this is because I'm neurotic, but I wonder, had you not been ruled by other things ... and I know maybe you were taking creative license ... but had you not been ruled by other things before that, and what are you ruled by now? As you've said, you know you're not going to have a child. What are the things that rule your life? ARIEL: The upside of having my whole life fall apart at such a speed that I was like, "The fuck is going to happen next? Is my apartment going to crumble?" I was just like, "This is getting ridiculous!" You know? The upside of that is that it left me like, "All right, I guess I'm just going to surrender to what happens." And because of that, I was able to be like, "I guess I'm going to keep emailing with this dude who is a doctor in Mongolia who lives in South Africa," and then eventually like, "All right. I guess we're in love!" Like, "All right, I guess I'm going to spend half my time riding horses in the mountains in South Africa." I didn't see that coming. So now it's like, I would say I'm a lot more open to whatever's coming my way, but also the thing that I was always ruled by was writing. That was always the A #1 priority and it still ... it's writing and ... the nice thing about my relationship with the person I'm about to marry is that he's got a lot of wanderlust too. It's not for nothing that we met in Mongolia, and we're back and forth between New York and South Africa and wherever, and it's like we can take this home that is each other on the road. My dream as a kid was always to be in a gypsy caravan, and I think you [looking at Emma] know where I got that idea. EMMA: “Emma Rose”

KARAH: I just want to say to people, I want to say to girls [grabbing The Rules Do Not Apply], I want to just be like, "Just go read this in the fucking corner and come back and talk to me." ARIEL: Well I wish you would do that. EMMA: Well we're going to. KARAH: We're going to do that. EMMA: I just want to show you something really quick. So last night I was deep ... I was watching interview after interview with you and reading all your articles just so I was prepared ... ... and then I was like Who did say you can have it all?" ARIEL:  Well, who did? EMMA: [Showing Ariel phone screen] "You are not connected to the internet." That's what came up! I typed it in, I said, "Who said you can have it all?" and my browser, it said, "You are not connected to the internet!” I was like ... yeah, I was like, "That's the answer. You are not connected to internet." ARIEL: Well there it is. EMMA: Witchery. 

(Today’s column is a reprint of Kevyn Winkless’s excellent and heart-felt introduction to German science-fiction hero Perry Rhodan, originally posted on the Castalia House blog on 17 August, 2017. Kevyn ended his heart-felt appreciation for the run of Perry Rhodan published in English during the 1970s with “by all reports, the modern Rhodan is rich and fairly sophisticated space opera.” Next week, we shall see for ourselves in a review of ARK OF THE STARS, by Frank Borsch, the first book in the Perry Rhodan: Lemuria miniseries.)

You know The Shadow. You may know The Spider. You definitely know Conan. And after this year’s cinematic offering you also know Valerian, even if you’re not familiar with the original comics.

But are these really the most beloved SFF heroes in print? Really?

Yes, they are definitely at the top – and a convincing case can be made for Conan in particular as a global phenomenon with incredible staying power. But let me introduce you to another hero who is sadly little known in the English-speaking world: Perry Rhodan.

I stumbled on Perry Rhodan the summer we moved to a tiny town of under 500 people when I was in high school.

The nearest book store with anything like a SFF section was 100km away and the local shops’ spinners were loaded down with romance novels and basically nothing else. The library’s collection of SFF fare spanned a set of five spinners off in the back. I was frustrated at the time, but in retrospect in that age long before Amazon and before I had the financial wherewithal to participate in things like the Science Fiction Book Club[1] the fact that such a small town had a library at all was good fortune at its finest.

Needless to say I consumed that pitiful collection of SFF paperbacks in record time, and as a result was introduced to a variety of classic authors I might never have noticed otherwise[2]. I’m sure that experience deeply influences my reading and writing habits today.

To be honest, though, I have only the vaguest memories of what exactly was on those spinners. Oh, I know I first encountered James Blish and Andre Norton and Lin Carter and  van Voght here but other than Blish’s print adaptations of Star Trek episodes[3] I couldn’t tell you what titles were actually there. Except one:

Perry Rhodan.

Perry Rhodan was first published in German in 1961 in a Romanhefte format – this is a slim, pocket sized format analogous to the digest pulps popular in the US at the time[4], popular for “disposable fiction” of all kinds. And disposable is what the Rhodan series was initially intended to be:

At the start, it was to be a limited run of a few dozen weekly issues of novella length, but it was quickly obvious that the initial authors K. H. Scheer and Walter Ernsting  were on to something big, and the series was continued. The publishers are no doubt very happy they decided to see just where Perry Rhodan would go because as of today there are more than 2,900 issues in the continuous main series, more than 850 issues of the Atlan spin-off series featuring many of the same characters, and a multitude of subsidiary products including comic strips, and merchandise. The series has been so popular that it has reportedly sold more than a billion copies just in its native German, with another billion in various foreign language translations.

It was of course the English translation I found[5] – organized by Forrest Ackerman of fandom fame in the mid-60s, and resulting in Ace publication starting in 1968. This English translation and adaptation[6] unfortunately was ill-fated:

Despite being well-received by readers and eventually being popular enough to justify producing three issues per month, Ace decided to end the run in 1977 – with just a few missing pieces sputtering out until the end of 1978. Demand was high enough, though, for Wendayne Ackerman to publish another 19 issues under her own imprint, Master Publications. These were distributed only to subscribers, however, so the majority of the Rhodan reading public in the English speaking world were left with nothing but the 124 issues Ace had given them.

This, frankly, is a crying shame. Quite apart from the amazing popularity Rhodan continues to enjoy in Germany and around the world in several languages[7] the story itself is fascinating.

I can hardly call myself an expert – I came on these books years after the English translations had ceased publication[8] and have had to make do with the occasional issues I’ve stumbled on since those first three in that tiny small-town library so many years ago. But I have managed to track down more than half of the original translations over the years, and can piece together what is obviously a remarkable set of storylines.

The premise itself is nothing remarkable to us in the modern SFF scene – just the standards:

space mission stumbles on a crashed alien spacecraft on the moon and discovers mind-blowingly advanced technology

ancient space empire is decadent and crumbling

multiple “rabid” species, less advanced, are worrying at the edges and threaten to destroy everything the peaceful space empire has built up

decadent space empire gives their technology to humanity as the last great hope when they demonstrate their ability to unify under threat

You know: the usual.

But what makes this series so remarkable – at least in the portion I have read – is the seamless way the arcs link together. This is no mean feat for this style of serial, keeping things coherent and flowing despite the hands of multiple writers pushing the cart. The continuing success of the series is a testament to the skill with which the publishers have managed their stable of contributors and curated their “bible” for the series.

Also interesting is the way the story, despite being explicitly high tech space opera, effortlessly weaves in metaphysics and curious references to occult esoterica. I suppose to some extent this sort of thing is to be expected in a space opera setting that invokes the psionics trope, but the number of alchemical and other hermetic symbols that get deployed is truly fascinating – and links perfectly with the setting’s conceit that there really are “layers of being” that species transition through on their way to perfect unity with the universe.

So why is a series that is so influential and has such a devoted following completely invisible in English?

Part of the problem is that the US market was only ever exposed to the opening chapters of the story, which are generally considered fairly simple, straightforward space opera. Many critics of the time panned it as being too simplistic, with empty characters and relying heavily on tropes of human expansion that many felt were best left back in the 50s.

The basic criticisms are probably fair – the opening chapters are full speed ahead space opera, with thrilling space battles and fairly stereotypical characters  who are motivated in direct ways – and while some of the issues in the early books are surely caused by rapid translation you can definitely tell these were throw-away space adventures aimed at a younger audience.

But it’s hard to see why Ace would choose to discontinue a series that was, by all reports, profitable just because it wasn’t as sophisticated as the books the reviews columns were gushing over, especially when the translations had just started moving into the far more sophisticated storylines being developed by William Voltz in the Atlan spin-off – and which he brought back to the main line when he took over as master storyline planner in 1975, slowly developing the series to aim for a more discerning older audience. Not to mention the fact that they killed the series right when space opera was enjoying a comeback via Star Wars.[9]

The only explanation I can think of is the self-consciousness of English genre fiction that grew through the 60s and into the 70s – a looming hunger to be taken seriously, to be viewed as literary equals in an increasingly consolidated market.  In this environment it’s easy to see the pressure Jim Baen (who was SF editor at the time) and Tom Doherty (publisher) might have been under to reframe Ace’s SF offerings to a more “high-brow” focus.

But this concern for respectability is a great loss – by all reports, the modern Rhodan is rich and fairly sophisticated space opera, and it seems to me that the English SFF landscape is poorer for having sneered this series off stage back in 1978.

[1] SFBC has changed since I was a member – it doesn’t look anywhere near as appealing now as it once did, but in those days I discovered real greats through their catalog, and several of my favourite authors I learned to love because of one of their editions.

[2] Mainly because at that point they were increasingly out of print.

[3] Co-written with his wife, Judith, under the pen-name J. A. Lawrence as short story collections between 1967 and 1978, these little pocket books by Bantam were sometimes better than the TOS episodes they were based on and I consumed them hungrily.

[4] Though actually literally the German market equivalent of the dime novel.

[5] I have assayed original German issues on a couple of occasions, but sadly my German is just not up to it – though it might have been if I’d been lucky enough to discover Rhodan when I was 13 or 14.

[6] Ackerman and his wife, Wendayne – who did most of the translation – repackaged the originals by combining issues and reformatting the English issue layouts something like the pulps they remembered from their youth.

[7] Currently: a Portuguese translation available in Brazil, and translations into Russian, Chinese, Japanese, French, Czech, and Dutch – Italian and Finnish translations seem to have sputtered out. There was also a short-lived pirate version in Hebrew!

[8] And long before the two reboot efforts in the 1990s and 2006.

[9] And in fact, Lucas has mentioned Rhodan as an influence – less than Flash Gordon, but big enough to shape the design of some of the space ships.

published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

Spring 2018 Preview

I can’t believe a new season starts in a week already... heres the shows.

1. Comic Girls: KIRARA ANIME BOIS. Do I even need to say more than that? The girls look absolutely adorable, the animation looks on point, and although the director is a debutante he's being backed up by an impressive quartet of writers including Takahashi Natsuko, Yokote Michiko, Hanada Jukki and Machida Touko. Oh yeah, it's also got a bunch of hot channees in addition to the cute schoolgirls. You can't go wrong with this one.

2. Amanchu! ~Advance~: Satojun is back at it again with the silly hiragana subtitles for sequels. The masters of healing are back again for a sequel to what was one of my favorite shows of 2016. More Teko, more of that sexy Itou Shizuka-voiced teacher, and more relaxing feels. This is exactly what we need to fill the Yurucamp-shaped holes in our hearts.

3. Alice or Alice: There are a lot of things that make me excited about this show. Obviously the cast is one: Ayaneru plays the main character, and we got Natsunee and Oonishi in there too. The director is Kobayashi Kousuke, an alumnus of the Pretty Rhythm series who was very heavily involved in Pripara, which you may know is the best anime ever made. And then there's the aesthetic: everything from the character designs to the title logo make this look and feel like a harem anime from 15 or so years ago, which is absolutely my jam. Pretty hyped for this one.

4. Sword Art Online Alternative Gungale Online: One of the weirder things to happen over the past year-ish is that I've become an unabashed SAO fanboy. The shows are just good, y'all. So you can imagine how I feel about a new show set in the SAO universe written by the author of Kino no Tabi, a show I just put in my top five of the last year, and with characters by Kuroboshi Kouhaku (also of Kino) who is the utmost hotness right now. Hopefully this will be more than enough to tide us over while we wait for SAO3 to arrive.

5. Waka-Okami wa Shougakusei: This looks like a kids anime at first glance, and, well, it is. It's based on a series of popular children's books, but they've really gone all out with the production values based on the PVs (Madhouse producing) and it looks immensely charming. Some of the best anime are childrens' stories, so I'm quietly excited about this one.

6. Hinamatsuri: This is shaping up to be one of the weirder shows of the coming season, and it looks great. From the look of the PVs, feel. are going even more all-out than they usually do with the visuals, and it also looks genuinely funny. Plus it's got a cute loli. Should be good.

7. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Die Neue These: It's finally here. Obviously I've heard nothing but good things about the original series, but I'm never going to have the motivation to go back and watch something so old, long and difficult, so hopefully this new anime has got me covered. I'm sure there will be plenty of discourse about it; I just hope it's decent.

8. Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai: Somehow, we've still never gotten a sequel to the wonderful Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, but this show brings together the chief staff of that show for a new romantic comedy anime at Douga Koubou. With that pedigree (they even got the same guy who did the OP song for Nozaki) there's definitely reason to be optimistic about this one. Not to mention it's got cute gaijin girls and an imouto voiced by Inosuke.

9. PERSONA5 the Animation: I think I'm going to give up any ridiculous illusions I have of actually playing the game any time soon and just watch this. It's the only realistic way I'll get to see dat Kawakami-sensei and Takemi-sensei. You know I'm all about the channees right now, and man, does P5 have some good ass channees. The anime is actually being directed by Ishihama Masashi, the man who did Shinsekai Yori and literally hasn't done another TV anime since, so that's pretty exciting. Obviously, a lot Shinsekai Yori's success is because of the material adapted, but if you can make a masterpiece like that you've got to have some kind of talent.

10. Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii: CUTE CHANNEE ALERT WEEWOO WEEWOO WEEWOO. I'm all up ons this. Is there anything better than cute OLs? ...Man, things sure have changed around here. Also, that title is just mean when it's literally an anime about otaku having romances. SOME OF US OUT HERE ARE LONELY

11. Last Period -Owarinaki Rasen no Monogatari-: Has there been a good social game anime yet? I guess Schoolgirl Strikers was alright, in that I actually managed to finish that one, but most of these turn out to be bad. I hope Last Period can be the one to buck the trend and be truly good, because I love the silly light-fantasy tone that it looks like it's going for. Wisemen for best girls. There's tons of cute girls with great designs (the one thing you can always count on social games for) and it'd be a shame for them to go to waste like so many before them.

12. Hisone to Masotan: I got really excited when I saw this because it looked like a cute anime about fighter planes. Instead it looks like it's a cute anime about fighter... dragons. What a ripoff. I wanted the planes. My aviation-nerd pouting aside I'm sure it will still be adorable JSDF propaganda. I just really wanted the planes.

13. Golden Kamuy: It's some kind of weird serendipity that I'm studying the Ainu for school this semester and now we get an anime explicitly about the Ainu. Period anime are pretty cool (the Russo-Japanese War isn't a setting explored in much visual media at all), the premise sounds cool, and I really like the look of the Ainu girl. Plus, how often do we get Ainu culture actually presented in anime? Remains to be seen how well it's done, but it's pretty neat.

14. Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Aw yeah. If only Jug was around to see the horse girls. I have no reason to doubt that this will be great fun, especially since it has the financial backing of Cygames, who have more money than God. Just hopefully we don’t have to see any of the cute girls get put down after breaking a leg.

15. Lostorage conflated WIXOSS: Somehow the WIXOSS anime series is still going. selector is still one of my favorite shows in recent memory, but Lostorage was complete spaghetti compared to it, so there's nowhere to go from here but up, right? This new series promises to bring back the characters from selector, which gives me mixed feelings. I don't want them to just play off nostalgia for the old show, but I'm also kinda excited to see Yuzuki and Tama again. I guess we'll see what happens. Maybe a new director will shake things up for the better.

16. 3D Kanojo Real Girl: Man, who wants a 3D girlfriend? Can your real life girlfriend be considered 3D if you're living in a 2D world? This stuff always leaves me conflicted. I'm down for some Serizawa Yuu-voiced heroine, and the always-capable Akao Deko is writing the screen adaptation, so it might be good.

17. Mahou Shoujo Ore: Oh god. I'm pretty sure I saw clippings from the manga of this a while back. It's a mahou shoujo where the girls transform into buff dudes in magical girl outfits for some reason. It can't be a coincidence that the protagonist is named "Uno" and is voiced by Oohashi Ayaka. If this show is even half as amazing as Fantasista Doll it'll be a great success.

18. A.I.C.O. Incarnation: There are a few Netflix-funded series this season but most of them don't look especially interesting. This one looks alright, but it's using the stupid Netflix bulk release model so I guess I'm waiting until April to start it despite all the episodes being out already. It looks like it could be a cool science fiction show, and I like the Naruko Hanaharu character designs.

19. LOST SONG: So this is that Suzuki Konomi promotional vehicle... From the PV, it doesn't look great, but I am a big fan of Konomin's singing so I guess I'll have to check out at least an episode. I just doubt her ability to act as well as she can sing.

20. Caligula: Strangely, this show does not seem to be about the son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder who ruled as Roman emperor from 37 to 41. I actually have no idea what it's about. Something about idols. But some of the character designs look pretty good, especially that blonde channee, so it's a maybe from me.

21. High School DxD HERO: It's baaaack. The show I watched three seasons of for Ayaneru that gave me almost no Ayaneru is back to continue to refuse to give me Ayaneru, probably. But hey, I like channees now anyway, so I may as well keep watching out of tradition if nothing else. I just hope Gaspar is like, actually in it this time...

22. Omae wa Mada Gunma wo Shiranai: This is an anime to promote Gunma... I guess? It definitely doesn't look like your typical local promotion anime... Apparently Gunma is a totalitarian state in this world. The green-haired girl played by Ucchii looks pretty good so I'll check it out.

23. Akkun to Kanojo: SUPER tsundere love comedy? Even regular tsundere is good. Unfortunately it's the dude who is tsundere in this one which isn't the thing I want. But the girls still look pretty cute so I'll definitely be giving it a look.

24. Mahou Shoujo Site: Uh oh, it's dark magical girls. There's nothing wrong with the concept per se but works like this often end up being grimdark for grimdark's sake (see: Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku) so it makes me worried. This one looks like someone tried to mix Madoka and Jigoku Shoujo. It should be good for a laugh if nothing else.

25. Kiratto Puri Chan: Well, here we are. This is what they killed Pripara for. So who did they get to succeed the comedic savant Moriwaki Makoto? Well, it's a guy without a whole lot of directorial experience: Hiroshi Ikehata. What he has directed have been some incredibly charming shows, including the underrated Akiba's Trip anime and Sore ga Seiyuu. The main writing credit goes to Hyoudou Kazuho, who has worked with Hiroshi on all of his directorial projects but doesn't have any especially interesting work to his name. The biggest chance this has to be even marginally worthy as a successor to Pripara is if they continue to draw on the extended family of Pretty series creators, like Pripara did to a large extent. With Moriwaki's steady hand removed, I don't have high hopes, but if they killed Pripara for a show that's not even decent I am going to be upset.

26. Aikatsu Friends!: So Stars is ending and a new generation of Aikatsu is here as well. I can't let this pass unnoticed because Kido-chan is pegged to be one of the new Aikatsu leads and I'm always thirsty for new Kido-chan anime. I didn't really like Stars, so I hope this new one is more on the silly side, like joji anime really should be.

27. Cutie Honey Universe: Rember Cutie Honey? I mean, I don't, but a lot of people do. Apparently it's the 50th anniversary of Nagai Gou's venerable battle girl series, so they're doing a revival of it. I really dig the neo-retro art style going on here, and the cast is absolutely star-studded (our current darling, Kurosawa Tomoyo, is included among the likes of Hanazawa Kana, Tamura Yukari, Horie Yui and Kugimiya Rie) so I just might check it out.

28. Steins;Gate Zero: I really don't know if I want to watch this. Steins;Gate wasn't the worst of the semicolon anime; in fact, the first half of the series was greatly enjoyable, but I don't think I need to retread the infamous "shooting of the moeblob" that led to the godawful second half. It's got Christina, I guess. I just really don't know if I can subject myself to Okabe again.

29. Megalobox: This looks technically amazing, I just don't know if I'm interested in it. Will probably wait to hear other people's opinions before I check it out, if I ever do.

30. Gegege no Kitarou: I don't think I'll actually watch this, but the latest version of the classic children's anime has been getting some attention because the character designs for the female characters are, how you say, Extremely Good. They're definitely good enough that I'm tempted to check it out. Dat Nekomusume...

31. Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory: It really happened. I'm including this as the highest-profile show I definitely won't be watching. I haven't seen any of the other FMP anime, so it would be stupid to try and jump in here. The subtitle being abbreviated "IV" (for season 4) is very cute though.

I don’t know how to rank shorts so heres those:

Tachibanakan To Lie Anguru: It's time for another Yuri Hime anime! All you need to know about how hype I am for this show is the tagline: 'The harem manga protagonist is a girl!?' Tsuda Minami is once again going to have to be hard gay, this time with five different girls apparently. I'm especially looking forward to the Mikakoshi-voiced blonde. Unfortunately, being a Creators in Pack anime, it's a short...

Fumikiri Jikan: This is a five minute anime but I absolutely love the premise: girls wait at a train crossing. That's it. You gotta love manga and anime sometimes.

alright so i apologize if this is random but i've been following you for a while and i've always noticed posts with the tag "for SCs" on them, especially since they're usually posts that i enjoy or are my aesthetic p much and from what i've gathered they're for a story? or a book? soooo i was wondering if you would want to like give a summary or smth? i'm a writer too, and obviously you don't have to if you don't want, but i'm curious ^-^

Omg bro (if u don’t mind me calling u that ;;0v0) u have made me giddy with excitement and felicity sending me this message :D

Those posts tagged with “for SCs” are indeed for a story idea I lumped into some shape during the summer. Altho creating a whole new universe and society rlly hurts my brain ;w; then school started so I didn’t have much time to sit down and mold the lump into a definite shape. 

I hope u don’t mind me posting this ask publicly becuz other followers might also be curious about the “for SCs” tag. This will be under the cut cuz it might get very lengthy :0 

I apologize in advance for making u read probably an essay length?? Idk we’ll see when I’m done.

The posts with “for SCs” are things that remind or give me inspiration for my story and its universe or characters. SC is short for Soul Creature, or Soultures as I also call them. This idea actually first took form from my attempt to write a story back in 2015 I believe tho I never got far with it and completely forgot about it till I revived it in summer of 2016 :p

Plot-wise, tbh I feel like it’s kinda cliched but I never thought too much on it as I focused more on building the universe and my characters. In this universe there are ppl who have something like a spirit animal that is made from their soul hence Soul Creatures (creative, huh). A SC is basically a piece of a person’s soul with a distinct consciousness of its own that could manifest into a physical form. There are endless kinds of animals so I chose four groups to categorize them in for a type of SC a person would have.

The four groups are the Canines, the Felines, the Avians, and the Reptiles (i didn’t use reptilians cuz when i looked it up i didn’t like what the immediate results were LOL). Now in each group, there are four animals, from the most to least powerful in politics and social status in each group: 

Canines - Wolf, Fox, Coyote, Jackal 

Felines - Tiger, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard

Avians - Owl, Eagle, Hawk, Raven (originally Vulture but I leaned more towards Raven)

Reptiles - Snake, Crocodile, Alligator, Lizard

These ppl with SCs also have magical powers altho I have yet to decide if they would do magic by wands, spells, charms, etc whatever (i still gotta do research). As the person has magic, when a SC manifests into their physical form, they don’t have the normal, physical bodies that mundane animals do. SCs don’t need to eat, drink, or sleep but some do for pleasure. They can still receive physical wounds but physical attacks fused with magic have more potency to harm than solely physical attacks do.

Now there is a fifth group and they are simply called the Ordinaries. They are regular ppl who do not have magic or a SC at all.

Becuz coming up with a new language is difficult, let alone new words, I came up with some terminology borrowing Latin words. For the Ordinaries, they are called Solitus (plural n. Solituses) and for those with SCs, they are Insolitus (plural n. Insolituses). I kid u not they are literally the Latin words for ordinary and extraordinary, respectively XD

Then there are the Ibridas and Half Breeds but we’ll get to them after I explain more about SCs.

I wrote a list of facts about SCs before and with me being a lazy ass, will just copy and paste them onto here. 0v0

1) Each person is born with a SC

2) A SC is a part of their soul materialized in the form of an animal

3) A SC can communicate with their person from the moment they are born - the person is able to see their SC in their mind though their SC cannot physically manifest yet

4) A SC and their person already have an unbreakable bond that they can feel though that does not mean they know everything about each other yet - which is why SCs can communicate with their person from the moment they are born

5) A SC and person can speak telepathically whether the SC is in physical form or not

6) The person can use their SC's animal form

7) The biological sex of a SC does not reflect the person’s own

8) The consciousness of both the person and SC can coexist in the animal form

9) Or the SC can be put into a type of slumber and the person has full control of the animal form

10) The SC cannot take control of the person's physical body

11) When the person is in control of their SC's animal form, their own body disappears in a flash of light and is condensed into a ball of energy that is absorbed into the SC's animal form until the person finishes using it

12) Physical contact is not needed for a person to transfer their consciousness into their SC's animal form

13) When a SC dies, their person will experience the manner in which their SC died, physically, mentally, emotionally - though they themselves will not die as the SC was only a piece of their soul and not the whole

14) When the person dies, their SC will die along with them unless a ST occurs - only those with great magical strength are capable of doing such a risk

15) A person will only have one SC their whole life but if one were to grow strong enough magically-wise, live long enough, or practice an act of taboo, they will be able to materialize more

16) SCs typically first materialize in physical form when their person is in great danger, they judge their person has grown strong enough, or when they feel like it

17) SCs are made from a part of their person's soul but they have their own distinct consciousness and personality

18) SCs can experience everything their person feels physically, emotionally, and mentally

19) A person is able to block off certain things that they would not want their SC to feel or know

20) As they have different consciousnesses, a person and SC cannot hear one another's direct thoughts unless they allow it themselves

21) When a person is born and as they grow, their SC may be already grown or they may also be juvenile and will age alongside their person

22) When an SC materializes the first time, their animal form may be mature or juvenile - it varies with each person, the person's own age does not affect the SC's physical maturity

23) SCs in their physical form are not the same as regular animals as they are also magical beings like their person

24) SCs can communicate with others, person or SC, when in their physical form though not telepathically - which can sometimes cause fright to people who are not aware they are in the presence of a SC and not a regular animal

25) SCs can travel around in their physical form without their person by their side - there is no limit as to how far they can go but their person will always know where they are no matter the distance, and vice versa

Coming up with the history of a new universe/civilization/society/whATEVER rlly hurts my brain but I’d like to state as a historical fact that centuries before, the four groups were at war over territory, wealth, etc blah blah and SCs were once merely treated as tools and weapons for war, disposable pawns in a game of chess. Only the second time writing this word but does Soulture not sound like soldier, hmmm? :) 

However, things happened and changed and SCs were now treated equally and regarded as actual beings rather than mere weapons. 

Now here come the Ibridas and Half Breeds.

Ibrida is Latin for Hybrid. An Ibrida is someone who has a mixed Insolitus parentage meaning their parents have different SCs. EX: The mother has a Fox SC while the Father has an Owl SC.

It is considered taboo by all for two ppl with different SCs to bare a child. Why? Becuz there are fallouts. SCs reside within their person’s mind when not physically formed and becuz I like to put angst and dark aspects in my stories, I made it so that Ibridas would have a life of suffering. When a person has a SC, they can see their SC in their mind’s eye moving around and whatnot. For an Ibrida, they will typically inherit both types of their parents’ SC so have two different animals occupy their mind. The two different animals will never get along so there is conflict within the person’s mind and soul. I chose the symptoms of rabies for Ibridas to display. Ibridas suffer with constant migraines and become aggressive and delirious. They end up going insane with the pain and become a threat to themselves and others.Their suffering usually drives them to take their own lives or have others take it.

Ibridas can be separated into two groups: with SCs and without SCs. Those with SCs are typically killed or locked up while those without are able to live a normal life. Like hybrid animals irl, Ibridas are infertile and cannot have biological children of their own. So it’s impossible for a person to have a SC from each of the four groups. (Or is it? >:O lol jk idk probs not) Sometimes an Ibrida will only inherit one type of SC but it is often believed the second one will later appear unexpectedly in their life.

Half Breeds are ppl with one parent that is a Solitus while the other is an Insolitus. They have a 50-50 chance of inheriting their Insolitus’s parent’s SC and magic or not. It’s an all or nothing kinda deal.

There are some ppl with both Insolitus parents and have a SC but are magicless. I don’t have a term for them yet but in Harry Potter I think magical-born wizards with no magic themselves are called squibs?

As for the characters I’ve created for this story, there are a few.

Waylin Bixente-Solinix -- Aged 17-19. He is the adoptive son of the Bixentes but no one knows that except for his adoptive parents and biological ones. Solinix is the surname of his biological parents. He has a male Wolf SC named Silas (i might change the name) A reserved person who prefers his own company.

Yuuta Blackburn -- Aged 17-19. He has a male Tiger SC named Hiro. A friendly, gentle person. Tol. Has a younger sister.

Minji Blackburn -- Aged 8. Has a male Tiger SC, name undecided. Very precocious and aware for her age. (She woke af loool)

Sova Featherance -- Aged 16-19. Has a female Owl SC named Hazel. She doesn’t like to talk so Hazel speaks for her. Apathetic and listless. More lively at night. Cousin to Kotori, their mothers are sisters, they each take after their fathers so they don’t look related.

Kotori Lovewood -- Aged 17-19. Has a male Owl SC, name undecided. A total fucken flirt. Interested and attracted to Renard. :^)

Renard Ruxfury -- Aged 17-19. Has a male Fox SC named Conroy. A Tsundere, man. Snobby lil shit at first. Actually caring but doesn’t explicitly show it. Unsure what to do with Kotori’s advances towards him LMAO poor bab

Noel Sinwell -- Aged 60s. Has a male Lion SC named Oswald. They are agender even as the author idk what their biological sex is since I never decided and will keep it that way. Very kind and wise.

Delilah Perfuga -- Aged 16-18. Has a male Snake, name undecided. A snake. That’s all I’ve got to say.

Adam -- ???? He is just a fetus in my mind. Haven’t thought anything else but his name loool

Oh boi, this took me a while to write and it’s late so I’m tired af. I feel like I might have missed some things whoops. There isn’t rlly a plot yet becuz I wanna set the foundation of their universe and society first. But I’ve like thought about parts of it in my mind.

oH nice to meet u by the way Im AJ. What’s ur name? :00

If u have any questions, aNYTHING, about this mess of mine don’t be afraid to ask. :’))

ALL of the author asks

all right, you anonymous rogue, let’s do this. under the read more for length. I’m answering this instead of doing my accounting homework mua ha ha. But thanks in advance for asking for these it made me feel really nice and it was so fun!!!

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

Ah I mean not really? I have a bunch of ideas bouncing around, but I don’t have the time or the energy to sit down and start another multichap really. Still recovering from the last one haha. Plus I need to have the main story planned out before I start writing, as well as most of the big details, so I don’t want to start something without knowing where I want to ehh vaguely end up.

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

oh my god. Everything that’s on ff.net. I wrote SUCH garbage from like 13-16(?) it’s just all such a disaster. But there’s quite a few multichaps there that are complete so I’m proud of little me completing those haha. But it’s all SO cringe-worthy.

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

(lol “““““book”““““) I do write from beginning to end! Sometimes if there’s a scene I suddenly have a really good idea for I will sit down and get most of it out, or at least jot down some notes for what I want to happen. But I try to write in the order of the story so that I can update consistently! And I try really hard to write ahead, like I didn’t start posting School Daze until I had a few chapters as back up, so I could work on the future ones as I updated weekly, like a bad ass.

4) favorite character you’ve written

I LOVE writing Trucy. She’s one of my favorite characters in the whole AA series - she’s just so fun and lovely. Plus it’s fine to like write a regular person instead of prissy ass Edgeworth or Blackquill.

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

I mean I personally never expected to go as hard with Blackmadhi as I did and in such a short time span either!! I’ve written 80k of Blackmadhi in 2 months like girl can you cool it for a minute? Also I didn’t like Blackquill AT ALL while playing DD so the fact that I’m such a thirsty bitch for him is surprising to me. Here we are though.

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

tbh I don’t tell anyone really! Well, not people who are already confirmed dorks like me. Mostly because I don’t want to get into the “oh what do you write?” conversation hahaha. “uh…..gay lawyer fanfic?”

8) favorite genre to write

Hmm…….I mean I’ll go for angst and hurt/comfort all day long, because there’s nothing more satisfying to me when I do something terrible to the characters, everyone gets mad at me for it, and then I fix it later on with a happy little scene of pure love and compassion between the characters.

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Hm. I’ll normally put on some Disney music, because that has been my go-to inspiring music for a very long time. Sometimes I’ll go back and reread some parts of whatever I have written recently to be like “Look! You actually like this part! Write more so you can keep feeling this way!” Or I’ll read the last bits of the last update to remember where I was even going with the plot line LMAO

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

I like to write with music! It has to be very specific music though. Being with people who are also writing/being productive helps, so then I feel obligated to get stuff done too haha.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

??? man I have no clue. I guess I’m pretty good with like……not sweating the little stuff. If I feel like I don’t have much sentence variation in one paragraph, I leave it, because it’s okay. Not everything has to be poetic (literally NOTHING I write is poetic). I feel like I make up for it later on with a paragraph with better flow. I hope. Idk these things, friends.

12) your weaknesses as an author

I guess like……descriptions?? Both like physical background descriptions like where they are, because I feel like knowing the scenery can be pretty important. but also like facial and behavioral descriptions too? Like sometimes I’m too lazy to find the exact word I want so I just pick a generic one and move on. I love getting things done, so sometimes the quality isn’t what it could be because I just like finishing things hahaha.

13) your strengths as an author

I’m pretty good with writing things out the way I want them the first time, because if I’m going to write I want it to be right (hehe). Obviously I go back and edit things to tweak it, but if I’m sitting down to write something, I don’t want to half-ass it and come back to it later. I HATE finally finishing some huge ass 12k chapter and then remembering I left a scene unfinished because then that means I’m NOT DONE AHHH.

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

Not really! Mostly because I can never just like listen to whatever music I want. I listened to Hozier for a month straight as I finished up School Daze because for some reason that smooth hipster really did it for me.

15) why did you start writing?

Who knows man!! But it’s fun!! I got super into a book series called Skulduggery Pleasant like it was my first HARDCORE FANDOM that I wrote for. My ff.net is under the same name if anyone wants so suffer through it. Let me know if you do because it’s all disgusting and I want to laugh about it. But ALSO it’s all really problematic so please don’t judge 13 year old me okay thanks.

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

LMAO WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THIS.

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

oh man…..keep on sticking with it man. I’m glad you are writing (even if present me thinks it’s god awful) because you made so many friends and really learned a lot, actually. Good on you for doing what you want to do. Maybe also stop thinking of yourself as the greatest fanfic writer of all time I mean just maybe, girl.

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

Yeah, Skulduggery Pleasant again! The author, Derek Landy, writes so sarcastically and I guess kind of simple (not like bad simple haha). I would just crack up every few minutes reading the series so I wanted to be that funny author with clever little deadpan lines like him. idk if I succeeded haha.

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I have a separate document where everything is planned out. Well, not everything, but the majority of stuff. For School Daze, I always wanted to have the next two chapters planned out from where I was currently. I just always gotta know where I’m headed so I don’t get anything mixed up or forget anything.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

It depends! Both usually just depending on the time. I write for a looong time on weekends like a loser with nothing else to do, but if I have like twenty minutes to kill between stuff I’ll think up some lines or finish planning out a scene.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

I literally cannot stop laughing at it. I guess it’s not BAD like my grammar was always good and I tried really hard but just like…….I know I thought I was the fanfic SHIT back then so I’m just like “Laura like how could you ever let other people see this???? it makes no sense!!!!!!”

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

I guess kind of the usual suspects…..No non-con, incest, underage stuff. I don’t write it, so I’m never uncomfortable with it!

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

Hmm not really?? Not too obscure, but I took a looong break from writing mostly because I fell out of that Skulduggery Pleasant fandom and I got super depressed in high school. So now that I’m way better, I really enjoy writing again because I remembered the old feelings of being SO happy when I got a review on ff.net. Makes me feel 13 again, which is actually pretty regrettable.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

Ah not really! I don’t write too much stuff that needs expertise (and also tbh I haven’t written that much like idk what I’m doing here) but also I’m just a lazy shit and will look up the minimum required information for what I need to get done hahaha.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of“Meaning, Miles concluded, that she expressed a very high level of care and compassion for nearly everything in her life. Soon, her thousands of questions in class made sense, because she just wanted to understand the information to the highest degree. And now that Miles was witnessing nearly a private glimpse into the art teacher’s collage project, he saw the same level of attention that Trucy bestowed on her own projects in Phoenix, as well.With this knowledge, Miles assumed, logically, that Phoenix had been the one to impart this trait into her. And from their date, he now knew the man had taken her in unexpectedly and still managed to raise her right.Phoenix Wright was clearly not only an amazing father and art teacher, but also a wonderfully kind, considerate, and determined individual. How could Miles not be drawn physically and mentally to the man?” I really liked this paragraph, because this was a part of the first time that I had written as Miles Edgeworth and had taken a very long chunk of time to go into some gay-ass introspection. Thought it turned out pretty well???