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meraki-sunset · 18 days

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Hello, sorry to disturb you, but I'm trying to flesh out a Homestuck au and it's still in the works. My question is; Did you use any kind of application or tool to make the signs of the new castes in your au? If not, how did you make them?

Hi! I didn't use any app to make them, my process is basically this:

I went to the extended zodiac and I took a pic of all the signs, when I placed them I took, for example, Sollux's and Eridan's casts and put them next to one another

I searched for all their respective moons and aspects and put them there too.

That's the order in which the signs will be fused. I could've fused signs with the same aspect, but Erisol is a mix of a Doom and a Hope player, so it made sense to mix the rest in that order.

From there, you just take the most defining traits of each sign, and use them to create a new one. Every class has a pattern in their signs, you just have to find it and put both patterns together. For example, Gold signs represent duality, they're usually always mirrored and have lots of straight lines. While violet signs have a lot of zigzag lines to represent waves

For Arquius and Tavros i didn't have second sign to fuse them with to create a cast, i didn't have a second pattern so i made it up based on what the got fused to.

The indigo cast's pattern is they have a lot of traight lines and arrows on their signs. So i made Hal's shades and horseshoes the second patern, since the shades are canonically in arquius's sign

Tavros's cast was more dificult because his sign didn't change at all. The bronce's patern is circles and always being a perfect mirror. Since he fused with a fairybull, i just made a revamp of all the existing signs but made them fairy-like in some way, resembling wings and magic sigils.

With some signs I came up with the fusion in one try, others took multiple attempts, you gotta try a couple of times sometimes until it looks right

not too complicated, not too simple. Something recognizable but not a hassle if you have to draw it 100 times for a comic

And there's not much more than that, when i have all the sketches i choose the ones i like, i put them in order, and clean them, then i give them names mixing the 2 zodiac signs (gemini+aquarius) with the third sign that defines their aspect. Just how the canon extended zodiac did.

And that's it! i hope this helps

#csau extra #homestuck #homestuck au #meraki #hs #crow strider au #sprites #spritebloods

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mysticheathenn · 3 months

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You Vs How Others See You?

Hi, Hexlings!

This pick-a-card is all about how you see yourself versus how others see you. This is a Patreon exclusive for all tiers.

Remember to take what resonates and leave what does not. This reading does not supplement your need to seek professional help.

Take your time when choosing your pile. Ask yourself the question and choose the picture that you can’t stop looking at. Listen to your intuition.

The Patreon Reading includes:

How Do You See Yourself

How Do Others View You

Who are you Really?

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Pile 1:

How Do You View Yourself? Tarot: 8 of Wands (reversed), 4 of Swords, The Moon / The Sun (Both Reversed), The World)

Pile l you may be the type of person who constantly jokes about your flaws, aka putting yourself down in a joking manner. An example would be if you are speaking with someone and the topic is on food you may jokingly say "My fat a** stay eating." While you are joking you're always joking about the things that you feel insecure about in your life to make yourself feel better. You view yourself as "lazy" but you only view yourself that way because you refuse to act or even follow through on things you say that you are going to do. Which I find funny because you have the duality of the Moon and the Sun and they are both in reverse. Not only that but also the World card too. You are basically a walking contradiction. You are probably the person who always wants to go out and do things so you make plans with people but then cancel last minute and then wonder why you don't have friends, people don't invite you anywhere, or get sad because you don't go anywhere even though you are the problem. This is supposed to be a how do you view yourself post but instead, it turned into a what is wrong with you post, haha.

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Pile ll:

How Do You View Yourself? Tarot: Ace of Cups (reversed), 5 of Pentacles, Queen of Pentacles, The Tower, 5 of Wands

Pile ll while this reading will say some things about how you view yourself your cards are giving me how you view life in general and I am seeing a lot of lack mostly financially with the green symbolism in the cards and the 5 of pentacles which is all about lack of finances but it's not just finances that you feel there is a lack. Some of you truly don't believe that you are a good person or if not a good person you don't believe good things can happen to you. It's as if you pick the winning lottery every week for who will have a crappy week and you are always the top 5 runner up for this lottery ticket. You feel that you always have to battle other people and life itself. Back to how you feel about yourself, you may deal with Major Depression Disorder. I'm getting a visual of someone struggling to get out of bed most days because you just don't see anything good in yourself. You lack self-esteem, finances, possibly a support system, and so forth.

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Pile lll:

How Do You View Yourself? Tarot: Queen of Cups, 3 of Pentacles, Ace of Cups, 7 of Swords / Ace of Swords (reversed), 4 of Cups, The Wheel (reversed)

This is probably my least depressing pile with somewhat positive energy. Pile lll you see yourself as someone who is caring, kind, and empathetic towards others. You love to support your friends and those around you but for a few of you, you may not like to see others do better than you. This is only for a few of you, for others you like to compare yourself to others and see what you don't have and start to feel bad and question everything that you have built for yourself or you as a person. This could be about careers, looks, goals, etc. Either way, you sometimes let someone's finished project become your comparison when you are just starting things out or almost to the finish line but can't help but look over at the "competition." For those who share the energy of not wanting others to do better than them but like to see people succeed still. You may also carry narcissistic traits. this doesn't mean that you are one just you have certain traits that mirror one. (Please note that I am not a therapist and you should see a therapist for anything of mental and emotional diagnosis). You don't carry a lot of the symptoms of the trait only the one where you feel you may be better than others in a vain kind of way and not you are great at things you do. Again this is only a select few of you and not everyone for the most overall energy you like to compare and put yourself down when others do better than you but overall you see yourself as a great person who is kind, caring, supportive, etc.

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Thank you to everyone who is subscribed to my Patreon and those who like and reblog my pick-a-card reading. I always appreciate you. I hope you enjoyed this reading. Until next time, stay safe and blessed.

#spirituality #tarot reading #tarotcommunity #tarotblr #tarot cards #pick a card #pac tarot #witchblr #pick a pile #pac reading #pick a picture #pick a photo #divination #patreon

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wilcze-kudly · 27 days

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If worked for the team who made Avatar TloK. How would you rewrite TloK?

To be completely honest, rewriting tlok wouldn't fix all it's issues. Tlok just needed to have longer seasons, an actually established amount of seasons so they weren't pressured to make every single season a complete story for fear of not getting more time.

But let's say, hypothetically that I murdered mr Crabs or whoever is in charge of Nickelodeon and removed any studio meddling from the show.

My perfect world would include:

More filler episodes that focus on a singular character. Think Sokka's Master or the Painted Lady. The Krew are all fascinating characters with a lot of potential, however, due to the runtime of the show, their storylines are rushed... or completely nonexistent. Give me more details of Mako and Bolin's childhood. Show me emore of Asami struggling with her father's arrest.

I'd try to cut down on the westernisation of the show. I can see why these foreign aspects slipped in, since the closer the Avatarverse inches to our modern times, the more blurred the lines become. At least to my whiteass. I'd try to lean towards silkpunk, rather than the much more west based steampunk. It would be a fascinating endeavour to imagine what a world with mostly eastern influences would look like.

I'd make Vaatu the overarching villain/final boss of the story... it would require a bit of moving around of the timeline but I think I'd structure it as: Red Lotus> Kuvira> Amon> Vaatu. However I'd blur the timeline more. Make Amon a background threat in the eariler seasons, only for him to rise in popularity and power after people see what benders like Kuvira are capable of, for example.

This would also allow for certain villains to become redeemed or at least helpful in some way, later on. Mayhaps Amon and Kuvira team with the Krew to defeat Vaatu in some way.

Also, instead of destroying Vaatu completely, I'm leaning towards Korra absorbing him, in a way. Yes Vaatu is a dark spirit, but 'darker' urges are necessary for humans' survival and happiness. Korra embodies the duality of man very well. I think it would be a fascinating idea to see the Avatar become the embodiment of both light and darkness.

In general, making Vaatu and Raava more morally ambiguous, rather than the simple good spirit/bad spirit thing they had in the og show would be a fascinating concept.

I'd do my best to pull away from the show's original centerist narrative. Have Korra learn from the villains and make active changes to the world, showing her growth as an Avatar and person. Perhaps she's reluctant to see the Red Lotus' point of view at the beginning of the show, but sympathises with Amon at the tail end of the story.

Make the entire Krew queer. And talk about queerness more, in general. Have the characters have open conversations about queerness in their respective enviornments and cultures. Tlok already has a very queer undertone to it, even before korrasami became canon, but touching on this subject more overtly would provide great opportunity for characterisation and worldbuilding.

Have the story span several years. Watch the Krew grow up. Tlok works very well as a coming of age story even in its original form. Have Vaatu and his darkness and chaos symbolise the uncharted waters of maturity at the end of teenagedom. This especially works if Korra merges or accepts him like i suggested.

There... that's some basics. I think that most of my criticisms of the show could mostly be solved if the studio wasn't being a bitch but well. We can't have nice things, can we?

I took a while to answer this ask because it was genuinely such an interesting, but overwhelming question.

Also now I have wayy too many ideas about a potential tlok rewrite, so feel free to ask me about that if you want to hear me ramble.

#korra #bolin #mako #asami sato #vaatu #raava #amon #kuvira #red lotus #legend of korra #avatar #tlok #the legend of korra #avatar the legend of korra #atlok #lok

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newyorkthegoldenage · 6 months

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George Copeland Ault, Ninth Avenue, 1924. Oil on canvas.

Living in Greenwich Village in the 1920s, George Ault depicted the buildings of New York City with a distinct style of simplified forms, solid colors and extreme angles. Painted in 1924, Ninth Avenue is a dynamic example of Ault's unique form of Precisionism, incorporating elements of Surrealism to create a sense of disquiet amidst the vibrant streets of the city.

In the present work, Ault takes a perspective from under the Ninth Avenue El, which was the first elevated railway in New York and operated between 1868 and 1940. Highlighting the sleek lines and repetitive nature of the architecture around this modern transportation hub, Ault minimizes the cityscape to its most basic geometric forms and executes the composition in flat planes of primary colors. In the foreground, an elegant woman walks her adorable dog, and brilliantly colored cars are parked at regular intervals along either side. The vertical supports of the rail platform emphasize the intense one-point perspective of the scene; as a result, the road and trolley tracks seem to very rapidly recede into the distance as the block-like buildings squeeze closer and closer from both directions. The underlying tension within this outwardly bright, modern cityscape is further underscored by the vibrant signage, which tantalizes the viewer's curiosity but remains largely illegible behind various obstructions.

Ault once referred to New York as "the Inferno without the fire," and the nuances of the present work illustrate that duality that captivated and inspired his many views of the city.

—quoted in George Ault, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1988, p. 7

As Roberta Smith has written of the artist, "Ault's firm, unflamboyant way with a brush, his feeling for a building's austere, carefully dovetailed planes and, above all, his love of light as painting's form-giving, mood-setting force, sustained him at nearly every turn, in any direction he chose to move ... He brought to his various scenes an idiosyncratic poetry and a sadness that was neither hidden nor indulged, but kept at an arm's length with a sense of dignity that, strangely enough, could almost be celebratory. In Ault's paintings, one feels that he loved life, even if life did not particularly love him."

—George "Ault's Sad, Everyday Beauty in Stillness," The New York Times, April 29, 1988

Photo: Christie's

#vintage New York #1920s #George Ault #Ninth Avenue #precisionism #NY art #surrealism #painting #oil painting #NYC art #9th Ave.

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thearchercore · 4 months

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What’s your take on Max’s PR? I feel like for someone who does as little PR as possible he’s been able to get build a good thing. Part is due to his winning but I also feel like he has such a strong base that follows him that it has to be one of the reasons sponsors will take him in even knowing he’s not going to be the guy posting constant content for you that he has such a loyal following already. And the craziest thing for me is that he didn’t really make an effort to get it, most had been just because of who he is and he didn’t seem to make a effort to build a following up.

max's case is kinda silly. he has been in f1 for a loong time so he went through multiple indirect PR rebrands.

we all know max does not like PR or social media, the only personal interest in social media comes from his endeavors with team redline and sim racing.

his instagram basically fullfills the criteria of what he should post but you can notice most captions have similar wording of "keep pushing" or "we need to maximize the result" etc. etc. i wouldn't be surprised if his IG was purely ran by his team and not him. there were also instances where "he" commented under his gf's posts while he was driving a car in a free practice session soo.. the evidence of him not running the account is there.

he also had a few controversial situations in his career, the abu dhabi 2021 win, or the way he was portrayed in drive to survive in the first seasons.

now, however, more people seem to grow fonder towards him. why? red bull seemed to understand in their social posts like YT/tiktoks/reels that what sells with max is authenticity and that is that max is kinda a silly guy. christian himself said that max is a completely different person in the car/outside of it. in the paddock/garage he's reserved and shy and that's in general his personality.

for example, posts where max was just himself performed REALLY well. let's look on the RBR tiktok: max doing a simple tiktok screw thread game: 47M views the duality of max as a person/driver tiktok: 3.1M views max doing cartwheel in their teammate tiktok livestream: 4.4M views sticker war with charles: 7.8M views max doing the inchident challenge: 4.9M views so yeah, max COULD BE marketable, but only if he isn't forced to do anything against his will. i would also argue that the (for many kinda unexpected) friendship with charles also gained him more public sympathy because charles fans would ask themselves -- if charles likes max, then max must be a fun guy? he also has verstappen.com which is his personal brand, it doesnt do too much, it just exists as a glorified official max fanpage. the thing he needs to work on, however, are written interviews. i dont know if the interviewers just never understand him, or they try to make him look odd but the tone of his major recent interviews never translated well (time magazine, sunday times interviews come to mind). so that's something that he would need to work on --- he's very blunt and honest and straight forward and some things he says just sound really questionable on paper.

i would personally hype up more his side quests -- there aren't many but the 24hr stream he did to raise money for mental health support could be a great thing to promote, but most people only found out about it because he overslept the padel game lol. highlighting events like these would get him, again, more public sympathy.

so yeah, overall, his PR was bad, could be better, but it's going in the right direction and RBR finally understood that max could be a great marketing asset if he just is himself.

#lestappen gate 2023 #max verstappen

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jamesunderwater · 3 months

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1. Tell us why you like James Potter! I want a whole essay please and thank you!

"Why I Love Like James Potter" by jamesunderwater 1/27/24

So, I think an important context for my feelings about James Potter is that (as you know) I am a fandom elder. Which means, I already had an extreme attachment to James Potter and his pals before we ever even got the Snape’s Worst Memory chapter. I just looked it up, and somehow I was only ten when OotP came out, so evidently I was massively in love with Sirius Black and obsessed with the Marauders before I hit double digits. (Jesus, no wonder they’re molded with my identity.) The point being – before he was anything else to me, James Potter was the man who bravely sacrificed himself for his family, whose core feature was defined by Sirius’s declaration that they “would have died rather than betray their friends.” He was the guy who figured out how to become an animagus just to be a supportive friend, and based on the few lines that the Marauders have through the Map in PoA, he was hilarious. And really, the fandom kinda just took that and ran with it. So by the time OotP came out and we got so much more information on him – and his dynamic with Lily (cue me sighing dreamily here) – James Potter was already a venerated figure in my mind. -- OMG I just had a buried memory pop up of the Harry Potter Trading Cards as well, which, I don’t think I had one / there was one for James, but there was one for Lily, where she was holding toadspawn?? Or something? and I was in love with her just based on her cute face and red hair and bright eyes, so obviously I’m gonna also be infatuated with the guy who got to marry her.

Okay I got a bit off the point.

I guess reflecting on it, the way I fell in love with James as a character was very different than how I did for Sirius, and it’s in part due to Sirius being alive in the books, but also speaks to who James is, too. I fell in love with Sirius for who Sirius is, all by himself. I fell in love with James for who he is with other people. I loved the guy who would do anything for his friends. I loved the guy who had this magnetic dynamic with the fiery redhead. I loved the guy who was brilliant and loved by all, and didn’t think twice about sacrificing himself for his family. And I think that this has, for the most part, remained the core of why I love him.

But of course, I’ve grown up a lot since then, and so have my feelings and opinions.

– intermission to say I looked back at the ask and realized it only asks about why I like the character, which…somehow changes some of my answer, but we’re gonna try to roll them together –

Okay, so why I both like and love James as a character now has a lot more to do with the nuances of him. I love that he isn’t perfect. He’s multi-dimensional, and I think his character is a great opportunity to investigate growing up. I think that progression is harder to see in some of the other characters (I have thoughts on why but they aren’t the point right now), but James is just this splendid example of how someone can be so fundamentally good, and also be a fucking kid. He’s messy and that doesn’t make him any less of a “hero” or a “good guy,” but not in your traditional anti-hero or villain arc kind of way. I dunno, maybe it’s in part because I relate to this feeling of not always being a “good person” growing up. I could be arrogant, and mean, and over-dramatic, and stubborn, but people still saw me as a good, likable person, and eventually I did grow out of a lot of the harsher aspects of those characteristics. I love that James gives permission for that, to inspect the dualities within people.

And on a basic level, I think he was kind of the picture of everything I wanted to have and be. His physical looks / physique is what I’ve been drawn to in men, and eventually realized it’s what I wanted to look like myself; he has this found family that he’s built that is truly a family, this best friend who accepts him fully and he accepts fully and they’re attached at the hip; he becomes a person deserving of and complementary to a strong, independent, kind woman; and his kid is Harry Potter, who truly is one of my favorite characters of all time. So.

I dunno, I feel like this isn’t as eloquent as I wanted it to be… I’d be very curious to hear other people’s thoughts added onto this (yours and others’!) because I know there’s so much more that I’m missing that other people would say.

I got to nearly 850 words, though, so hopefully this essay is sufficient enough to earn me a B, at least.

[Submitting for Extra Credit: Photo of the frogspawn card from the Harry Potter Trading Card Game]

#james potter #hp #james potter meta #kinda xD #the marauders #fandom elder #jily #the post is here

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the-crow-binary · 9 months

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Alright, it's time.

As someone who is pro-"adaptations should differ in some ways from the original material" because that's basically the definition of "adaptation", NFCV is a good example of the limit it has to have. Or, at least, the limits I have.

When one wants to adapt a story from one media to another, sacrifices are bound to be made. Changes are meant to happen. You cannot put, in your adaptation, every single detail the original material had. It would be too long, you need to choose the most important parts of the original media in order to make it shine properly. Wich means some characters will have to be erased, some plots too, all in order for the adaptation to offer a fluent and enjoyable experience for everyone. Even those who already know the original material. Of course, those people will sometimes feel sad about a part or a character they really liked but didn't see in the adaptation... but that doesn't make the adaptation bad.

In my opinion, what makes an adaptation good, is when it respects the core of the original work. It can be many things (and it's multifactorial). The message it wants to pass on, it's universe, it's characters, it's lore... it varies from work to work (you can have work focusing on a main character's story, in this case making an adaptation without this character doesn't make sense. It can be a work telling the stories of a world, in this case, with no main protagonist, an adaptation can change the characters...). You can add many changes to a work you are adapting to a new media (or new audience), but it stops being a faithful or "good" adaptation the moment you erase the core of the original work.

And that's why Netflixvania is not a good adaptation.

Ignoring the questionable writing, the "CHURCH BAD" theme, the overdose of curses and gross dialogues (and so many other nasty writing stuff)... Netflixvania misses the point of the franchise it's adapting entirely. And the few easter eggs here and there are not enough to make up for it.

You can make Alucard bisexual. You can make the Belmont clan a noble family in Trevor's era. You can make Isaac black. Those are details that does not affect the core of the franchise. It might make a few grind their teeth, but that's all. No, the problems go way deeper than that.

Castlevania's core is it's themes. It's lore. Castlevania is the story of a seemingly endless cycle of revenge, tragedy and wars. Of generational trauma, with the Belmonts fated to hunt the night and kill Dracula centuries after centuries with no escape. It's this theme of having to fight evil all the time because it will never truly go away, with or without the Belmont clan. Dracula is not just a vampire king ruling over vampires, he's the Demon King. He's the Dark Lord. He's Chaos personified, with Death as his servant and confidant. He rules over so much more than just vampires (and there is more than two humans who swore their lives to him). And he brought this fate upon himself.

The Belmonts are not just a clan. They are humanity's symbol of hopes, dreams and strenghth. They are total opposites to and complete Dracula. The Belmont-Dracula duality is essential to the Castlevania franchise. They are the pillars of Castlevania.

What themes does NFCV has? Church bad. Humans bad. Christianity dumb. A bit of father-son tragedy.

The only common theme is this father-son tragedy, but it is barely touched (we don't even have the time to fully appreciate Dracula and Alucard's relationship before and after they first fought.) and it became one of the main themes of the cartoon. And it would've been fine... if the adaptation didn't threw out the window what made Castlevania Castlevania in the same breath.

Trevor doesn't have any duality with Dracula here. We barely mention the fact Leon went to Transylvania to hunt Dracula down. We don't feel any deep connection, when in the games, Leon was literally Dracula's friend. They worked together, fought together, they were unstoppable together, and when Mathias turned, he offered Leon eternity by his side. He cared deeply. And Leon decided... no. His own morals, his dead betrothed's wishes, they came first. And so came these lines from Leon:

"You have become a cursed being and I will never forgive you. This whip and my kinsmen will destroy you someday. From this day on, the Belmont Clan will hunt the night."

And this is why Trevor had to be the one to kill Dracula. Alucard still could've had his tragic moment, seeing his father dying by the hands of his friend is really messed up, and it would've make a potential SoTN adaptation where he would have to kill Dracula by himself this time more powerful (we'll get to Nocturne in due time.). But it isn't what happened. Trevor barely participated in the fight. It was a Dracula VS Alucard starring Trevor and Sypha.

Trevor isn't Dracula's friend, but this promise, this curse Leon put on his own family so long ago, it created a kind of bond beetween Dracula and Belmonts that would last for centuries. I talked about them, about how deep it goes, here and here. Dracula created the Belmonts as they are now. The Belmonts created Dracula as he is now, too.

NFCV doesn't care about that. NFCV turned Dracula into a vampire lord not even capabe of keeping his own generals in line. NFCV belittled the Belmont clan's importance (one brief scene where the court (mostly Carmilla) is like "oh, what, a Belmont? one of those vampire hunters? alive? wtf" is not enough). NFCV belittled Trevor himself (a few nice-looking fight scenes is not enough). It belittled the Vampire Killer (the most powerful Castlevania weapon, created with alchemy and infused with the soul of Leon's betrothed. there is so much tragic story potential around this weapon alone). It belittled EVERYTHING it took from the games. And I haven't even touch Isaac and Hector (they deserve their own post), who have been done so, so dirty.

NFCV ignored so many things that gave Castlevania his identity that it just became it's own thing, wich butcher the franchise's name. So many NFCV fans don't know the games even exist, or mix it up with the cartoon when they have little to nothing in common (Lords of Shadow had more in common than NFCV. And it was not insulting to the OG universe). And let's not get started on people praising the show for being "better" and how some character got "improved" when in reality, it's written by people who don't get said characters or games and stop at the surface. Just like they stop at NFCV's surface. That's why they think it's good. (loving a show doesn't mean said show is good, sorry)

I used to think "it's okay if the adaptation is not faithful, as long as it's good/enjoyable". And you know what? This kind of mentality is what lead to NFCV. I no longer stand by it. (maybe I should thank NFCV for making me see my limits)

And that's not because I'm a purist. As I said earlier, I'm all for adaptations making changes. But I am also all for respecting the source material as well ("respecting" just doesn't mean "doing everything exactly the way it was originally" to me, unlike... way too much people). And NFCV is not.

And as a show itself, ignoring the "adaptation" part? It's not that great either. If you get critical and think deeper about things, you'll start to see everything that is wrong. It's easier to ignore the problems and enjoy the parts you do like when you don't know the games. It's almost impossible to do when you do know and love the games. When you need to turn off your brain to truly enjoy a show, it's not the proof of a great writing.

But oh... That is only the first Netflixvania. :) This far, you can actually call it faithful to the games, compared to the soon to air Nocturne. :) (it actually hurts me to say)

You cannot look at the trailer and pretend it's even trying to be Castlevania. It's an original work who stole Castlevania's name and characters. With the first serie, you could've use the first, maybe the second season to pretend it was trying but "oh, the games don't have enough story to adapt" (shitty excuse btw). But here? Oh, no. No no no. It is NOT trying anything.

It happens during the french revolution, it seems it's gonna tackle racism and slavery (I do NOT trust the show to portray the french revolution correctly. nor racism. nor anything). Richter's tragedy is apparently going to revolve around the death of his mother, so you can say bye bye to the whole generational trauma and the weight of centuries of his family hunting Dracula (since it's not where NFCV went to begin with) and protecting the world now being on his shoulder and how it affects his psyche and- I mean DAMN. That is such a DOWNGRADE. But it's only the trailer. We'll have to wait for the whole season to air to see how bad it truly is. But I do not trust them to make Richter, one of the most beloved Castlevania characters, shine the way he deserves. I do not trust them to make Castlevania shine at all. Nothing this far can make a games' fan think of said games (probably because it's not for the games' fans.)

But we know it won't be about Richter anyway. Just like NFCV, it will be about everyone but the Belmont of the show. I mean it's logic, since it's the way NFCV went. At least that's coherent.

And everyone knows the sole reason why they went from ""CV3"" to ""RoB/SotN"" directly is because of Alucard, the true main character of NFCV. The trailer just dropped and you already have people asking where Alucard is.

There is so much details I could rant about. But this isn't about details (nor ranting, really). This isn't about every little thing that only makes the cartoon even more of an insult to the games (even if those details, piling up, ARE important). This is about the bigger picture. This is about Castlevania's heart getting crippled and shat on in favor of a pseudo-mature show getting off to his pseudo-deepness.

Games and shows are different medias and thus, are bound to have different ways to tell their stories. One is not lesser than the other. The Castlevania games have a story. It has a lore. It has themes. It's character have personnalities. But it's not a cartoon. It cannot show it by literally making the characters talking about how deep they are. They can't make cutscenes just to tell "I have a tragic backstory". It has to be shown in more subtle ways. It uses the decors. It uses the way the characters stand, or walk, or attack. It exploits the few cutscenes and dialogues to tell the most important informations. And yes, sometimes, it has to use the manual to give infos about the lore or characters. That is not a lesser way to do so. It's a way to adapt to the games' limits in order to tell their story. (also, CoD literally have two mangas to it's name. make your choice on wich version you like most)

There is so, so much potential in Castlevania. And if you get into the games, if you play them, if you just read the wiki or look at the posts of people talking about the lore, the characters, the games and analyzing them, you'll know... NFCV is a waste of an adaptation.

#castlevania #netflixvania #maybe people say castlevania has no story because lots of it is told in hints #and you have to actually think and make deductions instead of turning your brain off and eating solely what the games gave you #sigh. big. big sigh.

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allbluedepths · 2 months

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This was originally part of the ship bingo post, but it spiraled out of control and became a very large pile of thoughts. So instead, the Wings of the Emperor AU is getting its own ship dynamics post for Shanks, Mihawk, and Benn because it's sorta its own thing, and I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out how to even tag for it because none of their relationships fit in neat boxes very well.

(Wings of the Emperor AU is my early Red Hair Pirates era AU where Mihawk chooses to not become a Warlord and ends up not joining, but semi-sailing with the Red Hair Pirates. It mostly focuses on Mihawk's early dueling years with Shanks, his interactions with the Red Hair Pirates, and eventually getting swept up into their sailing shenanigans. TL;DR: I had the thought of "who would Mihawk be if forced to answer the question of 'who am I beyond just being a swordsman'" and it all spiraled from there.

For the record, some of the earlier posts aren’t 100% accurate anymore — big one being that I traded the “Mihawk was almost Shanks’ first mate” bit for something else — but this is an indulgent ship post, not me correcting my own lore post LOL.)

So, here’s a pile of thoughts to get my brain in gear to actually write more of the fic itself, haha. : )

This AU is… complicated? I'd say it's endgame Mihawk/Shanks/Benn triad in a very non-traditional relationships way. For example, by the time Mihawk semi-joins them and turns down the Warlord position, even Shanks and Mihawk don't have a concrete romantic relationship, and theirs is still the closest to that, haha. I guess it's best classified as:

Shanks and Mihawk: close relationship bordering on romantic; there's mutual interest, but their definitions of romantic also don't match "standard" definitions of romance, so it doesn't always read as that to others. Rivals/partners with a romantic flair?? Since Mihawk turning down the Warlord position and choosing to join them comes with a good chunk of other upheaval, there's a conscious decision to not really label anything, but they're on the same page of being mutually interested.

Shanks and Benn: hellooooo complex intertwined captain-first mate relationships. The fun duality of being both incredibly simple and incredibly complex. I'm team "many working captain-first mate relationships basically become life partnerships", and they're probably the prime example of that. Inconveniently for tagging purposes, it's smack dab in the middle of "&" and "/" relationships for AO3, so… eh, the vibes are vague. The details past the fact that they're basically each other's most trusted person stop mattering at a certain point.

Benn and Mihawk: Complicated, haha. By far the side of the triad with the most development to be had; right now, it's more like they're separate sides of a V polycule, rather than a triad, but the foundation's there. An odd, unexpected friendship turned an even more unexpected camaraderie as the years go by and Mihawk's around more and more. Absolutely no one outside of them (and occasionally Shanks) can really parse out what's going on here. Again, just over the line of what I'd tag as "&", and develops veeeeeery slowly over the years in its own undefined way.

…That ended up as a whole ass wall of words, haha. Shorter summary if you're looking for general relationship shifts:

Mihawk sails with the Red Hair Pirates (~6 years after the RHP start): only Shanks/Mihawk are semi/almost-romantic

Sailing time until Dawn Island: Shanks/Mihawk slowly get their shit together; Shanks/Benn inch toward maybe another realization or two, Benn/Mihawk "two introvert cats" bond starts really kicking in

Post-Dawn Island: Shanks/Benn get their shit together (thank you, realizations about mortality)

The decade-ish between Dawn Island and current canon: It's a polycule between an Emperor, an Emperor's first mate, and the World's Greatest Swordsman. Who cares if it makes sense to anyone else; it works for them, lol.

If you read this far, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed an unexpectedly long analysis drop for an AU I haven't posted for in a while and mostly exists in my brain right now, haha!

#wings of the emperor au #mishanks #bennshanks #bennhawk #bennmishanks #red haired shanks #dracule mihawk #benn beckman #one piece #akagami no shanks #is it a ship? is it not? who knows but it sure is Something

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ssirenah · 5 months

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hi ssera! i've recently been kinda struggling and idk what to do. basically i'm manifesting a new... everything. a new appearance, life, friends, family, the list goes on. i used to change my "desires" every few weeks in the past but what i currently want hasn't changed for a year. now, onto my problem. recently, i've started thinking "if i can't manifest x and y and would just remain in my current life, i'd manifest this and that". for example, i've made a pinterest board with clothes i'd manifest if i didn't get my desires and remained in this reality. it's kinda hard to put into words but i hope you understand what i'm trying to say. i've also been going into manifesting with a more negative "it won't work anyways so i might as well wanna manifest something "easier"" type of mindset. i really do wan't to manifest my dream life and not... whatever this is, so do you have any tips on how to work on this? thank you for your time~

Hi, ma lumière! Thanks for your ask :) <3

Do not limit yourself or water your desires down to "if I can't manifest this, then I'll settle for this." If you want something, you have it, no exceptions. Whatever it is that you want the most, that's what you have. Nothing is hard or easy, that is an illusion and you created those conditions/terms.

I once saw a post that said "nothing is progressing or changing because everything is just constantly matching your assumptions." This is also just proof that there is no duality at all, so the things you want are already you anyways.

Make things simple for yourself -- whatever path is easy and fun for you, do it that way! Don't overcomplicate or try to understand all this, honestly, stick to the basics! I've learned that overexplaining things to myself has just made me keep creating the opposite of what I want. I promise, the only thing you need to know is that there is no duality and whatever you assume to be your reality is your reality no matter what. I hope this helps, my dear!

#nonduality #nondualism #non dualism #non duality #consciousness #awareness #law of assumption #loassumption #sseras mailbox #ask #loa #law of assuming

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imperiuswrecked · 7 months

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In the ask you answered about Hickman's characterisation of Namor, you mentioned Namor's core traits, what are they?

Namor has 8 core character traits and I feel that if writers understand that then we get a good interpretation of his character; protector, honesty, respects women (he actually respects them more then men and doesn't have many male friends), doesn't use his strength to oppress people, nobility/arrogance, compassion, duality, and loyalty/respect. A couple are put together because I feel you can't have one without the other when it comes to his character.

- The protection and well being of his loved ones and people are a top priority to him, and he will do what's necessary to ensure their safety including murder or going to war, however Namor does not revel in senseless slaughter nor does he kill indiscriminately. (The only type of people Namor would harm/kill on sight are Nazis.)

- Namor is an honest character, he tells the truth even if it's a hard truth to hear. (He does engage in subterfuge from time to time if he needs to because he's a king and usually he does this if he feels it's in the best interest of his people/plan)

- Namor respects women. Full stop. He's not misogynistic, there are countless examples of him listening to women/female characters and taking their words under advisement or relying on them to help or trusting them or deferring to them. (This is hard to see sometimes because male comic writers often inject their own misogynistic views into some plots/sayings or fans take Namor as saying "Female" in referral to women characters as something misogynistic when it's just Archaic type of writing. Also I really feel that people shouldn't judge Namor on the Fantastic Four/Susan writing because he's deliberately written in a certain way in those comics and that plot dynamic that doesn't align with most of his character.)

- Namor sides with and champions the oppressed/underdog characters. He uses his strength and abilities to protect, not oppress.

- Namor's nobility and arrogance are intertwined, he is not a humble character and moments of humility are not something he expresses often.

- Namor's compassion is something others (Atlanteans) view as a weakness, however Namor would rather give his enemies a second chance rather than to kill them. Examples of this are Tiger Shark, Attuma, and Humans. (The last one is what Atlanteans judge him for the most since he tries to strive for peace with the human world until its thrown back in his face. Basically Namor's relationship with the human world is a cycle.)

- Namor's duality is the backbone of his character, like I cannot stress enough how Namor being biracial, or being of two worlds, or having 2 peoples he belongs to, are important to his character. His constant internal struggle and the external pressures of dealing with this are paramount to understanding his character.

- Namor's loyalty and respect is not easily earned but once earned then Namor is ride or die for that person.

#namor #this is also why I love #mcu namor #because he really embodies comic!namor's characterization #and both versions are awesome #imp answers

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dualiti-real · 7 months

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OC-Tober Day 1: Fave OC

cutting it a little close, as It's almost midnight where I am- but I'm using today to talk about my favorite guy Vex!

I've already given a basic introduction for him on my characters page, but that just means I can talk about fun stuff! (I recommend reading his blurb first for basic info, cause I'm just gonna start talking assuming you know it)

TALKING ABOUT THE BLORBO UNDER THE CUT

In Dualiti, most magic users have a basic theming their magic is centered around (like say, dinosaurs or magical girls or anything else you could potentially be passionate enough to make your magic look. On a surface level, Vex's magic is themed after shadows- but on a closer look, it's actually based on fears and what unsettles people. (he just thinks it's neat) And extending that interest, one of Vex's hobbies is making fucked up monsters of various sizes. (very sketchily drawn example below)

he has a lot of fun.

Vex is also immortal due to various magic reasons- to specify the type of immortality, this means basically anything can happen to him and he'll be fine. This can mean he's often a bit blasé when something happens.

he's fine. don't worry about it.

He's best friends with V-33, Dualiti's resident artificial intelligence! V-33's the latest iteration in a system that was made almost 1000 years ago, around 10 years right after Dualiti was founded! (when the containment barrier around the country went up.)

Relating to people he's known since Dualiti started, Vex also occasionally hangs out with Laurel, but mostly that involves the two of them trying to kill eachother. because when you're both indestructible and stupid powerful, you kill time however you can. they do occasionally hang out as friends, though. because being sworn mortal enemies is actually a lot of work sometimes. so they chill for a bit until they remember the fact that they cannot fucking stand eachother.

here's a picture of the three of them doing.. something. I don't fully remember the context but I know they're supposed to be in a car. road triiiip

anyway that's all for now if you read all of this I'm giving you a candy bar and a thumbs up :o) thank you

#oc: vex #art #oc-tober #bweirdOCtober #im gonna try doing oc-tober stuff this month i probs wont be able to do all of it cause of school but i'll see what I can do :)#oc: laurel #oc: v-33 #cause they were mentioned

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honeymochibubbletea · 2 months

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Hello my lovelies! Everything’s good? I hoooope so!

So basically i just wanted to make a silly post about ☆~Tumblr sexymen~☆ and about Phantasmo: please, mighty readers that might see this post, let’s make a page dedicated to Dr. phantasmo on the Tumblr sexymen official wiki!

And why do i want to see Phantasmo as an official tumblr sexyman?

Very simple, i shall list my reasons here:

His first origin/design was here on Tumblr by Fluffpillow

I want Fluffpillow’s character to be even more popular and that more people love him as much as i do

He checks all (okay, not all but, you all get what i mean) of the boxes as a Tumblr sexyman, i mean come on people! Y’all are sleeping on him!:

He would probably fit into the status of “safe”/“thaumiel” of the tumblr sexymen (correct if i am wrong)

The tropes he would fit into:

Angsty past

Artsy

Bait (come on Fluff, if you see this post you cannot deny that you purposely made Phantasmo sexy. And honestly? That’s perfectly fine! We all love a hot villain!)

British/European…? (This one i’m still not ENTIRELY sure, but he’s very likely to be either British or French… or so i believe…)

Brick shithouse (yeah i know: the name is weird as hell for those who are not familiar with the tumblr sexyman tropes. BUT trust me, Phantasmo fits into this category perfectly, here’s a link explaining better this trope: https://sexypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Brick_Shithouse

Criminal

Deadpan snarker

WARNING FOR THE MINORS: DO NOT SEARCH FOR THIS TROPE, OKAY? Okay… (seriously, don’t search it.) Dilf/Gilf energy

Distinctive laugh

Dominating

Duality

Egotistical

Gay (or bisexual in his case. The “gay” is the name of the trope)

Hot-headed

Intelligence

Johnlocked

Mad scientist (the most obvious one, duh 🙄)

Magnificent bastard

Fangs

Tongue imagery (believe me, this one makes sense because fluff has drawn a lot of tongue imagery of Phantasmo to be just a “coincidence”. I’ll show some older examples):

Mysterious

Nonhuman…? (I’m not so sure about this one because of Victor: Phantasmo’s human past form)

Undead

Neurodivergent coded (because i said so >:3) (ps: it’s just a headcanon of mine, don’t pay too much attention to it)

Perpetual smiler

Tall

Villain

Refined villain

Uniform

And that’s it! Also if someone actually make my dream come true, here’s a little reminder: don’t forget to ask Fluffpillow first if you can make a Tumblr sexyman wiki about Phantasmo, okay? (It’s always important to ask for consent to the original creator for things like this! ;D)

Bu-byeeee~♪

#dr. phantasmo #telltown #fluffpillow #tumblr sexyman #others ocs

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cosmicjoke · 2 years

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Levi and the nature of duality

One of the most pervasive interpretations of Levi that I find the most frustrating is this idea that he’s somehow an “uncomplex” character. That, because he doesn’t change from where we find him at the beginning of the story, this somehow makes him a badly written character, that this somehow makes him basic and uninteresting.

But this interpretation or perception of Levi as uncomplex reveals, yet again, a fundamental lack of understanding about his character.

I would argue that Levi is, in fact, one of the most complex and dynamic characters in all of SnK, because in Levi we have represented a duality which, in many ways, is the defining core of Attack on Titan’s message. In Levi, we have a person who is both the most violent character in the story, a character who relies on violence and understands and accepts the necessity for violence in certain situations, and yet, at the same time, is unquestionably the most caring and compassionate of all SnK’s characters; is the one person who values life more than anyone else.

Levi essentially embodies this contradictory reality of the world, that there are good people who can do bad things. That a good person can engage in and commit acts of violence, murder, even, yet still retain a morally pure heart.

Levi’s selfless heroism never changes. The purity of his actions never changes, even as those actions sometimes include extreme violence. Even when Levi takes the lives of other human beings, his fundamental belief in the value of life never leaves him. He never stops believing that all people’s lives matter, and it never impacts him any less, when he’s forced into a position of having to allow others to die, or to take the lives of others himself. He never becomes desensitized or indifferent to the act of taking or sacrificing human lives. He never tries to downplay the seriousness of it, or sugarcoat it, or even justify it to himself. He simply accepts it for what it is. A necessity in the given situation to achieve a certain end, whether that’s to help free humanity, or save the lives of himself or his comrades. He never claims to be right or wrong. He says he doesn’t know if he is. All he knows is that, if he didn’t kill in certain situations, it would lead to others being killed.

We can compare Levi’s attitude here, his unwillingness to cast himself and his violent acts in a heroic light, to Zeke, who in contrast, paints himself as a savior figure, and sees himself as uniquely capable of saving the world. Zeke paints his acts of violence as acts of mercy. When he turns Levi’s comrades into titans, for example, and forces Levi to kill them, he claims it to be a merciful act, that he has “saved them” by freeing them from their misery. Zeke is justifying his actions here, trying to convince himself and Levi that what he did was an altruistic and heroic act of compassion. He in turn downplays the weight of his own actions, then, downplays the seriousness of them, by trying to twist them into something purely positive and justifiable, something heroic, even.

The irony of this contrast between Levi and Zeke lies again in duality.

Zeke holds no value for human life, or life of any kind. He sees life as worthless and pointless. And yet he casts himself in the light of compassionate and empathetic hero, freeing the wretched from their suffering by taking their lives. It’s precisely BECAUSE he holds no value in life that he’s able to see his actions this way. As something good and even glorious.

Levi, though, values life above everything, and wishes more ardently than anything to protect the lives of others, to save as many lives as he can, and ensure that those he’s unable to save don’t die in vain; that he’s able to give their sacrifices meaning, because their lives, to him, are more valuable than anything else. And it’s because of this genuine compassion and empathy in Levi that he never could, and never would, try to claim his own acts of violence as something heroic, or justified. Why he would never try to downplay or excuse his acts of violence as something praiseworthy or paint them to be somehow glorious. Levi, unlike Zeke, understands the weight and tragedy in the loss of life. He understands that it can never be something that is good, or heroic, or glorious. He understands this because he understands the value in life. He believes life is important, and meaningful. That life matters.

Again, there’s that irony, that Zeke justifies his acts of violence as acts of compassion, because he has no genuine empathy or compassion for the lives of others, while Levi makes no justification at all for his acts of violence, because he has more empathy and compassion for the lives of others than anyone else.

One last irony, then, that Levi never tries to paint himself or claim himself to be a hero, and yet he’s maybe the only true hero of the story, compelled to use his strength to save as many people as he can, to uphold the sanctity of the lives of others, to fight for their right to live. Levi feels he owes it to others to use his great strength to help them in any way he can. He could never justify to himself having so much strength and not using it to protect them. That’s what makes Levi a true hero. He doesn’t fight for his own glorification. He doesn’t fight for his own redemption, or any, personal dream. He fights because, to him, other people’s lives matter, and it’s his duty to them, as someone strong, to use that strength for their betterment. He feels a personal responsibility towards them to protect their lives. He fights because he wants others to live.

Levi is complex because of this duality. Because he’s willing to engage in violence, willing to commit acts of violence and brutality even, never making excuses for it, never trying to pass it off as something heroic or good or right, and yet he fights for truly selfless, altruistic reasons, precisely because he values life so much. He’s complex because he understands that violence is an inescapable part of the human condition, understands that it’s sometimes necessary and readily accepts that bleak reality, but he never minimizes the tragedy of its necessity because he understands also that life is precious, that life is something to be valued above all else.

#Levi Ackerman #analysis #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #SNK analysis

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terrence-silver · 8 months

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Terry’s reaction, in different eras, to beloved getting lots of genuine male attention

Contrary to popular fandom belief, I don't think Terry Silver would enjoy flaunting his beloved on his arm even while everyone else wants them and makes no secret of it. Like, he might appear cocksure, confident and nonchalant on the surface, but the man's a rollercoaster of emotions, schemes, trauma, violence, extremes and unhinged tendencies beneath all that.

---

― Like, for example, Twig might be beaming because for once, he feels like he's one of those cool kids dating someone universally well liked (and desired) even while he simultaneously might feel immensely slightly threatened beneath all that and might go to even more extreme lengths than usual to shower beloved with gifts, acts of service, material goods, his own affection and love and just stuff in order make sure their attention never, ever strays from him because he's just doing so much for them with an effort to cloud their eyes from everyone else pining after them. Because he's making sure to buy the assurance of their loyalty, if nothing else, because admittedly, there's a bit of pathological desperation involved on his behalf and the conviction that if he doesn't overcompensate with people, he'll lose them forever. Sure, he feels like he's hit a milestone. Graduated and grown from his awkward Vietnam years to someone who's won the heart of a person everyone wants but can never have, but deep down he has this bubbling, overwhelming anxiety that he isn't strong enough or just plain enough to keep beloved now that he actually has them, fueling his own paranoia and doubts even more so and pushing him into what he sees as 'building himself up to new heights' in every sense to be, as he sees it, tough enough to maintain what's his and not end up being a loser, kickstarting his trajectory into fanaticism, or rather, the fanatical pursuit of power, strength, control and dominance, because if you're the biggest, baddest shark in the metaphorical pond, Twig figures nobody would ever dare take what's yours. Right?

― Terry in the 80's would almost prefer, that in the off chance of beloved being a woman, that all this sexual and romantic attention stemmed from other women, because that's something he wouldn't necessarily view tremendously unfavorably, if you get my meaning --- hey, it's the 80's, after all. In fact, he might find it titillating and perversely amusing in a way he doesn't see other men, even though, irregardless of beloved's gender, genuine interest to someone his will always boil down to him viewing it as a declaration of open war no matter the combination of suitors that come forward and what their own respective genders and sexualities are. It is just that Terry Silver, with some era appropriate machismo added to the mix, might see other men as a legitimate threat to someone his, and so his pride in flaunting beloved on his arm could fester really quickly and he's capable of doing a 180 degree shift in no time at all and going from a worldly man of leisure freely showing off his paramour to a downright barbarian who is just as capable of shutting them inside of his mansion so nobody can look at them ever again. Nobody but him, of course. Such is his duality. Terry is capable of being as confident as he is absolutely and unbelievably volatile, so naturally, the realization that every man around them wants beloved quickly goes from a source of triumphant pride and cool poise to him just feverishly plotting revenge against everyone and everything while beloved's basically under house arrest. The general public knows Silver was seeing someone special at one point in time, but they haven't seen them in...oh, I don't know, years?

― For old man Terry, all these other guys surrounding beloved like so many vultures might be a reminder of some very sour topics that only serve to fuel his most destructive tendencies, like for example, the idea that he's past his prime. That he's no longer a young man and that he's contending, with possibly other younger men, even though, he simultaneously doesn't believe anyone measures up to him and as such, he's both extremely egoistic and yet extremely hard on himself at the same time. Terry might also be haunted by the idea of mortality. Time being fleeting and beyond his control. His desires to have met beloved sooner, when he was younger, tough, sharper, and when he would've made every would-be admirer cover from beloved even faster. When he would've been more of a threat. More of an alpha, if that makes sense. Viewing everything from a tribalist and slightly primal point of view, he might feel the reason why so many men surround and try to act way too friendly with beloved in the first place is because they smell weakness. Weakness from him. That they see it in every grey hair. In every wrinkle. That they smell blood and that they're moving in on his turf. After all, lions do it to each other in the wild when the leader starts getting old and losing authority over his pride, his young and his females. People are no different. As such, it only has Terry taking extra precautions to tuck away the thing he loves most in this life and that's beloved. That, or ensuring the lives of these assholes are destroyed one by one. How about both? Both is good.

#terry silver #kk3 #cobra kai #terry silver twig #twig terry silver #80's terry silver #old man terry #terry silver x reader #terry silver x beloved #tw; fear of mortality #tw; era appropriate attitudes #tw; sexism #tw; jealousy #tw; control issues #tw; machismo #tw; toxic masculinity

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justforbooks · 7 months

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Having long been tipped as the next Nobel laureate, the Norwegian writer has this year been awarded the prize. For those new to the acclaimed playwright and novelist, here are some good ways in.

The novelist, playwright, essayist and poet Jon Fosse, 64, is this year’s winner of the Nobel prize in Literature. He is now set to become the world’s best-known Norwegian writer of contemporary fiction, perhaps even overtaking his former student, Karl Ove Knausgård. In his career as a playwright, Fosse has been hailed as “the new Ibsen” – borne out by the fact that his plays are the most widely performed in Norway after Ibsen’s own. Despite years of international acclaim, however, it is only relatively recently that Fosse’s books have begun to reach the mainstream of English translation publishing – so here’s where to begin.

The entry point

Fosse’s powerful (and frequently very short) stories in the collection Scenes from a Childhood span Fosse’s literary career from 1983 to 2013. They serve as an introduction to the central themes of his work – childhood, memory, family, faith – coupled with a strong sense of duality and of fatalism. Fragmentary, elliptical, at times deliberately simplistic, they mark life’s journey from extreme youth to old age. Standouts include Red Kiss Mark of a Letter, And Then My Dog Will Come Back to Me.

If you only read one

In Fosse’s 2023 novella Aliss at the Fire, an old woman, Signe, lies by the fire at her house next to a fjord, dreaming of herself 20 years earlier and her husband, Asle, who rowed out one day on the water in a storm and never came back. It is typical of Fosse – bleak, with a grand use of a repeated central image, that of blackness, and structured around the grip of ancestral history (the Aliss of the title is Asle’s great-great-great-grandmother), doubles and repeated actions: Asle’s grandfather had the same name as him and met the same fate by drowning. Hypnotic and mysterious.

If you’re in a rush

Published in 1989, The Boathouse is the closest thing Fosse has written to a crime novel. The 30-year-old narrator seems to have failed at everything in life – he lives with his mother, is a virtual recluse, doesn’t seem able to do basic things for himself. His most important achievement lies in his past – the rock band he had with his childhood friend Knut, with whom he has lost contact. Yet one summer a chance encounter with Knut, now married and relatively successful, will lead to a devastating denouement. Parallel to this, the narrator is also writing a novel that is an acute observation of every instance of his “restless” existence: a perfect example of the “write, don’t think” maxim as Fosse instructed his students in the late 80s in Bergen, when this book was in the making.

The play

“I can’t help wondering if the cultural gulf between Fosse’s world and our own is too wide,” wrote the Guardian critic when his 1999 play Dream of Autumn had its English language premiere in Dublin in 2006. Much has changed in Europe and the rest of the world in the intervening 17 years, however. The drama’s premise is simple, the undercurrents are not: a man and a woman meet in a graveyard and begin an affair – perhaps they knew one another in a past life. As they leave the graveyard the man’s parents arrive for a funeral and, as is common with Fosse, time leaps forward by years, in a lingering, longing dance of intergenerational circularity.

The one worth persevering with

In Melancholy I and II, Fosse takes us deep into the tortured mind of the 19th-century landscape artist Lars Hertervig, who died impoverished in 1902 in his early 70s, and whose life was blighted by the hallucinations and delusions that made his paintings appear so dreamlike, so sublime. Hertervig first became psychotic as a student at art school in Düsseldorf and, as well as an often terrifying examination of mental illness, the novels (originally published separately but now as one volume) are most significantly about what it means to be an artist. Melancholy I details the young Hertervig’s obsessions, anxieties, and eventual breakdown during one terrible day; Melancholy II acts as a coda, with different narrative perspectives – including that of a would-be fictional biographer – many years after Hertervig’s death.

The masterpiece

The seven books of Fosse’s Septology I-VII (helpfully compressed into three volumes comprising The Other Name, I Is Another and A New Name) centre on Asle, an ageing artist living in remote south-west Norway. A Catholic convert, like Fosse himself, Asle is grappling with time, art and identity. It is an extraordinary work of existential crisis, of memory loss, and persistent doppelgangers, either real or imaginary – the life lived, and the life that might have been lived, in the person of the shadowy other. It’s a frightening and intense read, which is rendered without a sentence break, so that the reader is essentially living Asle’s life with him. Septology is also a work of deep religious faith in which a man, an artist, and a human being, above all, in the end comes full circle: “It’s definitely true that it’s just when things are darkest, blackest, that you see the light.”

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