#that while the other had graphic design. so like one group would have marketing on monday and another on friday for example
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Menstrual pain should be taken more seriously than it currently is, people suffering from it shouldn't be dismissed or accused of overreacting because "it's just a period"
For most of my life, I've suffered from debilitating menstrual cramps. Some days it was bad enough that I couldn't move, couldn't even speak, just cry and scream for hours until the painkillers finally kicked in, and it'd often leave me feeling weak, exhausted and like I was on the verge of passing out. I have to take the strongest non-prescription medication on the market and it still just makes my pain bearable enough that I can function; hell, even my prescription drugs sometimes weren't enough.
Despite this, I was often ridiculed by my peers and accused of faking it so I can get out of school or work, and I've had medical professionals refuse to help me because "it's just a period" and "it'll pass on its own". I've had to beg people to go get me painkillers and they'd usually start an argument or roll their eyes at me and complain the entire time. It was a constant problem and the only person that's ever taken my pain seriously was my mother.
Seriously, it isn't right that I have to deal with 2-3 days of debilitating pain and nobody around me treats it seriously. Not even my doctors.
And I'm not even the most severe case out there, I'm lucky that my cramps only last a max of 3 days and respond to medications. There are people out there who have to deal with worse.
Seriously, just please start taking menstrual pain seriously. Just because it happens every month doesn't mean it's any more bearable or less serious than any other pain. The pain this severe isn't normal, it's a medical condition and it should be treated seriously. It's even more fucked up that this sort of pain is often a symptom of some underlying condition yet even doctors don't treat it seriously.
#thylacines can talk#my lighest periods are like 6 on the pain scale#my heaviest periods are more painful than thathat time i broke my ankle#and when i mean debilitating i MEAN IT. I. Cannot. Function.#on my usual periods i cannot move from my bed at all. i cant do the usual chores around the house. cant even make myself food or grab a#drink. i need somebody else's assistance to even function. i just have to wait the 2 or 3 hours it usually takes for my painkillers to#finally kick in and when they do im still in pain. it just goes down a lot in severity so i can at least function but i still avoid most#work and going out for the first 2 to 3 days to not aggrevate it. seriously its not fun and im pissed off that so many people act like#total cunts about it when its? clearly not normal??? seriously my dad threw a fuckin temper tantrum when i asked him to go buy me#painkillers because we ran out and i couldnt move. well my mum had to call him and ask him because i was just crying and couldnt even speak#properly. he was just complaining and whining about it and kept asking me why i couldnt go when i was just curled up in my bed and sobbing#and people in school would always give me dirty looks and talk shit behind my back about faking it and being lazy whenever i got a period#during school and had to sit in the corner and try not to make any noises while my mum had to leabe job so she could pick me up#we were studying advertisement and marketing so we were split into two groups. one group would usually have marketing or something like#that while the other had graphic design. so like one group would have marketing on monday and another on friday for example#so i usually would leave and join the group that had a lesson in our main classroom because there was a corner where i could sit next to#the window and rest while not disturbing the class. since our nurse was a nurse in two different schools so she wasnt there all the time.#and then id hear from my two friends that the girls from my group ALWAYS shittalked me when i left. saying that was blowing it out of#proportion and was just lazy and trying to get out of class. that class was so fucking toxic.#anyway this rant is brought to you by me once again having to lay in my bed and try to pass the time by thinking about stupid shit while#dying from pain. it took a long tome to write because my hands were shaking and i got dizzy a few times but i mamaged.#my painkillers FINALLY kicked in so. HALLELUJAH.#being in a bearable amount of pain feels borderline euphoric after three hours of bullshit#it still wasnt the worst just a 7 on the pain scale
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8:11 Character/ Story asks;
Anons that have asked about characters and story beats! Spoilers are at the very end‼️
Trying to organize things the best I can! I’ve gotten SUPER behind on some asks.... I’m terribly sorry! I don’t go online much, and, reading text online is very difficult (for reference, this is what it looks like while also suffering from dyslexia)
Ryker ask;
Howdy! Sorry, but, Ryker’s clothing holds no meaning what-so-ever:D I think they just found a sweater they really liked and then added a crop top over it.
Nope! Beetle’s words are most likely verbal nonsense. Sounds like someone talking backwards, with some bug clicking noises, and chirping, and whatever else sprinkled in. He’s non human, and not like any living creature on Earth for that matter, so he wouldn’t have typical vocal cords.
Since he is linked with Ryker, his words are probably just telepathically and automatically translated for Ryker or something crazy like that.
Hmmmm.... the answer depends on where they are hanging out. If it’s at the basilica, Vittorino might be on edge and pissed. Which is the main reason why he attacked Ryker, haha.
If they’re all at Juliek’s house, or Accardi’s house.... hmmm. No okay, nevermind, it would still end up badly. Like this one vine
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Gabriel Asks;
When I was redesigning him, I only gave him half facial hair to see what I liked..... but I liked how it looked just as is, so, I kept it, hahahah.
I like to think that he shaves during a shower, but, forgot to shave the other side until he stepped out of the shower.
Hmmm....I like to think Gabriel is a natural blonde. I think it’s just part of my style to add some colored roots to blonde characters (explains why Vittorino has black sideburns too lol) :) Susan will have a similar effect with different-colored roots:) If I keep the design idea hahahah
And Susan.....hmmmm...........
They most likely knew each other, if Gabriel was in the old friend group. But let’s find out in the future;)
Susan & Amalia asks;
She loves them! She probably does artsy things with Vittorino, and Accardi typically drives her around wherever since Juliek can’t drive.
Juliek’s wife was a model, and was also a graphic designer. And was in marketing once. She’s done a lot of different jobs, as she’s never satisfied with something long term.
Vittorino/Juliek/Accardi asks;
HAHA oh anon(s).......... This dynamic was messy, that's for sure. Almost everyone fucked each other. But Chapter one was just a good starting point to get the basic idea of the trio friend group (Juliek, Accardi, and Vittorino.......and possibly Gabriel now too?), how they interact, feel about each other on a surface level, and Accardi moving on from Juliek to chase his interest in Ryker.
We will get to see a lot more with Juliek and Accardi’s past relationship, Juliek and who exactly his wife is, and their relationship, Vittorino’s factor with everything, etc. I’m glad you liked them so much! I love them so much:,D
He might. I wonder if it fucks up the high or not then, lol.
No clue actually. I had no real vision for it when I made that dialogue.
Vittorino’s specialty is abstract art, so, maybe Accardi commissioned some floral abstract works? Something to put in his house and just admire. Who knows.... Too bad he can’t finish it now because he opened the damn Bible :)
Everyone’s hair is 100% natural! We live by anime rules in this universe.
I like to think Juliek’s wife, Susan, dyes her hair often just for aesthetic reasons though.
Vittorino fox hat🦊
What makes you ask that anon?
Well 😏 We know Accardi said his favorite was long pork.
Ryker likes sweet foods, and really likes yogurt cake and crepes.
Leon; Savory soups:) But probably hates that he sounds like an old man saying that, so he probably says its actually elk burgers.
Juliek; Probably something really fancy. Something that he can pair with a good glass of wine.... maybe something like a sausage pasta?
Susan; Kare Pan (Japanese Curry Bread)
Vittorino; Quail meat
Gabriel; His mom's homemade pizza:) She makes it with prosciutto :,D
Dakota & Wankou; BBQ ribs and seafood! I don’t know much about seafood so uhhhh just guess for that one sorry lol.
1. Everyone’s a switch. Including him.
2. He probably only bottomed for two people in his whole life; Gabriel and ermmmmmmmmmmm. Well. Can’t say it’s spoilers :P
He would! But nooooooo idea how anyone would be able to pull it off. I’ve definitely thought of making his mask(face?) before, just for fun, but I have no experience in such things.
Possible Spoilers Regarding Leon;
Hi anon! I scanned through the pictures in the beginning of the game, and, I could not find any images of Leon with purple-colored eyes? If you can find one and send me the title or description of it, that would be appreciated as I can’t find it myself! Sorry! Leon’s eyes hold a lot of thematic and imagery importance, so, if Leon randomly has purple eyes I might need to fix that, hahahah. But his eyes should just be yellow/orange/gold (within that spectrum).
Although, Leon’s eye color was up for debate towards the ending (depending on what items you had collected). So who knows what truth Leon and Dante are hiding from Ryker ;)
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David Farland’s Writing Tips—“What Kind of Writing Career would You Like?”
Recently I was asked to speak on how to prepare to become a writer, and I had to step back and wonder about that.
Do you go to college? Do you study English literature? Most of us writes do, but I know writes who are software programmers or engineers, and they do just fine, too?
Or in today’s world, where so many Indy authors are coming up, should you study graphic design or online marketing techniques? Those skills would be terribly helpful, and I know successful writers who have done that.
Or maybe you should recognize that writing is a global business and that you need to know a bit about business management, accounting, and traditional marketing skills. My early schooling in business administration has helped out there much more than I’d like to admit.
The truth is that writers can take very different paths and aim for different kinds of writing careers. Maybe it would be wise to determine what kind of writer you want to be, then put yor focus in specific areas.
So here are some broad categories of writers.
The Solitary Genius. Many writers that I know are loners. Some of them score high on the autism scale and really struggle to avoid others.
Most of us find that in order to write, we need quiet time to focus and really don’t want to deal with distractions. Writers that I’ve known who were like this included Zenna Henderson, and Roger Zelazny and, well—just about everyone.
For these writers, it seems that traditional publishing worked well. They could turn in a book once or twice a year, have a publisher publish it well, and make a decent living.
Now, I want to warn you against being too casual in your career. I know a lot of writers who are doing “pretty well” using what I consider to be bad publishing plans, and most of them are writers who want to be the solitary genius type. They avoid hiring employees to their own detriment.
For these writers, focusing on how to construct stories and how to write well seems like a wise choice. Study English literature, the writing of poetry, but make sure to take some classes on screenwriting so you can learn how to handle plots.
I should mention, though, that for a writing career, you don’t need a college education. There are a number of professional writers who teach online or in small workshops, and you can learn the craft from them (and from your writing groups) just as well as if you were going to a university.
The Media Darling. For some writers, perhaps the biggest thrill is to be in the limelight. They’re traveling to fan conventions every week, like to run huge newsletters, attend parties, and see themselves as the center of attention in news and magazine articles. They’re often trying to win awards or vying for the top spot on bestseller lists.
Personally, I hate all of that drivel and would rather be anonymous, but if you want to make a living as a writer, learning how to deal with the media is pretty much a necessity.
In fact, many writers go to Toastmaster Club meetings to practice their public-speaking skills. Some hit the gym and worry about their figures or hire image consultants to help them pick out just the right colors for their next news shoot, or hire publicists to help garner attention.
If you want to be a media darling, I think you still need to write, but you should also add to that an expertise in blogging and working on social media, and it might well be your focus in school.
Alternately, you may find that you need help—one or two people who handle the marketing side of your work, particularly if you’re heavily into self-publishing. In our Apex writing group, we’ve been interviewing successful authors for the past two years, and I keep getting surprised at finding husband-and-wife teams where one person writes, while the other is the social media expert who publicizes their work and advances their career.
The truth is, though, that just about any author who starts experiencing good success needs to develop a small team of usually three or four people to help promote their work. So you become a small-business manager out of necessity. Otherwise, you become the bottleneck for your own company’s growth. If you handle your business wisely, you can have someone else manage your team so that you can focus on creating products.
This particular approach seems to be working well for several Indie authors I know who are making it big.
The Business Mogul. Most people don’t see writing as a big business opportunity, but it can be. If you look at writers like Rowling, she’s made a couple billion as a writer. One of my writing students, Stephenie Meyer, is probably closing in on a billion in earnings from her series. Other students like Brandon Sanderson or Brandon Mull or James Dashner have each made millions.
With each of these writers, they’ve had to learn to manage teams of artists, editors, legal counsel, social media experts, and so on, so that some of them hire dozens of people, and there are some examples of authors who started out with an empire-building mindset. I quite like James Patterson, for example, who makes hundreds of millions per year but hires a nice-sized army of people to help.
For an author like this, you need to know how to write well, but you’re also deep into business strategies. You might even find yourself creating a “Human Resources Department,” and you’ll be studying how to best liquidate your global story rights to foreign markets. You might work closely with Hollywood agents or managers to turn your stories into films, and you may find yourself working more as a “story designer” than a solitary novelist, where you supervise other writers who do the actual writing. You can either have your writers creating stories under your name, or you can publish under a fictitious name.
What do you study if you want to develop that kind of career? That’s an interesting one. Learning to run a business is crucial. Understanding how to promote is just as important as actually writing. Learning to be a filmmaker and how to fund large movie and gaming projects could be important, too. But at the core of it, you still need to understand how to create stories for a target audience.
The Takeaway? It seems to me that there are a lot of ways that a writer can go. Learning how to tell great stories is the core kernel of knowledge that you have to have, but you’re also going to have to become familiar with things like how to build web pages, market yourself widely, make wise business decisions, and so on.
So what kind of career do you want to have? You choose.
For more on David Farland's Writing tips, visit https://mystorydoctor.com/writing-blog/
And you can also click here to get your David Farland Daily Meditations.
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The Hit Shuffle Podcast: Discovering New Music
There are hundreds of music podcasts out in the audio universe. There are Elvis podcasts, Beatles shows, and even a few Velvet Underground podcasts. The Velvet Underground -- Lou Reed and John Cale among its members -- were one of the most influential rock groups of the 60s.
That's the kind of information a listener would get from The Hit Shuffle podcast. If you are a music lover whose playlist contains the same 30 songs and artists, this podcast is not for you. If you're a one-genre music fan -- like Euro Synth Pop -- this podcast is not your cup of audio tea. These guys -- Matt and Dave -- are serious music devotees. Consider episode eight, when they discussed a group -- Jazz Daredevil -- in which the album concept includes the idea that this musician can't play jazz piano and his attempts are either clumsy catastrophes or inspired finger play.
The Hit Shuffle began in May 2022 and has produced 41 episodes since then.
Here's Matt and Dave in their own words: "Welcome to The Hit Shuffle podcast with your hosts Matt and Dave! Each episode, we hit shuffle on our music collections and discuss the songs that follow. We break down the impact that the song, album and artist has had on us over the years, while adding in some personal stories. We hope to use this podcast to not only introduce our listeners to new music but to each other as well!"
And that's the key here. These two indie podcasters offer listeners a buffet of music that includes multiple genres and lots of great music you have (I know me) have never heard before, but enjoy once we do.
Here's a theme in their reviews:
Check out two:
So glad I discovered this podcast! The hosts break down music on every episode, including mostly new music (for me). It’s a great way to discover new artists too! Well done.
I had previously heard of… none of the bands on this show when I first listened in, so it was a great doorway to new music! Matt and Dave obviously know music and can talk about different songs in all the things they do and how they make you feel. I like the whole randomization gimmick so they talk about the songs on the fly, giving the show an improv feel.
That's the key to their absurdly good indie podcast. Matt and Dave are your spirit guides to music you probably haven't heard from bands whose existence is unknown to you.
The co-hosts, Matt and Dave, reveal themselves through their music tastes and tales of how certain music impacted their lives -- where and when. Even their brief instrumental music intro is a 20-second introduction to several music genres.
They also offer this perk: "As always, you can find all the songs we talk about each episode on our Spotify Playlist. Just search "The Hit Shuffle Podcast Playlist," or follow the link to our website, which has a link directly from there."
When you listen to Matt and Dave, I get a retro vibe of 70s FM radio, when the hosts were as cool and chill as ice on a glass of whiskey on the rocks. I love their muted, restrained tone, which only highlights their enthusiasm for all types of music.
If you want scholarly and informed discussions of popular, high-on-the-charts music, then Switched On Pop is your music podcast of choice. But if you want to hear Front Bottoms, a punk folk group from New Jersey or the Pan Chugaboos, or the Punk-O-Rama compilation albums then The Hit Shuffle podcast should be on your podcast feed.
Be prepared for music that is strange and wondrous.
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This review is part of a series of reviews, recommendations, and essays about Indie podcasters -- their craft, their challenges, and the critical role they play in podcasting. These entrepreneurs display skills as disparate as hosting, sound production, graphic design, scriptwriter, interviewer, marketing genius, and financial watchdog. They are the heart and soul of podcasting.
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Spore pc disk
#SPORE PC DISK SOFTWARE#
#SPORE PC DISK PC#
#SPORE PC DISK MAC#
#SPORE PC DISK WINDOWS#
However, the company has yet to announce when Spore will be released.
#SPORE PC DISK PC#
In fact, EA is hoping to simultaneously release a number of titles this year on PC and Mac, and Spore may well be among the first.
#SPORE PC DISK MAC#
And while it has yet to decide whether it will ship different versions of Spore for PC and Mac or whether it will release both versions on a single DVD, McCombe suggested that is more of a sales or marketing question than a technical one. "It didn't seem like we could justify porting over a hard-core shooter (game)," DeLoura said, "because as far as we could tell, those games didn't sell on the Mac."ĮA, however, has decided the cost is justified. They're great guys, but they don't have a lot of resources, I think."ĭeLoura said that Ubisoft had also experimented with TransGaming's tools, but decided in the end not to commit to them.Ī bigger issue for bringing PC games to the Mac, DeLoura added, is that publishers often don't think that the market is big enough. "'Please bring stuff to the Mac, please bring stuff to the Mac,' but they never gave us a lot of support. "The Apple guys, they were always very encouraging," DeLoura said. Video game technology consultant Mark DeLoura said that Ubisoft-where he was previously a technical director-also found it difficult to make the translation, despite entreaties from Apple to do so. Spore charges players with taking their characters through a complex growth process, beginning at the primordial cell stage and moving on up the evolutionary ladder, first colonizing small areas on a single planet and eventually heading off into space to find and conquer other societies.ĮA is hardly the only game company that has had issues porting PC games to Macs. The upshot, he added, is that from a user's standpoint, playing Spore on a Mac should be a seamless experience, with no noticeable differences from the PC version. "It serves both as traffic cop and does the conversion on the fly," McCombe said.
#SPORE PC DISK SOFTWARE#
That means, for example, that when a piece of software, in this case, Spore, wants to do a graphics call to DirectX, TransGaming's software translates the call so that it looks instead to the Mac graphics library. It's more wrapper technology with some customer work."
#SPORE PC DISK WINDOWS#
"The technology wrapper goes around (the software), and traps the (code) calls native to the Windows environment, and converts them to the correct calls for Mac," McCombe said. That's why EA is fine-tuning its relationship with Toronto-based TransGaming Technologies, a company that has developed a technology that makes it relatively easy for publishers like EA to develop Mac-or Linux-versions of a game side by side the PC versions.Īccording to David McCombe, director of technical design for EA's strategic platforms group, TransGaming's technology effectively creates a "wrapper" that goes around a piece of software developed for the PC, allowing it to run on a Mac. The company was not able to meet that standard with any of the games it released for the Mac last year each Mac version ended up missing the PC launch date by weeks or months-something EA would very much like to avoid in the future. The news that Spore will be one of those titles and that it will hit Macs at the same time as PCs is a big move for the company. In a joint announcement last year at Apple's developers conference, it was revealed that the video game giant would be bringing some of its biggest franchises to the Mac. At the convention, EA will show Spore running on Macs. The announcement is timed to coincide with the Macworld Expo, which begins Tuesday in San Francisco. In its early stages, Electronic Arts' forthcoming and much-anticipated game Spore was code-named Sim Everything, a play on its heritage as the newest game by The Sims creator Will Wright.īut now, "sim everything" has another meaning for the company: EA is set to announce Tuesday it will release Spore later this year simultaneously for PCs and Macs.
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[I’m a JURY] Executive Judges “Kathy Delaney”｜Full Interview
Once a young girl who saw the world through TV and popular media. She grew up dreaming of advertising campaigns and the world of media, today she leads Saatchi Saatchi Wellness and Publicis Health as Chief Creative Officer. Kathy Delaney is also one of the executive juries for MAD STARS 2022. MAD STARS sat down with Kathy to chat about her journey, her participation in MAD STARS 2022 and the direction the creative industry is going in.
Hi Kathy, could you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Kathy Delaney, and I’m Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness and Publicis Health.
How have you been in this last period?
Well, first of all, the global pandemic feels like it’s been a lot longer than two and a half years! Like many people, I’ve experienced my fair share of challenges, both at work and personally. But if there’s a silver lining to all the calamity that we’ve all experienced, I think it’s that we’ve collectively recognized as a society that our well-being is paramount. We’ve become much more aware and attuned to the importance of our physical and mental health.
What inspired you to join the creative industry in the first place?
Like lots of kids of my generation, I was a latch-key kid, and my babysitter and best friend was primarily the television. From an early age, I was fascinated by media and the advertising messaging that surrounded what I watched on TV, read in magazines, or saw on a billboard.
So while other kids were playing, I was the kid who would imagine fantastical worlds and dream up ad campaigns for perfumes, cars, and Pop-Tarts. You name it, I had a creative idea for it. Not always a good one, but I had game.
I was pointed in the direction of School of Visual Arts (SVA) while working at a big advertising agency when I first joined the workforce. I was a night student several days a week and worked to build a portfolio that would ultimately get me a creative Internship at the same agency. At SVA, I learned that you could make a living expressing yourself creatively. It was like a lightning strike! I had the honor of being taught typography, graphic design, photography, and film by some of the most legendary creative leaders in advertising.
What campaigns have interested you the most recently ?
What has really excited me recently about advertising is that it’s increasingly less about a campaign or television commercial, but more about developing products and services that address a need that people have.
An example that I’ve been excited about is a project that Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness did with a creator group called TOM. Once discovering that there are billions of plastic pill bottles floating in our oceans and filling up our landfills, we felt compelled to come up with something more responsible for our planet. Together, we created a recyclable, sustainable, open-source Paper Prescription Pill Bottle, the first of its kind.
It was astonishing to us that in an industry that is supposed to be all about health and wellness for people, the health of the planet was being completely ignored. So it wasn’t an ad campaign, it was a kind of call to arms to the pharma industry to more seriously consider the global impact of prescription pill packaging. And to consumers to think about the Earth’s health as well as their own. They are intrinsically linked.
The Theme of MAD STARS 2022 is M.A.D. (which stands for marketing, advertising, and digital). We also believe that MAD can be used to qualify someone who is passionate about something. What are you most MAD about these days?
I’m MAD about design! And how it’s leading the charge on innovation. I will always be passionate about the film and print and digital experiences that we create, but marketing has the potential to be so much more than those things. Reaching consumers in unique and innovative ways has allowed creatives to apply design thinking in ways that are really exciting.
Whether it’s product design or sonic design, marketers and creatives are rethinking the vehicles and platforms through which consumers can be reached.
I recently put together a trends presentation called “Designing for a Well World,” and I looked at everything from VR experiences powered by aroma therapy to headsets that use your brainwaves to make you more creative and productive to a tattoo that can help you get an immediate read on your health.
What all these commercial trends had in common was there wasn’t a single traditional ad in the bunch.
How do you feel about joining the MAD STARS 2022 as an executive Judge in the Diverse Insights, Outdoor, PSA, Pivot, Place Brand, Radio & Audio, Pivot group?
I’m thrilled and honoured to serve as an executive judge for MAD STARS.
I’m looking forward to hearing from and seeing all the amazing work of different creatives from around the world and seeing all the different and unique ways they tackle a creative challenge.
What tips might you have for participants in the Interactive, Integrated, Innovation, Mobile, Data Insights, Social & Influencer Categories at MAD STARS 2022?
My tips are simple:
Make it authentic — People are starving for real things nowadays.
Make is surprising — If you surprise yourself, you’ll surprise your audience.
Make it your own — Your individual voice and perspective is what shines and stands apart from the crowd.
Also, it’s all about craft, craft, craft. Make it exquisite in every way. The look of it, the experience of it, the sound of it — all of it.
What do you think is next for the development of the advertising industry?
There used to be a very clear distinction between the so-called general market ad industry and the health and wellness ad industry. Today, we’re discovering that every brand needs to be a health and wellness brand.
Whether it’s an automaker, hotel chain, airline, or financial services — consumer decisions are tied to the decisions they are making about their health and well-being.
Any closing remarks?
More than anything the world needs and wants wellness right now. For themselves, for each other, for the planet. And they want the brands and services they choose to help them get there. We have the great privilege in this industry to help deliver that to them. That’s the way forward.
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Museums in Media: Moon Knight (2022)
I re-watched the first and second episodes of Moon Knight again to break down all the museum scenes. I'll go chronologically in case you want to give it a rewatch. Which you should, the show is amazing. It ticks off all the boxes for me: Action/Adventure, Egyptology, and Oscar Isaac.
Steven and Donna
When we see Steven enter the British Museum, he starts by talking to a little girl about mummification, the afterlife, etc. The moment is interrupted by Donna. Granted she comes off as kind of horrible, but it might be understandable if he is constantly shirking his responsibilities at his actual job. Having been in a position that has to oversee multiple people, it can get frustrating. However, I personally would have waited until he was done talking to the guest and/or interrupted in a more subtle way.
She is totally right though, he's not a tour guide. I know, I know. I love Steven Grant – he's an adorable floofy-haired Egyptology nerd who looks like Oscar Isaac. That being said, it seems like they either would or should have given him a chance at it – due to the vastness of his knowledge. However, the British Museum has more than just ancient-Egyptian artifacts so, maybe, he wouldn't have been the best candidate for it. The amount of interaction FOH (Front of House) staff has with the back-end (collections, exhibits, education, etc.) can vary by institution. Many might not even be aware of his knowledge. While Donna says, "The answer is still no." I'm not entirely sure that would have been her department to make that decision. She is wearing a blue blazer AND the other tour guide was in blue as well. Could be a coincidence. However, if she is in charge of the tours, why is she also the manager of the gift shop?
The Graphic Design Blunder
Steven gets annoyed that the promotion for the new exhibit about the Ennead only shows seven of the nine deities. I cannot imagine that the marketing department did this by accident. The British Museum (even a fictional version) has ALL the money. Various different design concepts and proofs would have had to go through multiple levels of approval.
Historically, the Ennead (which comes from the Greek "the nine") is a group of nine deities in Egyptian mythology. They are Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. However, the Ennead can also include Horus. There were several "groupings" of Egyptian deities and they were usually worshipped by region.
Here's why I think there are only seven listed/shown.
In the graphic, there are Horus, Osiris, and Tefnut – that Steven mentions. When zooming in there is also Shu and another name I can't quite make out that ends in "–or" which could be Hathor, but she is not one of the nine. So, this leads me to believe that they are going with Marvel's council of gods – that Ennead includes Hathor. With that in mind, it's likely that there is some mixing of the Ennead based on the "universe" we are in (we learn this later in subsequent episodes and when we finally meet the council/group).
This "blunder" could have been used as a plot device to show Steven's knowledge (likely) or the graphic designers could have included the deities that are either the most well-known and/or show the most prominence in the current/upcoming exhibit (also likely).
When he's in his room later, reading about them, it looks like Horus is on top of the hierarchy – which leads me to believe they are going the Marvel route (which makes sense). However, I don't think Horus was at the top of the hierarchy in Marvel's version. Either way, I wanted to bring it up. I'll leave this now. Some actual Egyptologist and/or Marvel expert can weigh in.
Security
I literally shouted, "Oi! Stop touching that!"
It's been a while since I've been to the British Museum but I remember guards and educators being EVERYWHERE. You cannot tell me that someone (other than Ronnie) saw this and just didn't say anything. I call BS. While Ronnie, the absolute traitor of the security team, didn't say anything, I'm surprised another employee didn't walk by and have an issue with it. Another one of Harrow's followers shuts some majorly large doors (probably always kept open during business hours) and you are telling me a tour guide, educator, Donna, etc., didn't hear it and go 'WTF was that?' Hm. Eventually, they are opened by a group but it seems like someone should have been on that sooner. Speaking of Donna, she has been on Steven's ass since we met her. While he did ask her for a minute, he was gone far longer than a minute. Are you telling me she didn't get pissed at waiting for him and track him down? Nah. Unlikely.
Also, be respectful of the museum artifacts, mate... even if they probably were obtained unethically. #repatriate
The Chase Scene
This scene starts off with the museum closing. Expected things are seen: shutting down of the major lights, cleaning staff, etc. THEN Harrow gets on the intercom. Where is the security that's NOT under his control? What about the other staff? Who gave him access to the intercom system?
Side note: Thankfully, he saved that jar. *whew*
It looks like he didn't need his access card to enter the back areas. There's access control on the door and it's still red before he, essentially, runs through them. We see him fumble with his card later – as it's not in his hand when he pulls the shelves down. Either his secret Moon Knight strength came into play while he was under duress or it just didn't make sense for the scene.
The most 'WTF' moment for me was that he needed to use his access control card for the FUCKING BATHROOM?!?!?! Are you kidding me with this? I have NEVER worked at a place where the bathrooms themselves were access controlled. Sure, they've been in areas where you have to use your card/fob to get in but not to the actual bathrooms.
On another note, I'm not sure Steven would have had access to these back areas. In the scene, I can see art crates. I'm not sure if they are empty or not – they might be because they are next to cleaning supplies, but just because we know best practices and standards doesn't mean we follow them 100% of the time. Especially in cases where it's behind the scenes. Sometimes, shit just happens. In addition, this seems like the back area for collections staff, facilities, etc., and as a FOH employee, I'm not sure he would even have access to these areas. Perhaps he does. You can control these cards per door so when his key doesn't work on the first door (it goes green to acknowledge a card swipe but he's denied entry), this could be an indicator of this. Either way... THE BATHROOM?!?!?!?!?!
The Following Day
J.B., our friendly albeit useless security guard (who at least is not working for Harrow) meets Steven at the museum's entrance. Based on the footage they are looking at, it seems as if there's no actual proof that Steven committed the destruction of property. It's circumstantial at best – as you would think that they would also look at the footage of him running down the hallway and into the bathrooms.
HR's Repsonse
They state that they aren't pressing charges and offer him assistance to seek treatment (even though they are sacking him). I've seen a couple of people respond that HR handled his (potential) issue better than they expected – I can't be sure if his diagnosis is even listed, or if Steven even knew about it. I can only guess the museum took an intuitive leap to get him help.
I can also make the intuitive leap that those making these statements are state-side. Medical treatment is treated much differently in the UK where it's free. #mustbenice
******************************
Anyway, these are the things I spotted while watching the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this installment. Might be my favorite one so far... The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ALSO has some museum slip-ups and no-nos that I will want to explore at some point.
Was there anything you noticed? Let me know!
This is me signing off... I'll just leave you with this:
#museums in media#museum professional#moon knight#steven grant#moon knight series#egyptology#museumshift
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This makes me nervous, but I’m going to post it. I’m going to try my best to achieve my goals. I’ve put in a ton of work already, so I’m looking for additional help.
From the campaign:
My name is Trey Briggs, and I'm a black woman who writes paranormal horror, speculative fiction, and other types of fiction.
You can find my stories at MaybeTrey , Astrid the Devil , and on Instagram , Medium , and Wattpad .
My stories are aimed at black people who want to read dark stories that focus on original black characters that are complex and interesting.
I genuinely believe Black audiences deserve a variety of genres to delve into, and I want to introduce them to paranormal horror, dark romance, and fantasy that they haven't gotten enough of in the past. I also believe that this can be done across multiple mediums, and I spend my money with black creative professionals to make these experiences extend beyond my words.
For the last two years, I've run my stories on sites and Instagram to great reception. I like to craft complex experiences that offer looks at character backgrounds, side and backstories, full websites for each title, and more. I also provide encyclopedias, maps, audio journals, and other ways to get into each world.
During these last few years, I've run into a lot of walls, jumped a lot of hurdles, and tried my best. I've worked with amazing black artists, voice actors, and actresses, musicians, designers, and more. I trust my ability to run a project, especially when it comes to planning and finding talent.
My overall goal is to run a team of black creatives that crafts novels, graphic novels, audio experiences, and animated series for a dedicated audience.
Why I Need Help
Long story short: I have the skill, I have the marketing/website building/business experience, and I have the drive. There's a lot I can do on my own, but there's also a lot that gets left behind because I don't have the money I need to proceed at a steady pace.
I need help with funding so I can focus, hire the right people, and craft these stories the way they deserve to be crafted.
I have thus far spent over $60,000 of my own money on my projects over the past two years - the writing and site-building are easy for me; the rest has to be hired out. I have art, site costs for hosting, domains, templates, specific plugins, and maintenance, audio (and vocal artists to pay), musical, and editing costs.
I'm by no means rich or even particularly financially stable. I have taken on tons of extra clients for my digital marketing business, transcribed hundreds of hours of audio for dirt cheap, and taken out personal loans. I even worked a second full-time job along with my full-time business last year to afford to produce the content I love. It's starting to take a toll on my mental health.
I plan on continuing to fund these projects out of pocket (and finding ways to do so), but having financial help, however big or small, would allow me to move a lot faster and with less stress. It would let me flesh out ideas and concepts that I have had to scrap because I can only physically handle so much extra work.
I run a full-time marketing business from home, homeschool my autistic 10-year-old, and generally have a busy life. Some of the strain is taking a toll on me, and I don't want to give up. Having some financial backing could allow me to drop a client or two after a few months and focus on the work I love to do.
How You Can Help
I mainly need a start—a sort of base.
I want to emphasize that I plan to continue to provide the main bulk of funding for my projects. I know my goals are ambitious, and I know each step will take time and money. I welcome any help to make the process smoother and to get around the initial hurdles. I'd like to have ebooks and novels offered on my site by the end of the year (along with the free serials and stories).
Funding means that I can broaden the projects, include more free aspects to my sites, and secure direct financing through sales of ebooks and audiobooks sooner. It also means that I can offer MORE stories, whether they are online only or fully fleshed out novels and sites.
I am swamped with trying to work enough to cover all my bills and creative projects, so I lose a lot of time I could spend plotting and writing. If I have better funding, I can get my stories out quicker (and with fewer mistakes).
The Initial Stories
Let's talk about my stories! If you're familiar with my work already, you can skip to the next section.
My main story site is Maybe Trey .
Currently, I have two big titles and a bunch of smaller ones that I am seeking help with funding:
Astrid the Devil
Astrid the Devil is the complicated story of a girl who inherits not only her family's features and DNA, but their fears, struggles, and fights. It's the story of a condition called Devil Syndrome, the women who suffer it, and the monsters that devour them. It's the story of the fight to save the people you love at the expense of innocent lives.
At its core, Astrid the Devil is the story of a woman who inherits the chaos of three generations before her. It's a look at what is truly passed down to our children, and how they're left to fight our battles in the aftermath of our failures. It's the tale of an indescribable monster and the women who struggle to defeat it. It's a journey into how their every decision could save or destroy an entire world.
Astrid the Devil is the story of Astrid Snow, but her story can't be told without the story of the women before her.
Vicious: On MaybeTrey and The Vicious site (in progress)
Somewhere, a war is brewing. That's the only thing that's for sure to Junnie Gorton, a young horned girl suffering from a debilitating disease called Horn Rot. She typically dealt with her low survival rate and abnormally large horns by escaping the world with her best friend, Lewish. Now she's forced to figure out which side is which, save her entire species, and find out the truth behind the sudden uprising in her home.
Horn Rot, a highly contagious and violent disease spreading through horned people, is causing mass amounts of madness and death. Normal horns grow in ways that will pierce, suffocate, and maim their owners, and the only one who can stop it is Junnie's mother, Lyria. As Lyria falls deeper and deeper into an anti-social revolt, the country reels. While Junnie broods, her entire species must prepare for mass extinction. Her brother plots with a group of people with less than good intentions and Lewish is quieter than usual.
In a civilization brought up on extreme violence and competition, Junnie and Lewish try their best not to get swallowed by their culture, their lives, or their horns.
Bunni and Bosque :
Bunni lives. Bosque dies.
We all know how this story starts.
Bunni is obsessed with destruction and death. She comes from the healthiest Horned family in her country. She's from the oldest, purest bloodline in the world. And she's bored with it.
Bunni spends most of her time trying to escape her duties as a pureblood. She wants things dirty, messy, foul, inconsistent. Having parents that are willing to kill to keep their bloodline pure is annoying. Knowing that she'll live a long, full life, produce more perfect children, and die unscathed is agonizing.
Bunni wants something to mourn.
We all know how this story ends.
Bosque is destined to die an agonizing death, alone on his family's land. He's watched everyone he loved and grew up with perish. Sometimes it was because of their disease. Sometimes it was because of the malice and hatred of others.
While he's absolutely withdrawn and satisfied with his life, Bosque has never had a chance to live it. He spends his days basking in the sun, bathing in wood baths, and contemplating the end.
Bosque isn't interested in joining the rest of the world. He'd rather die out, alone, where his family belonged.
Bosque wants to go peacefully.
But neither expected to meet each other one day in a supermarket. Neither expected to fall in love, lust, and every vicious and dirty thing between. Neither expected to be so right for each other, all while being wrong for everyone else.
You know the end of this story. Bunni lives, Bosque dies.
But maybe something will change.
My smaller titles, Bunni and Bosque /Aite and Jude, can be found at Maybe Trey .
The Business Plan
The initial phase of my business plan is to get the sites populated with ebooks and audiobooks for sale. I also have prints that can be sold. Right now, I am in the audience-building phase while I save up for editing the full novels.
In terms of an actual business with which to publish the stories, I already have a registered publication company in Illinois: Wolfless Studios LLC. I took this step earlier this year with plans to self-publish Astrid and Vicious. So that is paid for and done.
I have also gotten initial editing done on the first six chapters of Astrid, though it will need to be edited from the beginning again once everything is said and done. I've spent over $1000 on that so far, and it would go a lot faster if I didn't need to save up to edit each chapter.
Astrid the Devil is fully plotted, outlined, and only needs the last three chapters. Bunni and Bosque and Vicious are newer, but plotted and already deep into character development (all being shared across social and Wattpad for audience growth). Aite and Jude and other shorts are plotted, and three other unshared stories are plotted and at the editing phase.
Other costs and ways I would use the funding (I would still put in my own money and do as much on my own as possible):
Initial $30K
$6000 - $7000 Line and Copy edits for Astrid (currently at 250000+ words/expecting over 300000 at $0.02 rate)
$6000 - $7000 Line and Copy Edits for Vicious
$3000 - $4000 Line and Copy Edits for Bunni and Bosque
ISBN Purchases (Separate ISBN for each format for each book) - https://www.myidentifiers.com/identify-protect-your-book/barcode
Covers for Astrid/Vicious/B&B Print Versions
Site Hosting Costs and Maintenance for 2 Years
Site completion for all stories
Initial store and app development
40K - Marketing and Graphic Novels
Social, Print, and Web ads
Email Marketing Campaigns
Booths at Decatur Book Festival (depending on COVID)
Social ads and promos
50 to 60 pages
First two chapters offered as free promo with email sign-ups
Audio journals for each character
Situational audio journals
Encyclopedia for Astrid (finishing up)/Vicious
65K - Hires and Next Phases
Ability to hire a Full-Time Editor
Audio Series for each (professionally done)
Vicious Graphic Novel
Additional Title Added
Short animations for both Vicious and Astrid (with plans to fund more with book sales)
Fleshed out Story Sections (Novellas for each character of each series)
Short comic series with Astrid and Vicious side characters
Possible to plan out monthly subscription service with new stories and 'story package' deliveries
75K -
Astrid the Devil Graphic Novel
Vicious Graphic Novel
Astrid the Devil Animated Short
Ability to hire part-time Web Developer
Additional bigger title
Anything Over - I ascend into pure light. And also, I can add titles, cover more mediums, and eventually expand my publishing to other black creatives.
From there, I should be able to handle the funding via sales of books, comics, audio, and more. Again, I will always offer mostly free content across the sites.
I believe in proof of concept, and I have diehard fans on my social platforms. With no outside funding, I've been able to a lot on my own. I'd love to expand my business into one that does the same for other black authors, artists, voice actors, and animators somewhere down the line.
Thank you so much for your consideration. I appreciate all my readers, present and future, and I appreciate any help!
See incentives and more on the actual campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-trey-publish-black-paranormal-horror-stories
Thank you so much!
#support black authors#writeblr#support black creators#black creators#original characters#original story#donate#buy black#black businesses#my writing#Astrid the Devil#Vicious#Bunni and Bosque#Aite and Jude#Trey Briggs the Writer#paranormal horror#speculative fiction#gofundme
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Do you any suggestion for Super Sentai?plz
*cracks knuckles*
Well first off, if anyone wanting to get into Super Sentai watched Power Rangers growing up, I’d check out the series whatever season you watched was adapted from to see how things went there in comparison to how they were in the United States. So if you grew up with the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, watch Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. If you don’t know what the Sentai the season you grew up with is called, I’d check out RangerWiki, which provides a lot of information on both franchises.
I’d also recommend checking out a few episodes of the very first Super Sentai entry, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger. Not all 84 episodes, mind you, but I’d just watch a few to see where Super Sentai got its roots from, because the team football attack gets referenced a lot further down the line. Yes, you read that correctly.
But for individual seasons for beginners, it’s harder for me to answer. Super Sentai has varied aesthetically and tonally across its 45 year run. Some shows are dark and gritty, while others are light-hearted and goofy. Some shows have a vehicle motif, while others use animals for a motif. So the seasons I’m going to talk about will cover all kinds of tones and themes across the years. I also haven’t seen every single entry, so these are the ones I’ve seen that I recommend for beginners.
Denshi Sentai Denziman (1980-1981, 51 Episodes)
Centuries ago, the evil Vader Clan conquered and decimated the Denzi Civilization. In the modern day, the talking dog IC awoke from his slumber when the Vader Clan began their invasion of Earth. So IC recruits five people to become the Denzimen to defend their planet and stop the Vader Clan once and for all.
The first three seasons of Super Sentai were very experimental, but Denziman was where Toei started to get an identity for Sentai down. Not only would the black visors and sculpted mouthpieces become a staple for Sentai’s (and by extension, Power Rangers) suit designs, but this was also the first season to really start a few Sentai traditions. It was the first season to have female villains, the first to use a transformation device for the heroes, the first time the monsters grew to fight the team’s giant robot.
The Denzimen, while not really going through any character development, are still very likable characters, especially Denzi Blue/Daigoro (played by legendary tokusatsu actor Kenji Ohba). The villains are also a lot of fun, a real improvement from the first three villain groups, who were all basically Earth-based terrorist organizations and/or death cults. The Vader Clan is full of villains who are just as entertaining to watch as the heroes, especially Queen Hedrian, played by the late Machiko Soga, who would later go on to play Witch Bandora, the character Rita Repulsa is adapted from in Power Rangers. There’s not that much of an ongoing for most of the series, and it can get pretty goofy at times, but it’s still a really good show.
Choushinsei Flashman (1986-1987, 50 Episodes).
Five infants are abducted by the Reconstructive Experiment Empire Mess to use as test subjects for experimentation, but are saved by benevolent aliens from the Flash Solar System. They all spend the next twenty years in the system developing their combat skills and special powers until they decide to head back to Earth to fight Mess themselves as the Flashmen, despite the warnings of their alien caretakers.
The 1980s are usually referred to by fans as Super Sentai’s golden age, with a string of great seasons thanks to famed writer Hirohisa Soda. Flashman is no exception. While Denziman tended to have more stand-alone episodes, Flashman is more story-driven. Later on, there’s a really dark plot twist that I don’t want to give away. Admittedly, some of the special effects can be dated to showcase the Flashmen’s powers in addition to stock footage being reused a lot, but the action and camerawork are still fast-paced and rarely do the fight scenes get boring.
The villains are the kind you love to hate, and their actors all give great performances, especially the late Unsho Ishizuka (the Japanese voice of Professor Oak) as Great Emperor La Deus. This is easily one of the darker Super Sentai entries, but if you don’t mind that, I highly recommend it.
Choujuu Sentai Liveman (1988-1989 49 Episodes).
At an academy for the finest minds in the world, three of the students feel their talents are being wasted on designing a satellite to conduct scientific research. They soon join up with Great Professor Bias, leader of the Armed Brain Army Volt, who takes them all under his wing as his students and generals. Before they leave, they kill two students, leaving their three friends traumatized. Two years later, Volt begins its plan to conquer Earth, but the three friends of the two victims developed their own technology to fight them as the Livemen in the two years since they last saw their former classmates. Bias’ students have developed their own abilities through mutating their bodies, starting a conflict between some of the most intelligent youths in the world while figuring out what Bias’ evil plan is...
Some Sentai fans consider this to be even darker than Flashman at times due to the themes discussed. Unlike earlier seasons, the heroes have a more personal connection to the villains, and act as foils to them in terms of morality. The show also has some surprisingly deep themes at times, deconstructing the harsh standards the Japanese have for education and the effects they can have on people. Seriously, the main villain, Great Professor Bias, sets up a competition for his generals as a way to advance his plans, treating it like a high academic honor.
This series also has some amazing special effects for the time. This was the first Sentai series to have an animal motif, so they go all out by using one of the most complicated models for his giant robotic lion, a stunning innovation for special effects. It was also the first series to introduce the gimmick of combining two robots, which is a genius marketing tactic when you think about it, motivating kids to buy both robots to combine them. Even putting those technical aspects aside, this is still one of the most iconic Super Sentai seasons, and a must-watch for beginners.
Choujin Sentai Jetman (1991-1992, 51 Episodes)
An elite soldier is chosen for a top-secret military project meant to turn him into the leader of a team of supersoldiers called the Jetmen. After he gets his powers, the satellite base is attacked by the Dimensional War Party Vyram. Not only are the four remaining “Birdonic Waves” meant to empower the rest of the Jetmen scattered across Earth, powering four civilians instead, but the soldier’s fiance is killed in the process. So he has to recruit the rest of the Jetmen and form a competent team to stop the Vyram from conquering their dimension.
A lot of Precure fans view Heartcatch as the best series in the entire franchise, and many Sentai fans view Jetman the same way. It was a huge success in ratings and toy sales, which actually helped to save Super Sentai from cancellation after the disastrous sales and ratings of the previous series, Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman. It also had some elements that made it stand out from earlier Sentai seasons. While I’ve talked about how Marinette was forced to become Guardian against her will while the show doesn’t acknowledge it, this show actually does point out that almost the entire team is a group of civilians with no combat experience. Earlier episodes are not only spent assembling the team, but also training them to better fight the Vyram and pilot their giant robot.
The series introduced a love triangle for three of the Jetmen, and while controversial among fans, was very popular with Japanese mothers, who were rumored to find Gai/Black Condor very attractive and begged Toei to not kill him off. The love triangle, while arguably one of the weakest parts of this show (but still better written than the Love Square), was part of the main theme of the team being more conflicted, showing they weren’t all best friends all the time.
This extended to the Vyram, who also tended to fight with each other over their plans to conquer the Earth. Sure, there was the occasional villain in earlier seasons who tried to overthrow the big bad, but this was the first time we had a whole group of villains trying to one-up each other. The best way to describe the Vyram is if the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia were supervillains who were still competent at their jobs.
The series is also incredibly dark, and is often seen as the darkest Sentai has ever gotten. There’s a lot more violence and blood than usual, and a lot more onscreen deaths that aren’t just limited to the villains. Humans are actively killed or hurt in the crossfire, and it shows just how painful this war is. And because of all of that and many other reasons, this is seen as the peak of Super Sentai. If you have to watch a single Sentai series, watch Jetman.
Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (1994-1995, 53 Episodes)
During Japan’s Sengoku Era, a team of five ninja sealed away the leader of an army of Youkai, rendering their kind powerless. In the present day, one of the few surviving Youkai tricks two bikers, who are actually descendants of two of the ninja in the past, into undoing the seal and giving all of the Youkai their powers back. Another descendant of the ninja recruits them into taking on the legacy of their ancestors to fight the Youkai, becoming the Kakurangers.
The 1990s were when Super Sentai was starting to delve more into fantasy elements rather than just science-fiction, and also started to take on a more light-hearted tone. Kakuranger is no exception. It’s a lot more goofy than the other entries, even using comic book-style graphics during its fight scenes. There’s also a narrator who appears to explain the history of the Youkai of the week, a detail I really like. While this show is still unashamedly goofy, it still gets more serious in the second half, but never loses its comedic moments entirely.
Like with Jetman, Kakuranger shows the reality of drafting two civilians to fight a war against the supernatural, with only one of the first three Kakurangers knowing how to fight. That Kakuranger in question, Tsuruhime/Ninja White, is easily one of the best Sentai heroines of all time. Not only was the first female and non-Red to lead a Sentai team, but she was only fifteen years old while the other Kakurangers were in their twenties. Marinette could learn a lot from her, and no, that’s not an insult. Tsuruhime is a complete badass, and a team-up with Ladybug would be the coolest thing ever.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, watch Kakuranger.
Kyukyu Sentai GoGoV (1999-2000, 50 Episodes)
The demonic children of the Grand Witch Grandiene begin causing natural disasters to bring destruction to Earth in order to revive their mother. In response, five rescue workers who also happen to be siblings are recruited by their estranged father to become a team dedicated to saving lives from the Psyma Family’s actions.
Did anyone ever watch Rescue Heroes as a kid? Imagine that show, but with the intensity turned up to eleven. This show is epic, with amazing action and some of the coolest giant robots in Sentai history. One of their robots is a giant train armed to the teeth with guns. Even putting aside the action, this show does a great job at highlighting all the dedication rescue workers have to their jobs by showing a lot of rescue scenes in addition to having GoGoV fight the Psyma. It even teaches the audience about firefighters from Japan’s Edo Period. There’s really not a lot of shows that explain what rescue workers were like in the past, which shows just how invested this show is in teaching people about rescue workers.
While this wasn’t the first Sentai series to feature a team of siblings (the first being the aforementioned Fiveman), I think it managed to capture the dynamic best. Family is a key theme of the series, with the healthy relationship between GoGoV contrasting with the more toxic environment the Psyma Family has.
This is easily one of the most action-packed Sentai series ever made. It is literally Fire Force twenty years before that anime premiered, and it is AWESOME.
Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (2004-2005, 50 Episodes)
In the not-too-distant future (Next Sunday, A.D.), the universe has come together to the point where Earth has made contact with several intelligent alien civilizations. However, intergalactic arms dealer Agent Abrella starts to help out the extraterrestrial criminals on Earth, called Alienizers, by providing technology and giant robots to them because he enjoys profiting from crime, and dreams of a world without the police. In response the organization Special Police Dekaranger, or S.P.D., brings together a team of officers to apprehend the Alienizers.
You want to see space cops doing space cop stuff? Then this is the show for you. Admittedly, this isn’t the most story-driven show, but is instead carried by its characters, who go through a lot of development. The Dekarangers have one of the best team dynamics in Sentai history. All of them are very likable characters, and it’s a lot of fun to see them interact. But the best character in the show goes to the Dekarangers’ boss, Doggie Kruger/Dekamaster, a dog alien who becomes a Dekaranger himself, labeling himself The Watchdog of Hell. That has to be the coolest title any superhero has ever had. Dekamaster is another one of the greatest Super Sentai characters ever, taking down a hundred goons in his first battle by himself.
I haven’t even gotten to Agent Abrella, one of the coolest Sentai villains of all time. He’s obsessed with profit and chaos, and he’s easily one of the most sadistic main villains compared to his predecessors. He isn’t some evil emperor who wants to rule the world. He just wants to raise hell and make a quick buck from it. He’s also voiced by Ryusei Nakao, the Japanese voice of Frieza from Dragon Ball Z. That’s another appeal of Sentai, the voice talent. A lot of big-name voice actors have voiced characters, like Mao Ichimichi and Kotono Mitsuishi. Hell, the currently ongoing Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger has Yuki Kaji of Attack on Titan fame voicing one of the main characters.
Dekaranger is easily one of the most popular Sentai seasons out there, as it has a lot of additional material. Not only did the Dekarangers get a theatrically released film like many other seasons before it, they teamed up with two separate Sentai teams, some of them cameoed in the anniversary series Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, they got a reunion movie ten years after its finale, four of the Dekarangers guest starred in another Sentai series two years after that, Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, which served as a prologue to a team-up with another Toei hero, Uchuu Kenji Gavan, and then that led into the Dekarangers cameoing in another Kyuranger movie meant to be an epilogue to that series.
youtube
Yeah, this is why I haven’t talked about the Sentai movies in this post. You don’t have to watch any of these unless you really enjoy Dekaranger, which you should at least check out. It’s slow at times, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Engine Sentai Go-Onger (2008-2009, 50 Episodes)
The Banki Clan Gaiark have traveled from their home dimension of Machine World and chosen Earth as their new home, but they have to pollute the planet to serve as an ideal living space for their kind. In response, sentient animal-themed vehicles called the Engines choose five humans to partner up with, the five humans in question becoming the Go-Ongers.
Unlike most of the shows I talked about, Go-Onger is incredibly goofy, and I love it. The characters are all incredibly likable, both the Go-Ongers and the Engines. While Sentai had touched upon the idea of treating the mecha as sentient beings, this was one of the earliest series to actually have their partners talk, leading to some interesting character dynamics. The villains are also really fun to watch. While they’re about as competent as Team Rocket at times, there are moments where you actually feel bad for them, especially towards the end of the series.
It’s also really funny. Granted, comedy is subjective, so you may not find the same things as funny, but there are a lot of funny moments in this show, all helped by the actors giving amazing performances. Go-Onger can get extremely wacky at times, like in Episode 31. I’m not going to say what happens, you should watch it for yourself.
What makes the humor really work unlike the last attempt at a comedy-focused Sentai, Carranger, it didn’t really feel mean-spirited by portraying the heroes as idiots by claiming to be “parodying” Sentai. Yes, the Go-Ongers can be dumb at times, but they still take their jobs seriously when they’re not goofing around. There’s not really much I can say about Go-Onger other than it being a bunch of dumb fun. If you’re in the mood to start off with something more light-hearted, I’d check it out.
Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (2009-2010, 49 Episodes)
For centuries, generations of samurai have waged a war against a race of demons from the underworld called the Gedoshu. After their leader was temporarily sealed away for several years, the Gedoshu begin another invasion of the surface while trying to flood the Sanzu River, which grows through human misery. In response, the current generation of samurai, the Shiba Clan, assemble to fight the Gedoshu as the Shinkengers.
This was actually one of the first Sentai seasons I ever watched, as my first Power Rangers season was Samurai. And yeah, while Samurai is a really bad adaptation, I’m here to judge Shinkenger on its own. Admittedly, there are a lot of qualities that can be chalked up to cultural differences, like the whole honor code samurai have and certain plotlines you’d see in a jidaigeki film. The Shinkengers themselves are all very likable characters, and you can really relate to their struggles of being forced into this war (again, handled a lot better than what’s going on with Marinette). All of them have different responses to their situation. Some of them dedicate themselves to wholeheartedly following their lord (Takeru/Shinken Red) or being more vocal in their hatred of their duties.
The villains are also really interesting. Sure, the big bad is pretty boring, but the side villains are just so twisted they really steal the show. Takeru/ShinkenRed gets a rival who serves as a perfect foil to him, representing the idea of why one fights. Even the concept of the Gedoushu is pretty terrifying. Demons from another world hellbent on causing misery to flood our world with their water, which I must point out, is deadly to humans. They’re not my favorite villain group, but they’re a close second.
There’s also some clever plot twists that happen late into the series that I don’t want to give away. Sure, you might have a hard time getting used to the Japanese culture at first, but Shinkenger is still a great series.
Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (2011-2012, 51 Episodes)
The Zangyack Empire invades Earth and because of their army reaching across the universe, they become the greatest threat the planet has ever had. In response, the previous thirty-four Sentai teams unite to fight them. They succeed, but the attack they used to wipe out the battle fleet stripped them of their powers. A few years later, a group of space pirates come to Earth in search of “The Greatest Treasure in the Universe”. While the pirates couldn’t care less about stopping the Zangyack, they still have to deal with them while searching for the treasure, which is somehow connected to the previous thirty-four Sentai teams. Also, the pirates form their own Sentai team, the thirty-fifth Sentai team in particular, the Gokaigers, who have the ability to TRANSFORM INTO ANY OF THE PREVIOUS SENTAI TEAMS.
For Super Sentai’s 35th anniversary, Toei wanted to go big this time. While the previous two anniversary seasons only had movies that paid tribute to Sentai as a whole, this was the first season where the anniversary aspect was in the premise alone.
The interesting thing is that the series was changed last-minute, and it was totally for the better. See, in March of 2011, Japan’s Tohoku Region was devastated by an earthquake registering at a 9.1 on the Richter scale. To this day, it was the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan’s history, and that’s not even getting into the tsunami it caused the same day. What does this have to do with Gokaiger? In response to the tragedy, several tokusatsu stars including Super Sentai alumni took to social media to encourage kids to stay positive, and even asked some of Gokaiger’s showrunners if they could reprise their roles in an episode. Originally, there were going to be some cameos from past Sentai heroes, but it would only be limited to the ones whose powers would upgrade the Gokaigers’ giant robot. After this, there were a lot more cameos from Sentai alumni in the latter half of the series. Out of Gokaiger’s 51 episodes, 24 of them were tributes to past seasons. And that’s not even getting into all of the cameos in the movies too.
This was another one of the first Sentai seasons I ever saw, and it really helped me get into the franchise as a whole. It manages to explain things to people who haven’t seen certain seasons, while paying tributes to said seasons and making clever homages older fans will understand. Admittedly, the show does spoil the endings of the older seasons like Liveman and Jetman, so keep that in mind before starting this one.
Even outside of the tributes, the Gokaigers are some of the most memorable characters Super Sentai’s had in recent years. While they aren’t exactly evil, they start off not really interested in protecting Earth and care more about getting the Greatest Treasure in the Universe. The only reason they fight the Zangyack in the first episode was because their lunch was interrupted. A team of anti-heroes in Super Sentai hasn’t really been done before. Even then, there’s an interesting dynamic where some of the Gokaigers have more of a moral conscience than the others. And as the series goes on, they start to care more about protecting the Earth, even if they don’t admit it.
It’s just a really good show, and even if it isn’t your first, I’d check it out.
Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (2013-2014, 48 Episodes)
When the alien entity known as Deboss invades Earth during the prehistoric era, another bird-like alien named Torin empowers several dinosaurs into the mighty Zyudenryu to fight off the invading force. After a brutal final battle, Deboss was sealed away, but his army of followers was still growing. In response, Torin started to recruit several humans throughout time into the modern day to become the Kyoryugers.
While Gokaiger was the first Sentai I ever watched, Kyoryuger was the first Sentai I watched every week as it aired, so it has a special place in my heart despite its middling reputation. Yeah, Kyoryuger has been criticized for starting the trend of Red Senshi stealing all the screentime, and while that can easily be applied to later entries like Shuriken Sentai Ninninger and Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger (the latter basically made Red and Gold the only ones to pilot the giant robots while the others watched), I don’t think it's as bad as everyone says it is.
There is just an amazing cast of characters here. It’s the first Sentai to be composed of ten rangers (while Dekaranger also had ten, three of them were just one-offs), and it does a really good job at balancing them all out. Yes, Daigo/Kyoryu Red does get a handful of power-ups and can be the focus at times, but the other characters all have their own distinct personalities and are just a blast to watch. I’d honestly recommend watching a few episodes of this show to get an idea on how to do an ensemble cast. If I end up doing the whole “tokusatsu has better toy tie-ins than Miraculous” thing, expect me to talk about how Kyoryuger introduces its new characters and giant robots.
And then there’s the soundtrack. Oh my God, the soundtrack. Sentai tends to have banger songs for their seasons, and Kyoryuger is no exception. “Vamola! Kyoryuger”, “Solid Bullet”, “Kyoryu Gold! Iza!”, “Yuuki Bakuretsu”, “Chou Shinka! Kyoryu Beat”, “Houkou! Bragigas”, and “Senkou no Brave”. So many of these songs are incredibly catchy, and I haven’t listed all of them. The show has a bit of a music motif, so it makes sense for there to be a lot of insert songs.
The one major flaw I have to point out is that you kind of have to watch the theatrical movie (which is only slightly longer than an average episode), in order to understand some of the plotpoints for the season’s endgame, but other than that, it’s still a really good season to start off on.
Mashin Sentai Kiramager (2020-2021, 45 Episodes)
The Dark Empire Yodonheim attacks the planet Crystalia, with the king’s brother betraying him and siding with the enemy. The kingdom’s princess is sent to Earth to recruit five warriors to fight the Empire. The chosen five all possess “Kiramental”, a way of weaponizing their imagination, which they use to defend the Earth’s radiance.
Precure fans might remember this being the season where Cure Star met the Red to promote the latter’s season (actually referring to Cure Star as his sempai), and I can kind of see why. A lot of fans have jokingly compared this season to Precure because of the gemstone motif and focus on creativity, with Juru/Kiramai Red acting like a Pink Cure according to some of the comments I’ve seen in Sentai discussion forums.
This is the most recent season to finish as of this post, and it’s already gotten a lot of praise in terms of writing, characters, story, and managing all of these during the COVID-19 Pandemic and having to adapt to losing five episodes in the process. The characters are very likable, the Red is one of the better ones in recent years with him being more timid compared to the more hotheaded ones, and the villains are also amazing, and some of the best in recent years. Episodes can range from funny to tragic to just plain awesome in terms of writing, with seemingly innocent filler episodes being the source of major bombshells and plot twists.
Honestly, there’s not much I can really say about this show other than check it out for yourself.
But these are just my recommendations. If you do some research and see a season you like, I’d go for it. If anyone else wants me to do these for Kamen Rider and Ultraman, I’d be happy to.
Sorry this took so long.
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David Farland’s Writing Tips—“What Kind of Writing Career would You Like?”
Recently I was asked to speak on how to prepare to become a writer, and I had to step back and wonder about that.
Do you go to college? Do you study English literature? Most of us writes do, but I know writes who are software programmers or engineers, and they do just fine, too?
Or in today’s world, where so many Indy authors are coming up, should you study graphic design or online marketing techniques? Those skills would be terribly helpful, and I know successful writers who have done that.
Or maybe you should recognize that writing is a global business and that you need to know a bit about business management, accounting, and traditional marketing skills. My early schooling in business administration has helped out there much more than I’d like to admit.
The truth is that writers can take very different paths and aim for different kinds of writing careers. Maybe it would be wise to determine what kind of writer you want to be, then put yor focus in specific areas.
So here are some broad categories of writers.
The Solitary Genius. Many writers that I know are loners. Some of them score high on the autism scale and really struggle to avoid others.
Most of us find that in order to write, we need quiet time to focus and really don’t want to deal with distractions. Writers that I’ve known who were like this included Zenna Henderson, and Roger Zelazny and, well—just about everyone.
For these writers, it seems that traditional publishing worked well. They could turn in a book once or twice a year, have a publisher publish it well, and make a decent living.
Now, I want to warn you against being too casual in your career. I know a lot of writers who are doing “pretty well” using what I consider to be bad publishing plans, and most of them are writers who want to be the solitary genius type. They avoid hiring employees to their own detriment.
For these writers, focusing on how to construct stories and how to write well seems like a wise choice. Study English literature, the writing of poetry, but make sure to take some classes on screenwriting so you can learn how to handle plots.
I should mention, though, that for a writing career, you don’t need a college education. There are a number of professional writers who teach online or in small workshops, and you can learn the craft from them (and from your writing groups) just as well as if you were going to a university.
The Media Darling. For some writers, perhaps the biggest thrill is to be in the limelight. They’re traveling to fan conventions every week, like to run huge newsletters, attend parties, and see themselves as the center of attention in news and magazine articles. They’re often trying to win awards or vying for the top spot on bestseller lists.
Personally, I hate all of that drivel and would rather be anonymous, but if you want to make a living as a writer, learning how to deal with the media is pretty much a necessity.
In fact, many writers go to Toastmaster Club meetings to practice their public-speaking skills. Some hit the gym and worry about their figures or hire image consultants to help them pick out just the right colors for their next news shoot, or hire publicists to help garner attention.
If you want to be a media darling, I think you still need to write, but you should also add to that an expertise in blogging and working on social media, and it might well be your focus in school.
Alternately, you may find that you need help—one or two people who handle the marketing side of your work, particularly if you’re heavily into self-publishing. In our Apex writing group, we’ve been interviewing successful authors for the past two years, and I keep getting surprised at finding husband-and-wife teams where one person writes, while the other is the social media expert who publicizes their work and advances their career.
The truth is, though, that just about any author who starts experiencing good success needs to develop a small team of usually three or four people to help promote their work. So you become a small-business manager out of necessity. Otherwise, you become the bottleneck for your own company’s growth. If you handle your business wisely, you can have someone else manage your team so that you can focus on creating products.
This particular approach seems to be working well for several Indie authors I know who are making it big.
The Business Mogul. Most people don’t see writing as a big business opportunity, but it can be. If you look at writers like Rowling, she’s made a couple billion as a writer. One of my writing students, Stephenie Meyer, is probably closing in on a billion in earnings from her series. Other students like Brandon Sanderson or Brandon Mull or James Dashner have each made millions.
With each of these writers, they’ve had to learn to manage teams of artists, editors, legal counsel, social media experts, and so on, so that some of them hire dozens of people, and there are some examples of authors who started out with an empire-building mindset. I quite like James Patterson, for example, who makes hundreds of millions per year but hires a nice-sized army of people to help.
For an author like this, you need to know how to write well, but you’re also deep into business strategies. You might even find yourself creating a “Human Resources Department,” and you’ll be studying how to best liquidate your global story rights to foreign markets. You might work closely with Hollywood agents or managers to turn your stories into films, and you may find yourself working more as a “story designer” than a solitary novelist, where you supervise other writers who do the actual writing. You can either have your writers creating stories under your name, or you can publish under a fictitious name.
What do you study if you want to develop that kind of career? That’s an interesting one. Learning to run a business is crucial. Understanding how to promote is just as important as actually writing. Learning to be a filmmaker and how to fund large movie and gaming projects could be important, too. But at the core of it, you still need to understand how to create stories for a target audience.
The Takeaway? It seems to me that there are a lot of ways that a writer can go. Learning how to tell great stories is the core kernel of knowledge that you have to have, but you’re also going to have to become familiar with things like how to build web pages, market yourself widely, make wise business decisions, and so on.
So what kind of career do you want to have? You choose.
For more on David Farland's Writing tips, visit https://mystorydoctor.com/writing-blog/
And you can also click here to get your David Farland Daily Meditations.
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More Than Meets the Eye #32 - Nobody’s Ever Actually Dead in Comic Books
Our band of merry guys-who-weren’t-on-the-Lost-Light-in-issue-#1 approach the shattered husk of the Lost Light, in a gruesome scene that is only slightly marred by the graphic design.
Font doesn’t really suggest danger, does it? Here, for comparison, is something I slapped together in fifteen minutes (including recreation of background) using a font I got off a free font site.
Now, one could say that my version is rather derivative, flat, and arguably cliche, but you know what else it is? Appropriate for the fucking mood of having found a destroyed, hemorrhaging ship after everyone you knew disappeared.
I’m available, IDW! Hit me up.
Theorizing that this is the ship that the Coffin Rodimus came from- remember that? It was a few issues ago- the gang flies in for a closer look. The ship blood is actually something called quantum foam, which allows for quantum space travel to happen. It’s not supposed to be outside of the quantum quills, but the ship’s pretty junked up, so it is.
Because the ship is so very full of holes, the gang can set down for repairs pretty easy. They land in Swerve’s, finding it in less-than-pristine condition. They also find evidence of Crosscut having gotten creative, as a poster for the play he was working on is hung up in the room. Considering he was still writing it when he disappeared, this might seem a bit odd. But then you remember that this is a ship from the future, and it stops being so odd.
Because this is a future ship, with evidence that Crosscut did some stuff, it stands to reason that, at some point, everyone is going to come back from being disappeared.
Just to die.
Which is a bummer, but one crisis at a time.
Megatron disembarks the Rod Pod, with Ravage following, and everyone is just a touch put off by the duo. Everyone but Nautica, who proceeds to commit a microaggression.
Nautica, that’s Soundwave’s father you’re petting like a common animal.
Ravage, angered by this over-familiarity, swats at her. Skids questions letting an active Decepticon roam around, but Megatron brushes off these concerns, saying that finding any still-living crew members is more important. With that, the search begins.
The gang splits up to look for clues, despite Riptide thinking this is a horrible idea. They’re on the clock for this one- the quantum foam is liable to explode if it touches anything, and there’s an awful lot of the stuff floating around right now.
Nightbeat and Nautica leave the rest of the group to their own work, seeing as Nautica has the most appropriate alt-mode for traversing the gaps in the ship.
Man, that’s pretty cool. Wish Nautica hadn’t been regulated to being “girl best friend” for her character arcs, I would have loved to see her do some neat stuff for her own development. Guess that’s what happens when you get introduced as main cast late, and have to compete with all the faves who had dozens of issues to be established and who also don’t have to deal with the whole “token girl character” thing.
The rest of the gang- Megatron, Ravage, Riptide, Skids, and Getaway- start looking in the area they’re already in. Seems a little lopsided, but whatever.
Ravage finds someone almost immediately, identifying Ultra Magnus through smell alone. Only, it isn’t just Ultra Magnus.
The Magnus armor lays not terribly far away, having had its hands cut off to prevent the recall signal from being activated before being gut-murdered.
Gut-murdered wiTH A FUSION CANNON, MEGATRON
Of course, Megatron was forced to destroy his fusion canon after it was decided he would be joining the Lost Light, but you can buy these things off the black market like it’s nothing. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brainstorm had a few stashed in his lab.
As it currently stands, nobody can trust the guy who has a storied past of killing Autobots, on a future ship where the only folks who could stop him are dead. Megatron, at least, has the good sense to not argue this fact, and suggests that the boys lock both Ravage and himself up until they suss out exactly what happened.
Meanwhile, over with Nautica and Nightbeat, we run through all the weird shit that’s happened in the last day or so.
Nautica, you’ve been on this ship for months now. How did you miss the fact that the only couple within 800 miles got annihilated by way of Phase Sixer? I feel like that attack might have come up at some point.
Since they’re on the subject of spouses, Nightbeat asks Nautica if she’s married, or if she has friends. Though noting that such a direct line of questioning might get him slapped with someone else, Nautica reveals that she is single, though she does have a best friend. Nightbeat is also single, probably because he pulls shit like this.
While this conversation is going on, Nautica uses her Sonic Screwdriver wrench to open a door with the literal push of a button. Brainstorm tricked out her wrench so hard it turned into a magic wand, which is good, because they’re going to need all the help they can get now that space is literally warping around them thanks to the quantum foam.
Nautica kicks something on the elevator, and that something turns out to be Brainstorm’s mysterious briefcase. Too bad Swerve is gone, he was so invested in what it contained. Luckily, Nightbeat is just as interested.
Back over on the other side of the ship, it seems as though Megatron kept his word about not resisting, as both he and Ravage have been locked in a cabinet. Wonder how that’s going for them.
Oh, better than I expected.
Ravage is fucking pissed that Megatron joined the Autobots, thereby turning his back on everyone who supported his cause during the last four million years. Despite this grievous betrayal though, the Decepticons haven’t stopped moving. Turns out, Galvatron’s in charge now.
But only if Autobot Megatron isn’t some sort of ploy.
It’s at this point that we learn just why Ravage is here to begin with- to see if Megatron’s truly given up the Decepticons, and if he has, to murder him. But first he’d like to know why this is happening.
Megatron views himself as a monster, having perpetuated a war that ended the lives of billions, destroyed the Cybertronian way of life, ostracized his race from the rest of the universe, and killing just to have something to do. He doesn’t like feeling this way about himself, so he decided to walk away from that life by joining the other team.
Don’t think it’s quite that easy to do, but okay.
Ravage isn’t so sure that this change of heart is going to stick, still convinced that Megatron will snap back to his old self with just a bit more time. Problem is, Megatron may not have a ton of that resource left.
Didn’t they build that body in like an hour so you wouldn’t die? Yeah, no wonder it feels as ill-fitting as a twenty-dollar suit. Thing’s probably made out of pig iron and duct tape.
The lights come on before further self-reflection can be done, and the duo realize that they’ve had guests this whole time.
Someone put the kettle on.
Obviously some fucked up shit happened on this ship. Megatron isn’t so sure that it’s him who did these dirty deeds, however, as he reaches into Ratchet’s mouth and pulls out his brain. Which feels like something that doesn’t really absolve one of guilt, but okay.
Also, ew.
Back with Nautica and Nightbeat, things are getting weird.
Now, this sequence might seem confusing at first blush, but this is because the laws of reality are collapsing around them. Going by clues in the background, we can find the proper, linear progression of time, and thus is conversation. This is what is actually happening:
With the mystery of Brainstorm’s briefcase eluding us once again, we move on to see more graphic aftermaths of violence. Poor Tailgate has been nailed to the wall with a chunk of a metal beam that’s almost as big as he is. The mood lighting for this scene is gorgeous, but I’ve hit my limit for exposing y’all to gore for this issue, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Then they find something even more interesting.
Who’s ready for Under Cold Blue Stars… 2!
Back over on the opposite side of the ship, Riptide’s found something nasty. It’s a bunch of dead bodies!
Including, uh, Pipes.
Who already died a while ago.
Hm.
All the bodies in this room are in their alts, and it looks like they’ve all been shot and drilled into, for some reason. Skids brings up that he had a friend who could identify the placement of any robot’s brain module just by knowing what they turned into. Then he reaches into a corpse to see what the drill-hole’s all about. It makes him sick, though maybe not for the reason you might think. He gets on the phone with Nightbeat, who’s called to tell them that they’ve found Overlord.
Still locked in his weird body harness.
And decapitated.
Megatron is on the other line, calling because he’s figured out the same thing Skids has. Someone paid a visit to this ship. Someone nasty.
The gang regroups, and Nautica gets the basics on the DJD, because I guess nobody’s mentioned them even in passing in the last six months, either.
God, what do they even talk about on this ship? Certainly not their feelings.
The reason that one room was filled with alt-modes was because of Tarn’s addiction to transforming; t-cogs are easier to remove when they’ve been used recently.
We get a quick 4/5ths-page gore-fest, then it’s back to making it all about Megatron.
Maybe you should have thought about that before you FUCKING DEFECTED, YOU POOL NOODLE.
Nightbeat’s beginning to put two and two together. There’s an Overlord in the basement. That shouldn’t be, because Overlord got exploded by Chromedome when he mercy-killed Rewind. Something is off about the past of this ship.
Before he can establish his MTMTE everybody-lives-but-then-dies AU though, the quantum foam fucks with the ship. These sons of guns need to get the hell out of here, pronto.
Oh god, what now?
Ravage smells someone inside the Magnus armor, someone who isn’t a part of the usual nesting doll lineup. Megatron reaches into the Crackerjack box and pulls out one hell of a prize.
HE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES
Chromedome would be so thrilled, if he still existed.
#transformers#jro#MTMTE#slaughterhouse#issue 32#maccadam#Hannzreads#incoming analysis#text post#long post#comic script writing
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New Outlander Game Coming – Talking with the Game Designers
By: Erin Conrad, June 15, 2021
Gamers Corner, TV News
Outlander game, Sony, Starz Outlander, Variable Outcomes
Who wouldn’t want to dash around the Highlands with Jamie, trying to be his favorite, and rescuing him from trouble on the way? That definitely sounds like a fun time, even if all you can do is dream about it. Or IS that all you can do?
NO! Sometime this fall, a brand new board game will debut – Outlander The Series! Designed by the husband and wife team of Matthew and Ashley Killeen, the game will let you play with a bunch of your friends, meeting familiar faces along the way, and getting in and out of all kinds of scrapes. The game will be available for holiday shopping, so you can start to set up your Outlander game nights now. I had the opportunity to talk with Matthew and Ashley about the development of this new game, and learned some details.
From the game’s marketing information: “His fate is in your hands! Step through the stones of Craigh Na Dun and run through the Scottish Highlands with the handsome Jamie. The year is 1743, and the outlaw James Fraser is at your side as you navigate the thrills and dangers of the Highlands. Use your wit, reach the right locations, make the right friends, and gather the items you need, all while keeping Jamie out of the hands of the many who would do him wrong. The gallows await fair Jamie (or worse!) should you fail. Fulfill your destiny, and win his heart. Only then will victory be yours!”
Outlander is the Killeen’s first big franchise game. “From a business point of view, it’s something I always wanted to do,” Matthew said. “I enjoy games with an IP license attached, TV show or movie, and I have designed prototypes that might be good for Ghostbusters or Star Trek. I really wanted to get into that.” Ashley knew Matthew was interested in trying a licensed game, and said “I’ve been watching Outlander, you should make a game based on that.” Matthew hadn’t yet seen the show, so he said “you do it” – and she did.
Ashley didn’t get into the show until season three. “The first version (of the game) was based on the book, because I thought that might be the avenue to go. But it ended up being more layers to secure the book rights than TV. We heard back from Starz/Sony quickly, and the show and book were similar enough that I didn’t have to change too much from initial design. I swapped out characters and items that didn’t translate from one to another. Jamie still has same event encounters, the same enemies. It’s nice to look at both sides, to really put in all those little hidden tidbits from show. I’m hoping that fans of the show will enjoy all those subtle things that I’ve put in. But the other thing we wanted to make sure was that it was not dependent upon being familiar with the show, because the last thing you want is a game with Outlander masked on top of it that doesn’t play as anything on its own. And having a lot of friends who knew nothing about Outlander, how could I get them to the table?”
Matthew said, “One of philosophies for the board game stuff was that I’ve seen games that were maybe like a movie spin on top. Is this fun or exciting because of the game, or just because of the movie or tv show tie in? And one reason, the biggest reason why I got excited was when I first played it, I had never seen the show. I knew nothing about it. I had never seen the characters, and yet, I still enjoyed it. It was a good game.” Ashley added, “He has since seen the show.” Matthew continued, “That’s another thing that’s always bothered me. I feel like if a certain publisher or game designer makes something but doesn’t know the back story, that’s lazy. As soon as I found out we were going to do this, I watched the show. I know all my lore now. I was obviously able to play the game again once I knew the show and the lore, and it made the game play better.” “You understood my decisions,” said Ashley. “Exactly,” said Matthew. “Whether you know the show or not, it’s a good game.”
Ashley discussed their process: “I started December 2019. This past December, we were finally able to go forward. We got the contract from Sony in November. It was a long process! We got approvals for the design of the game, and access to the virtual library. We could figure out images that would go with the components we had.” Once they had that, Matthew figured out the graphic design for the game.
Was Sony/Starz helpful? Enthusiastic? Ashley said, “They were enthusiastic. They didn’t really have a board game. They had Destiny Dice, but that wasn’t the same thing.” (For my review of Destiny Dice, a game that came out a couple of years ago, click here.) I’ve had reservations about this previous game, so I asked how they overcame the failings of that one to make this new game. My concern with a platform like this is that the show is so big and layered – a group of women will come together over a glass of wine or three, and are they going to be able to figure it out easily enough to have a good time in an evening? Ashley feels that the new game will let us do that. “The idea behind this was that we wanted to bring everybody to the table – people whose board games lives consisted of Scrabble for their whole lives, and those who have played campaigning, like Mage Knights, epically, every week. We want to bring both those sets to the table. It should be intuitive enough once you’ve figured out the first turn order. It’s the repetition of that, it’s just your personal strategy that changes on what you choose to do, but the game play isn’t going to change on you as you go.”
She added, “But there’s enough in there that if you are an experienced board game player, you’re not sitting there bored waiting for the next thing to happen. That was our goal, as many people at the same table as possible enjoying it at the level they’re at. You can have the game player who knows nothing about Outlander, and you can have the Outlander fan who doesn’t play board games, and they will have a good evening. We also tried to be strategic about the length, because you don’t want to have just a tease of a game, because then you can’t be really invested and immersed in that world, but we also know, especially being parents now, you don’t have time to spend four hours on a game. That’s not going to happen any more. What’s a good length? If you can watch an episode of Outlander, you can play a round. So we wanted to find something that made sense. A lot of these pieces, once you apply a little logic to it, they fell together really nicely.”
This is the first “franchise” game the Killeens have designed. The fascination with board games started in 2004, and in 2011, Matthew began to design games as hobby. “I enjoyed playing, but in between then I was going to school and forgot about it. As school was winding down, I really got into it. I created an educational game called Witchful Thinking. We’re both teachers, and when doing practicum, the teacher (that he was working with) had kids doing games for math. but they were really boring, and the kids didn’t like it at all. I remembered I had a game that worked for this! I started looking at my business from a professional point of view, filling in gaps in the market. I wanted to bring people to a table they hadn’t been to yet. Witchful Thinking is a card game – witches brewing potions, teaching math – subtraction, addition, pre-algebra, and more advanced math. It was a great educational tool.” The company has more ideas – they have an upcoming Kickstarter for a game called Tennessee James, an Indiana Jones parody (learn more here). Matthew says that the company expects to bring out many more titles – “Between the two of us, we have a backlog of designs.”
When do they expect to have this out? Matthew said definitely for the Christmas season. “I am working with manufacturers right now, trying to iron out some of those details, but we’re going to be moving into manufacturing right now. It depends on how long it takes to do the mass production plus shipping, but I would estimate this would maybe in stores (or online retailers) by October. That’s probably a good estimate.”
Did they do a lot of testing? “We needed especially non-Outlander fans to play this game. The Outlander fans, it didn’t take a lot of convincing to get them to play,” said Matthew. “Even before there were pictures on the cards, they knew the board, they knew the characters. So even if you had a blank piece of paper that just said Murtagh on it, they know what it means. I wasn’t worried about the Outlander fans, and the game play is pretty intuitive, once you go through the steps. So once you’ve done a round, you can keep going around, no problem. So we were just like, ok, you don’t know what these names mean and where these places are, but you’ve got a bit of the information, are you on board? And so far the reaction has been, yes, I feel like I’m playing a game, even if they don’t know who Jamie is or anything like that.”
He continued, “The tall and short of it is that this that this has been play tested thoroughly. It’s not broken, and the most important part is that it’s fun.” Ashley added, “It’s a nice balance of cooperative, nobody wants Jamie to come to any harm, but you still want to be his favorite. So you can get a little catty, and that’s what makes the fun. You’ll be adding something a little stronger to your tea nights once you start playing that way.”
Matthew said, “One of my strategies for play testing is that I like to try different strategies each time and see what works and what doesn’t .Ashley laughed, “You played mean one time.” “Yeah, it’s my wife, I’ve got to play nice, right? But one time, I didn’t play nice, and I took a competitive edge, and it was awesome,” he said. So players, remember that!
“When I was working on Witchful Thinking, I was looking to put it into Walmart and Target. But they don’t want to talk to the independent company, they want to make sure they’re getting multiple products from the same distributors. So we want to make sure that the distributors that we get are also trying to get the game out there. I do have distribution in the US for Witchful Thinking, and they’re excited to take on this one.”
What was your favorite part of the game, as you play it, I asked? Ashley said, “I like the QuickSave. This is a component we have because Jamie is always going to move in a predictable pattern, and the three villains he’s trying to avoid – Black Jack Randall, the Redcoats and the Watch – those are all the Meeples that are going to be moving around. As you are collecting friends along the way, if you happen to be en route to an Encounter, you can use the special abilities from your friends. So maybe it’s Dougal who is going to be discarded, and that will be a Quicksave to put Jamie back in hiding, so the game’s not over, you haven’t captured him yet. I like that idea, the Quicksave. So you’re strategizing, not just for what’s going to give you a lot of Favor from Jamie to try to win his heart in the game, but where are these people going to help me if Jamie is in a pickle. Because he’s going to get himself in a lot of pickles.”
As he does on the show, I said! Ashley continued, “And as a designer, that’s a fun way for me to tie in the personality of the characters. There’s a reason why they have the values that they do. There was a little argument between us in the design phase, because I made Willie – Willie Mackenzie from the first season – he has this hidden kind of superpower that most of the time, he’s a bit weaker, but when the danger level’s up, he’s strong. Matt was criticizing that, ‘he’s a minor character, why is he so strong?’ But you haven’t been paying attention. Because when Jamie’s in Wentworth, it’s Willie who’s willing to go. So that’s his power, when things are toughest, he’s the one that can save the most. I was having fun finding those little nuggets, the lore, that fans love, and if you’re paying attention to how I’ve designed it, you’ll start seeing like why you get more Favor in some places, or more Wit, or why you have the saving abilities.”
The women playing will like seeing that, I agreed. “I think that we’ve got it so that your favorite characters, from S1 at least, this is just in the Highlands, you’re going to see them, I think they’ll do you proud,” Ashley says. “We’re still excited about it, even though it’s been a year and a half doing it, so I think that says something about it, that we can still be passionate about it, little choices like that, I think the game has life.” Ashley told me that she has ideas for additional Outlander games to follow each season, so this may go on for quite a while!
As their cute kids came into the room, I asked if game design was full time, or is this an extra job? Ashley said, “I’m a full time teacher, so I’m squeezing this in between the report card writing and the classroom stuff. With a bunch of changes with Covid, it’s made more sense for Matthew to stay home, so we decided to go all in, make this run for itself.” Matthew said, “I can speak from the graphic design standpoint – I didn’t design the gameplay, Ashley did that, but I offered suggestions here and there, it was her decision on things, and she made some great decisions. And between that, I did the playtesting and the graphic design in January and early February, I’ve put in hundreds of hours, not just with the graphic design, but also the business stuff too, figuring out social media posts, getting things approved by Sony, talking with the distributors. So this has been not just like a full time job, but overtime, I’ve put in some serious hours for this.”
Since this is the company’s first big license, I asked if is this something they want to continue. “Absolutely,” Matthew said. “And I knew that when I turned this into a hobby back in 2011. I enjoy making board games. I enjoying making movies, watching movies, reading books, all that stuff. I needed some sort of creative outlet. And this was it. I enjoy tabletop games, so I found a business that I’m passionate about. But I found over the years, since I am a small business, I had to learn everything. I can do the game design, I can do the graphic design, the IP stuff, social media, the PR, distribution. I have all those experiences, so if I can continue this, I’ll be very happy.”
Price point for the game should be $48.99 CA (US equivalent is about $40). And it will be available in the US, and more – Matthew says, “The territories we have with Sony are Canada, USA, UK, Australia and France. We’re a small family run company, but at the same time, this is a big license. So we want to do the fans proud, we want to do this IP proud, so we want to give the biggest reach that we can.” Ashley said, “We’re limited because we’re not the distributors, so once we put it in those hands, it’s really up to those stores that want to put it on their shelves. So until we know where they’re placing it, I can’t tell you ‘oh, pick it up here.’ ” Matthew agreed. “I have experience with all of that, so when I made Witchful Thinking and released that, I had a hard time getting distribution. So I went store to store, city to city, and I made those contacts myself. For me as a business owner, I’m not just one of those owners who throws money out and does it. I have experience in all these aspects. So when this game comes out, let’s say that distribution doesn’t have as far of a reach as possible, I’ll make it happen. With Covid especially, the online market is important.”
“From a business standpoint, we’re a new company,” Matthew said. “It seems that we’re very new to this but that’s not really the case. This game has been been in development for a long time, and between the two of us we have 20+ games in prototypes. So we definitely know how to make games, and make games fun. And the fact that we’re both teachers, I think makes it even better. Because as teachers, we have to know how to sell to an audience.” ” And explain the games,” Ashley added.
PRE-ORDER THE GAME RIGHT HERE! Three if by Space has the game available for pre-orders in our Collectibles shop!! Click here to go to the pre-order page!
#outlander board game#three if by space#sony#outlander starz#starz outlander#outlander game#scottish highlands#craigh na dun
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Pride | Part 8 [The End]
Pairing: Doyoung, Y/N
Other characters: Haechan, Johnny cameo
Genre: Series | Smut | Angst | Crack | Fluff
Warnings: as usual, language, same issues around mental health and unhealthy coping mechanisms, angsty, hard hitting family drama
Words: 10K lol idk I wanted to write more bc it feels a little rushed but then it would drag too much
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 THE END
Okay so I did write this while severely sleep-deprived lol (please get enough sleep, don’t do what I do) so it might be all over the place
anyways, when I started Pride I had no idea I would write so many parts, and that it would have been so angsty honk honk
tell me if you liked the ending or not and I would love to hear what your overall thoughts on this series are (it’s fine even if it’s like “it sucked aha”)
thank you for reading it, I appreciate your love and support a lot!! very many heart emojis here that I can’t do on the laptop, insert also sad clown emoji
TIME JUMPS EXPLANATION
Endind scene commentary
Doyoung has always regretted the things he had done wrong, when he was feeling weak, or imperfect, or exhausted. He would think about those moments and learn the same thing all over.
Never again.
And he lived with that mantra for a long time.
Never again. Don’t slip, don’t let yourself go.
Because it was painful.
But was it effectively painful as is, or was it only because he knew he shouldn’t have done that in the first place? Would it have been painful if he consciously let himself go? Was he feeling guilty for the mistake or for not being perfect?
And at night, while breathing in and silently screaming his desire to be fragile, to break, to show people his soft imperfect soul he would think about that again and again.
He appreciated that in other people a lot. Why would other people hate it in him? Why has he hated himself for such a long time?
It is a denial of the inevitable. Just accept yourself, Doyoung.
Accept yourself.
Accept.
And he thought he did it. Doyoung was sure he did it all.
But as the first rays of sun hit his trembling eyelids, he already forgot.
He opened up his eyes and looked at his ceiling, not remembering a single thing he told himself in the intimacy of the night.
_____
When the phone rang for the first time, you jolted on your seat, staring it down as if it was some kind of poisonous reptile.
God, you hated speaking on the phone.
When it rang again your eyes darted around you looking at the way your desk neighbors were judging you for taking so long to pick it up.
You breathed in and out.
“Y/N from Marketing speaking?” you mumbled into it.
“Pizza or noodles?” a lazy but confident voice asked.
You blinked, silent for a few moments, and looked around as if checking what was going on.
“Who is this?” you whispered.
A loud snort made you wince and remove the receiver from your ear.
“-can’t believe you don’t recognize the voice of the best boy, the light of your life, the reason of your existence, the spawn of god, the joy of your miserable-,” the voice said when you listened to it again.
You closed your eyes and pinched the base of your nose.
“Haechan,” you interrupted the litany, suddenly aware of the migraine lingering in the darkest part of your head.
“So, pizza or noodles?” he chuckled satisfied.
It was pizza, and as you sat down for lunch you curiously looked around the dining hall.
It was the first meal at the company and if it wasn’t for Haechan you wouldn’t have even known that there was a cafeteria at all.
Your eyes darted to your left. It was louder than you’d expect from grown-ups.
“Yeah, it’s just like in high school”, Haechan swallowed his food, following the direction of your eyes as if knowing what you were thinking. Then he put down the slice of pizza he was holding and cleaned his fingers on a napkin.
“Okay, so, that table-”, he indicated with his head a group of people behind him, “lawyers. They can suck my dick and balls. And I’m definitely not saying this because they bully the IT department and we’d kill each other. Then in that one”, he indicated another table in the middle of the hall, “graphic designers. You probably see them around in the marketing wing where you’re at. Eh,” he shrugged, “normal people. Kinda weird. You’d think they won’t have colors on their clothes since they use a computer, but they still do for some arcane reason”.
You stared at them but only briefly before concentrating on your food as a few eyes returned the glares.
The company was big and had hundreds of workers, but for some reason everywhere you looked around, people would stare back and whisper between themselves.
“It’s because you made a ruckus at the party yesterday. Don’t worry, it will die soon.” Haechan explained, again reading your mind.
It was kind of scary.
“Where’s your group of people? Why are you eating with me?” you asked, unable to think about the day before.
About to go home the previous night, you looked for Doyoung first.
You had no idea why.
No, okay, you obviously knew why, but you didn’t know what you would tell him if you'd actually found him.
So you just gave up, suddenly anxious.
During the drive home, you called Johnny, not caring about the late hour.
He had some explaining to do.
“I can’t believe you’ve done that,” was the first thing you said into the phone.
Johnny’s voice was bright and not at all sleepy. He probably wasn’t home.
“So you’ve met him,” he chuckled lightly.
“John,” you murmured tired, unable to say anything more and hoping that the tone of your voice would make him understand.
And he did.
“I know, I know. But listen, you’re in love with him,” he said.
You groaned.
“I don’t know, Johnny. I was alright before meeting him again”.
Johnny’s voice got clearer signaling that he went somewhere quieter.
“It’s not true. You were not okay. Do you think I don’t have eyes?”
“But what if-” your voice stopped working and you had to gulp down.
Your eyes stung as finally, you let your emotions flow after seeing Doyoung.
God, you didn’t want to cry.
“What if I’m like this only because I can’t have him? What if, I don’t know, we get together, right? and, and, what if, fuck, I don’t know, I just change my mind? and I hurt him? again? like, like-” you stuttered and ate your words.
“Like you did with me?” Johnny asked.
You started to cry silently.
“Listen,” he repeated calmly, still able to hear your muffled breaths, “it’s going to be alright. What happened with us it’s not your fault, okay? Not entirely. We-” he stopped as well, thinking.
“Johnny, it’s fine, we don’t have to talk about that again,” you sniffled.
“No, no, wait, I need the right words,” he assured you.
“We just weren’t a match, okay? We liked each other because we were good friends and we saw each other grow up, we were always together and we do love each other, okay? we really do, but not- just not that way,” he added after a pause.
You nodded, even if he wasn’t able to see, remembering the long and emotional conversation you had a few months ago.
“Doyoung though-” he went on and you breathed in and out, “he’s different. And you know that. Everything is different with him. So go and tell him what you feel, Y/N, please. I hate seeing you this way,” Johnny’s voice got thinner as if was worried.
You sniffled again in silence and you both just listened to each other's breaths for a while.
It calmed you.
“Well,” you finally spoke with a hoarse voice. “It’s too late now”
“No, no, Y/N-” Johnny interrupted you.
“John, he’s married, he got married, he did it, it’s too late, I can’t-” you interrupted him as well.
“Okay, okay, he’s married, like a fucking dumbass, okay,” he calmed you again. “But, honestly, I don’t give a single fuck at the same time. You said he didn’t even know the girl. He got set up. By his family. Like in a fucking soap opera. Who does that nowadays?”
You sighed slightly amused. “Say fuck one more time”.
“Fuck,” he swore then lightly chuckled.
“Seriously though, talk to him, okay?”
And you said that you would.
And now you were there, eyes darting in the cafeteria looking for Doyoung again, heart stinging and anxiety as never before.
Haechan raised an eyebrow at your question. “I’m eating with you because you would probably eat alone right now. And-” he talked raising a finger as he sensed you wanting to interrupt him, “-if by 'my group of people'" he mimicked the quotations marks with his fingers, "you mean Doyoung, he never eats here. He stays in the office.”
You put your slice of pizza down and crossed your arms on your chest as if indicating that you didn’t like how Haechan assumed things.
Haechan smiled.
“I wasn’t looking for Doyoung”, you lied.
Haechan mocked you with a bemused face.
“I wAsn’t loOkiNg foR DoYouNg. I can tell him that you were looking for him if you want”.
“No, Haechan. Wait, I’m-” you clenched your jaw and closed your eyes briefly.
Haechan stared at you waiting for you to go on sensing something more than just you wanting to see your crush.
“Do you think I should talk to him?” you asked after the pause.
The boy's eyes turned serious.
“About what?” he asked as well.
You sighed.
“About us. We… I don’t know. We almost kinda dated and he liked me first but I liked another guy and then when I understood my feelings he said that he was getting married and I had to act so quickly and I fucking panicked and then he was gone and I realized how much I’m in lov-” you stopped yourself from the frantic babbling.
You gulped and looked around, as if afraid of people hearing you, or - worse - Doyoung himself.
Haechan breathed in and out slowly while adjusting his glasses on his nose.
“I think you should talk then,” he replied quietly.
Your eyes darted towards his, but he wasn’t looking at you.
Staring down at his pizza he played with a piece of it, rolling it around.
“Are you guys not going along? Do you hate talking about him?” you asked, suddenly aware of his discomfort.
Haechan thought about it for a second then when he raised his face he got a wide smirk on.
“Every day that I see him he has a resting bitch face,” he replied, “or he’s annoyed, or he wants to punch me, or he’s like I had enough of you, Haechan,” he deepened his voice trying to imitate him.
You rolled your eyes amused, almost if seeing Doyoung in front of you.
“Honestly? He’s… weird,” he added a little more seriously. You waited for him to go on, a light pressure wrapping your heart.
“It’s like,” Haechan spoke again looking at the ceiling as if unsure of what words to use, “he’s a house with all the lights on, and you come closer, but no one is inside?” he questioned looking back at you.
“So you’re left with this sense of worry and uneasiness. I want to understand him but he… won’t let me get close. Not that I actually want that,” he explained with a smile.
You rested your back on the chair, pensive and suddenly feeling uneasy yourself by Haechan’s smile that didn’t reach his eyes at all.
_____
Insomnia, change in appetite, dizziness, rapid mood swings, intrusive thoughts, lack of concentration, pronounced sensitivity to external events, unfulfilled and intense longing.
Isn’t this what Doyoung feared all along?
Isn’t this what he tried to avoid?
“You don’t look that good, son.”
Doyoung turned his head towards his father as if seeing him for the first time.
He hasn't been for a while now but thanks for noticing.
It was a bright and yellow morning. Rude and unnecessary.
“Maybe,” the man talked again with a weird twinkle in his eyes, smiling at his wife, making her chuckle as if she was already able to understand what he was trying to say, “you didn’t get enough sleep last night?” his father finished. Doyoung’s mother hit her husband’s hand tenderly with a little stop it.
“I know you’re a grown-up man, Doyoung, but we still have some rules in this house. Sleeping with a lady on the first date it not gallant”.
Doyoung stared at them both.
Oh.
Right.
He met his allegedly future wife the previous night. And they were right. He did come back in the morning.
It was a beautiful evening.
Doyoung was sitting down rolling the stem of his glass of wine between two fingers, watching the way the dim lights of the restaurant made the golden liquid shine.
Then he opened up another button on his shirt, feeling pathetic that he actually made an effort to look good for someone he didn’t care about.
He ruffled his hair.
He sighed.
When The Wife came, he saw her legs first, walking slowly in a high pair of heels. Doyoung let his eyes gaze on them, going up shamelessly until meeting the seam of her tight dress.
So he wasn’t the only one that tried for no reason.
In spite of everything, Doyoung stood up and put a smile on his face. The Wife did the same and shook his hand.
She sat down and the waiter came to fill up her glass as well. She said she was sorry for being a little late. Doyoung said it was alright. It was a nice night, wasn’t it? Yes, it was indeed. Kinda chilly. Yes, it is. The smog these days is terrible. Have you ever eaten in this restaurant? No, it’s my first time. What do you think is good? Let’s check the menu.
“Listen, Doyoung,” she finally said his name after a moment of silence, the cutlery gently hitting the plates as the only sound to fill the room.
Doyoung looked up chewing slowly, unable to feel any taste.
“You seem like a good person and I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with your family and what’s your opinion on all of this-” she started gesturing vaguely at them both, “-but I am in love with somebody else”, she finished.
Doyoung blinked at her, feeling nothing and gulped down. His head was completely empty.
He looked at her worried and pained face and felt like seeing his reflection in a mirror. She was in love? He felt sorry.
But she was also happy. He could see it in her eyes, in the way her expression wrinkles weren’t accustomed to frowning like that.
She wasn't unhappy. She was just worried. That Doyoung would say that he doesn’t care about her love. Forcing her to marry him anyway.
“Me too”, Doyoung said after a few seconds.
The relief that washed over The Wife’s face was so contagious that Doyoung felt like smiling himself, but he didn’t.
It wasn’t nothing to be happy for. Not for him. Not at that moment.
“So what are we going to do?” he asked her.
She blushed.
“We’re not going to get married. If my parents don’t agree... I’ll just run away! - with him!”.
She was so confident, radiant, and - in love - that Doyoung had to recollect himself after being hit with so much light. She knew what she wanted and she was going to get it. She was in love and she was loved back.
Doyoung felt like crying. He wanted that so badly as well.
“I came here to speak to you directly because even if I already knew what I was about to do, I thought it wasn’t unfair to not explain myself and just vanish”, she added.
Doyoung nodded and sipped on his drink, unable to speak.
The Wife-but-not-Doyoung’s-one-anymore looked at him with a wide smile but he saw how it flattered a little seeing his expression.
“And what are you going to do?” she asked cautiously.
Doyoung shrugged, letting his lips stretch in a smile that couldn’t reach his eyes.
“I don’t know. Live in the moment, I guess,” was his reply, hoping that it was an adequate answer and to just drop that conversation.
The Wife furrowed her eyebrows.
“Did you come here with the intent to actually force yourself into this stupid relationship? While being in love with somebody else? Like an idiot?” the Wife asked.
Doyoung felt his eyes widen at her use of words. He suddenly felt pathetic and weak in comparison.
“No one is waiting for me,” he explained. “It’s too late now”.
The Wife scoffed. “Are you in love or what?”.
Doyoung emptied his glass with a trembling hand.
“I just feel like I’ve been fighting a lot by myself while no one is fighting for me, so I gave up, as pitiful as that might sound,” he explained himself.
His voice got sharper and he just wanted to go home.
The girl rested her back on the chair while crossing her arms on her chest with an angry expression. The fact that she didn’t need to walk on eggshells around him anymore made her real personality shine through.
Doyoung found it rather refreshing but he hated it at the same time.
He was scrutinizing himself very well already, judging his every step and word and thought. He didn’t need other people to do it as well.
“So you never broke down,” she observed.
Doyoung looked up.
“Do you need to reach a breaking point?” he questioned. “Do I really need to get to the point of losing all my pride and sanity? It doesn’t have to be like this. Love is not like this”.
The Wife tilted her head to the side as if analyzing him. Doyoung felt vulnerable all of a sudden.
What was he doing? Talking about feelings with a stranger? A stranger he was sure he was about to marry just 5 minutes ago?
He felt dizzy and his head hurt.
“No,” she agreed. “Love is not only this, no. But it can be like this sometimes."
Doyoung poured some more wine into the empty glasses.
“Why is she not doing it then? Why does it always have to be me?” Doyoung asked with the littlest voice. “Why did she let me go so easily?”
The Wife sighed. “I don’t know her nor do I know you. But it sounds to me like she perhaps loves you too much-”
Doyoung interrupted her with a chuckle, shaking his head.
“-because!” the girl raised her voice for fear of being interrupted, “-she did not let her egoistical feelings get in the way. If you told her that you were about to get married, she obviously thought about you first, instead of herself and her needs. What would have you done in her place?” she asked.
“Fight,” Doyoung whispered.
“But did you?” she asked again.
Doyoung gulped.
“Did you fight for her love? Your parents told you that you had to get married and what did you do? Accepted it? You went to her and were like 'listen this is the situation, can you promise me you’ll love me forever so that I know it’s worth fighting for you?' Is this what you did?” the Wife was almost angry and in another situation, Doyoung would have found it entertaining.
He didn’t reply. The Wife took it for tacit approval and went on.
“We’re taught to not be selfish in love, that if you love them then just let them go, and all of this bullshit, but!-” she slammed her hand on the table suddenly making Doyoung jolt, “-it doesn’t mean that’s how she is really feeling. I’d say she loves you." she pointed her finger towards him as a politician would after their speech.
“No, don’t feed my hopes, please. You don’t know anything,” he shook his head.
“Doyoung, this makes no fucking sense. Get out of your head. I want you to call her, now. Just talk. Communication."
“What?”
“Call her. Do it. I want you to explain the new situation to her. Tell her that you aren’t getting married and that you love her and you’re ready to fight for your love. Show yourself."
Doyoung shook his head again. “Stop it.”
“Do it."
“Who do you think you are?” Doyoung was starting to get a little angry.
The Wife didn't budge and just smiled.
“Fate."
“We’re done. There’s nothing else to do now."
Doyoung got up suddenly and retrieved his wallet. A waiter came from the shadows to accept his card.
The Wife sighed and just looked at him as if disappointed.
“Alright, but when Fate is going to kick you in the butt again when you least expect it, please think of me and my words."
“I don’t believe in fate,” he replied putting on his jacket.
But Doyoung thought of those words all night while moving his phone from one hand to another, walking home slowly. It was cold as hell and he enjoyed the pain of it.
He wasn’t alone. He could almost see the black car that was following him from a certain distance.
“Yes, sir,” was the bodyguard’s answer when he told him to fuck off after he insisted on taking him home as programmed.
And he thought of those words again, months later, the instant he heard your voice in that party hall.
He swore he was hallucinating. He felt his limbs paralyzing and shaking at the same time.
But he was trained. He knew how to work in these high tension situations. It was a little click and he couldn’t feel anything, adrenaline killed and buried in the deepest parts of his brain, like hungry wolves ready to tear him to pieces when he wouldn’t have had the force to keep them locked anymore.
And so he moved like a machine, like something as far from human as possible. Later.
We’ll deal with this later.
I can’t. I can’t do it now. I can’t let myself fall.
Stay. Focus.
Later he could feel it indeed.
It came eventually.
He felt it right there while worried about your cut.
He felt it as he held your hand and dragged you away.
Pain washed him all over as if for the first time and love. Oh, love, it was so much love, he felt like drowning, he felt like a withering garden begging for rain and it came suddenly, so quickly, that he couldn’t possibly absorb it all at once.
When he opened the bathroom cabinets he saw the first aid kit in a second, but he felt so overwhelmed and all over the place that he couldn’t bring himself to face you properly. He pretended to look for it for a while and his body felt your burning gaze all over his skin.
Why were you looking at him like that? Stop it,
no, please continue,
no, stop, it’s too much,
please,
please, never stop looking at me.
When he turned around he couldn’t bring himself to touch you again either without dragging you against his chest, never letting go.
Was this fate? Was this the fate The Wife was talking about?
Is this real?
Is everything real at all?
As Doyoung’s parents were scolding him about apparently fucking like a rabbit the whole night, he put down his coffee and intertwined his fingers together, resting his face on them, closing his eyes and breathing in.
“We’re not getting married,” he suddenly spoke up.
The cutlery stopped moving and his parents’ faces fell off.
“What?” Mother asked with a tiny voice.
“What are you talking about?” Father furrowed his eyebrows, no amusement left in his eyes. Doyoung looked at them.
“I-am-” Doyoung articulated every word well and slowly as if talking with a stupid person, “-not-getting-fucking-married."
Father’s breath grew in pace, eyes out of his orbits.
“Doyoung,” his mother’s voice was a little surprised whine.
He looked at her with the corner of his eyes and his expression was probably one of his worst ones so far since she jolted imperceptibly as if seeing her son for the first time.
“What’s with this attitude? Who do you think you are?” Father’s voice was getting deeper and his cheeks and neck reddening.
Doyoung looked back at him with a killing glare.
“Doyoung, sweetheart, you don’t have to get married tomorrow. Get to know each other first. You’ll definitely like each other as time goes by-” Mother tried to calm everyone down.
“Like you and dad?” Doyoung let his tongue be as poisonous as it wanted. “Getting married to someone for convenience to just fight like fucking dogs every day in front of a child, huh?” he asked.
Mother gasped and covered her mouth with the impeccable napkin.
“Kim Dongyoung!” Father hit the table with his fist making all the tableware tremble.
Doyoung didn’t flinch.
“Do you want my son to assist at how I fuck different women every night? Pretending that he doesn’t understand what’s going on?”
Mother started to sob.
“And you,” Doyoung spoke to her, ignoring her tears, “do you want my son to listen to his mother bad mouthing me from the most tender age? Telling him what a terrible father I am, that he shouldn’t love him, letting him know how unhappy she is while the only thing he should be preoccupied about is the multiplication table and which toy he should be playing that day with?” Doyoung directed his gaze towards his mom raising his voice on the last words.
“Do you want me to bring my son to work to prove to my wife that I am in fact not fucking the secretary while letting her suck my cock under the desk?” he continued this time directing his speech towards Father.
The man was fully red at this point and when he got up from his chair Doyoung thought that he was about to punch him or just drag him on the ground.
But he didn’t. He was shaking as if no one had confronted him like that before.
His voice was dangerous and slow, like a poisonous snake.
“You’re going to get what you deserve, Dongyoung,” he spoke and Doyoung knew what that was.
Because in his father’s eyes, Doyoung was the faulty one.
For speaking up. For telling the truth. For letting both of them, grown-up adults that were still running away from themselves like children, face their own feelings and shortcomings.
Forcing him to be perfect and to do stuff that they wanted. Forcing him to accept every shitty thing they did but making him feel guilty for his actions.
“I will. And you as well, Father,” he replied getting up and throwing his napkin on top of his plate.
His mother’s sobs were the only sound he could hear as he exited the room.
Doyoung apologized for having spilled his drink on you. And you looked up as if that was the last of your problems.
Your fingers were trembling as you disinfected your cut and Doyoung knew it wasn’t because of the pain.
Right?
No, don’t do it.
Don’t go there again Doyoung.
For once, for a single time, stop jumping ahead.
Just ask. Stop living in your head. Don’t assume. She’s not in love. She’s not here because of you. This is not fate.
So he did ask. He asked why were you there and the transient relief he felt when he was as close as to believe he was the reason for all of that, that maybe, just maybe, you tried to be selfish again, washed away.
Because he could see how sincere you were while assuring him that you had no idea it was the place he was working at.
There was no plan.
So this is fate? This is how it works? It gives you the possibility but you still have to work for it? You still have to endure the pain of trying and trying and failing over and over again?
If fate could make you both meet again, why didn't it do everything?
Why did fate bring you in front of his eyes again just to listen to your sweet voice say that you were over him?
Like a slap.
Like giving a thirsty man a cup of water and taking it away right before the moment a single drop of refreshing sweetness could have eased his burning tongue.
It’s not so simple to draw the line. This was the only lesson Doyoung fully understood. There’s no one way someone can be. It’s not black and it’s not white.
Everything is blurry. Everything is gray.
_____
“Y/N."
It took only that single word to make Doyoung snap his head up and look at Haechan.
“She was looking for you,” he added while standing in front of Doyoung’s desk, one hand comfortably inside his pants pocket, the other holding a coffee.
“Is that for me?” Doyoung asked eyeing the cup.
Haechan snorted incredulously.
“I’m telling you that the ex you’re still in love with was looking for you and you talk about a goddamn coffee?”
Doyoung straightened his back.
“She told you that she’s my ex?” he asked surprised.
“So you don’t deny that you’re in love with her,” Haechan considered while sipping on the coffee.
Doyoung’s eyes got darker as they usually did when talking to Haechan but the younger one could see the redness on his cheeks and the way his adam apple traveled up and down, anxious and embarrassed.
Oh Doyoung, Haechan thought, you’re so fragile.
“How is that your business?” Doyoung didn’t budge, even though he was aware that Haechan was your new interest.
Was Haechan jealous? Was that a new way Haechan tried to make him angry with?
Since Doyoung arrived at the company Haechan has never let him alone. He was nagging and whining and messing up with Doyoung, making him angry and irritated, laughing when Doyoung snapped.
Haechan shrugged. “I’m a Gemini. Everything is my business."
Doyoung sighed and flipped the papers he had underneath his hands as if telling the other that the conversation was over.
But he still felt the other’s gaze on top of his head for long seconds.
“So you’re going to be a pussy about it.” Haechan didn’t move and talked with a low voice Doyoung has never heard before.
“You’re going to hold yourself back and prepare some escaping routes, just like always."
Doyoung stilled and looked up.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked almost in a whisper, too surprised by Haechan’s serious tone to actually get angry at the insult.
“I see you, Doyoung. I really see you. And I see how your father treats you,” Haechan sipped on his coffee again while staring out of the office windows as if talking about anything besides that.
“Y/N was surprised when I told her that you weren’t some CEO or something. I didn’t tell her that you were punished.” Haechan filled the silence again as Doyoung was just staring.
“I wasn’t punished,” Doyoung gave him a death glare.
Haechan shrugged.
“Do something for yourself for once, would you?” he added and Doyoung could have sworn that underneath the nonchalant mask Haechan had on, rested a troubled and sensitive soul.
“Are you two not dating?” Doyoung finally spoke when finding his voice.
Haechan came back to his normal self with a nasal laugh.
“You are so fucking stupid, oh my God,” he groaned. “No, darling, we’re not. That poor girl was too proud to admit that she’s in love with you while you probably just got back from your 'forced newlywed trip'”.
Doyoung furrowed his eyebrows and that was enough for Haechan to widen his eyes.
“So it’s not true,” he whispered.
Doyoung didn’t comment on that and Haechan didn’t add anything.
He looked out of the window again, lower lip slightly trembling so he bit on it. Then he smiled bitterly.
“Fuck. Then you have to tell her that. Talk to Y/N,” he whispered again and just left leaving Doyoung confused as never before.
_____
You didn’t see Doyoung that morning and you didn’t see him during lunch either.
Then at almost 5 o’clock your phone rang again. You rolled your eyes wondering what Haechan wanted to say to you.
“Y/N from Marketing speaking."
Your voice was flat but a little amused, ready to listen to whatever nonsense Haechan will talk about.
But when you heard the voice you gasped silently.
“Hello, Y/N. Doyoung from IT here."
His voice was warm and deep. Your breath grew heavier.
You couldn’t speak so you closed your eyes. Doyoung didn’t add anything either and you both ended up just listening to each others’ breaths for a while.
“Doyoung,” you said after what felt like ages and a few seconds at the same time, your nerves thin as never.
What were you both doing? What was this?
“Y/N,” he said in the same tone but then cleared his throat.
“I-” he stopped. “I actually called with a purpose,” he added.
You imagined him, sitting behind his desk, cheeks flushed, fingers restless.
Or so you hoped.
Maybe he was just nervous. Maybe he hated to see you again. Maybe he was over you and now his pain just got back and it was all your fault.
“Yes?” you asked, raising your voice to seem nonchalant.
“Yes. There’s this project that Haechan and I are working on,” he started, “-and we’ve been told to work with someone from marketing for the selling issues. And they suggested you since you’re new and you still have to prove yourself” he finished explaining.
You nodded. “Yes. Okay. Alright,” you almost stuttered.
“Come to my office. The map is on the server,” he ordered softly and hang up.
Just like that.
You remained still for a few seconds, with the beep-beep of the line ringing in your ears.
Then you swallowed with a certain difficulty feeling your throat dry.
When you arrived in front of his door, thin nerves and muscles shaking, you just closed your eyes and forced yourself to calm down.
You were about to see Doyoung.
You were about to see him and talk to him.
It wasn’t a dream and it wasn’t a fantasy. He was there, behind this thin closed door.
God.
You knocked.
His melodious voice told you to come in. And you did.
He was sitting behind his desk, blinds slightly closed making the office semi-dark.
“I didn’t know IT people had their own offices,” you smiled awkwardly while stepping in and closing the door behind you.
“Well, we don’t need human interaction to do our jobs,” he replied in the same tone.
He got up and indicated you to sit down on the couch in front of his desk.
He brought his laptop with him and placed it on the coffee table in front of it.
You sat down, hands neatly placed on your thighs and you hoped he didn’t hear the way your breath hitched as he sat down as well, his thigh touching yours slightly.
His cologne was the same, you noticed, and your fingers vibrated, trying hard to stop themselves from touching him. You looked at his shoulders and imagined tracing them with your hand. Then wrapping them as you got closer. Then sliding them up to his nape, slowly, into his hair, closer and closer and closer and feeling his breath and kissing his lips and sitting on his lap and as you did so, his arms would hug you, pulling you close while he whispered your name.
Y/N. Y/N. Y/N.
“Y/N."
You jolted. He was turned to you, hands on the laptop screen, a PowerPoint on it.
You looked at the computer then at his face. He understood that you haven’t been listening to him and sighed.
You breathed in and out.
“Doyoung,” you said and you saw him visibly shiver hearing your voice call his name.
“I think that we should t-” but you couldn’t finish the sentence as the door got opened with a loud thud.
Haechan was almost breathless when he barged in.
You and Doyoung looked behind your backs, both surprised to see Haechan with flushed cheeks and red eyes.
“Haechan,” you said.
“Is everything alright?” Doyoung asked as well.
Haechan caught his breath by now, staring at you both then his lips tightened in a straight line.
“Yeah. Yes. Sorry, I’m late. Let’s go to the conference room. It’s more spacious there,” he spoke up and turning around he just left. You and Doyoung looked at each other surprised.
You bit your lower lip, unable to carry on the conversation anymore.
“You were saying? I think we should?” Doyoung didn’t budge.
His eyes were dark and his lips slightly parted. You stared at them, perhaps far too long because you suddenly felt your cheeks hot and your breath hitch.
You were leaning in, imperceptibly and Doyoung saw.
He didn’t get away and he didn’t refuse you. Looking at his eyes for a split second you could see that he was nervous.
Then the magic disappeared again as Haechan’s voice made you both jolt again.
“What are you doing? Are you coming or not?” he yelled.
_____
You were sitting down, each with their own computer, clicking and typing. Doyoung briefly filled you in, explaining again what you needed to do. You just nodded and got to work.
“When is this due?” you asked after probably twenty minutes of full silence.
You knew Doyoung would be silent but Haechan?
It was surprising to see him so concentrated on his work, not looking up even once, no jokes, and no smirks.
He was also in a bad mood, you thought, his red swollen eyes still fresh in your memory.
“Tomorrow morning. We’ll have a meeting and we’ll present the project. Hopefully, it goes well and we can go on with it,” Doyoung replied softly, almost in a whisper.
You nodded. It was doable. You got back to work a didn’t speak for some time.
God, you were about to kiss him.
What were you thinking? What the fuck were you thinking?
And him? Not pulling away? Staying still and looking at your lips the way you looked at his?
You could do it, right? Maybe it was possible. You could talk to him and everything would be alright. Just like you’ve always dreamed.
Right?
Right?
After an indefinite amount of time, you looked up and glanced at the time.
“Fuck,” you swore.
It was already night and you did almost nothing.
Haechan raised his eyes as well for the first time and turned around to see the dark windows.
“We can take a break,” Doyoung murmured closing his laptop.
Haechan relaxed on his back. “Who appointed you as a leader?” he asked amused. You smiled a little, happy to see him that way again.
Doyoung crossed his arms on his chest. “You can be a leader then.”
“Okay, then I decide that we can take a break,” Haechan giggled and you chuckled as well.
Doyoung opened his mouth to say something but his voice got suddenly swallowed by a loud, weird noise.
You all looked up and in seconds water poured out of the ceiling.
You screamed and got up suddenly.
“What’s going on?” you asked no one in particular putting your hands on your head instinctively.
“The sprinkles!” Haechan yelled.
“But there’s no fire? Is it?” you asked looking around the room, shocked.
"Haechan Lee!" Doyoung groaned, eyelashes fluttering in an attempt to see through the drops.
"It's not my fault! I didn't do anything this time!" Haechan screamed back, one hand shielding his head.
"Go and stop this mess!" the older ordered.
Haechan had the time to roll his eyes before running to the wall on the opposite side of the conference room.
You whined, leaving them to their bickering and tried hard to cover the computers ignoring that they were already wet in a desperate attempt to salvage them.
Doyoung looked at you and promptly came closer, grabbing stuff and throwing it under the desk before realizing that it was too late.
He groaned again.
You fell to your knees defeated, fists holding handfuls of melted paper.
"It doesn't work," Haechan yelled. Doyoung looked at him with such anger that you sensed it radiating through him even if unable to look at him in the face.
"For fuck's sake, Haechan, you're useless!" Doyoung walked over and pressed the buttons on the switchboard then looking up at the ceiling as if expecting it to stop soon.
"What the actual fuck," he swore loudly since it wasn't working indeed.
Haechan whined beside him. "This was my best suit".
Doyoung ignored him and walked towards you again, looking around for his phone.
"Aren't there other people in this god-forsaken company?"
"Shouldn't it stop by now?" you asked, your voice almost inaudible.
"I don't know. Something's broken," he spoke more softly to you.
You patted your jacket and retrieved your phone from the inside pocket. It was slightly damp but it worked.
"Here," you handed it to Doyoung as he was about to lose his mind from not finding his.
He took it and putting one hand on his hip he called someone.
In the meantime, Haechan crossed the room again and looked at the desk near you and the papers on the floor.
"Shit," he commented. “At least I saved on the server,” he added.
You looked at his wet strands of hair as he passed a hand on his forehead throwing them back.
“Me too,” you said to Haechan, then you both turned to Doyoung.
"They're coming. Let's leave the roo-" he ordered but his voice died in his throat when he heard what you were talking about. He looked down at the computers, pale as a sheet.
“Doyoung?” Haechan’s voice was low and dangerous. “You also saved on the server, right?”
He didn’t and while you’ve followed angry Doyoung fighting with an angry Haechan through the corridos directed to the janitor’s room your head was hurting so badly that you thought it would burst.
“Listen,” Doyoung stopped suddenly making you almost bump into him, “I am a fucking mess, okay?” his index was pointed towards Haechan.
“I am a mess and I have so fucking much on my mind, I can’t concentrate, I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, and I know this is not an excuse for not doing your job well but guess what, I am not perfect, okay? I am not fucking perfect. I make mistakes and I don’t give a shit, alright? I don’t give a single fuck about anything. And now shut up and go home if you want. You’ve done your part,” he spitted out then busted the janitor’s room open and entered it.
Haechan was still in the corridor a few steps ahead of you.
You were both still, shocked by Doyoung’s rage.
But then Haechan started to chuckle softly and looked at you.
“He did it, finally,” he said, without giving you any explanation and got into the room as well.
_____
"You've already seen it, Doyoung," you whispered slightly embarrassed.
Doyoung was in front of you, one hand placed on the other hand’s wrist trying to undone his sleeves, as he watched you getting undressed.
He looked at the way your bra cupped your soft breasts then promptly turned around.
“You could have gone to another room,” his voice was steady but his reddish ears gave him away.
You were told that the janitors had clean uniforms in the storage room and now you were in the middle of getting your soaked clothes off, with no time to go home and get changed since the dear Doyoung didn’t save any of your work.
“And also, I've never seen anything," he said.
"Well, I’m not saying naked but you definitely saw me in a bra before,” you replied.
Doyoung’s back tightened and he turned around, looking at you from under his wet hair.
"I'm afraid you're mistaking me for Johnny," he raised his eyebrows before turning away again.
You opened your mouth to speak but you were too surprised to say anything.
Doyoung's eyes were - you might dare say - jealous and furious.
Was this what Haechan was talking about before? That he’s done it? Was he talking about Doyoung just owning his true feelings and wearing him of his sleeve? Did he finally snap?
"Okay, so who is this Johnny guy?" Haechan stepped closer with a sly smile. You looked at him but he wasn't looking at you.
No, he was looking at you but not at your face.
Doyoung raised his gaze for a second and slapped his shoulder. "Look away."
Haechan exaggerated a cry.
“I was just curious. I don’t care about Y/N."
“How can you not care about her?” Doyoung mumbled and you swore that your face turned violet.
Haechan put his tongue in his cheeks annoyed.
"Doyoung, you're so fucking stupid. So many months working together and you still didn't get it?"
"Doyoung," you called him softly. "He's not interested in boobs," you explained with a smile, still shy from Doyoung's previous words.
Haechan gulped, suddenly blushing even harder.
Doyoung turned his head around and furrowed his eyebrows at you.
Then his eyes got wide and when he looked back at Haechan he noticed his red cheeks and the way he tried to not look at Doyoung's naked upper body.
Doyoung covered his nipples.
Haechan groaned and hit him.
“I’m not interested in you either, dumbass,” he added but still turned around to not look at either of you.
_____
It was hours later and you kept glancing at the neon green number on the clock in front of you. You got back to Doyoung’s office to, well, continue or start again everything you’ve done before.
“If you’re tired, you can go home, it’s fine,” Doyoung’s soft voice grabbed your attention.
You sighed and closed your computer.
“Do you want to talk?” you asked with a low voice.
It was almost a whisper but in the thick silence of the room, disrupted only by the buzz of the computers and your breaths, it sounded almost too loud.
You glanced at Haechan, fast asleep with the head on his arms then you glanced at Doyoung again and at his slightly surprised expression.
That was blunt and all of a sudden. But it was so late and you were exhausted physically and mentally and you couldn’t take it anymore.
You both knew that you weren’t asking to chat about the weather but he still wanted to make sure.
“Talk about what?”
Yeah. Talk about what?
Us? Is there an us?
There was only you and him and the feelings in between.
Talk about feelings? Does he have feelings as well though?
Talk about me and my feelings?
Fuck.
You looked down at your hands still on the keyboard and at the way your fingers started to shake. You clasped them together.
“I still have feelings for you,” you breathed out suddenly, then you looked up for a split second to see Doyoung’s expression.
His eyes were wide and round, his glossy pupils shaking imperceptibly. He didn’t expect you to say it like that.
“I know,” he whispered.
Your breath hitched at his words and you tried to swallow the lump forming in your throat.
He knows.
He knows?
He knows.
Of course, he knows. He probably noticed. You were no actress and you couldn’t fake your emotions. Also, you tried to kiss him just a few hours before that.
He knows.
Okay.
That’s it? And now?
You shook your head. “No,” you said. “I don’t think you do”.
Doyoung blinked, a single expression line between his eyebrows.
“I don’t just have feelings for you, Doyoung. I am in love with you,” you confessed and this time you tried to sustain his gaze.
Doyoung’s adam apple went up and down and his lips opened as if he couldn’t breathe.
“I am foolishly in love with you. I am foolishly in love with everything you are and with everything you do,” your voice trembled. “
“When I think and when I don’t think, you’re still in my mind, roaming around the whole day. And during the night I can’t get any relief from this mind of mine because you’ll visit me again and for a while," you breathed in sharply, talking fast, "-just for a while, the gap inside of me would get filled only for me to wake up and realize that it was just a dream. I have so many feelings and all of them are consumed by you and I have so many things but they all mean nothing to me, without you. And I could blame everything and everyone for this but it’s all on me. It’s all on me, Doyoung. I knew everything and I still acted that way and when I heard you before when you said that you couldn’t concentrate or sleep or-” and you choked, tears spilling on your face.
Your hands found them and you hid your head in your palms only to jolt and look up at your side after a moment.
Doyoung got up in a second and grabbed your hand.
He was standing there with his fingers around your wrist, flushed and short-breathed.
Then he pulled you towards him making you stand up and you let him do that, landing in his arms, wrapping yours around his torso, muffling your cry with his shirt, closing your eyes, drifting away, head empty and heart full.
Doyoung was holding you tight, one hand on your back and the other one on your nape, stroking your hair and shushing you softly.
“I hate to see you cry and I hate that I’m the reason for that. I’m sorry, Y/N,” he whispered against your temple.
You shook your head with an exasperated whine and looked up at him.
“You didn’t do anything, Doyoung,” you objected.
He looked at your face as well. He didn’t expect that. He didn’t expect any of that. His mind was racing and his heard was about to give up.
“That’s the point,” he explained. “I didn’t do anything. I could have tried more. I walked on eggshells around you the whole time and at the first problem I would just let you go, finding an excuse, being afraid-”
“No,” you interrupted him, shaking your head again, “I don’t want to hear you blame yourself."
“I don’t want to hear you blame yourself either,” he replied.
You opened your mouth but didn’t say anything, knowing how stubborn Doyoung could get.
Okay. Okay. It's fine.
“Okay, now I-” you looked at your hands, pressed on his chest feeling his heart pumping blood like crazy.
Your first instinct was to just pull yourself away, telling him that you’ve said everything you had to say.
And wait. Wait for him to take the second step, to understand your thoughts without you explaining anything, just like he has always done before.
But Johnny’s voice thundered in your head telling you to talk and explain yourself and to use your words, so you raised your head to look at Doyoung again.
He didn’t look away from you, not for one second, and when you locked eyes he brought one hand up to cup your face and with his thumb he caressed your cheek, removing the last tear.
“What about you, Doyoung? Do you love me?” your voice trembled.
Doyoung sighed as if relieved.
He pulled you close and cupped your face with the other hand as well.
He leaned in until breathing on your open lips.
“I love you,” he said in the tiniest of whispers.
“I love you,” he repeated. You whimpered.
“I love you, Y/N. I love you,” his soft chant continued.
He said that again and again, kissing you with little pecks, then again after the kiss got slower and as your lips didn’t want to leave each other anymore.
“Look, I’m glad you idiots finally aren’t idiots anymore,” Haechan’s voice startled you for the third time that day, “but would you get a room? If not I’m going home."
_____
You ended up all going home that night - or very early morning. The project could have granted you all a promotion but you decided that you all didn’t give a single fuck.
Everything looked so unimportant now that Doyoung was holding your hand and your muscles relaxed in his arms.
You felt asleep there, in the crook of his neck, deeply, after months of insomnia.
You remembered little snaps as he carried to his car. He would shush you when your fingers gripped his shirt harder.
“Doyoung, it’s fine, I can walk. Put me down,” you whispered going in and out of sleep.
“Sleep, I’ll take care of you,” and the kiss he planted on your forehead felt like a spell as you lost consciousness soon after.
You didn’t wake up a single time during the drive and it was only when you reached your front door that Doyoung woke you up by gently shaking your shoulders.
“Sorry,” he said. “Last time I had luck but this time I can’t find your keys,” he added when you fully opened your eyes with a yawn.
“My bag now has more stuff in it than when I was at university,” you smiled. Your voice was hoarse from the nap and from the cry you had.
Then you entered your apartment, walking slowly in silence, and you both undressed, throwing the coarse uniforms away.
You did it lazily and with no malice, looking at each other bodies, this time without blushing.
Then you sat down on your bed, completely naked and you looked at Doyoung, naked as well, standing in front of you as he removed the last piece of fabric from his body.
“Wait,” he suddenly said, and turning around he left the room. You looked at his back as he was walking away and sighed.
You couldn’t believe it.
It was so surreal.
You sighed again deeper, feeling it difficult to breathe.
You were exhausted and drained, body aching and head-spinning so when Doyoung came back with a glass of water all you could think of was the morning after your terrible meeting with Doyoung.
That time he was also standing in front of you, with one glass of water in his hand, face lit by the new rays of the sun.
He had fewer clothes on now, of course, but for some reason, you started to feel as if no time has passed at all between the two events.
There was no misunderstanding, no pain, no fights.
You smiled and took the water from him. He smiled back and sat down on the bed beside you. His eyes were telling that he knew what you were thinking, like soulmates reading each other’s minds and that he was thinking about it as well.
“Another thing,” he said and his voice was as tired as yours.
“Someone, let's say Fate, told me to tell you that I am not married and that I am ready to fight for our love,” he added looking at you with a little nervous smile.
Your eyes widened.
“But-” you felt overwhelmed. “But the ring,” you mumbled looking down at his hands as your brain was trying to run at a speed too high for your tired cells.
Doyoung looked at his hands as well before raising them up and showing that they were bare.
“It was just a random ring. You assumed things,” he replied.
You looked back at his face, confused and dizzy.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why-” you gulped, “why didn’t you call?”
Doyoung sighed.
“I also assumed things. I thought you didn’t love me,” he tightened his lips.
“I am sorry,” he whispered wrapping your shoulders with his arms and pulling you towards him. He nudged at your temple while you processed the information, repeating the apology, planting little kisses on your temple.
“Does this change something?” he asked after a whole minute of silence. His voice sounded afraid and you looked up at him.
“No, love, no, shh, don’t get me wrong,” you assured him with a pained expression, cupping his face.
He let you do that, slightly surprised and definitely flushed by the sudden pet-name. “This is even better, isn’t it? I mean, you’re not married,” you chuckled a little.
Doyoung cupped your face as well, his thumbs pressing at the corners of your eyes.
“Then why are you crying?” he whispered so softly that it made you sob even harder.
Your lower lip trembled looking at his eyes, at his expression, at his face, drinking him in.
“I’m just happy. And I love you. I love you so much and all of this is just-” you smiled through the tears unable to go on.
You were too exhausted and emotional to be rational in that moment. You had do idea what to do and you just wanted to be.
Doyoung’s pupils shook as he bit his lip, trying not to cry as well.
“God, how much water do I need to make you drink to make up for all of these tears?” he chuckled lightly as a few tears fell on his cheeks as well.
You were both there, naked, crying, and laughing at the same time and you’ve never felt happier in your whole life.
“What happened though? How did you end up not getting married? What did your parents-” you started to ask wiping your face.
Doyoung closed his eyes and shook his head, letting himself fall down on the bed and dragging you with him.
“Later,” he mumbled getting you both under the covers when you landed on his chest.
You smiled and closed your eyes as well.
And you both slept a lot, hugging each other tight, bare limbs intertwined together, skin pressing on skin, lips murmuring loving whispers. It was the highest level of intimacy, naked in front of each other, and clothes had nothing to do with it.
Your souls were open and your emotions out, telling each other everything, with no fear and with no more pride.
#doyoung#doyoung smut#doyoung angst#doyoung fluff#nct#nct 127#nct dream#haechan#johnny suh#nct angst#nct fluff#nct dream angst#nct dream fluff#nct fanfiction
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Why are Konami’s MSX games fun? Interview from Beep #35 (1987/09)
We Asked Konami’s Development Division
Text by TAKE ON!
Photographs by: Keita Iwagami
While there are many gaming software for the MSX, there’s something special about Konami’s MSX titles that makes them stand out. Rather than just doing simple ports from other platforms, their titles have a unique charm to them that titles from other developers might lack. To find out how they do it, we tried asking Konami directly.
Just as Expected
“Hey, I knew it! It’s just like I predicted.” As I saw the results of this issue’s survey, I raised my voiced and shouted “Did you see this? Konami was voted the number 1 software maker for the MSX!” However, my voice was simply absorbed by the editing room, with no even a simple “yes” or “I see”-type of response. While I was happy that my favorite company Konami took the no. 1 spot, the editors around me didn’t seem very impressed by that. Perhaps they were exhausted by all the hard work they were doing everyday.
“Why are you guys not impressed? Maybe Konami being No. 1 was too predictable, but it’s still outstanding. Perhaps our readers might want to find out why their games are so interesting. I think such an article will probably be invaluable for this issue’s special MSX coverage...” After trying to argue with the editors in a way that made no sense, I went to Konami’s branch office at Tokyo to interview them.
Overwhelmed by the Company’s Policy
“Uhh, my name is Take On, I’m a writer for Beep magazine.” Like a country bumpkin, I went there without a business card stating who I was, so I had to spent time explaining myself away to the receptionist. After somehow managing to explain who I was and why I came there, Ms. [Akemi] Kamio, Konami’s spokeswoman, led me to what seems to be the reception room.
Before I knew it, I was sitting absent-mindedly at the reception room. “Where am I? Who am I? Ah! Ms. Kamio is such a beauty, that I almost lost my memory. I’m not so used to that. By the way, what was I going to talk about...”
While desperately trying to remember what kind of questions I had in mind, I noticed there was some kind of writing on the wall.
Company’s Policy:
Brilliance Begins With People
Cosmic Pondering
Earnest Action
Release the Fountain of Sensitivity
And Continue Sending Waves of Creativity
Into The Future
Huh. It has a very creative feeling to it, but I have no idea what it means by just reading it. What sort of company policy or philosophy was this? And what the heck was a “cosmic pondering”?
While I was thinking about this, Ms. Kamio guided me, or rather lured me to the “great developer”, so I automatically switched to interview mode. But I still didn’t know what was going to be my first question, so I ended up fumbling a bit.
Cosmic Pondering
Take On!: Uh-hello! I came here today to ask about the MSX and its “cosmic pondering”?
Akihiko Nagata: Uh, pardon me!?
T: (Crap! I fumbled my way so suddenly. Come to think of it, I did brought a notepad with me with the questions I had in mind. How silly of me.) Sorry about that! What I meant to say was that I came here to ask about why Konami’s MSX games are so popular. I would be glad if you could start by talking about Konami’s development department no. 1, the group you belong to.
Nagata: Our company’s development team is divided by three sections: Arcade, Famicom and PC. As you see, my department focuses on PC gaming development, even though most of our games are for the MSX. The company’s plan of action is to have the three sections assembled to work on the same level.
T: Does that mean that titles such as Ganbare Goemon and Akumajo Dracula [Vampire Killer], which were ported from Famicom games, have their own staffs for the MSX versions?
Nagata: That’s right. When it comes to porting a game from one platform to another, other companies tend to have the same team involved with the port. We could do that too, since it’s very efficient, but our company has a structure which allows the MSX team to independently research and develop its own ports. As a result, we hardly release any port that is just the same game with a few minor changes. In other words, because we feel the class of users for the Famicom and MSX, as well as the market, are different, we’re doing a full-time service for each, In that sense, each software is basically its own original product.
The Inside Story of the Gradius Development
T: (I see. With such a logic, you won’t have an identical product.) Speaking of which, the MSX version of Gradius [Nemesis] was very different compared to the arcade and Famicom versions when it came to aspects like the difficulty level and the additional stages.
Nagata: That’s right. When I saw the development of the Famicom version of Gradius I felt a sense of “I really want to do this”. When it comes to developing a port, we set milestones with the condition that “if we can’t complete this, then we must cancel the development.” In the case of Gradius, making the laser long was such a condition, so the first thing we ended up doing was the programming for the laser itself. If we could accomplish that, then we can surely port the game.
T: (He really knows how players feel.) That’s why I was glad when it had new area and the hidden extra stages.
Nagata: Originally we were set to develop the game on a 32 kilobyte cartridge, but that was not sufficient to fit everything we wanted, so it was increased to 1-Megabit. Because there weren’t that many Megarom cartridges back then, we worked hard to make the best of it. We ended up with excess space, so we added a new regular stage to make use of it, but that was still not enough content to fill the extra space, so we added the hidden extra stages, as well as title screen that took 8-kilobyte.
T: (I see. But still, doing your best to make full use of the game’s given memory is pretty amazing.) I had the chance to play Gradius 2 [Nemesis 2] a while ago. It’s a superb game with all new stages and inclusion of a sound source that seems like it was developed specifically for the Megarom cartridge format. Particularly with its opening story sequence that made me teary-eyed.
Nagata: That story was something that its lead designer was particularly fixated with. (laughs) The original arcade version of Gradius didn’t have much of a story other than “the Bacterions are coming, deploy the Vic Viper”, but that wasn’t enough for the manual, so we had to go back and write a new story.
T: And then Gradius 2 added a sound source to the software.
Nagata: The music is all new and composed by the same person who did the music for the original arcade version of Gradius. This time we were able to employ audio waveforms in addition to the standard 3 PSG channels. All in all, you could say it has 8 ports or 8 chords. Simple calculations are also increased by 2.8 times. The programming is already like a puzzle. As for the music itself, you might not be able to tell the difference when compared to a recent game, but when compared to the first Gradius, you’ll see that the sound itself was considerably improved.
A Gathering of Little Ideas
T: Lately Gradius 2 has served as the centerpiece of the MSX1, but where does that leave Metal Gear in regards to the MSX2? I was very impressed by the innovative direction it took.
Nagata: I’m glad that the game was well-received by your staff. (laughs) I was concerned whether or not the game would be well-received by players or not. But it seems like we’re off to a good start. The world of Metal Gear was also something that its designer was particularly fixated with. When it comes to directing, or rather structuring a game, there are ways to create it after deciding on its main ideas, but sometimes it’s better to mix up a lot of little ideas like a crossword. You’ll know the game’s overall balance when it’s finished.
T: That’s why all Konami games have subtle little touches or shine with their presentation. Are there any particular problems when it comes to developing an MSX game?
Nagata: Sincerely, while the world of graphics have expanded since the introduction of the MSX2, it is very difficult in terms of processing. The MSX was designed to be used on a home television set [as opposed to a computer monitor], so even if you make the graphics more detailed, it still won’t look very pretty on a TV screen.
And then there’s the scrolling. If you’ve seen TwinBee or Hinotori, you’ll understand. The machine is capable of vertical-scrolling, but not horizontal. That’s why you won’t see anything like points on-screen.
The LSI concept for the MSX’s image processing was designed with scalability in mind, but it wasn’t compatible with the kind of LSI employed by the Famicom, so that gave us a lot of problem.
T: You done a great job! Finally, I would be glad if you could tell us what’s Konami’s outlook for the future of the MSX.
Nagata: We’ve been allowed to make a living off the MSX, so we’ll continue to do our best when it comes to both, the MSX1 and MSX2.
When it comes to genre, our company has been basically making only action games up to this point, but we plan on adding more cerebral and adventure elements to future titles. The way users are viewing games are changing, so we want to grow while gradually attracting their needs.
Our MSX games have changed a lot content-wise since we started making them, but I don’t think they would changed that much in such a short time if we were doing only MSX games. There’s a sense of rivalry among Famicom and other PC users. We’re also going to do our best to compete with the arcade and Famicom sections anyway we can, so please continue to support us.
T: As an MSX user myself, I’m looking forward to Konami’s future games for the platform. I know it’s a lot of work, especially when it comes to the MSX1, but for the one million users out there please keep up the good work. Thank you for your time.
I was worried about what was going to happen at one point, but the interviewed ended in a hour without a hitch. If I get the opportunity, next time I’ll ask about what exactly a “cosmic pondering” is. Until then, see you again in “my own forum!” (Editor’s note: “Hey! Don’t advertise your own serial!”
Source
Beep Vol. 3 No. 9 - September 1987 issue (Softbank Publishing)
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So, let's delve a bit into the Spanish dub of Supernatural.
I'm going to go through a lot of terms here, and a lot of basics, in order to increase people's level of understanding as to how the dub may possibly have come about the way it did.
This post will provide information and, I hope, allow some members of the fandom to move forward with their own theories with more reassurance. Information is power. I will define and clarify industry terms to the best of my novice ability to make it easier for others who wish to do their own research.
This post was inspired by the fact that I've been part of multiple fandoms in which queerbaiting has played an enormous part: I am tired of seeing fandom friends left devastated and without answers, no emotional resolution in sight. So this post is, in spirit if not content, largely dedicated to my fellow Johnlockers and Queliot shippers. And most of all, for Quentin Coldwater, who deserved not just better but the very best.
Disclaimer: This is my own research and there is a bit of speculation involved; I can't guarantee 100% that I will get everything right (I hit some very frustrating walls looking up what should be easy-to-find facts), but I did a *lot* of work for this. Other people will doubtless be able to clarify points/give better specifics/correct what I've gotten wrong. I am not promising a concrete answer to “SPN gate” here, as without more information than we currently have that is impossible to declare with certainty.
More under the cut.
All that having been said, onwards (see end for sources):
First, who airs the Spanish dub of Supernatural?
Answer: the Warner Channel.
Why? It goes back to who owns The CW.
From Wikipedia (2): "The CW Network, LLC, a limited liability joint venture between the CBS Entertainment Group unit of ViacomCBS; and the Studios and Networks division of AT&T's WarnerMedia, the parent company of Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB. The network's name is an abbreviation derived from the first letters of the names of its two parent corporations (CBS and Warner Media)."
Warner Bros apparently is the side that handles the delegation of dubbing to outside studios. So, who does Warner use for their dubbing? Perhaps multiple studios, but the two I found in the course of my research were SPGStudios(5) (who specifically handle localization for Latin American Spanish productions) and Iyuno Media Group (formerly BTI Studios)(3).
What is localization?
Simply put, it refers to the translation of the home language of the show in question to the language of the new market it's entering. So, Supernatural 15x18 is translated from its native English to Spanish for Latin American viewers.
And what exactly *is* dubbing (actually called revoicing within the industry; dubbing is a widely-recognized term, however, and it's pretty well understood what is meant by it)?
Here is the Merriam-Webster definition:
"1 : to add (sound effects or new dialogue) to a film or to a radio or television production —usually used with "in"
They dubbed in the music.
2 : to provide (a motion-picture film) with a new soundtrack and especially dialogue in a different language
The film was dubbed in French and Spanish.
3 : to make a new recording of (sound or videotape already recorded) also : to mix (recorded sound or videotape from different sources) into a single recording"
There is a slang term, "dubby," which refers to any overdub that is comically jarring and obviously a dub. The history of dubbing has been such that this has become a way to think of and recognize it: by how awful and ineffective it used to be when it came to foreign films sloppily overlaid with English dubbing.
However, we are in the midst of an age of networks and companies scrambling to play catch-up, eager to use modern technology to create more effective, convincing dubs. In short, they see the moneymaking potential of presenting finished works that viewers may not even realize *are* dubbed without careful inspection. It's true that a good dub is about 10x more costly than subtitling, but it's hard to satisfy the viewer's desire for escapism if they can't suspend disbelief because they're busy reading.
The truth of that is reflected in internal statistics Netflix (for instance, but not just them) parses to gauge viewer interaction and retention with their various shows: when comparing subtitled vs. dubbed shows, it's easy to see which is the winner.(1)
So to be sure there is no nefarious intent here, we would need to be able to identify the following:
A.) What exactly was the process for this dub?
B.) Who decides what changes to make during a dubbing process?
C.) Who approves those changes?
*Can* there be such a thing as a "rogue translator," as Misha Collins put it? (I am going to clarify here that I think Misha is an upstanding person who believed the best of the show he was involved in and all the people who made it, so his assumption of a rogue translator makes sense in the context of that emotion-based reasoning).
I'm not sure which studio did the dub for the Latin American Spanish version of Supernatural; if I had access to that episode perhaps it's mentioned in the credits. You'd think that would be simple enough to figure out anyway, but I was unable. So maybe someone can take a look and let me know. But, as an example, here is how SPGStudios outlines their localization (dubbing) process:
1.) They make a digital or analog transcription of a show/movie.
2.) The translation, or localization, is done by their staff (in any of 40 available languages their staff can speak). When translating, they translate for meaning and then adapt for time, tempo, and style. They say that "extensive experience is required to capture the essence of the language dialog while accounting for variances in speaking time between the source and destination languages." i.e., wording/word choice will be kept as true as possible to the original intention of the native language, but at the same time the translation will need to use its chosen wording in a way that fits what is being shown on-screen. To produce a convincing/pleasing dub, they won't replace a word like "looked" with a longer phrase like "scanned the horizon" because it's not going to match what's onscreen. That would be venturing into "dubby" territory.
3.) They perform the ADR process: the voice actors (in this case it would normally be Guillermo Rojas performing for Dean Winchester, though it appears things may have been different in 15x18, possibly due to covid) record the new dialogue to replace the original actor's performance.
4.) The newly recorded dialogue goes to the sound editorial department "to ensure that lip-synch is optimized and technical aspects of the vocal performance match the original."
5.) All of the new audio--including dialogue, music, and sound effects--is mixed together to emulate the quality of the original production as closely as possible despite the changes in rhythm that resulted from the dialog having been translated.
6.) Designers, animators, and VFX editors assist with the localization or enhancement of graphics, if needed.
7.) Localized Master: SPG has a 'traffic team' who 'ensures that all client delivery and storage specifications are met, including file formatting, labeling, and uploading." So in other words, the files are heavily encrypted (or that's how I read this).
Presumably, after all steps are performed, SPGStudios transfers the show back to Warner, who then distributes it. The other studio, Iyuno, makes it very clear that *they* can coordinate and handle all distribution themselves to a vast number of networks. That means that if the client desires, Iyuno can send the finished product directly out into the world.
There seem to be two types of scripts that can be given to the dubbing company:
1.) "In-Production Dubbing indicates that dubbing production is active in tandem with post production. In-Production Dubbing fulfillment partners should expect potential changes to source materials."(4)
2.) "Final Asset Dubbing indicates that dubbing production takes place after final delivery of the show. All source assets will be in a final state. The dubbing fulfillment partner should not expect any changes to the source materials."(4)
Without knowing which of these was agreed upon for SPN 15x18, it is very hard to say exactly where or if additional edits may have been performed on the original material that weren't performed on the translated material (in other words, earlier draft).
If the studio was given the episode as an In-Production Dubbing project, this could explain why the title of the Spanish translation reflected the original script title, "The Truth," rather than the final title in English, "Despair".
Assuming this difference was unintentional, rather than a calculated marketing ploy re: audience enticement (which seems admittedly unlikely), then yes, it could indicate a screw-up on someone's part. The question is, was the dub company given the task of generating the title card, or did some other graphics department handle that before the project made it to them? If the latter is the case, the choice to add "Me too" instead of "Don't do this, Cas" could be either a conscious choice on the dub studio's part as sort of a nod to what they thought "the truth" was, or could just be them going with what they were given and making their translation choices based on something else, such as rhythm/timing.
SO, could there have been an original script that had Dean say "me too" in response to Cas, which then went through translation and made it out into the world? Teeechnically yes, but one would assume that the original script and original *footage* would have to have arrived at the dub studio together if the script is being transcribed in-house as SPGSTudios outlines in their process. I'm going to reason that the odds of them using a later edit of the visual--one that contained what in this instance we would be assuming was Warner's preferred dialogue ("Don't do this, Cas") yet choosing to stick with their own audio revoicing of the (supposed) original script/visual's "Me too, Cas" with its now subsequently poor timing, seems unlikely.
So either they would likely have to redo the exact same "Me too" audio again (having made the choice to keep the original dialogue, while also having to work under pandemic restrictions re: travel and talent availability) to make everything match the visual footage time-wise, OR, it was simply a matter that the English scene always was just as we saw it, but that the studio chose to interpret the script the way they did and were able to do their timing the first time around to match accordingly.
This still leaves a question in the air regarding the origin and fate of certain clips of Dean's more visually emotive reaction to Castiel's confession that have been floating around the internet. I've only seen very very brief glimpses of them, myself, and I'm not certain that they're really evidence of anything other than more than one take having been done of that scene, which wouldn't be uncommon and doesn't necessarily point to a conspiracy.
I also want to state that in the wake of 15x18, I opted to protect my mental health rather than follow every development/rumor/speculation that cropped up in the aftermath, so there’s probably a lot that I’m leaving out of this post that may be pertinent. Do me a favor and do assume that I know nothing of it. lol
I will also add this about the other studio, Iyuno: they are very careful to state on their site, repeatedly and with great pride, that they are committed to presenting the world with the smoothest, most true-to-the-original localized version of a film or show possible. Quote: "...our entire team of staff wants nothing more than to make every single one of our partner's content feel as if it were never translated." They are not fucking around. They want to please the client. Would they have done something like the translation in question without any direct go-ahead from Warner? It seems unlikely, though they don't outline their process on their site the way SPG does.
Notice that in the SPGStudios process outlined above, there is no mention made of a review step in which the studio presents the translated dialogue to the client for approval re: the new wording. That doesn't mean there isn't a review step; however, without seeing the contractual agreement that was made between Warner and whatever dub studio they used, or knowing Warner's preferred process by some other means, it's difficult to be certain whether or not there was a review process for the translated script. I did find evidence that Netflix reserves the right to review such translated scripts before air.
Speaking of Netflix, I will include here what their translation requirements are, as I did find those. They, like Warner, also use Iyuno Media Group much of the time for dubbing (voiceover style dubbing in which they apparently like to leave the original language audible underneath, so that's slightly different from revoicing, but I'm working on an assumption that the general expectations are the same for both):(4)
"1. Translation Requirements
1.1 Main Dialogue
All main dialogue in the source (original) language should be translated unless specifically noted.
Due to timing limitations, some of the dialogue may be condensed/truncated as long as it retains all essential elements of the plot.
Please refrain from dubbing redundant words such as character names and repetitions.
Additionally, do not recreate laughs, hesitations, reaction noises, etc."
I'm looking at that bit: "Due to timing limitations, some of the dialogue may be condensed/truncated as long as it retains all essential elements of the plot."
So let's say just for argument's sake that this is pretty standard language provided to the dubbing studios. Netflix is a giant, so I'll proceed with that assumption given the lack of more concrete information:
Does it really change essential elements of the remaining plot to have Dean return Castiel's declaration of love? Forgetting about the outside, emotional ripple effect such a declaration was bound to set off in the viewing audience, no. The two characters have no further scenes together, nor does Dean go on in the next episode to immediately embark on a new relationship, or tell anyone that Cas said he was in love with him but he couldn't return it because he didn't feel the same. So technically, no rule was broken. And that is what it comes down to, if you're thinking like a lawyer reading a contract: specifics, not theoretical implications or consequences.
So, possibly what we have is something that was simple to add and easy to get away with/argue for: translated dialog that fit a dub better due to its length, and didn't actually change anything plot-wise (or at least, the argument for that could easily be made). This points to the painful crux of the matter: why would the Spanish version of Supernatural which aired in Latin America allow Dean Winchester to return Castiel's declaration of love with a "Me too, Cas"? Could it *really* be as insulting as the fact that "Yo a ti, Cas" would be a quicker, smoother dub than "No hagas esto, Cas"? ("Don't do this, Cas" in English.) Or did they see something they could get away with, and a reasonable argument to provide for it, so they went ahead and claimed a small LGBT+ victory?
Is someone, somewhere, getting in trouble for all this? Maybe. But could action be taken against them? That would look pretty bad, public-relations-wise, for the party expressing condemnation if that got out. Could Iyuno, or whatever other studio (again, I don't actually know which one handled the dub) theoretically feel a ripple effect from the fallout of this? Could they quietly suffer a drop in acquisitions/revenue for "reasons unclear"? Sure. That sort of thing happens all the time, so theoretically yeah.
Whatever the reasoning behind the decision to have Dean return Cas' declaration of love, surely they didn't have to do it. Surely they could have chosen some other phrase that fit. But they chose to do exactly what they did. I don't know what went down, in the end, or whether censorship was indeed involved, but I will certainly say that I think it was a brave and admirable choice that was made with the Spanish dub. It doesn't undo the "bury your gays" trope of course, but for some LGBT+ audience members it surely provides a sense of validation and maybe even lends a little hope for better representation--which is long, long overdue.
Thanks if you read this far. I hope that even though it’s not perfect it will be helpful in some way.
Sources
(1) https://www.indiewire.com/2020/02/subtitles-vs-dubbing-what-you-need-to-know-1202212800/amp
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_CW
(3) https://www.iyunomg.com/
(4) https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com/hc/en-us/articles/115016062708-Dubbed-Audio-Style-Guide-VO-Style-Dubbing
(5) https://www.spgstudios.com/localization
#spn gate#destiel#supernatural#queerbaiting#lgbt#lgbt+#lgbt representation#15x18#dean winchester#castiel#johnlockers#queliot#queliot shippers#quentin coldwater deserved better#spn family#they silenced you
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Great Albums is back! This week, we’ll take a look at one of the greatest electronic albums of all time, Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine, and try to avoid getting sued by Ralf Huetter! Full transcript for the video can be found below the break. Enjoy!
Growing up, my main genre of choice was 80s synth-pop, and while the deep influence of Kraftwerk is as significant there as it is everywhere else in electronic music, I was one of those people who initially saw them as somewhat "intimidating." Today, moreso than ever, Kraftwerk are held up as one of those more high-brow or cerebral groups with a philosophy that transcends mere pop or dance music, which makes them seem respectable, a kind of “model minority” in the world of music outside rock. While I don’t buy into the judgmental quality of that sort of praise, which damns so many of Kraftwerk’s greatest fans and imitators, I did get the sense, as a child, that these hoity-toity Germans, working with primitive equipment way back in the 1970s, might not be what I was looking for in a new favourite band. That was before I heard The Man-Machine.
While it’s certainly true that Kraftwerk were a highly experimental band in their own time, they’re one of those acts whose ideas have deeply permeated contemporary music, to the point where their actual work is extremely approachable and listenable to today’s ears. Of all the fairly early electronic acts, who started making this kind of music before it began to become mainstream in the late 70s, Kraftwerk are almost certainly the ones people nowadays listen to for pleasure the most, and that’s no accident. While their earlier albums like Trans-Europe Express took more overt inspiration from classical music, The Man-Machine was their first great foray into the arena of pop, which I think is key to why it resonates with people. For evidence of that, look no further than the biggest mainstream hit of Kraftwerk’s career, “The Model.”
I think it’s easy to see why “The Model'' became a hit single. Sure, it may not have the most traditional pop song structure, let alone instrumentation, but unlike a lot of what Kraftwerk had done before, it’s got a lot of lyrics and a real sense of narrative. Plus, that narrative we get is about a person and not a machine--a good-looking person, in whom the narrator is sexually interested. It’s the perfect pop material. Of course, I would be remiss to mention that “The Model” didn’t achieve all of its success until the single was re-released in many markets in 1981, and in those few years, the idea of “synth-pop” advanced significantly in the charts and popular consciousness. By the time “The Model” was a hit, Kraftwerk admirers were already taking over: look no further than Gary Numan’s "Cars” or OMD’s "Enola Gay,” two synth-pop classics that, it must be said, are still about vehicles!
That aside, though, not everything on The Man-Machine sounds like “The Model”--in fact, it’s surrounded by tracks that have much more in common with Kraftwerk’s earlier LPs. Literally surrounded, in the track listing. I think that adds to this album’s appeal as an ideal entry point into their catalogue: it has some things that sound familiar, while also preparing you for what else you’ll encounter if you choose to probe deeper into the band. The Man-Machine has the least homogeneous profile of any Kraftwerk album. While most of their other classic albums are highly cohesive “song cycles” that almost blend into one long song when you listen to them in full, The Man-Machine doesn’t really have those repeated melodies and motifs that tie its tracks together. While many people, especially fans of psychedelic and progressive rock, really like those cohesive albums, I think this change is a welcome one. It gives the individual tracks a bit more room to breathe and express distinctive identities, and makes the album feel a bit more pop, even if the material itself isn’t always all that poppy. *The Man-Machine* actually only has six individual tracks; they range in length from the three-minute pop stylings of “The Model” to the urban sprawl of “Neon Lights,” which luxuriates in an almost nine-minute runtime.
Given that the average track length is around six minutes, I’m almost tempted to think of The Man-Machine as six tiny Kraftwerk albums, or at least, musical ideas that could have been expanded into full LPs in another universe. “Neon Lights” and “Spacelab” feel dreamy and easy-going, with floating melodies that draw from the “cosmic music” scene, one of the many emergent styles that began as something uniquely German and spread throughout the world--in this case, becoming an important forerunner to ambient electronic music through acts like Tangerine Dream. Meanwhile, the hard, tick-tocking rhythms of “Metropolis” and the title track point to the newfound focus on rhythm and the so-called motorik beat that made the music of Neu! so compelling.
The Man-Machine can serve not only as an introduction to Kraftwerk, but also as a sort of crash course in this entire period of electronic music, showcasing some of the most distinctive and influential features of the German scene, as well as the shape of synth-pop to come. It’s a complex and busy historical moment with huge ramifications for almost all of subsequent electronic music, and The Man-Machine really creates a microcosm of that whole environment. There’s also the fact that each side of the record has one track from each of my three broad groups, like an expertly-designed sushi platter or charcuterie board for us to sample from, and they both follow the same formula: a pop appetizer, a cosmic *entree,* and motorik for dessert.
*The Man-Machine* also has what is almost certainly the most iconic cover of any of Kraftwerk’s LPs. This is how lots of us still picture them in our minds, and it’s inspired tons of parodies and riffs over the years. I think all of that acclaim is deserved! Emil Schult’s graphic design for the album was heavily inspired by avant-garde Soviet artists of the 10s and 20s, chiefly El Lissitzky. These visual artists used their art to express their hope for a new world, defined by the promise of technology, and their literally revolutionary philosophy--so what could be a better match for Kraftwerk’s electronic revolution in music? Lissitzky used bright, primary colours, straight lines, and geometric shapes to convey the “built environment” of modern cities and man-made architecture, and you’ve got all the same sentiment on display here. The use of strong diagonals really draws the eye and lends this image a lot of continued visual interest. It’s also worth noting the extent to which Kraftwerk’s aesthetics inspired later electronic acts almost as powerfully as their sound. When you picture an electronic band, and get a mental image of stiff and stone-faced musicians behind synthesisers wearing shirts and ties, you can certainly thank Kraftwerk for that, as well.
I also love the title of The Man-Machine! The relationship between people and technology is one of, if not the, most central themes in Kraftwerk’s entire discography, which is full of references to anthropomorphic machines as well as mechanically-mediated humans. The particular choice of the phrase “man-machine,” as opposed to words like “android,” has a fun vintage flair to it, which matches the use of early 20th Century visual art quite nicely.
As might be expected from the album’s stylistic diversity, *The Man-Machine* would prove to be something of a transition point in Kraftwerk’s career. Their 1981 follow-up, Computer World, would return to the song cycle format, but with increasing emphasis on ideas from the pop sphere, championed by percussionist Karl Bartos. By the time of the last classic-lineup Kraftwerk LP, 1986’s Electric Cafe, they had not only amped up the pop, but also incorporated influence from the electronic dance music of the time. Ultimately, Bartos would leave the group, chiefly due to discontent with his treatment by founding members Ralf Huetter and Florian Schneider-Esleben, and their persistent lack of musical productivity.
On a somewhat lighter note, my personal favourite track on this album is its opener, “The Robots.” Per my typology from earlier, I classified this as a pop-oriented song, and it certainly is an approachable one that’s proven to be quite popular. But it’s got just enough more experimental touches to keep things quite interesting. From an ominous, dissonant intro, a slightly more pop form, hinting at a verse/chorus structure, soon emerges and contrasts. I love the groove of the rhythm and percussion here, as well as the very heavy vocoder, rich in texture and certainly a Kraftwerk staple.
While the lyrics can be read as sort of light and silly, I like to think that the robots in question might also be dangerous. The track “Metropolis” seems to reference the seminal 1927 silent film of the same name, which is famous for its portrayal of an evil, mechanical doppelganger. Likewise, the choice to translate the lyrics of the song’s interlude into Russian is likely inspired by another great work of art from this era: the stage play R.U.R.--Rossum’s Universal Robots. Written by Karel Čapek in 1922, it’s the progenitor of the “robot revolution” trope in science fiction, the source of the word “robot” for autonomous machines in almost every human language, and one of the first entries in the illustrious career of an author who helped make Czech a true literary language. While the titular robots take time to assure us that they’re programmed to do what we humans want, should we really trust them...?
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