Starting A Streak Of Reboots For Me But Also For Writing Purposes…

Happy hulk for the soul

Interview Translation

I finally had some time to translate the Yoneda Kou interview in the March issue of the magazine “Da Vinci” that came out last month. The issue focuses on introducing BL manga to male readers, and includes interviews with some other BL mangaka like Harada, Takarai Rihito, and Kumota Haruko as well.

Yoneda Kou – Her realistic portrayals of men receive attention even outside the genre of BL

“Saezuru tori wa habatakanai” is a BL manga about the lives of men on the dark side of society. Despite its genre and graphic sex scenes the series has an exceptional number of male supporters as well. Why is that? We’ve asked the author Yoneda Kou who recently started serializing another series called “OP – The Colorless Days of Yoake Itaru” in the seinen magazine “Evening”.

The setting is a well-known criminal organization, the Japanese Yakuza. In Saezuru tori wa habatakanai which tells the story of the shrewd wakagashira Yashiro and the ex-cop Doumeki who becomes his personal assistant / bodyguard, Yoneda Kou creates a dense picture of a male-dominated world wavering between chivalry and jealousy, conspiracies and sexual desire. Not only is the series immensely popular among BL readers, it also receives favorable ratings from outside the genre, having won prizes like the FRaU Manga Award and the SUGOI JAPAN Award. Even the author herself never expected such a response from Non-BL readers when she first started serializing her work. »It feels very odd to me, since I’m drawing with the intention of creating a straightforward BL story. Given Yashiro’s characterization as lewd and masochistic, I first thought that my manga wouldn’t even appeal to many BL readers. That’s why I simply feel happy that someone would go so far as recommend it to others.«

Keep reading

Transformers: The Last Bay Movie

(This is my rough draft, correct me please if you see mistake. College essay here).

  On June, 20, 2017, Michael Bay had the privilege of directing and releasing to the world the fifth installment of the Transformers’ live-action franchise films, or what fans refer to as the “Bay-Verse”. Much to the Transformers-community’s, the viewers’, Hasbro’s, and all the companies associated with Transformers: The Last Knight disappointment, the movie was an utter catastrophe that should have stayed a thought with only its fantastic execution of visual detail and sound saving it, receiving a 15% from Rotten Tomatoes instead of a well-deserved 0%. Although there are (few) people that may argue that the film was enjoyable, there are many aspects of the film that led to its failure and dislike, particularly two aspects: the lack of a plot and the lack of accuracy of the Transformers’ (or better referred to as Cybertronians’) Universe.

  To summarize the plot, Quintessa (a Cybertronian deity and queen) who is attempting to save a dying Cybertron (which was supposedly lifeless by the first movie and is the reason why cybertronians are trying to find sanctuary on earth) by sucking the life out of the earth. A great portion of the film dumbfounded viewers because it jumped from character to character with constant plot and scene changes that were meaningless, and one moment in particular bothers fans the most. It is very unclear if Megatron simply damaged Bumblebee’s voice box or ripped it out entirely in the Bayverse, but the latter is implied. In the previous films, Bumblebee seems to be able to choke a few words once in a while. However, right when Nemesis Prime (evil Optimus Prime) is about to strike the final blow during their fight, Bumblebee speaks in his normal voice out of the blue, saying “I-I’m Bumblebee! You’re oldest friend”. Suddenly Optimus Prime breaks free of his seemingly unbreakable spell. Earlier, Bumblebee had been attempting to find a replacement part for his missing organ, so how did he get his voice back? Did Optimus punch his throat so hard that it began to function? Again, one of many parts of the film that made no sense. One very common comment I received of the film was, “I didn’t understand it at all because I didn’t know what was going on.” There are plenty more essential characters involved in this movie, and even though there is much more left to say in summary, the point is clear: there is no plot, and if there was supposed to be, it did not work.

The sole purpose of the creation of these films began, not only to modernize old ideas for profit, but to bring to life a childhood fantasy to feed the inner fan. In the Transformers’ universe, many continuities create unique backstories for Optimus Prime, the AllSpark, Megatron, and the war to name a few. However, the most memorable series and films have great plots as well as a general accuracy of the Transformers’ history, characters, vocabulary, and biology founded by past series and films. TLK as well as the other Bayverse films were intentionally created to reflect the first generation series, The Transformers, the father of the entire Transformers-Universe, as their base. Yet Hound, a robot, has a dad? Humans are the main protagonists of Transformers? The film even implies the Dinobots procreating offspring, which many ask, how? Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, is now a knight? With the exception of Transformers: Animated and other continuities, a Prime is the highest rank distinction and can be used as an identification for Autobot leaders; a Prime is a combination of a military, political, and even partially a “religious” leader (with some American WW2 leanings), earning great respect from society since only certain are chosen to become a Prime by the higher ranking, wiser characters (usually Primus, the Cybertronian god of goodness and creator of Cybertronians). Optimus Prime universally symbolizes a leader, a father, and a friend in times great distress. By revealing his origins as the human equivalent to a knight, TLK completely transforms Optimus Prime’s identity. Optimus Prime takes on an entire new design featuring metallic abs, tassets, a medieval sword, and gauntlets. The humble Autobot is portrayed (in a sound state) as a bloodthirsty killing machine, horrifically ripping, stabbing, and threatening all creatures in his way. Yes, Optimus Prime is mind controlled throughout most of the movie, but when I watch Optimus Prime as a sane Autobot, I shiver. He is a completely different person; Optimus Prime is not a knight in shining armor.

  There are many aspects that could be discussed further such as the film’s general inappropriateness, lack of character development, the less than two-minute fight scene between Optimus and Bumblebee, the length, the lack of balance between humans and Cybertronians, the money lost in the making of the film, and the horrific legacy it left for future Transformers continuities which will most likely end in the death of the universe as a whole. On the bright side, there were wonderful voice actors, including Optimus Prime’s original voice actor Peter Cullen, the 4K quality of the film, and the soundtrack was beautiful and exemplary, aspects of the film that were especially outstanding. However, not even Peter Cullen’s great voice acting could keep the film from Michael Bay ruining the sanctity of many people’s childhood. Transformers: The Last Knight deserves to be known as number six of the 2017’s worst films according to Rotten Tomatoes.

If anything is true, it’s that Charles will always care for Carlos (and vice versa)

“I feel sorry for Carlos... I’m sorry for him… I feel sorry that for Carlos that means he dropped out of the points.”

The sun is shining for the first time in forever. It not raining, it’s not cloudy. I am photosynthesizing

reblog to send your mutuals a hug. maybe just the thought is enough to cheer them up 🥺

Character study

F1 Testing In Abu Dhabi - Day One (2014)

Writing Resources: Advice and Motivation

Writing Resources Masterlist

Things Neil Gaiman Said

A reason to write what you love

Bad Writing Day

Don’t focus on the big things; just keep writing

“Fix it fanfic” Writing to your own work

How to be a writer (the easy way)

How to reconnect with an unfinished work

how to stay motivated as a writer

How to trick your brain into writing

No motivation to keep going on

Scared for others to read your work?

Sound like yourself writing advice

What to do when you’re discouraged by feedback

Wills for Writers

Write it badly

Writing and mental health

Writing in the fog

General Tips

Cliché but true writing advice

Fail better

Femme Fatale Guide: How To Gain Motivation & Get Out of A Rut

Harsh writing advice

How do I write when I just can’t write?

How to measure success as a writer

How to (not) start a book

Idea vs Execution (writing advice)

Reasons not to quit writing

Some writing advice

Things Writers Need to Hear

Value

What are you writing?

What to do when you’ve written yourself in a corner

What to write

Write that fanfiction

Writing advice

Writing on auto pilot

Writing Tips from a Beta Reader

The Humanization of Superman

What Zack Snyder did for the character of Superman is equivocal to the evolution his character went through in the 1980s. Superman had become far too powerful to be of any interest as a character. Through a series of deaths, resurrections, soft reboots, and revitalizations of the character, Superman became weaker and more vulnerable. This forced his characterization to change slightly, as he became more relatable and interesting.

What Zack Snyder did with Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman was add a new layer to this character that contained all of the weight and expectation placed upon Superman, as a character that had to be handled carefully and perfectly, and placed it upon the man. You can hear this very burden in the criticisms of Snyder’s characterization with lines like, “Superman is supposed to smile,” or “ Superman is supposed to be a ‘boy scout’ not gloomy.” The anxiety and introverted personality Snyder gave to the character almost serves as a counter to this. He made Superman carry these expectations and even face them head on in Batman vs Superman. 

One the author and creator of One Punch Man did something similar with his protagonists by realizing that in order to make an all powerful character interesting you have to give them weaknesses that we can relate too, and he does this by making them bad at communication or giving them feelings of loneliness and isolation, as no one is able to be their equal or understand their pain. This leads his characters to often push others away or accept a burden they do not want in pursuit of doing what is right even if they know no one will ever understand or know what they did, but it also allows his character to act unheroic and selfish as they struggle to feel normal.

If future creators were to embrace what Snyder has given to the character of Superman, we might gain a character that can not only be what we all strive to be but also give us a way of delving into the complex nature and burden of expectation and power. Their is a reason “human nature” is always a reference to how we see or interact with the world rather than our physical strength. What makes a character human is their feelings, desires, and relationships, and superhero stories are the perfect chance to delve into these concepts in a significant and interesting way. 

For these amazing movies and a hopeful future for the character, Zack, we thank you. 

I always forget Jenson went into the tattoo world. Him getting an asian dragon is crazy.

BOOO YOU WHORE 🫵🏼

With the popularity of the upcoming anime, I decided to make a master post for fans new and old, as well as for those who are curious about the series!  What is Banana Fish? Banana Fish is a manga series by Akimi Yoshida. Originally published in 1985, it follows the story of Ash Lynx, a charismatic gang leader, as he grapples with figuring out the mystery of “banana fish” that turns his life upside down. The story also centers around the close relationship between Ash Lynx and Eiji Okumura, a young Japanese photographer’s assistant who came to New York to photograph the city, but ends up getting caught up in Ash’s violent life.  DISCLAIMER: Banana Fish is definitely not for everyone. Some of the topics Banana Fish deals with are violence, drugs, rape, pedophilia, child abuse, gang warfare, racism, prostitution, and death. None of the sexual content is shown explicitly. I recommend not investing in this series if these topics make you uncomfortable.

Manga - The main story consists of 19 volumes. VIZ Media licensed a english translation in 1999-2002, with flipped L to R pages and censored dialogue. VIZ later released a full re-translation of the series of all 19 volumes. Both have since been out of print. Can be read in full here, in English. The manga is also getting a gorgeous box edition which can be found on Amazon. (Japanese only) 

Side stories - An extra volume, titled Banana Fish: Another Story consists of five side stories that take place before and after the events in the main story. Highly recommended to read after you finish the main story. Raws 

Angel Eyes -prequel that tells the story of how Ash and Shorter met. Included in VIZ’s translation of Banana Fish.

The Garden with Holy Light - Epilogue to Banana Fish. Included in VIZ’s translation of Banana Fish. Private Opinion - Prequel that tells the story of how Ash and Blanca first met. Untranslated. Fly boy, in the sky - Prequel that tells the story of how Eiji and Ibé met. Untranslated.

Ura Banana - Short, comedic story about Ash and Eiji discussing fan mail with Akimi Yoshida. Untranslated.

Media   Anime- A Banana Fish anime is in the works! Set to premier July 2018, it is being produced by the studio MAPPA and will consist of 24 episodes. The biggest change will be that the story is set to modern day. You can find more information here on ANN. (Will update this section when we get closer to the date) Radio drama - A radio drama for Banana Fish was produced in 1996. @bananafishlovers was kind enough to compile the drama CDs into a playlist which can be found here. Untranslated, but you can follow along with the audio if you have the manga close by. Stage adaption - A stage adaption for Banana Fish was produced in 2012. Very hard to find outside of Japan, here’s a preview  (Warning: stage silliness) Asrun Dream - A song from the album Mars by Gackt. In an interview with Akimi Yoshida, “Asrun Dream is an older song of his [Gackt], inspired by Banana Fish. He said that when he wrote it, he imagined Eiji asleep in bed while Ash looks out the window to the night sky.” (lyrics + source) Extras Angel Eyes - Not related to the side story of the same name, Angel Eyes was a Banana Fish art book by Akimi Yoshida. The short story, That Summer, is also included in the art book. You can read it here and here  You can find copies of the book on Amazon or on Japanese bidding sites, but please be warned that the price for it has skyrocketed since it is a rare book.  Banana Fish REBIRTH - Official guide book to Banana Fish. This book includes an extensive analysis on the story and characters, and the setting of New York City. Harder to find than Angel Eyes, but also just as crazy expensive. I hope this covers everything. If you have any questions, suggestions, or corrections, let me know! I’ll also be updating this post as more information about Banana Fish is released.