indelicateink

check-in: steady

indelicateink — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 04:08:00 GMT

Been struggling with moodboards for four settings. It's aggravating. I do hazily know what I want these places to look like, but finding reference material to back up how light and shadow and atmosphere would look is really a bear.

The downsides of illustration: you may have to be very explicit in your setting (the upsides of writing: words, words, words!). I don't think this is an even trade for not necessarily having to name everybody when illustrating (as opposed to writing) (i.e., I don't have to think up names for the Eszett peeps, woot!).

(The locations so far: Suiren, where Schuldig is from; the exterior of Rosenkreuz; Takatori City; and Eszett's... er, HQ.)

In related news, it's been a monster bummer of a week for unknown reasons, but all your kind words have been so appreciated. Eternal thanks.

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check-in: check

indelicateink — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 03:43:48 GMT

A check-in about just... checking in. Everyone has one... two... hopefully not more... off-days, right? So today was not productive, but I'm hoping tomorrow is better. Life is just weird atm, and I've reached a creative/fear block I need to puzzle out.

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your favs, with a twist

indelicateink — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 05:38:23 GMT

I don't think I made a formal post on this (???) BUT I MEANT TO! So here tis:

There is a Crossover February going on over at the saiyuki_wk_au comm, and please go check it out if you feel like bringing some Saiyuki or Weiss Kreuz (or both!) into the world this month! <3<3

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thinging! please send love

indelicateink — Sat, 03 Feb 2018 00:11:59 GMT

eeeeey. So this February I'm going to entertain a goal of posting every day on progress on my Weiss Kreuz/Miyazaki crossover project* to help keep me accountable and on-track. (Er, excepting yesterday, I suppose! But I did do work that day, so there's that?) Just a warning that your reading page may be spammed, but I'll put posts behind cuts to help out lol.

It's time. This baby is going to see forward momentum. SO I CAN HAVE THINGS FROM THIS PROJECT TO POST BY THE END OF THE MONTH. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS.

It would mean a lot to me if you commented on these check-in posts this February, even if just to say "gambatte" or "A+" or "nice!" or whatevs--no commitment expected for even a whole sentence with punctuation, man. ;) I get discouraged working alone, and the WK fandom is so quiet (compared to hot properties like Free! or YOI, etc.) that sometimes spending time on a wk project feels to me like puttering away in a post-apocalyptic bunker somewhere. XD But in reality I know you fellow fans and/or creatives are out there somewhere! Gimme a nudge of support when you can? You don't even have to like Weiss Kreuz: I'm just looking for support. Be the Jack** to my Ronald***: even if ya hate it, give me a fist bump?

ALSO: if you, too, are hammering away at a project or inspired to Get A Thing Done by the end of the month, I would be happy to support your check-in posts as well! Let me know in a comment here if I should be looking for your posts!

*also, also! there's going to be a crossover challenge posted v soon in the Saiyuki/Weiss Kreuz AU comm that lauand and I are hosting, so stay tuned! If you're of a mind to play in the Weiss Kreuz crossover or Saiyuki crossover sandbox and create something, things are a-brewin'.
**C.S. Lewis' nickname
***the name JRR Tolkien went by
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rich

indelicateink — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 19:00:03 GMT

I like to come up with long lists of Things I Would Do If I Were Rich. (Like almost everyone on this planet save small percentage, I don't fit into that category.) But today's new list item: wouldn't it be great to just indiscriminately and randomly fill people's amazon wish lists? I was doing a search for my niece's amazon wish list, and there are very many people who share her name. Their lists are a wonder. Wouldn't it be delightfully crazy to just have every Jane Doe receive a box full of her wishes because you could afford to just go whimsical like that? Hopefully it wouldn't make people nervous. I know it's small potatoes on the Things People Need dept, it's just expectant wish lists make me a bit sad.

Anyway. Should I come into Money. After buying a second pair of trousers.

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IT IS REALLY REAL FOR REAL

indelicateink — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 23:34:51 GMT

Mystery solved!!! Last month I put out a distress call that some Saiyuki Hakkai/youkai!Hakkai art I thought I remembered was nowhere to be found, and did it really exist? And today alienatheart noted that it is real (from the trading card set), and can be viewed here! God I love a solved mystery.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped me try to solve this puzzle! Minekura (and/or staff) did a lot with this particular artwork, didn't she?? You guys are amaze.

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when your supply is tainted

indelicateink — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 21:51:23 GMT

There is a terrible beauty to small post-peak fandoms. You may find a handful of radiant gems in the fandom standard recs, and then... then you have to go hunting in some Really Dark Waters. Because you know--you know--there are some hidden gems, fics that weren't rec'd 500 million times because they published after the fandom peaked, or the author just wasn't a BNF or it somehow got overlooked, or the author dared to write a trope that's not popular, or or or. But you know they're out there. And you're so, so thirsty. So you look.

If I could go back in time to this morning, I would entreat myself NOT to take a chance on a dodgy trope that I like, that is only written to my tastes 10% of the time, and has been written in a small fandom and maybe not vetted by a lot of reviews so there's no way to know the vibe. Just... girl, don't go there. The odds aren't in your favor. Resist. Future-you just read a significant chunk of a story that was so EXTREMELY not to your taste BUT STILL YOU PUSHED ON, HOPING FOR REDEMPTION, only to finally free yourself with a ragequit 85% of the way through. But not without a miserable, miserable aesthetic aftertaste that's not going away any time soon.

...

I'm talking about pregnant male spies, y'all. That's right. Judge. I have to go into the weekend mourning that I will shuffle off this mortal coil never having read satisfying filthy mpreg A/B/O 1960s spy fic. It's a dark day.

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heeeeelp

indelicateink — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 21:56:12 GMT

gdi. There is this one canon saiyuki artwork I cannot put my hands on. To the point I may have imagined it. My hard drive is no help, google images is no help. Help?

It's the one with the iconic image of bare-torsoed Hakkai prone on the ground, looking up at the viewer; one version of this art is him human, the other version of this art is him youkai, yes? Well, the image I'm looking for is of this art reworked--human Hakkai is still looking up at the viewer, but he's by a puddle/pool of water, and youkai!Hakkai is the reflection. DID I DREAM THIS? IF IT EXISTS, DOES IT EXIST IN HIGH-RES? (If it exists, is this official art or fanart? The lines, they blur.)

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cowboy and peril

indelicateink — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 04:45:31 GMT

So I finally caught up with the rest of the world and watched 2015's The Man From U.N.C.L.E., because it's been rough and I needed something actiony and fun and something I got the vibe my fellow fanpeople enjoyed. Oh my. Somehow. I. was. unprepared. for how hard this film hit the m/m innuendo. Knocked me sideways. Which is a lovely surprise when you're not expecting it.

I didn't quite catch on until EIGHTEEN MINUTES IN, spy Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) follows his superior, played by Jared Harris, into a public men's room for a tense meeting. JH, heading over to the urinals, says, "What I'm about to feed you, Solo, might taste a little bitter; nevertheless you're gonna have to swallow it." (Spoiler: not talking about a blowjob.) JARED FRANCIS HARRIS. YOU KNOW YOU TOOK THAT ROLE BECAUSE THAT LINE MADE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD.

If, like me, you managed to miss this film thus far and any information about it, you'll be delighted to know the whole movie is shot through with pretty solid veins of in-your-face m/m innuendo. Which is delightful on one level. And on another level, a bit sad when you have such attractive and good actors whose characters are never going to commit to the act. (Or rather, the movie isn't even going to throw you a, er, bone and make with the sly innuendo that these two guys totally did it at some off-screen point. Maybe they're saving it for the sequel.) For me it doesn't quite feel like it crosses the line into queerbaiting because (a) it's hilariously broad comedy and (b) the characters don't have a whiff of being anything but intensely and unquestioningly straight, what with their female love and/or boink interests, their surface vibe of 60s television-style sexual conservatism, their flawless comedy-straight-man performances, and their mutual antagonism that somehow never quiiiiite seems to cross over into headier sexual tension (which for some reason makes me less angry at the lack of m/m, yet also doesn't stop me from slash thoughts). It's such a close thing, though. Upon a rewatch I'll probably be angrier and more frustrated. XD

And you can tell the more worldly Solo is ttly thinking about it. Nascent but persistent thoughts.

A sequel is apparently not beyond reach. I'd hit it. Especially if director Guy Ritchie finally COMMITS and stops dancing around the bromance in his films and just fucking goes for the m/m romance. (Jesus, Guy, it's not hard. So to speak.) If your backers are terrified of box office horrors because your film goes gay, remind them it's 2017 and it would actually send people in delighted droves to see your saucy little film. Promise.

Anyway, I have some fanfic to seek out. Hit me up if you have some recommendations and I'll love you forever.

pee ess. if you're not following the weissvsaiyuki comm and you're interested in the 20th anniversary autumn battle, there have been some new posts/updates.

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industrious!

indelicateink — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 20:20:25 GMT

Okay so! If you're interested in the Weiss vs Saiyuki battle, here are some updates for ya:

~HERE IS A POLL~ in which you can vote on your preferred battle dates. (I know some ppl only check DW sporadically--like me!--so this'll be open for a week.)

~HERE IS THE POST~ upon which you can commit your dearest wishes for prompts for people to fill! This post will remain open through end of battle. Anon commenting is on if you want to be anonymous. (...Obviously, do not post prompt fills in that post. Prompt fills must wait for the battle dates.)

I've imported the old LiveJournal community over here to Dreamwidth. Please do not attempt to post in the old LJ community; all current posts will be made in DW. Thx!

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i'm picking up what you're putting down

indelicateink — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 01:48:36 GMT

Okay so! What I'm getting from y'all's input:

(1) Unsure of date/commitment, but might be possible
(2) Fallish might be a good time? I love the idea of winter, because I fucking hate winter otherwise, but I understand many people have a fuckton of commitments in winter generally. Hell, I'm probably underestimating my own. ;)
(3) Format undecided; people are pretty flexible, with caveats

So:

kirathaune reminded me of the WK v Saiyuki challenge from awhile back. And that was pretty successful with its participants and fun-factor? I think it's also solid since if we combine the forces of both fandoms we have more people with which to play? Also, isn't it kismet they began on the same year...

So I'm leaning toward that battle format. It would likely be one fandom vs another (i.e., I probably won't break it down by character this time), the fandom with the most works/points(*details to be ironed out) reigns supreme. This time I might do an anon poll at the end for participants to vote on favorite work, most creative fill of prompt, something, something-something, for bonus points.

Tentative: As a part of the battle (but not the only thing that makes up the battle) I have a passionate need for people to be able to, anonymously or not, brainstorm lists of prompts for people to fill. Since this may well be the last dance (though of course it's not. it's not!), I want people to be able to prompt that story they never got to read, that rare pair they always wanted to see, or hell: just read a really good story about their OTP that they might not have read in awhile. Even if it's just a glimpse of a story and not a full story (art/fanwork/etc).

Like last time, there would be various ways to play: doing your own thing, filling prompts, tackling small challenges. I'll iron it out.

Date: possibly, possibly Oct 15-Nov 15. Not firm yet.

Soooooooo... please offer up your:
Thoughts on the dates.
Thoughts on format: what interests you and what would inspire you to play.
General input thinky thoughts.

(If this should come to pass, I would also entreat you to signal boost this like fire? WK/Saiyuki fandom diaspora: it's a thing. It would be lovely to be able to give a heads up to people who are on other platforms and might miss this otherwise. The more fandom love, the merrier.)

Pee Ess. If this is not in fact the 20th anniversary of WK or Saiyuki, now is an excellent time to let me know. :D wikipedia/the internets have lied to me before.

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20th

indelicateink — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 22:57:38 GMT

hhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. It's the 20th anniversary of Weiss Kreuz, so I feel I can't let the year pass without doing SOMETHING.

Granted, it is also the 20th anniversary of Saiyuki. So there's that as well.

I'm circling the idea of doing a THING. I don't know what, though. An exchange? A challenge? Something for winter? (I have given up on trying to keep track of the worlds of fandom/writing/life challenges, annual or impromptu, and have just accepted that no matter what, I'm clashing with something major.)

The other thing is, the Weiss Kreuz and/or Saiyuki fandoms are
very
veeeery
very
quiet* (at least on DW); everything's so scattered on Tumblr I couldn't honestly say. (And beyond those two platforms I can't fathom. There could be a daily Saiyuki dance party going on in Instagram and I'm in the dark, ppl.) Which is all to say: if you build it, will anyone turn up for fealty and nostalgia and the lulz (and the love)?

I'm sort of at a loss and needing input. I'll leave this up; comment with your thoughts?

Would you participate, and if so, what kind of Thing would sufficiently intrigue you?

*I know the new Saiyuki anime has revived a fluttery pulse back into the fandom, but I can't quite track how active that is. And if that translates into the kind of fandom of old where people would want to engage in a Thing?

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indelicateink — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 01:57:42 GMT

I have followed lady_ganesh's lead and signed up for a Hurt/Comfort Bingo card! (Wanna? Get yours here!)

Hurt/comforty things slated to happen to pretty guys:

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in-progress

indelicateink — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 02:26:28 GMT

hnnnnnrghasdfkjasd;fjasd;fkjasd so I've been reluctant to post work-in-progress on any of the stuff I'm working on because it's all still in the fuzzy hazy beginnings stages (notes, sketches).

But I continue to operate under the hope that actually posting about it will help keep me/kick me into gear.

Above are some rough doodles for character design for the WK-reincarnation CLAMP-style project. Schuldig, Yohji, Ran, Nagi, Mamoru/Omi, Ken, Farfarello, Crawford, and the three elders of Eszett who also died in the tower.

Plans so far:

Story begins in media res. Everyone is compelled to reunite in Tokyo for Reasons to do with the ceremony/manifestation of the demon.

I've mostly paired them up--romantically or otherwise--with the opponent they were fighting at time of death; iirc Ran and Crawford were separated by Manx, but lemme know if I misremember. (Actually, it's too late, don't tell me, let me live in moronic bliss.)

All three* psychics had their powers enhanced through dying and reincarnating with aspects of the demon; the three have spent their childhoods coping with almost overwhelming power. In the year approaching the time for them to reunite, they slowly gain more and more clarity and more control over their powers. However, their powers are also increasing, and their control can't always keep up with that.
*(six, if we count Eszett. they're their own triad thing. I'll deal with them later.)

Each person who died fighting another is linked to that person. And if a member of Weiss was fighting a psychic when he died, the psychic inadvertently exerted a powerful force on their counterpart in the course of their reincarnation. (Did you ever see David Cronenberg's The Fly? Sorta like that.) Hence Schuldig and Yohji, and Nagi and Omi-Mamoru, are reborn physically similar to their counterpart with similar powers. (Yet Schuldig and Nagi are the far more powerful--and more susceptible to the demon--than their counterparts.)

Nagi and Omi-Mamoru:
Reincarnated in Japan under Kritiker's new psi program. Practically twins in a creepy CLAMP way. Both telekinetic. Nagi's power has become sporadically increasingly more powerful as the twenty-year mark approaches.

Backstory: Rosenkreuz/Eszett were aware (through prophecy, arcane knowledge, something something) of the pending reincarnations after everyone died at the failed raising of the demon. They sent envoys to Japan to seek those anticipated to be reborn there. However, there was a defection of the envoys from Rosenkreuz to Kritiker, resulting in the founding of Kritiker's powerful new psi program. And, eventually, the addition of Kritiker's two new infant telekinetics.

I'm thinking Omi-Mamoru was absorbed by the Takatori family... they possibly creepily named him Mamoru, I haven't decided. I also haven't decided if the Takatori adopted Nagi as well (reincarnated!Nagi and Mamoru are not biologically related), knowing how powerful he would be. If they did, they likely gave him some Takatori-appropriate name and rejected his past.

Nagi and Mamoru: Do you think they should already be in love, or is that a near-future event?

Schuldig and Yohji:
Schuldig (male) and Yohji (female) are twins (who are not romantically involved). Before the Rosenkreuz envoys made their trip to Japan to locate reincarnations, they gave up Yohji and Schuldig's German-Japanese mother to Rosenkreuz; Schuldig and Yohji were born and raised in Rosenkreuz.

Both Schuldig and Yohji are telepathic. Like Nagi (but unlike Crawford), due to the support of another soul entwined with his, Schuldig also has overwhelming power, but his mind has locked the worst of it down (until now).

They took on the more bloodthirsty aspects of the demon, and their bloodlust is increasing and feeding their power. Schuldig is becoming less codependent with Yohji as the 20-year anniversary approaches, even as his power grows greater. He has begun to seek out a certain unknown someone he feels is missing from his life. (Yeah this is a Crawford x Schuldig story.)

I have no idea what to name them yet, but a mean part of me wants to call them Zuerst and Zweite. (Although they are telepaths, Rosenkreuz has managed to keep them mostly in the dark about their purpose and their pasts. [Granted, they probably know sweet fuck-all about Yohji's past and don't care.])

Crawford:
Due to his great power in his previous life, the addition of the demon's power in this incarnation has him pretty fucked. up. Probably overwhelmed by ability to see both past and future, and most possible realities. Likely spent most of his life struggling mentally, heavily medicated with shitty medication side effects. Is becoming rapidly more stable as the twenty-year anniversary approaches. (I can't fully comprehend an omnipotent character, so it could be his conscious mind is stifling the overwhelming information coming at him, and narrowing it to a manageable on-and-off trickle he can access with varying degrees of success.)

Crawford is likely American; I have coalescing ideas about a North American psi organization that has tended to him all these years and kept him concealed from the competing organizations seeking him.

Ken and Farfarello:
My moodboard for them is "nightmare," and I haven't decided what that entails, psychic-powers-wise. Perhaps they manipulate perceptions of reality, idk. Obviously I gotta get my head in the CLAMP game, because that could be nice and horrible. Their demonic power involves charisma, luxury, wealth. I haven't decided if they're celebrities; probably just random uberrich kids who gravitated toward each other due to destiny. They are longtime friends, not lovers (maybe fuckbuddies?). Ken is female, Farfarello is male. They are badass. Surely the plot will work out.

Ran:
This poor bastard is actually at peace right now. He's had a good, peaceful life. Now he's approaching 20, so let's blow up everything in his face: because it's Ran, that's his destiny.
Hazy on Ran's recently-manifesting powers. I think he might have transmogrifying powers. Anyway, of all the aspects of the demon bestowed amongst everyone, I think he finally caught a karmic break and got something like "luck" or "fortitude" or "cunning" or "widsom," something he didn't realize was in play all this time because of its subtle nature.

Other canon players: Sakura, Aya, Manx, maybe grandfather!Takatori, maybe reincarnated!Botan (no powers, just as a love interest for Ran, aww, but idk), Tot not ruled out.

So anyway, yeah. Currently working on a panel that depicts all eight (or eleven) in their current status. Some symbolism, some CLAMP-style prettiness and implied angst. Would like to do more, but this is my starting point (i.e., my goal for the end of the month).

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magic city

indelicateink — Tue, 23 May 2017 12:38:20 GMT

I track all things Miami because (1) I am obsessive like that and (2) either two things will happen: my art/project in the Saiyuki Miami AU multiverse will happen or I will die first, i.e., this is something I have not given up on and it may take the rest of my life to make happen but hopefully not.

That aside: a new spring 2017 handy map of how fucking expensive it is to rent in Miami. It's ninth in the nation, tied with Honolulu. This doesn't really pertain to sugar baby Gojyo because money is something other people deal with (until it isn't), but might everyone else. Well, drug-dealer Goku lives in a trailer. But everyone else. Haha, does Sanzo have a roommate (one who lived)? Or does he live out in Liberty City? Granted, I don't know the average Miami police detective's salary... Hakkai probably sublets, or more likely crashes in the condo of someone he's murdered and is keeping up their payments through their bank account, because he's efficient like that. Miami real estate, man.

(PS Room rental on the Venetian Islands--what? It's all strictly mansions. People tend to rent the whole property for their vacation/party/music video shoot, not a room...? Huh.)

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gender identity

indelicateink — Mon, 22 May 2017 23:40:09 GMT

Look, it might not make a bee's dick's worth of difference to anyone, but I gotta put this out there because I'm floundering. I'm working on the Weiss Kreuz AU in which the eight of them (and maybe Eszett) are reincarnated 20 years after being killed in the fall of the tower. It will be in CLAMP style.

Do you care if the original guys are all men again, or would you prefer some women in there?*

Pros for the all-guy-cast-part-the-second: Uh. Well, I'm so used to them all being guys with their male gay romances and their guyly guyness. So: gay male romance/sex. There's a pro.

Cons against the all-guy-cast-part-the-second: What are the odds 8 men were reincarnated as... 8 men. I hate statistics, they boggle my mind, so I honestly don't know; but the uptight part of me is forever sniping in my ear about suspension of disbelief, though I desperately try to tune her out. I guess what interests me more is: do you, as a viewer, want one of your Weiss Kreuz dudes to be reincarnated as a woman. The con against the all-male choice is... hey, what if it's boring?? (Can gay sex be boring? Can gay CLAMP sex be boring, when you're flouting all their CLAMP rules of romance and explicit sex scenes and gay gay gay gay gay???)

Pros for women in the mix: The hair. omg the CLAMP hair, people. It is epic. (Yeah, guys can have CLAMP hair, too. But the women are pretty epic overall.) Oh yes, and also female representation. And also gender is a construct and a spectrum and et cetera and other interesting points so on. (Note: there will be women regardless. Sakura, Aya, Manx, likely some others I'll leave to your imagination.)

...I kinda feel like I answered my own question in hashing this out (conclusion: YAY HOMOEROTICISM, GAY SEX)? But every time I sit down and draw this, I pause and dither, thinking: geez, this is kind of a sausage fest.

Your thoughts? If you're pro reincarnated-as-a-woman, please let me know your nominations. If you're pro reincarnated-as-all-men, please let me know your interest in this.

*(I might work out who may or may not be genderqueer or non-binary later, if there is anyone at all. Basically all I want to know right now is who among us is in favor of the original recipe, who wants changes.)

PS I did a poll on this awhile back. Key words: awhile back. People change! Er, no pun intended.

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Brad Crawford may not be ticklish

indelicateink — Sun, 21 May 2017 01:56:18 GMT

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/sunday/why-the-future-is-always-on-your-mind.html

"[...] What best distinguishes our species is an ability that scientists are just beginning to appreciate: We contemplate the future. Our singular foresight created civilization and sustains society. It usually lifts our spirits, but it’s also the source of most depression and anxiety, whether we’re evaluating our own lives or worrying about the nation. Other animals have springtime rituals for educating the young, but only we subject them to 'commencement' speeches grandly informing them that today is the first day of the rest of their lives.

"A more apt name for our species would be Homo prospectus, because we thrive by considering our prospects. The power of prospection is what makes us wise. Looking into the future, consciously and unconsciously, is a central function of our large brain, as psychologists and neuroscientists have discovered — rather belatedly, because for the past century most researchers have assumed that we’re prisoners of the past and the present...

"Most prospection occurs at the unconscious level as the brain sifts information to generate predictions. Our systems of vision and hearing, like those of animals, would be overwhelmed if we had to process every pixel in a scene or every sound around us. Perception is manageable because the brain generates its own scene, so that the world remains stable even though your eyes move three times a second. This frees the perceptual system to heed features it didn’t predict, which is why you’re not aware of a ticking clock unless it stops. It’s also why you don’t laugh when you tickle yourself: You already know what’s coming next.

"[...] Even when you’re relaxing, your brain is continually recombining information to imagine the future... ...[Your brain simulating future possibilities] is how you can respond so quickly to unexpected developments. What may feel like a primitive intuition, a gut feeling, is made possible by those previous simulations..."

--"We Aren’t Built to Live in the Moment" by MARTIN E. P. SELIGMAN and JOHN TIERNEY. Martin E.P. Seligman is a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the authors, along with Peter Railton, Roy F. Baumeister and Chandra Sripada, of “Homo Prospectus,” on which this essay is based.

I love trying to figure out how Crawford's precognition might work, so articles like these delight me.

(Also there's a "Brad Crawford puts the 'homo' in 'homo prospectus'" joke in there somewhere.)

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fuck you, Hollywood. fuck you.

indelicateink — Sat, 20 May 2017 15:36:44 GMT

I don't know who's responsible for this--some goddamn focus group, some nervous producer, some asshole trailer-editing company--but the second trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is fucking up. Don't fuck this up, people!

The first trailer made me glow with pride about French comics, French illustration, French imagination (the film's based on a vintage French comic, Valérian et Laureline). It's directed by Luc Besson (look, if you hated The Fifth Element and his films previous, we're gonna have to agree to disagree). I was excited, with reservations (I haven't loved any of his films since 1997, but I give Lucy a nod for not making me sad).

First trailer:

So I'm just blaming the general Hollywood behemoth, whatever dumbass middle-of-the-road milquetoast frightened douchelords with power over this project, for making the second trailer so exposition-heavy AND MAKING LAURELINE LOOK LIKE A DITZ. FUCK YOU, YOU-- WHOEVER YOU ARE.

Second trailer (which I only just found out about, though it came out at the end of March, d'oh):

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I'm hoping Luc Besson was pissed, and took a strong pull off a big glass of some fine French wine after the decision for this particular trailer dropped.

The lame-o exposition voice-over. Did you actually hire Cate Blanchett? Because someone is straining real hard there for that now-tiresome Galadriel gravitas. And every dialogue excerpt you picked: can I get a "fuck no." And making this all about Valerian? When the first trailer was much more about them being equals? What grates most of all, though, is that it's cut in such a way that Laureline could be construed to be a stock smiley decorative female side-kick character, and surely that's not the case.

Because if there is one through-line in Luc's work--be it piece of shit, piece of gold--it is that he is utterly committed to the women being the focus, the women are utterly respected in the storytelling, and the women being unrelentingly kick-ass (e.g., even though The Professional and The Fifth Element had male protagonists, the male and female leads were equally important). So... I don't know what to think. THIS TRAILER MAKES ME DOUBT. I hope this film is in keeping with his work, and the trailer is a lie. But he is working with a vintage-values comic by dudes featuring a dude, so.

(I have no idea if this film's gonna suck or gonna rock. The visuals look so promising, though that means little if it's unwatchable. But if you serve up a lame female lead I will cry openly in the theater. And if the film sucks, I'm gonna cry harder.)

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canon fodder

indelicateink — Thu, 18 May 2017 03:11:05 GMT

(Er, this isn't what I was stuck on yesterday, but it is what I'm stuck on today.) Can anyone help me remember the Saiyuki manga villains (and, um, remind me of their story)? Basically I need one for the Miami multiverse thing I'm working on, but it can't be:

(1) Ukoku/Dr Nii (or Professor Hwang)
(2) Banri
(3) Kami-sama
(4) probably not Chin Yisou, but I may have to go there?
(5) Gyokumen Koushu or Hyakugan Maoh
(6) (none of the Kougaiji-ikkou)

...probably has to be Chin, eh? I'm looking for a known entity, not a "...who was that again?" lol.

The canon villain I'm looking for needs to be someone I can use in this AU in an adversarial position re: Gojyo. Hakkai (nor anyone else) doesn't come into it. You may sense I am not giving you too much about this character's character in the AU, and you would be right, haha. Trying to keep you spoiler-free! Which means it's hard to help, I suppose--sorry about that. Ack. Basically he's a slimy individual; he can be intimidating; he can hold his own against Gojyo, or may have the advantage. (This is ultimately, like, a tertiary character, not a major player.) I'm leaning toward it being a guy, but I could work with a woman.

Li Touten seems too deep a character for a role like this, but I could work with it...? No, I probably need him for possible Nataku tie-in stuff.

Dare me to use Hazel.

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day

indelicateink — Wed, 17 May 2017 01:24:19 GMT

I'm having one of those days where I really need an in-person cohort. Which is unfortunate, because (1) I do not have one of those, (2) I am not very adept at all at "in person," and (3) which leads us back to point the first. Also I miss the old days of LJ like whoa right about now, when peeps were about of an evening to knock ideas around. Frustrated creativity is frustrating.

Henri alone feels this torment

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time

indelicateink — Sat, 13 May 2017 01:56:20 GMT

CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1516204

The Prague Astronomical Clock is pretty bitchin', no? It's been keeping count on all our asses since the year 1410 and doing it in style. If I'd previously known about it I'd forgotten; it came to my attention as I was going through some oracle inspo photos for that Ghibli WK deal.

Also, randomly, since we're tangentially on the topic of oracles (in that I'm thinking of them), I was listening to the "In Our Time" podcast about the Oracle of Delphi. And although the story that the oracle sat on a tripod above a crack on the earth that spewed hallucinogenic gases is under contention, it does make for a rather vivid image. The exact wording of one of the moderators is not coming to me at the moment, but he mentioned something about the imagery of the gases symbolizing Apollo coming up through her ass and out through her mouth (with the prophecies/answers), and wow. Also, tell me you aren't having a laugh at the image of Crawford needing a hallucinogenic gas enema to get in touch with his visions of the future. (Or maybe he just owns an opium den to hang out with his cult of oracles and imbibe of fun vapors, but let's savor the butt jokes for a moment more.)

Priestess of Delphi (1891) by John Collier

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THINGED

indelicateink — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:14:37 GMT

So The Thing deadline is today, if you have A Thing accomplished! Comment your link/progress/comment here!

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indelicateink — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 20:40:29 GMT

Signal boost! viridian5 has been productive: "I finished and posted the 301st chapter of the long-running 'Glass Houses' WIP (at 989,185 words total, I'm nearing the million-word mark) and the latest fic in my My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU series And Yet, Hayama Hayato Can Still Surprise, 'From the Other Side.'” --Check 'em out!

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THE THING approaches

indelicateink — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 22:13:56 GMT

So if you have plans for posting/sharing/something a Creative Thing (fic! art! haiku!) by April 30, this is ur 10-day notice! (Which probably means I should get off my butt, myself.)

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indelicateink — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 01:13:10 GMT

via Gizmondo, "Russian-Owned LiveJournal Bans Political Talk, Adds Risk of Spying":

LiveJournal, a blog community that’s hosted a lot of science fiction authors and fans (including George RR Martin), has officially banned “political solicitation”— which can mean anything that criticizes the Russian government, as well as pro-LGBTQ discussions. There are also concerns users can be subject to Russian spying. [...]

In December, the servers were relocated to Russia, and earlier this week the user agreements were changed to prohibit “post[ing] advertising and/or political solicitation materials unless otherwise directly specified in a separate agreement between User and the Administration,” or “perform[ing] any other actions contradictory to the laws of the Russian Federation.” In addition, any blogs that get over 3,000 visitors per days are now classified as media outlets, so they can no longer publish anonymously, use obscene language or share “extremist materials.” The new agreement is designed to put the site in compliance with Russia’s internet laws, which are subject to extreme censorship under the guise of protecting children.

The term “political solicitation” can be open to interpretation, as some have argued it’s not an exact term in Russian federal law. In the past, similar phrases have been used to condemn conversations about LGBTQ issues as “gay propaganda,” as well as prevent people from sharing the image of Putin as a clown in makeup. Specifically, in this case, the Washington Times mentioned how the Russian government censored five websites that were calling for a mass protest, including a LiveJournal posting. This happened two days before the updated rules were put in place.

There’s also a big concern about data and privacy. Critics have claimed the user agreement puts users at risk of having their data accessible to Russian intelligence, in accordance with anti-terrorism legislation. The agreement does say it’s not subject to federal laws requiring companies to store personal data on their users, but plenty of other information can be subject to observation and scrutiny... and that’s not even going into Russian cyber espionage. [read more]

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