Hi :) I see I'm late to the game, but I've been thinking these last weeks that you might enjoy Mad Max Fury Road. It didn't look like something I'd usually go for but when I finally got round to watching it I was thrilled and now I can't stop rewatching it :) The visuals are stunning and I _think_ you might like the characters very much. Have a lovely week-end!
You know, I saw the trailer for MMFR when I was seeing something else in cinema and I thought it looked kind of terrible, and then I saw things on my dashboard after the film came out and it looked less terrible (the design of the main villain really put me off) but still not like something I’d usually go for, but then gradually enough people I follow, whose interests are usually in line with my own, started to get really into MMFR. So I have actually been meaning to watch it. The visuals look amazing--I’m all for beautiful scenery in films--and it intrigues me enough to check it out, despite the fact that I think Immortan Joe’s mask is going to give me nightmares. I’d been waiting for it to come out on DVD and I think it has now, only I’ve been too busy with school to track it down. But yes, especially after this message from you now, I’ll try to find it over winter break and check it out. Thanks! Hope you have a good weekend too
you could ask me things (the post is from the other day but sure, you could still ask me things now if you wanted to, I’ll answer sooner or later)
About your fic 'Starting a Stone'. You mentioned that it was an alternate prequel. Would there be any major changes in the quest in this verse, with Bilbo as he is and Thorin already having a relationship with Bilbo/Bo?
Yes, “Starting a Stone” is kind of an alternate prequel to canon Hobbit ‘verse. There would definitely be changes in the quest, though I’m not sure how major. The idea is (at least, in my mind) that the adventure [spoilers spoilers] would set off something in the Bilbo/Bo power struggle that would start to even things out, so Bilbo would become more of the Bilbo we know in canon. That said, though, it would obviously be a gradual thing, and it would have its upsets. I imagine that whenever Bilbo’s being particularly reluctant about things (complaining about rain, being frightened of the warg sounds, etc.) Bo would emerge, and Thorin would recognise it but I don’t think he would’ve told the rest of the Company. Gandalf would probably also know but not tell anyone, because he can be manipulative like that. So then Thorin would be there like, “there are wargs coming, I have to protect my men, but also Bilbo is gone and Bo is here and hey, I haven’t gotten to talk to Bo in a while, I kind of miss him, and by ‘talk to' maybe I don’t mean talk to, but also where is Bilbo, oh shit it’s a warg.” And basically he’d be really distracted, trying to ensure that Bo was safe, that the Company didn’t figure it out, and that no one died. So Thorin’s stress levels would rise, and that would probably affect some of his decisions, including those that are already unwise decisions in canon. So Bo might have to step up and start saving Thorin more often, until Bilbo gets over his fear and begins to take charge of himself and then he can start looking out for Thorin too, and eventually Bilbo & Bo reconcile into one, who’s a combination of the better parts of both. Thorin would have a hard time concealing his relationship, because Bo kind of has no shame and Bilbo is more modest but also just really likes being next to Thorin, so even though they try to pretend nothing’s going on the Company eventually twigs to that and kind of snickers about it, there’s a lot elbow-jabbing from Dwalin, all good-natured, but the Company is also worried because now both Bilbo & Thorin are distracted, and if they’re distracted they’re more likely to get killed. When they’re in Mirkwood, things are worse for Thorin because he’s now no longer accustomed to being alone (he’d be imprisoned on his own in this version, because we were robbed of that in the films and I’m still bitter about it), and Bilbo would be fighting Bo down because now is the time for sneaking, not attacking elf guards. Basically, whenever the tension is heightened, they’d have more trouble, probably until Thorin had an open conversation with the Company and until Bilbo and Bo found their balance; let’s imagine that would happen before they enter Erebor, maybe while they’re waiting on the slopes for sunset, and so Thorin with more people looking out for him and with the grounding of knowing he has something more important than gold in his Company and in Bilbo/Bo, would maybe not succumb to his tragic fall, or if he did it wouldn’t have such dire consequences. Everyone Lives AU. (Do you know, I now own the extended edition of BoFA, but it’s still too painful to watch? Let’s not repeat that in fic.) Those are some thoughts, anyway. There are probably a lot of ways things could play out.
On a good morning: Wake up either before or with my alarm, lie in bed and stare at the ceiling for a bit while I think about the day ahead, get up, make coffee (if I was smart I set it up the night before so all I have to do is plug it in), drink coffee & eat cereal while checking my email, drink some water, put music on (either something calm & folky, or something with a good beat), wash my face, brush my teeth, check the weather, get dressed, figure out what’s going on with my hair, pick out earrings (the only jewelry I reliably wear), put on some concealer if needed or maybe some eyeliner if I’m feeling ambitious (I don’t wear foundation, or a lot of makeup in general), pack a snack and/or lunch & my books/laptop into my backpack, put some boots on and get a jacket (and potentially hat/scarf/gloves), go up the hill to campus or if it’s a weekend maybe to the coffee shop, look at the mist and trees and breathe in the air. I like mornings, and I liked to see the world in morning light. I used to get up at 5:45am back in high school, and then usually around 7:30am in undergrad and these days. If I’m spending the morning at home, I’ll be in my kitchen since it actually gets morning sun, maybe making waffles or something more elaborate and leisurely drinking my coffee, or reading yesterday’s newspaper if I’ve remembered to pick it up while on campus. On a good morning, I’ve gotten a lot done by 10am already, and can take a long lunch break without feeling guilty.
On a not-so-good morning: I’ve never been hungover (easy enough when you don’t drink alcohol) but I often wake up with such a bad headache that I imagine it is what being hungover feels like, thank you gradschool stress levels; hit snooze on the alarm several times, groan, smother myself with a pillow, lie in bed miserably nauseated, force myself to roll over and drink some water from the glass on my nightstand, if I can stand to look at a screen I might check my email or scroll tumblr on my phone or complain over snapchat while burrowed beneath the quilt, or I might go back to sleep if I can afford it, but if I have to get up I trudge into the kitchen and make coffee (has to be very very sweet on these mornings), force myself to eat a few bites of a granola bar or something so I can take ibuprofen, drink so much water, groan some more, put music on (definitely something calm), proceed with the rest of the routine as planned but with much less optimism.
I remember once in your tags, you said how you could talk for ages about why you love Whisper of the Heart, and kept meaning to ask if you'd share your thoughts on it. It's one of my favorite Ghibli movies as well, but I find fellow fans of it are so rare. It often gets overshadowed by the other films, but it's always had a special place in my heart (ahah). In fact, I'd say the reason I like your fics so much is the same reason I like WotH. There's just /something/ about it, idk.
Ahhh yes, Whisper of the Heart, otherwise known as Mimi wo Sumaseba (耳をすませば "If you listen closely"). When I told Chikako, my friend & roommate in a Japanese student exchange program some years ago, that it was my favourite, she told me her theory that all the truly successful Ghibli films have the character の (no meaning “of”) in their title: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi / Spirited Away, Tonari no Totoro / My Neighbour Totoro, Hauru no Ugoku Shiro / Howl’s Moving Castle, Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta / Laputa, Castle in the Sky, and then Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa / Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind which gets it twice. So that’s interesting. (This was, of course, pre-Omoide no Marnie / When Marnie Was There and Kaguya-hime no Monogatari / The Tale of Princess Kaguya days, but the comparative lack of recognition for Kaze Tachinu / The Wind Rises still holds out.)
I’ve actually met a couple of people recently who also name it as their favourite Ghibli film, so fans of the movie are out there, if fewer in number. For me, it’s not only my favourite Ghibli film, but my actual favourite film. I first watched it when some television network was doing a Ghibli retrospective or tribute or something, this was back in early high school days so I don’t recall exactly. But I saw it then, and it stuck with me enough that later in undergrad years I bought a copy of the film and watched it again, and have watched it probably once a year since then. There are a couple of reasons I’m really fond of it, and I’ll try to list them here, though a lot of what I love about the film kind of has to be experienced. Spoilers below.
The storyline is quite simple, and very easy to relate to for a lot of us: Tsukishima Shizuku is a student who’d rather read novels than focus on her exams, she’s got one close friend and a kind if perplexed middle-class family (her older sister Shiho wants her to focus on school so Shizuku can do better than Shiho did, her mother’s taking classes again and needs help at home, her dad works long hours but probably not for much pay), she lives in a small apartment, she’s your average kid drifting through life, until she realises that what she really wants to do is write a novel. Amasawa Seiji wants to study violin making in Italy, but his parents don’t support it because they want him to pursue a more reliable career path, he spends a lot of time with his grandfather, he’s kind of a jerk but he’s also a 14 year old boy who’s bad at expressing himself initially, and beneath everything he has a lot of dreams. The two of them meet, argue, befriend each other, and fall in love. The characters act and react as real people would, and even the minor side characters are wonderful. It’s the slice-of-life genre at its best.
It’s set in Nishitōkyō, the area I lived in when I did a student exchange program in Japan, and every time I watch it I get so nostalgic for those streets, the riverbank, the views of the city . . . I miss that area a lot.
The soundtrack is excellent, both the incidental background music and the multiple versions of “Country Roads” (yes, the John Denver song) that will be stuck in your hear for ages afterwards; the lyrics to Shizuku’s version of “Country Roads” are especially spot-on: “I dreamed of living alone but fearless, a secret longing to be courageous, loneliness kept bottled up inside.”
When I was Shizuku’s age, I also had this dream that I wanted to be an author, and I neglected schoolwork in order to work on a novel, which of course turned out not to be anything great because I was 13 or 14 and didn’t have nearly enough practice. I’ve kept working on my writing, though, and kept reading, and I’m really encouraged to hear that you like my fics. I think I’ve said it before but the core of the relationship dynamic in HTW fic is based on Shizuku (Bilbo) and Seiji (Thorin), two people who complement each other in a lot of ways but have a hard time connecting initially, who both have dreams but with varying levels of motivation, and who ultimately (could) help each other out so much.
The animation in the scenes for Shizuku’s novel is absolutely breathtaking. The art style is incredible. Also, the subtitled translation (please please watch the original, not the dub) for one of the Baron’s lines always makes me laugh and has become a catch-phrase amongst my friends & I: “Make haste! The planetoids converge!”
I’ll say that again: “Make haste! The planetoids converge!”
There are so many scenes I love, but two stand out: Shizuku petting the cat outside the antiques shop, alone and dejected, and then Seiji arrives and they’re not exactly friends at this point but he still invites her in, leaves her to look around, quietly goes about carving his violin downstairs until her mood’s improved, and then gets her singing along to a violin version of “Country Roads” and his grandfather & friends come home and join in. And then, of course, the ending: the mist, the sunrise, their breath steaming in the cold air, the bicycle ride, the view of the city emerging from the fog. It’s so beautiful, words don’t do it justice.
More than anything, I think this film tells you that it’s all right to not know what you want to do in life, or to know but not be able to do it yet. It’s all right to move at your own pace. You’ll be all right. That, to me, is one of the most comforting things, and the main reason I watch this film anytime I’m feeling overwhelmed by school. And I recommend it to any of you who haven’t seen it, for that reason. (Though, if you haven’t seen it & you’re reading this, now you’ve spoiled it. So there’s that.)
It’s good to know there’s another person out here who loves this film. Thanks for asking about it. I want to watch it again now . . . even though I just watched it 2 weeks ago. Something about it makes me feel at peace, no matter what. By the time the ending credits roll (with yet another version of “Country Roads”), everything in life seems a little calmer.
Latest antics: Tonight when she came home (slammed the door, thumped up the stairs), upstairs guy was running the shower in their shared upstairs bathroom, because the water takes a while to heat up. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, so I overheard their conversation when they crossed paths in the upstairs hallway. Essentially, upstairs guy had just come back from the gym and was going to shower, but upstairs girl asked him, “Are you going to take a shower? I was going to shower.” And because upstairs guy is polite, he said he just forgot to turn the water off. Lies. And upstairs girl said, “I didn’t know if you were in the shower, I heard the water running, but I‘m glad you’re not because I really want to shower. I’ll only be 20 minutes.” And then she proceeded to shower for around 40 minutes (the water pipes run down into the closet in my kitchen), and upstairs guy had to wait, and have less time with hot water. I, too, wanted to shower, so I ended up waiting quite a while for the hot water tank to refill. But at least I didn’t get kicked out of my shower.
Sometimes I feel like I’m being harsh towards her, but it’s been two and a half years and I’m done. Honestly, I would feel bad about eavesdropping, except I don’t even try to hear her talk. She’s just loud. She is a very loud person, in everything she does.
That is a very good question, Rachel. I often ask her (in whispers, behind my locked door), “Who are you? What are you doing? Why?”
In simple terms, “upstairs girl” is the girl who lives in the apartment directly above me. The house I live in is a private residence converted into 5 apartments: 1 basement, 2 first floor (where I live), and 2 second floor. Because it is an old house, the floors are creaky and the ceilings sag and the walls are relatively thin. Consequently, everyone hears basically everything. This had not been a problem, as we are all quiet grad students, until upstairs girl moved in two and a half years ago.
Upstairs girl is maybe 5′2″ tall and fairly slender, yet sounds like a herd of elephants stomping about over my head. Upstairs girl goes up the stairs and every footfall shakes my dishes on their shelf. Upstairs girl has light brown hair and glasses, and an upstairs boyfriend with a key to our house (I disapprove). Upstairs girl wears a lot of green, and works in some kind of science lab on campus. Upstairs girl has loud phonecalls on the staircase or in the vestibule, so that all the house can hear, despite living by herself in a two-room apartment where she could easily have private conversations. Upstairs girl has an upstairs friend who used to live upstairs but has since moved out, yet still comes over drunk at 4am and laughs loudly all the way up the stairs. Upstairs girl was one told off by my mother at 1am for slamming the front door on her way in with upstairs friend, when I was trying to sleep after a concussion (my mother was in her nightgown, upstairs girl was drunk, sometimes I remember this & laugh because it is ridiculous). Upstairs girl refuses to keep her recycling bin in the designated trash porch area around the side of the house and instead places it next to the front door, directly under my kitchen window; this is both unsightly and poor planning as it’s not under a porch and so fills with rain and ruins the cardboard in her recycling. Upstairs girl has a pet rat and also, I think, a pet bird, and gets food & wood chips delivered in bulk but then is incapable of carrying the packages up the stairs so they sit in the entryway (right outside my door) until upstairs boyfriend comes over. Upstairs girl orders takeout at 2am and doesn’t tell the delivery people which doorbell to ring so they often ring my doorbell and wake me up. Upstairs girl inexplicably moves furniture, for hours at a time, usually between the hours of midnight and 4am. Upstairs girl has shown, after numerous attempts to reason with her, that she is selfish and uncaring, and will not change her ways. Upstairs girl is my nemesis, and I can’t wait until she moves out (in July, I think).
Those are the major points, but oh, there are so many others.
I’ve spent the last few days not talking much & it’s gotten to the point where it’s more quiet than usual in my life. If you want to, you could help counteract that. I’m off to shower & try to warm up now (apartment is v. cold), but if you want to leave me things I will answer when I get back, including but not limited to:
fics you wish I would write (no promises, but I’m curious)
extended scenes you wish I would write from fics I have already written (same as above)
thoughts about a Totoro/Hobbit modern AU crossover set in the wintertime somewhere near Innsbruck, Austria (currently in progress, hoping to publish in Jan. or Feb. on Ao3)
books/shows/movies/music/fandoms you think I should get into (based on what you know of my interests)
favourite recipes/foods
Christmas cartoons
the latest antics of upstairs girl
etc.
I’ll publish the answers, probably, unless you don’t want me to, in which case please put * at the end of your ask so I know to reply privately.
