Genderbender

Anyone familiar with anime will, at one point or another have encountered the genderbender. For those who haven’t, it’s a male character turned female, or vice-versa. Most well-known example would be Ranma 1/2. It generally turns out to be pretty damn decent entertainment, because the things that crop up tends to be funny. So, today in the anime society we watched a show called Kampfer. Funny show, definitely recommended, judging by the first episode, anyway. The main character, a boy, is transformed into a magical girl. Yes, you read that right. And of course it’s funny.

However, genderbenders have one large, inherent problem. These are drawn characters, which gives a few options. And these are japanesse drawings, so of course they go all the way. Or to put it plainly, the female versions in gender benders tends to be god-damn hot! But at the same time, they are boys, so there’s all kinds of wrongness in there. And so, wrongness is taken new and interesting places.

When you finish watching a genderbender show, especially if you marathon it, there will come a point when the fact that that character is a girl gets tuned out and you just find that that girl’s hot.  Yeah, the show brain-washes you. And a little later, you realize the show tricked you. Brain-bleach nao, please?

Writing blog while drunk… best idea ever, by the way.

Fairtrade

To me, the Fairtrade concept seems like a really good thing. Why is that? Well, there’s all that making the world a better place crap. Yeah, you can see how enthusiastic I am about that. No, the  genius of Fairtrade is that it tries, or at least appears to try, as far as I can see, to let me make the world a better place without doing anything out of the ordinary. Well, except dropping by the Union instead of a vending machine for drinks. But they have cookies there too, so that’s fine.

The thing is, to most people, making the world a better place is at best an intellectual excercise. Yes, equality, food and water for all is a nice concept and surely something worth working towards. But it takes time. Time I can use on important stuff, like writing a story worth publishing, clearing DragonAge a second time or ensuring that there’s enough bacon and tea around for me to survive. Because that’s what’s important to me. The conditions of farmers in the ass end of nowhere does at best interest me at a passing intellectual level, and at worst, it won’t concern me at all.

I’ve got no experience with true bad conditions. I have no interest in experiencing said conditions, except maybe as research. And even then, contact will be brief and controlled. Like many people, and unlike a few, I do not have the passion to run around to try and help out. And that is why Fairtrade is a good thing. As far as I know, they ensure farmers and whatever gets a bigger slice of the pie they help make. And all I need to do to help this process… is to drop by the student shop and pick up a few cans of coke. No need to run around with pamphlets. No need to sign my name anywhere. No bitching at politicians. Just buying coke that comes in a pretty white can with Ubuntu on it. And I’ll happily buy those cans, secure in the knowledge that I’m making the world a better place without lifting a finger. Besides, Ubuntu tastes good. And so does the Fairtrade cookies.

~Grammer

Uni life.

Ok, it’ been a while since last I did this. Didn’t really mean for it to be that long, but, well, things happened.

For one, I’m not “home” anymore, I’m at university. Aberystwyth University, to be exact.

Classes are nice, since it’s the start of the first year, things aren’t too hard, though I suspect they’ll be picking up soon enough. There’s an anime society here, which is absolutely awesome! And there’s a few others too, so I get off my ass and out among people several times a week. Yes, that’s a good thing.’

And finally, I’m learning to play bass.  I’m not very good yet, but I’m improving. And it’s fun to boot.

~Grammer

Critique!?

Something that’s annoyed me for a while now is people who can’t, just can’t take criticism.

As an aspiring author, I love people who tell me that “Hey, you’re doing this wrong,” or “Hey, mayeb you should try something else here?” and similar. because that’s how you improve. You can’t improve without being told what you’re doing wrong. In my oponion, people who whine at criticism that focuses mainly on the negative don’t wish to improve.

A common excuse is that they’re just “doing it for fun”.  Someone else talked about “writing for fun” better than I could, here. In short, just because you’re doing it for fun doesn’t mean you should be bad at it, and is no excuse.

Another that shows up is “english is not my first language.” Newsflash, it’s not mine either and I write perfectly good English, which I’ve mostly learnt through reading things. And yes, I wrote good English way before I started writing it daily. As i see it, when a writer claims English isn’t their first language, it’s just a cheap cop-out. (BTW, “still learning the language, so please bear with me” is completely different. Here the writer is not trying to hide behind something, but is merely stating how it is. I.e, it’s not an excuse, it’s a reason.)

However, the one that aggravates me the most is when people demand your credentials after they get criticism from you. As i see it, the criticism itself should be all the credentials you need. You can’t judge a person’s ability to offer criticism on their art. A person can be a lousy artist himself, but still be good at spotting ways for others to improve. The same goes for writing critics. This of course works the other way too. A person can be an excellent writer, but still be bad at criticising others. In short, take a look at the critique you got. If it’s good and offers valid pointers, you should heed it, even if it does tell you that your work is bad. With the obvious exception of trolls (who can generally be spotted miles away), people will rarely tell you that your work sucks unless they have a really good reason. And when someone does, I would suggest you stomp down real hard on your ego abd take a look to see if there’s anything in what they say.

When someone gives you a critique, they are providing you with a service. They are using their precious time, that they could have used on something else, like writing, or drawing, to tell you how to improve. They are, in fact, doing you a huge favour. To fling lame excuses at the critique or trying to prove that they don’t know what they’re talking about, just because they didn’t praise your work to the stars, is arrogant and disrespectful.

~Grammer

Daily and a Newsletter.

I think I’ll try to start and write this thing daily. Because I can. Don’t know how interesting everything will be, though.

Now, I am a member of a writers forum called The Fifthwind, you’ll find a link on the right, and I’ve been a

member for years.  All in all, the place has been a great place for me and now it has its own newsletter, here: http://thekreggorian.com/fifthwind-newsletter/

It’s worth checking out.

~Grammer.

What do I actually do?

It might be time for a post about what I actually do.

I’m a writer, or at least I like to fancy myself one. My preferred genre is known as cosmic horror and it’s many variants. For the uninitated, cosmic horror is very basically about human insignificance, mostly expressed through really big monsters that will drive you mad when you see them. The most well-known author in the genre is H.P. Lovecraft.

What I like about the genre is the way it allows you to get away without showing the monsters or explaining anything about what’s going on. Instead of my having to detail a monster, and thus taking away the mystique, I just give enough for the reader to have a general picture and leave the rest to their imagination.  In short, I let people know there are things that go bump in the night, things that bump very, very hard, but don’t say anything about just what it is.

Right now I’m working on two short stories with the aim of getting published and one longer story to keep me focused. The long one is a piece of crap, but it gives me something to do,  so I don’t fall out of the routine when I odn’t have anything else. Juggling the three makes sure I don’t get tired of any one of them. In addition, I tend to write short stories for the general entertainment of the forums I’m on, both of which are listed among the links on the right.

After a few trial run, I, like so many before me, have found that a routine is all-important. For me, that means getting up, getting clothed, eating breakfast, brewing something hot to drink (mostly tea) and then settling down for an hour or two. I do that every day, except for Sundays. Got to have a day off.

So there’s the short version of what I do.

~Grammer, Most Loquatious Lord of Syntaxed Vocabularies.

The wonder of stars.

Was planning something serious, but.

Look outside. See those stars (I most asuredly can’t. Fucking clouds.)? Buggles!

Wasn’t talking about those stars anyway. Ever knocked your head really hard? I most assuredly have. It’s a most wonderful feeling. Everything swims and you can’t really see anything because it’s all foggy. That’s when the stars come out.  Apart form the accompanying nausea, they are very nice.

Pretty little stars.

Goes to show you shouldn’t blog while drunk. Reminds me of some good old concussions. And makes me want to get another one, and that would be downright stupid, you know.

Grammer, the Everloving God of Casual Beers.

Make the most of it.

Your time here in life is pitifully short, O puny mortal. Make the most of it while you can.

~Grammerlahotep, Messenger of Despair and Bringer of Cookies.

Horrid Humour

A while ago I came upon a rather special kind of comedy. It was based around extreme violence. Now, comedic violence is not all that unsual. Indeed, we have a name for it, slapstick. What separates this particular show from your usual slapstick is that it wasn’t about funny violence. No, it got it’s humor from extreme brutality.

The show in question is called Dai Maho Touge, and it’s a magical girl parody. Unlike most animes, this show is not based around over-the-top fights. Instead, there’s just loads and loads of broken bones. I think the reason the show is funny is that you either laugh, or you cry. Yes, it’s that brutal.

Now, where am I going with this? I must admit, I don’t really have any plans. However, I think laughter isn’t just about appreciating something funny or socialising. It’s also used as a coping mechanism. Not really new thoughts, those, just figured I’d mention it.

as might have been noted, I’m a writer. Guess that’s the reason I think too much about such things. Ok, I’m really not going anywhere with this…

Just figured this observation could come in handy for writers. If you’re desperate to be funny, write something so horrible that people can only laugh. Come to think of it, it’s a pretty wide-spread mechanic. Those of you who read “Looking for Group” should be familiar with it. you find Richard funny, right? Consider what he’s actually doing. Still funny?

So yeah, humans are weird.

~Grammer, Humorous Monarch of the Lands Beyond Man.

Sleep?

I’ve come up with a great idea. I’m going to try and see how long I can manage without sleep before I  collapse. Might ave had some ideas about making it a bit more interesting than that one sentence, but I’m too wooly too think of anything.

so yeah, the biggest consequence is a certain lack of thinking. Not that anyone will notice the difference. Now If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go back to the video games. They work, at least till I can get my hands on an energy drink.

~Grammer, The Ever Wakeful Lord OF The Netherrealms.