Folding Fan

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/dont-go-in-park.html

October Boy will get you.


Image source.

"October Boy" referencing Dark Harvest.

http://askerian.livejournal.com/477373.html

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/iron-cauldron.html

I stopped down my parents' house yesterday to pick up some stuff I left there after the Halloween display was taken down. The only remnants of Halloween remaining were some rotten pumpkins, a few cornstalks, and that massive cauldron.

Mother [Nervously]: "Don't forget the cauldron...are you going to take it home soon?"
Me: "Soon...soon."


Here's how it looked the day after Halloween (Photo by Bean). Without the corn and pumpkins and logs underneath the cauldron, my parents' lawn looks like it should have a sign "Devil Worshippers Welcome!"

I'll get around to it.
Eventually.


Sincerely,
Rotten Son

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-refuse-to-let-them-die.html

These guys will be moved into the back yard where they will return to the earth - after a few more nights of candles in their mouths.

Wrinkled teeth and a mouthful of spent tea lights.

Genre crossing, when done well, can be a very effective storytelling technique, allowing the author to hit the reader with unexpected plot turns and presentation that is sufficiently unusual that it will make the reader think twice about the scene. Alas, when not done well all we get is a hot mess.

Amano is currently demonstrating Not Well with Katekyou Hitman Reborn.

This is especially a shame considering that her first cross went off very well. When she had written sixty issues of a gag manga, full of underwear shenanigans, and suddenly decided she wanted to write a serious, indeed dark in places, battle manga, she made the transition quite smoothly. The underwear phased out and was replaced in a plausible way, the change presented as a moment of personal development for our main character, such as we might expect in a good battle manga. The initial premise, that our hero is slated to inherit a mafia family, offered plenty of material for a darker turn. So far so good. The next two and a half arcs were a marvelous sweep of fast-paced action with personal development and growth for the whole ensemble of characters.

And then we hit the bump. Possibly even the shark. Somewhere, for some reason, the decision was made to extend the Future arc with a new set of villains, and the storytelling fell apart. The pace jinked and faltered, new characters got no background or development, the fights were truncated and disappointing compared to the intense confrontations of previous arcs, and even the first half of the Future arc.

Worst of all, Amano turned back to the gag genre, and, at this juncture, failed to make it work.

This is most evident in our hero, Tsuna. Tsuna has always flailed a lot, to be sure, but less so as time went on; indeed, when he came to the future, the pressure of events and responsibility seemed to wash the flailing out of him and push him toward a more mature presentation even when he isn't wrapped up in Dying Will. With this latest turn, however, the flailing is suddenly back to early levels, to the extent that his weapon reflects it and allies comment on it. The plot provides us with no explanation for this.

This is characteristic of the gag genre: character development is neither necessary nor, in most cases, desired. The character quirks that are used for gags must remain constant, and the nature of the genre is such that readers are usually willing to suspend any disbelief and accept them, however implausible. It's part of the genre expectations.

The genre expectation of a battle manga, and especially a serious one, is that characters will develop, both technically and emotionally. Sudden backsliding of personal development needs some kind of cause or explanation.

As I said at the beginning, these expectations can be crossed, if it is done well. Many battle manga use brief gag moments to break tension; bathroom humor is a favorite. Even the development of the hero can be let to fail briefly, for the sake of increasing dramatic tension. But if the audience is not to reject that tactic, it must be framed, supported, explained in some way--it must be presented as a dramatic moment, in order to be accepted as such. Tsuna's reversion is not.

Hence my fear that Amano has no clue where she's going with the current sub-arc and has fallen back on her roots because she is at a complete loss. If this is due to editorial pressure, to draw out the Future arc more, I hope someone kicks that editor in the teeth soon. If it is due to Amano losing her grip on the story, paging editor!Reborn, please. In either case, the current issues are a fine example of how not to do it.

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/camera-vs-eyeball.html

The eyeball wins.

I get a lot of emails regarding my photographs. This year was the first year I got questions by people assuming I enhanced my photos through photoshop. One guy even asked if I used CG of any kind. That's very flattering, because aside from a level adjustment to get the image to look more like it did in person, and a size-reduction in the file, I don't do anything else to the bulk of my photos.

Here's an example:

Original photo right out of the camera.


The revised file - slightly smaller, and made brighter so it looked like it did when you were standing there.


Digital cameras are tricky. I own two and one loves orange and reds, but it makes images darker than they are in real life. The other makes everything look like a star has exploded nearby. They both HATE blues and greens. This makes it hard to document how it really was to be standing there on Halloween night. This year I used amber bulbs. It was a stunning effect - the tree branches, leaves, and cornstalks were all on fire the entire night. So bright and orange. Like you'd see it from the distance and wander there to get warm, then you'd smell corpses and hear the whispering of witches.

It's kinda neat when someone asks if something I've shot is computer generated or enhanced. Nope, it's just Halloween.

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-kind-of-pumpkin.html

Image source.

http://askerian.livejournal.com/476991.html

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween-candy.html

Every year I anxiously await this guy's new haunt photos. I think he's tapped into my memories of what it was like as a kid trick-or-treating at a house with an elaborate display. I remember feeling a bit confused as a child. Adults weren't supposed to do things like this. Where'd all this stuff come from? MY parents put out a few paper decorations and one pumpkin.

There's an uneasiness as a trick-or-treater when you contemplate a massive undertaking like a yard and home haunt. A creepiness. You wandered onto a complete stranger's property to get some candy, surrounded by tombstones and ghosts and webs and angry pumpkins and shadows. It's a very unnatural gathering of all the things that are scary and horrifying in one quick and fleeting dose. And I totally miss it.

I'm glad I can get a taste of it at Katzper's Haunt. A big sweet, going-to-ruin-your-dinner-because-you've-eaten-a-pile-of-Halloween-candy taste of it.



Katzper's Haunt 2009

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/jars.html

I have to say that it's been really cool seeing witch jars in fellow haunters' displays. I can remember standing in a Michael's Craft Store in front of a row of mason jars and one quite literally appeared in my head all dirtied-up with grime and blood - and dangling from a branch.
I imagined a witch holding a small bird over the jar with one hand while waving her other hand in a spell-like fashion before bringing it down on the creature. Splat.

Funny to think of squished dead birds and small animals around the empty farms and fields near the Corn Witch. I guess that's how you'd know you were getting close.

Image source.

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/witch-moon.html

Full Moon Industries' Macbeth Witches.

So beautiful.



More images here.

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/straw-man.html

A chilling design for a scarecrow.



Thanks for the photos, Chuck.
It's an amazing prop.

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/flare.html

Image source.

I beat the game! 8'D As in, True Demon Ending beat the game. *fists in air*

( Cut for Jubilation and Spoilers )

Aaaand to celebrate, a drabble. ^__^

( Game Start )

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/scarecrows-ghosts-and-giant-claws.html

Such a great photo. I love that the pumpkin-headed scarecrow is holding a lantern.





More photos here.

Title: Sebastian and the Beast: Ch2, pg 19/?
Rating: Pg-13 for swearing.
Beta: yume_no_kage
Summary: Beauty and the Beast with a twist (and a wriggle)
AN: Errgh, okay, no NaNo for me this month. However, next week I'll have a colour splash for you :D (in addition to the page)

Sebastian and the Beast Ch2, pg 19


[Cover]
Ch 1: 1&2, 3, 4, 5, 6&7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Ch 2: 1, 2, 3&4, 5, 6, 7, 8&9, 10, 11, 12&13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Title: Sebastian and the Beast: Ch2, pg 19/?
Rating: Pg-13 for swearing.
Beta: yume_no_kage
Summary: Beauty and the Beast with a twist (and a wriggle)
AN: Errgh, okay, no NaNo for me this month. However, next week I'll have a colour splash for you :D (in addition to the page)

( Sebastian and the Beast Ch2, pg 19 )


[Cover]
Ch 1: 1&2, 3, 4, 5, 6&7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Ch 2: 1, 2, 3&4, 5, 6, 7, 8&9, 10, 11, 12&13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/season-of-shadows-2009.html

Another great year from John at SeasonOfShadows.com.

http://askerian.livejournal.com/476823.html

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/effigies.html

By artist Kerry Kate of October Effigies.


Her blog.

Her site.