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teler-of-gallifrey · 8 months

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So, I have this star wars au bouncing around in my brain, but I can't actually get myself to write any of it, so here's just a dump of miscellaneous notes. The basic premise is that various blorbos get involved (through a series of contrived circumstances) in the Clone Wars, mostly as generals.

666th legion and General Flynn Taggart/The Doomslayer:

At the time the Clone Wars begins, The Slayer is decidedly retired. He had solidly entrenched himself in a small farming community on an out of the way planet not too dissimilar to earth. The settlement as a whole was unaware of the war until it came crashing down at their door, when the Separatists decided to use their planet as a testing ground for a new model of B2's. This ambition was short-lived, however, and by the time the Republic arrived, all they found was the collective wreckage of the B2's (mostly cleaned of anything even slightly valuable by enterprising scavengers), a CIS Dreadnought with it's reactor, weapons systems, and hyperdrive blown to Hell (literally, though they didn't know that), a handful of dead Sep commanders, and a lone man, cleaning out a slugthrower amongst all the carnage. Flynn then accompanied the Republic forces back to Coruscant, where he (mildly) strong-arms the Chancellor into making him a general (Palpatine, for his part, is terrified of this mans fucked-up force signature [which he perceives as being just straight up midnight black, projecting his own ambitions and designs onto it, which blinds him to the reality of it that the Jedi are able to see: that it's old, yes, and violent and soaked in the blood of planets and gods, but also tired, and not dark, but wild, like an animal, a predator. It's tinged with the more standard darkness, yes, but also light. The Slayer may not be a pure soul, no one is, but he is not evil.], but believes he can safely control and manipulate him, and have others dispose of him when the time comes). He also strong-arms his way into being allowed to personally arm and armor his legion (which he insists on being the 666th, as he finds it tremendously funny) from his own personal "warrior god-king" fund, in addition to providing them specialized training, bringing on Crash (his own military trainer from his time as a marine, who later went on to train newcomers in the Arena Eternal of Quake) the Doom 3 protagonists (who I haven't given names yet), and General Valen (General of the Night Sentinels, gave the Slayer Sentinel training) to train the Troopers. He has an ulterior motive for this: He is paranoid, and believes that this galactic-conflict will lead to another Hell incursion. He's not training and arming them to be better troopers, that's a lucky side effect; He's training them to be Doom Marines, so that when it happens, after all's said a done, he won't be the only one left amongst the rubble.

The 666th themself are given extensive training, particularly in hand to hand combat and wilderness survival skills, and psychic hardening and awareness(that is, they are trained to recognize when their psyche is being manipulated by an outside influence, and how to resist that influence). Their standard kit consists of the usual blaster rifle, pistol, one light weapon, from the Doom Eternal Combat Shotgun, Heavy Cannon, and Plasma Rifle, one heavy weapon from the DE Chaingun, Ballista, and Rocket Launcher, two sidearms in the form of a chainsaw and Super Shotgun, personal medical supplies including a berserk kit, a Doomblade, and sentinel equipment launcher. Their armor, while maintaining the iconic clone trooper silhouette, is sentinel in design, and more durable and protective then the usual plastiod. Distinguished actions on the battlefield were also rewarded, with the clone in question being gifted a sentinel energy weapon of their choice (with hammers being especially popular). Troopers were also encouraged to customize their weapons. In one particularly memorable instance, a trooper, with his squad cornered by supers and separated from any reinforcements, used their berserk kit, ripped the arm off of one of the supers, and managed to stay level headed enough to hotwire the arms blaster, and carve a path through the droids, and back to the rest of their forces. The trooper later filed down the arm to only the repeating blaster, and mounted it to their chaingun. There was also a more lightly armed branch of the 666th, trained specifically to work in urban and highly populated areas.

The 666th operated from the Fallen Angel, a heavily modified Venator Class that utilized Maykr slipgate technology to deploy small groups of troops to hot spots thought the Galaxy, reinforcing other legions and breaking up stalemates. They were regarded as highly effective, however, this strategy had it's toll, and they had one of the highest mortality rates of any legion (second only to the 382'nd [to be expanded on in the next post). The 666th was also outfitted with the BFG 12k, a scaled down version of the BFG 10k, modified to use a wraith fire based ammo, opposed to the older argent based ammunition (while less powerful, it also didn't depend on a supply of the souls of the damned, so...), the presence of which was often enough to force a CIS surrender.

During order 66, the 666th had the highest rate of order failure of any other legion, at 43% rejection. This, coupled with the centerlized nature of 666th operations, allowed for the Slayer to shut down the slipgates, and keep most of the 666th aboard the Angel. In total, less then 40% of the 666th returned to the Empire, where they were quickly folded into Vader's 501'st. There they quickly gained a reputation as fearsome Jedi hunters, until they were eventually all killed, either on missions, or by Vader in his fits of rage.

During the reign of the Empire, the remnants of the 666th went many different ways. The majority scattered around the down in various outer rim systems, keeping to themselves, while also defending their homes from imperial meddling. The remainder operated from the shadows, aiding rebel cells and liberating imperial detention centers and labor camps. During this time period, the Slayer faced off against Vader 3 times, besting him twice and managing to escape the third time: the first time, with his brute strength, but Vader managed to slip away; the second time, Vader was stronger, and prepared for the Slayer's strength, however, the Slayer bested him this time through strength, however, he was forced to retreat to see the missions success, the third time, Vader had grown stronger still, and was prepared for the Slayer's skill, however, he wasn't prepared for the Slayer's use of slugthrower's, and the Slayer was able to force him to back off long enough to escape.

The 666th remained in the shadows until the Battle of Yavin, when they arrived mid-battle to assist the alliance forces. The BFG 12k was able to cause substantial hull damage to the Death Star, destroying many of the turbolasers, and 666th pilots took pressure of of Alliance fighters, avoiding many casualties. After this the 666th helped arm Alliance soldiers and agents with cheap, untraceable weapons (mostly slugthrowers) and outfit them with a small supply of Clone Wars vehicles.

#Star wars #Star wars generals au #DOOM

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elliepassmore · 2 years

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Gallant review

3.5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: fantasy, mystery, multiple worlds, magic, family secrets This story held a lot of potential, and I really wish I liked it more. The book was entertaining enough, but I had higher hopes for an author I've seen so many good reviews about. I wanted to be wowed by Gallant and I just...wasn't. I liked the illustrations and journal pages that were included throughout the book and a good chunk of the middle. I thought it was a neat way to include a journal without making it seem trite or boring. Unfortunately, I think the journal was the highlight of the book. The writings and drawings focus on Olivia's parents, with her mom writing about some of the events after she left Gallant and leading up to Olivia's birth. Both the writings and drawings provide clues to the mystery of what Gallant is and the things that go on there, including why Olivia's mom insisted she never go back. The rest (i.e., most) of the story focuses on present-day and Olivia's life. At the start of the story there was a lot of potential with this plotline. Olivia is in an orphanage and can see spirits no one else can. Olivia can't talk, but she makes herself heard in other ways. While her actions can be perceived as being somewhat bratty (i.e., throwing or shoving things to the ground to make noise), I actually kind of liked this aspect of her character. One the one hand I thought it was a good way to vent frustration at being so easily ignored, but on the other hand...well, it is kind of bratty and makes Olivia come across as younger than she is. Also, while she's in the orphanage she has no friends and is consistently shunned. Are you seriously telling me not a single other orphan was nice to Olivia? No one bothered to try and make friends with her, no matter how strange she seemed? The lonely orphan is such an overdone and ridiculous storyline that I just couldn't get into it. One of my other problems is that, despite the fact she can see ghosts, Olivia just flat out doesn't believe everyone at Gallant when they tell her going near the wall is dangerous and a bad idea. Lile, girl??? You can see ghosts but you don't believe that something may be hidden behind the wall that you can't see? Get real. Matthew, Olivia's cousin, is awful. Like Olivia, he has a major attitude, though he almost has a better reason for it. Unlike Olivia, he's seemingly a dick for no reason. It might have been more tolerable if we'd gotten his POV so we could understand him better, but as it is he's an unlikeable character for most of the story. Toward the end he and Olivia seem to Make Nice and Care, but there's really no basis for that. Zero effort was put into that connection and so it just felt kind of contrived. The other two characters were okay, and I actually liked them. They could've done to explain things a bit better to Olivia from the start, but at least they're both likeable/tolerable. One of the big problems I have with the story is that I don't really connect with any of the characters. This book starts slow and very little happens for a good 1/2 to 2/3 of it, so the characters are really important. Unfortunately, the spark just isn't there. Olivia is mostly doing her own thing and moping and looking about the house, Matthew is mostly absent, and the two caretakers of the house and its occupants are there when convenient. None of them interact for long periods of time and while I cared about them for the sake of the fact I was reading about them, there wasn't really anything other than stubbornness that kept me reading this book. The other side of Gallant was pretty interesting. I liked the danger and creepiness of it. I honestly wish that Olivia had gotten trapped there for a bit so we could see how that world more and how things in it worked. The ghosts and the dead things were interesting and Olivia's presence there sparked some interesting questions. If more of the story had been focused on this rather than the Mystery and Strangeness, then I think the story would've been better. Overall, I was not super impressed with this book. I'd heard so many good things about V. E. Schwab and this just...fell flat. I wanted more of the creepiness and magic, I wanted to connect more with the characters, and I definitely wanted more plot. I don't think I'll pick up another book by her, unfortunately.

#gallant #ve schwab #book #book review #booklover #bookish #books #fantasy books #booksbooksbooks #bookaddict #bookaholic #book worm #fantasy #mystery #hyped book

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reyeslonestar · 2 years

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a severely delayed reflection on 2.13 bc its been in my drafts for months and I dont want to delete it

you know what would have made that ep better structured for me?

the gunman is real. Tommy has to deal with the fact that she brought him in there and the guilt of potential harm. much of the first scene in the hospital plays out the same as she diffuses the situation and gets the others to leave. stays to handle the machines. evaluates the kid and decides that she’s going to believe in him, even though she knows theres no hope - but shes desperate to save someone today. she needs a miracle, to feel like she could do something to help someone. she and the gunman dont cooperate with the swat team.

another patient left behind in the ICU goes into a medical emergency which Tommy manages to handle - just. she saves a life, but not the one she thought she could. she realises that indulging this guy and his denial is a danger to people - the doctors and nurses need to come back and take care of their patients and focusing on those theyve lost is endangering others they can help. she’s faced with the father’s denial of his loss and she has to begin to process her own, but it’s in a detached way, like she knows it rationally but it hasn’t hit her emotionally yet. she talks the gunman down, empathising and commiserating but explaining that he has to come to terms with his grief and harming others in the process is not the way to do that.

the kid doesn’t miraculously wake up and the father begins to accept his loss - he says goodbye to his son, the swat team take him away, and Tommy finally breaks down as the emotional weight of her own grief hits her.

(alternatively the father continues to deny his loss and we have that contrasted with Tommy finally breaking down as she accepts hers)

#a has thoughts #episode chat 2x13 #911 lone star #tommy vega #i realise the other patients were probably evacuated but shhh #if lone star can write in contrivances then so can I #anyway yeah there were good bits in the episode #but I struggled with the structure and pacing #I realise that this is sooo fucking irrevelant for many people but I didnt want to delete #its been sitting in my drafts for months

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antiqua-lugar · 3 years

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I have mentioned this before but the way star trek aos no homoes the whole series but mostly Kirk is wild (except for star trek beyond my beloved).

Like, TOS. Kirk/Spock, right. Even if you don’t think there is anything romantic between them, Kirk is so ridicously fond and caring and proud and defensive of Spock and he just loves him so goodamm much. Don’t get me wrong he and McCoy also fucking love each other, but Kirk and Spock it’s just. Undying love and support and the first person (McCoy aside usually) to attack Spock is gonna be torn to shreds. And this is super important in the context of the series of Spock being discriminated from both sides because of his Otherness - it’s a specific plot point that Kirk uses slurs to anger him and break him out of brainwashing but it’s also a plot point that Kirk would fucking never. Like Kirk would literally fight anyone for Spock and he teases him, but he is 100% there. He also flirts shamelessy with him but that’s a problem for another time.

(The same goes for Bones and Spock! And Bones and Kirk! But Kirk sometimes literally just smiles at Spock’s entire existence like it’s the greatest thing that ever happened to him but I disgress).

Obviously none of that happens in AOS. Like they even have the “hatecrime Spock” bit - except now Kirk is insulting Spock’s Vulcan heritage and not the fact that he is half Vulcan and half human, I guess because well, he and Spock are not friends so he doesn’t even know what Spock angsts about anyway. It’s not really a scene where I can go Kirk would fucking never. And like, I guess in the first movie is kind of fine, they are setting up a new dynamic and everything, but Into The Darkness REALLY goes deep into the whole “sorry you are now really good friends because the script and the alternative universe says so” to the point where they copy the whole death scene and you feel nothing also because I spent all my anger at them whitewashing Khan. At the same time they still try to “no homo” it by having Carol stripping for no reason and Uhura suddenly loses her mind and decides to have a drama moment at the end of the movie because Spock is not open enough with his emotions and that’s what romances with women are for I guess, contrived plot points. Despite officially having a girlfriend and friends, Into the Darkness somehow makes Spock seem very lonely.

But you know what happens in AOS? Kirk and Bones. They met at their worst and become best friends and prop each other up for three years and plan to be in Starfleet together and then Bones risks everything to bring Kirk onboard.... ...then he takes a backseat to the Kirk vs Spock showdown and gets relegated to extra for all of Into the Darkness, except one scene to remind us that Bones Is Straight TM and bring Kirk back to life like, immediately after Bones is allowed to mourn him for like sixty seconds. Because no homo. Because friendship cannot be expressed through tenderness least the Shippers Get Ideas TM so Kirk and Spock friendship has to be constructed through macho confrontational tropes while the Kirk and Bones friendship has to be put aside because 1) this movies are made to adapt Pop Culture Star Trek and in Pop Culture Star Trek only the friendship between Kirk and Spock matters 2) Kirk and Bones’ friendship would have been too emotional least the shipper get ideas.

Like, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Star Trek Beyond, which has Simon Pegg as a co-writer, someone who is a Trekkie and who likes writing tender male friendships/more than friendships, IMMEDIATELY: 1) develops the friendship between Bones and Spock 2) develops Spock and gives warmth to his romance with Uhura even if they are technically on a break during that movie and made a Spock/Uhura shipper out of me 3) immediateley puts at center the friendship between Bones and Kirk when eploring Kirk’s emotional state and the whole birthday thing, to the point where he and Bones go into a party with matching outfits which is the cutest thing ever 4) deliberately decided to not throw Kirk into random sex scenes with random women

Now I don’t think the AOS movie suffer from a lack of emotional core just because JJ Abrams sit down and thought “I need to no homo this”, I’m pretty sure there is also a lot of gender stuff, depiction of masculinity stuff and JJ Abrams not giving a shit about Star Trek (hence why he adapted Pop Culture Star Trek and not like, actual Star Trek).

But it just drives me wild to think that a lot of these things could have be fixed - or at least made more palatable - simply by allowing the male characters to actually be friends and have some goddamn emotions that are not action flick-y. Like, he could have just turned Kirk’s death in Into the Darkness into a coral scene with both Bones and Spock there! Just, rip off Kirk’s will scene from TOS! But no! Have no-homo Wrath of Khan instead! SPOCK PRIME HAD TO COME FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE TO TELL THEM TO SOLDIER ON BECAUSE ONE DAY THEY WILL BE FRIENDS. THE FOURTH WALL NEVER EXISTED. HOW DO YOU NOT REALIZE MAYBE YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER YOUR SCRIPT IF YOUR CHARACTERS CONSIDER TO BE FRIENDS ONLY BECAUSE THE SCRIPT SAYS SO.

tl;dr: the fact that jj abrams in star trek aos is so scared of having the men characters have feelings that are not Action Movie Appropriate that they sabotage their own movies to no homo them ON MULTIPLE LEVELS drives me wild

anyway this is why my tos otp is kirk/spock but my aos otp is kirk/bones

#star trek aos #star trek tos #into the darkness critical #jj abrams critical #kirk #spock #bones #bones they did you so dirty in the movies #it's called triumvirate for a reason #the reason being there is three of you #simon pegg i owe you a debt of gratitude #like this honestly reminds me of mcu endgame where apparently steve just dumps bucky and goes back in time in the name of heteronormativity #like that's your best friend you sacrificed everything for aren't you even going to say something before you leave him forever #guess not #antiqua rants #antiqua meta #my meta #my rant #antiqua personal

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 4 years

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Roman, I’ve never heard of Practical Magic before. Could you tell me about it?

(Roman grins, starry-eyed,)

Roman: Of course I can! I love that story~!

Logan: Oh, here we go. He will be on about this for a while...

(Patton giggles and turns back to listen to his story, and Roman clears his throat,)

Roman: Two human witch sisters -- Sally and Gillian Owens, raised by their two aunts -- have a curse upon their family: anyone who falls in love with an Owens woman dies a horrible death...

Roman: The sisters don’t believe their family curse is true, but still, Sally detests the idea of falling in love, while Gillian is entranced by it. Terrified she may one day fall in love, Sally casts a soulmate love spell -- Amas Veritas! -- to bind herself to a man she doesn’t believe exists, so the spell will fail and she will never find love: "It is not salt I turn to fire, but the heart of the lover I seek. Let them have no peace of mind until they come to me... He will hear my call a mile away. He will whistle my favorite song. He can ride a pony backwards. He can flip pancakes in the air. He'll be marvelously kind. His favorite shape will be a star. And he'll have one green eye, and one blue."

Roman: The girls grow older, and Gillian falls in love with a troublemaker. She runs away with him, but makes a blood-pact promise to return to Sally so they can grow old together. Their aunts, knowing Sally has grown lonely in her sister’s absence, cast a spell on her to open her heart to a mundane man in town. Sally and the man get married, and have two little girls together before he is killed in accordance with the curse! When Sally takes her daughters back to her childhood home to seek comfort with her aunts, and they reveal the truth about their love spell, she is devastated to know her happiness wasn’t even real. Now grieving and in despair, wallowing about a love she will never truly have, she writes a letter to her sister in lament -- describing the gaping hole in her heart, and how she wishes her soulmate would come along to love her and fill it.

Roman: Sally gets a letter back from Gillian, which says her lover -- Jimmy -- has grown violent and abusive, and she needs Sally to come save her! So Sally rushes to her sister’s aid, and they are both kidnapped by Jimmy. Jimmy tries to kill Gillian, but Sally kills him to save her sister’s life! The two rush home with the body, knowing they’ll be labeled murderers by their bigoted town if anything about the situation gets out, resolving to bring Jimmy back to life and wipe his memory!

Roman: They revive him, but Jimmy immediately tries to kill Gillian again, so Sally kills him again, and they bury him in the yard... but, as their Aunts leave on vacation, strange things begin happening around the house, as if a demon is haunting the grounds. Then, a Paladin of Law and Crown Investigator named Gary -- Yes, I know, they all have the whitest names ever -- shows up to investigate Jimmy’s disappearance! Jimmy was a mass murderer, so his case is pretty high-profile. And he has reason to believe the girls were involved, since Gillian was his most recent fling, so he searches the house for clues on where Jimmy went and frequently calls the sisters in for testimony.

Roman: The five of them -- the sisters, Sally’s daughters, and Gary -- spend a lot of time together, and as Sally and Gary fall in love and Gary reveals many odd talents, it becomes evident to the daughters that Gary is the soulmate Sally wished for as a child! So, while Sally and Gilly desperately try to get rid of him, the daughters keep finding excuses to lure him back into their company~ This backfires when Gary finds one of Jimmy’s notorious rings on the property, and has enough proof to be sure the sisters were involved in whatever happened to him.

Roman: Gary leaves, angry and confused, and Sally and Gillian fight about what to do next. Unable to lie to the man she loves, Sally chases Gary down and insists he record her testimony, promising to tell him the whole truth. While in his hotel room, she finds out that he found the letter she wrote to Gillian before she came to save her! It sparks a more emotional conversation, where they confess their feelings for each other and kiss~! --But, now close to his face, Sally is able to see the subtle difference in the colors of his eyes. She asks him why he took this case, and he says it was because he felt something calling him to this town... Now knowing that he's here because of a spell, she is thrown into despair once more, and bolts!

Roman: But, when she gets home, Sally discovers that Jimmy's vengeful, violent spirit has possessed Gillian's body! Sensing his love is in danger, Gary finds them just as they both witness Jimmy's spirit emerge! Jimmy tries to attack Gary, but his star-shaped holy symbol burns Jimmy's hand when he reaches for his heart, and the two escape. Sally explains to Gary about the spell she cast that drew him to her, and says the feelings they have for each other aren't real. Gary is angered by her words, and tells her that "curses are only true if one believes in them," and admits that he had wished for her, too. Still, though, Sally is afraid of falling in love again, and doesn't stop Gary from returning to his temple alone. Gary leaves as the sister's aunts return, all believing the burn from the holy symbol to have killed the ghost... But Jimmy resurfaces again and possesses Gillian!

(Patton gasps, as Roman smirks and Logan rolls his eyes,)

Roman: Sally and her aunts rally the townsfolk to their aid -- who have become somewhat more accepting of the witch family as the novel went on, due to Sally's insistence on keeping away from magic and integrating into the town as a florist -- and they form a large coven, and work together to free Gillian from the possession, and not only destroy Jimmy once and for all, but Gillian and Sally's sisterly love breaks their family curse! And a few weeks after all is said and done, the sisters receive a letter from Gary explaining how he has cleared them of all suspicion in Jimmy's case, sparing them from prosecution, and he wishes them and their family happiness. Sally, touched and willing to try again without the curse looming overhead, calls once again for Gary to return to them, if he so wishes. Gary feels her call, and returns to their family home, to be with the woman he loves and the two children he's come to adore, and they both finally have their happily ever after~!

(Patton cheers,)

Patton: Aww, that’s such a cute story!! I love that~!

Logan: I always thought the romance side-plot was contrived and unnecessary. The novel would have been excellent just with the theme of sisterhood and the paranormal mystery-slash-thriller main plot, but it was written back back in a time where most stories needed a romance b-plot to be successful...

Roman: You shut your mouth!! The budding romance between Gary and Sally and Gary’s bonding moments with the daughters are what make the story! It’s a beautiful tale of love and devotion in spite of grief and opposition~!

Logan: You may believe that if you wish, but that doesn’t make you right.

(Roman and Logan continue to argue about which part of the book was more interesting, while Patton laughs and turns back toward the road, knowing full well that both of them have read the book a hundred times and love everything about it.)

#andreaissy #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!#lets roll #long post

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smallestclowninthecircus · 3 years

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Season 4 notes

Ep 121: mmmm tape recorder turning on without them knowing goes brrr. AAAhjhdsjfhjdf "do you mind if i call you jon" its like "can i call you elias?" is this the dream guy with the tendrils? who wants to bet the boat is captained by peter lukas? big man if it killed yall how are you still here. oh boy the tape is doin that thing. who do we think it is? did he wake up? hmm. ep 122: lol jon. 6 months!?!? bruh quit movin big man. he just Knows things sometimes you know how it is. nah b/c i can relate to feeling like other ppl/ things arent real, thats the biggest mood BUT i think it is kinda pretentious to entertain the idea that youre the only Real person. If you dont see a body dont believe it. i'll hold out hope for a bit. theres not a new archivist is there? surely i wouldve heard about that. oh god peter what changes did you make. ep 123: web development. hope its about spiders. she blames him. bruh why. if they hadnt done anything the world would've ended piss off melanie. why are ppl acting like he chose to be in a coma for 6 months. we know this they just appear. no longer "head archivist of the magnus institute, london" now he's just "the archivist" covered in spiders? cuz ik the spider has to do with controlling what youre doing and all this stuff but i cant think of how this connects to that. ep 124: ugh vertigo. is michael crew an old man? oooh. fairchild. how did he know it was martin? hmm. GRR I LOST MY NOTES AGAIN. FROM EPISODE 125 - part of 131. ep 131: bruh he's so hard to understand big man ur voice is so low. Jared Hotworth. the boneturner. "the ones i helped find their proper bodies" name a better top surgeon? our favorite trans ally? ep 132: woo field trip into the coffin! static lol. he says "chill out im just poppin in for a quick recall mission" is the rib thing actually gonna work? bruh it feels so odd and contrived but he's an odd man with some odd powers so idk. rip that archivist ayyy statement time. voices? recordings? are those tape recorders? was it the tape recorders? did they pull him back? i hope so b/c if the rib thing actually worked im gonna be so disappointed. ep 133: predicting the lonely? tundra. like the lukases. hmm. sanikova! like sanikov land. so its the hunt? i suppose? yeah. so daisy's clearly rejecting the hunt, which makes sense cuz she doesnt seem to like the entities that much. wait so are we just not gonna talk abt all the tapes playing on the ground?? no? ep 134: not an archival assistant anymore? Adelard Decker (or however you spell it) i recognize that name. 15th power. i was right there are 15. the extinction? im trying to remember what ive heard. oooh spooky. no i gotta be real i dont understand this fear but i'll believe you that its a thing. ew lukas is so squealy. lukas can turn invisible? oh boy. oooh martin put the tape recorders there. lol lukas is worried he's gonna be an avatar of the eye. ep 135: yoo its the third Daedalus statement! maxwell rayner (reiner? reigner?) i dont know who that is but ik its somebody. is he the cult leader guy? church of the divine host? 4 people?? what? did they kidnap somebody and keep them up there?? oh dear jon are you dying? did he try to See or Know or whatever? why does everyone call basira detective lol. ep 136: he was the one from the spider movie that ate ppl right? the special effects artist? is it annabelle cane? "its a joke jon" lol. hmm they wanted to record the therapy session with melanie? i wonder who that is. i almost wanna guess annabelle cane but im not sure. ep 137: this is the one! he went to the other place and read the war statement but it wasnt the one she took. not the music again. sounds like the slaughter. who the heck is eric lol. "the watcher's crown" like the crown of eyes we saw in the piccrew ep 138: oh boy Robert Smirk time. is that elias? as unhelpful as usual. if new powers can be "born" can others die out? did jonah magnus wear the watchers crown? maybe they were born from our fear or maybe our fears were born from them. ceaseless watcher does ceaselessly watch so. idk what you want

big man. yeah jonah for sure did something. ep 139: agnes!! lol that one dude threw off all their plans thats so funny. BUT this does tell us something. the tree in the backyard of the hilltop house? not made by her. it going down didnt kill agnes. im guessing gertrude tied agnes to the house using the tree? u good jon? cuz every time you try to Know smth intentionally it seems like it causes you great pain. how come he can do it accidentally with no problem but the second he wants to know smth of plot relevance he gets a headache or whatever ep 140: lol pagan exultation. classic. "oh thats my rib" lmaoo. ppl are always so mad at jon and his Eye powers except when it benefits them. they're like "oh you shouldnt do that its not right" and then all of a sudden they want to know something and its all "oh cmon jon its the only way" ep 142: oh god jon what did you do. its interesting she's giving her statement in the way that they do when jon Asks. did he see her in the Coffin? and so he's following her? ok cmon jon you're supposed to let them come to you. lmao ikr martin. "start to hear the blood" "suure." lmao ep 143: lol that awkward moment when gertrude is already dead. big J if you die im gonna kill you. bruh. ayo helen? i guess it worked? ep 144: lol this reminds me of that one edgar allan poe story where he kills the old dude with the weird eye. spooky music stuff. lol thats my favorite symptom of a heart attack its hilarious. so its smth abt the location probably? bro i feel like you should write down the numbers idk. 162830165049 564846474827. seems like the distortion? like the kinda thing that causes you to go crazy because of the numbers. oh boy is it the extinction again. bro what?? im?? his dad just died and he's like eh. martin dont be mean. he's being all lonely again. big man ur pushing ppl away. oh god its fucking squealy boy. ep 145: that almost sounds like breekon/hope... Arthur? agnes. aah was he from the lightless flame cult. a tree. lol he's just ranting rn. hehehe fuck landlords amirite. yay someone tells jon outright to go to therapy. now do it big man. ep 146: oh great! the distortion! i'm making a spiral themed building in mc right now! jon maybe accept you did a bad? nah this goes back to what i said before. they're fine with him compelling ppl when its convenient for them but otherwise its "no jon you cant, youre a monster jon" the tapes didnt turn on. i spose that means its not important? i agree with daisy, this seems unecessarily dangerous. ep 147: is that a tape? the first tape? well that went better than i expected tbh. BAHAKJASHDJKF she did the "can i call you jon" like nikola says "elias, can i call you elias?" damn annabelle is such a girlboss. oh! the one thing from the picrew. its been a while since ive connected smth to that. lol all the other avatars always talk abt their patron so lovingly and the jon just. absolutely hates the eye. ep 148: lol thats the most elias thing. "i just like the way it sounds" ep 149: did he disappear? bruhh. ur lonely powers are popping off i guess. oops i accidentally deleted my notes for 150 - 152 ep 153: thats the cult right? yeah. it doesnt sound like the church of the divine host? idk. if it is the church of the divine host then they worship the dark right? so is the eleventh the dark star or wtvr? it almost sounds like the corruption b/c of the oil or grease or whatever. oh dear what happened. oh its the hunters. theyre so annyoing. not an "it" he has a name. he's a person. is this a page from the skin book? ep 154: oh shit this is gerry's dad! oh shit he quit! oh dear god. jon don't you do it. haha martin. yeahhhh... is he gonna tell the others? cuz you know theyre gonna get mad if he doesnt. oh also picrew connection! the bandages over the eyes? yeah thats this im guessing. ep 155: oh good he told them. oh my god what did you do. lol i have no mouth and i must scream. nah you get none of my sympathy you're straight up murdering ppl. its like the desolation, destroying lives to sustain your own. ok but taking their statements doesnt

kill them. oh... bye melanie. ep 156: lmao imagine if the tape recorder spoke back. oh boy decker! i swear we got a statement from him already. oh god mirrors scary. They're gonna eat the body arent they. Yup... sounds like the flesh or the slaughter, but I'm not sure. Could be the extinction for sure. Smth at the center! Like Helen mentioned. God Peter you dick. Ep 157: peter's just so :/ another decker statement i see. a statement about the corruption? hmm. maybe its not abt the corruption. the extinction. lol pandemics. topical. John Amherst. helen? lol i can hear admiral purring in the background. oh cmon helen dont be like that. im trying real hard to like you but you make it so difficult. ep 158: did they fucking free the stranger? im gonna lose it. you absolute dumbass. im sorry who is that? jonah magnus? my guy. peter. you absolute dickhead. that's elias. (im p sure i had this spoiled for me that elias is jonah) oh dear this is her death. god peter you prick. i hope this is a pop off martin moment and not a "martin you idiot" moment. i hope the hunters kill the stranger entity. or she kills them. furry daisy pop off! yeah fuck you peter martin can make his own decisions. you know that clip from Twisted where jafar says "ok what the fuck was that" martin D: ok like i know its gonna work but still D: D: ep 159: peter you bitchboy. because if im alone i cant hurt anyone else. imnotgonnacryimnotgonnacryimnotgonnacry do it do it do it do it. pop off jon. ok its a pretty good idea for a ritual i gotta be honest. she didnt even have to blow it up lol. oh dear that was certainly a noise. "he gets you" did he not have jon already? he's back! our boy is back! awwww thats so cute. ep 160: oh right this is the thing in the safe house. i love him. "obviously im going to tell you if i see any good cows" martin my beloved <3 :)) oh boy who is this. fuckin. people. jonah you dick. gahh. you can tell he's trying to resist so hard lol. ohh. hehe keep an *eye* on him. altho if the extinction is a real thing he needs to be marked by that right? lol he sounds so intense im sorry- i want martin to just burst in and be like "look at this cow i saw!" its so dramatic and for why.

#tma notes #tma

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joandfriedrich · 4 years

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Little Women 2019 Review

I finally watched the 2019 version of Little Women. I’ve got quite a lot to say.

The Good:

The cast is good, I think everyone in it is a good actor but there’s a few hiccups, more later. Louis Garrel was a good Friedrich, Eliza Scanlen and Florence Pugh were good for their roles (Please note, this is my first time seeing any of these actors so I was still up in the air of how they would have performed these roles). Timothee Chalamet is such a good Laurie, you like him and you understand why Amy would fall for him, but you also see why he wouldn’t have been good for Jo. And I do agree, the apron scene is pretty hot.

There were a few moments that were chuckle worthy and did hit home, particularly, once it was put into context, the moment when Jo is talking about possibly accepting Laurie’s proposal and talks about how she is tired of people saying that as a women is is expected to be made for marriage, but ending with how she is lonely. I felt that.

The Meh:

I wasn’t exactly a big fan of the jumping back and forth, but it wasn’t too terrible. I know there were a lot of people who didn’t like it but it wasn’t the worst thing. There were moments where I was confused and worried we weren’t going to get to certain scenes, but it was neither the worst thing nor the best thing about it. Also, was anyone else like not digging the weird speaking to the camera while writing a letter? Friedrich, Jo and Mr. Dashwood all did it and it felt really out of place, like that style belonged more in a documentary rather than a film.

The Bad:

I know I am going to get some hate, but here we go. I didn’t like this one. It is certainly better than the 1970s BBC version, I give you that, but this. Let me sum it up in one sentence: It was trying too hard. It was trying to hard to make the story feel modern when it’s not supposed to be, it’s set in the Civil War era and obviously not everyone is going to be as forward thinking as we are. Also it tried too hard to be feminist. The novel was already a feminist novel, and I will stand by that statement even beyond death. So the scenes where you get characters who go on these speeches about how difficult it is being a woman or talking about the war and what have you just felt very contrived and unnecessary.

I stand by again this thought: Amy must be played by two actresses, one a child and one an adult. Amy is such a good character and Florence Pugh played older Amy very well, but she is much to old to play a child and so her scenes do not feel genuine. I watched it with my mom and my mom said “This was the first time I had really thought ‘Amy that was childish’, and it caught me off guard because Amy is supposed to be a child. You don’t get the same sense of sympathy or understanding of her in this movie.” And I agree. Also, can we stop using the trope of sticking bangs on a grown woman and say “Boom you are a child.” I personally never thought of bangs as being childish but this is something I have seen modern media do to try to convince us that an actress in her 20s is supposed to be a girl in her early teens. Let’s stop that. Florence Pugh has a naturally deeper tone of voice, so to hear that while looking at “young Amy” was jarring and unbelievable. Edit: yes, there are some children who have deeper voices, what I mean is that she sounds very womanly rather than a small child. Another thing that made her being a child not believable.

I was hugely disappointed when we didn’t get to see or utilize certain actors. Louis Garrel and James Norton were hugely downplayed and were barely in the movie, which is a shame considering that 1, they are good actors and 2, their characters are so good as well, and having them in the story more would have made the movie feel more fleshed out. It strangely felt condensed and not fully fleshed out which is odd because there were moments I went “Oh look, they included that from the book”, but thinking back, it was the small things they added and seemed to shortened the bigger things. The film really downplayed Meg and Beth to make Jo and Amy the more prominent sisters, so it felt less like it was a film about sisters and more about certain sisters who’s stories are more interesting than the other two. That was the vibe I felt when watching it.

I didn’t like the way Jo was presented here. Saoirse Ronan is an amazing actress, and she acted her heart out, but I didn’t like Jo in this. Particularly the scene where she and Friedrich are discussing her writing and she pretty much throws a temper tantrum when he says he doesn’t like it. I totally get her being upset, any writer would feel hurt, but she pretty much was like “You big meanie, you are not my friend because you big meanie!” So it didn’t make the supposed happy reunion feel right with me, it almost made me feel as though Friedrich could do better, and that is saying a lot coming from me. She reminded me of Katherine Hepburn’s version of Jo but not the good parts, the over the top bits.

I hated the ending. I know that Jo does canonically write a story about her sisters in Little Men, but the lines being blurred about whether or not it all was real or not wasn’t my favorite. Especially when it felt as though her being with Friedrich wasn’t real. It almost made me think, why bothering to even include Friedrich if it wasn’t going to have a good payoff? And the film had some really great Friedrich and Jo moments, but it was all for naught when she left New York after her fight and her dismissive attitude towards him during the visit. I don’t know, it felt very inconsistent and thus made me feel as though the ending wasn’t real, and in general, the film made me wonder if any of the events of the story were real at all.

Some people felt that Greta Gerwig was robbed of a nomination and some think that if the movie is nominated so then should the director. I disagree. I was not too pleased with the direction of the film. I hated how it felt like they all were screaming, toppling over each other and acting so wild especially when they have no reason to act so out of place. It made me cringe and did not feel as though we were getting a proper sense of family, of them working and loving together when all they did was shout and not listen to each other. There was no sense of them growing with each other. It didn’t feel like Little Women.

In short: 2 out of 5 stars. Not the worst Little Women adaptation, but not the best, and certainly not my favorite, it was just trying too hard. If you disagree, please discuss it peacefully and kindly. I am open to hear other people’s opinions, but let us all be civil about this.

#little women #little women 2019

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frumfrumfroo · 4 years

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Hello! I'm a (former?) star wars fan who was utterly devastated by TRoS and had to take an indefinite break from the fandom as a result. During lockdown I discovered kdramas and they're my new obsession! I saw that you recommended Coffee Prince and My Love from the Star in a post. I've already seen and loved those (and my own current favourites include Are You Human and Hwayugi) so I was wondering if you could recommend a few more? Thank you!!

Coitenly! /curly

Her Private Life- my new favourite. The curator of an art museum leads a secret double life as a hardcore kpop fangirl; both her identities get off on entirely the wrong foot with famous artist Ryan Gold who has been suffering from an art block caused by the same mysterious painting she’s determined to buy for her idol oppa. If you want a funny, fluffy, character-driven romance where you can really love the leads and will never want to strangle them: this is your show. It is the most purely enjoyable romcom drama ever imo, there’s none of the frustration over ridiculous behaviour or contrived stakes that you typically have to deal with and it has a satisfying, perfect ending. The villains all aren’t so bad after all, everyone gets an arc, the gentle little mystery has a happy resolution, and it’s just about some people facing their issues and helping each other grow. It was very healing to watch in this media climate.

The plot is nothing to write home about and includes a unneeded kdrama cliché towards the end (well-handled and not dragged out, so I forgive it), but the real ‘story’ is the character development and the plot is just a frame to hang that on. Overrall, it’s incredibly refreshing because of the high quality characters and the emotional maturity of the relationship. The leads have insane chemistry, the sexual tension is legit palpable, and the intimacy once they get together is genuinely next level; they are so natural and so endearing it feels like they’re not acting. Ryan Gold is also the best boyfriend in kdrama history and is played by the world’s most beautiful living man, Kim Jae Wook, whom you’ll recognise as our Waffle-kun Sun Ki from Coffee Prince. So it’s got that going for it as well.

Other romcoms: Sungkynkwan Scandal (historical disguise romance! girl needs to dress up as a guy to take the national exam so she can support her family, shenanigans ensue), My Princess (normal girl discovers she’s a lost princess, the guy her ascension will disinherit is in charge of grooming her for the role- it’s cute), Prime Minister & I (contract marriage), What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim (I think this show is pretty overrated but it’s definitely a fun, low-stakes romance with lots of fluff and lots of kissing and we probably all need a bit of that right now).

Change of pace:

Tell Me What You Saw- this is for my clannibals. Crime drama about a green country cop getting tied up in the apparent resurfacing of a famous serial killer who is officially supposed to be dead. She was driven to become a police officer to solve the hit-and-run death of her mother, but she hasn’t made it out of her home town. Then a body is dumped in her neighbourhood and her photographic memory of the scene draws the attention of the big city team leader. Said team leader takes her to meet the reclusive, ex-detective criminal profiler who originally worked the serial killer case.

A bond develops where she acts as his eyes and ears in the field and he trains her to observe like a detective, but our recluse is a very damaged dude and he’s not exactly being forthcoming about his real agenda.

This show has plot and logic issues, sometimes to its profound detriment, but the characters are extremely strong and everything else about it is fucking A+. Atmosphere, acting, action, pacing, intrigue, etc. are all fantastic. The ending was also unexpectedly wonderful and I was so grateful for that. Oh Hyun Jae (the profiler) is a secretive, broken, lonely, manipulative genius who is always fifteen steps ahead of everyone else and I find that very, very sexy of him. He is an anti-hero for most of the series and contrasts with our more idealistic protagonist both in that and in other more subtle ways. Their relationship is super interesting and I ship them really hard.

My Country- I’ll just tell you that the main characters are a mess and the plot leaves a lot to be desired, but watch it for Bang-won. He is a sad angry murder prince and he’s amazing. The whole show is peak eye candy throughout, every episode looks like an epic film with insane production value, so if you want quality action spectacle with a dangerous hot woobie way more interesting than the leads who seems to have wandered in from an infinitely better story to replace the ST- you’re set. Great news, he’s a real historical figure and became king, so they can’t kill him off.

#recs #kdrama #Bang-won has a completely different personality to Ben but he is in-universe similar in his Family Issues and need for validation #he's the only character in the whole stupid show who holds himself accountable and has consistent principles #so when he breaks them he knows exactly how much to hate himself #he is relentless and ruthless but very sad about the fact this makes him a huge asshole #he even achieves all his goals gains ultimate victory and then cries about it #and out-of-universe similar in that he is way waaaay too good a character for the poorly conceived and poorly executed narrative he's in #starring leads who are either boring or incoherent #but at least My Country understands that you love him and that he's played by the by far most charismatic actor in the series #they know he is going to steal every scene he is in #they know he's sexy #unlike apparently 99% of people working on sw #who do not know these same things about Ben #who continue to chastise the audience for latching on to the only character with an arc #what I'm saying is if you're one of those people who would like a way darker version of Ben: Bang-won is here for you #he is here and he is extremely hot #he does not kill his father and it honestly might have been better for everyone if he had #his dad is neck-and-neck with Odin in the Bad Royal Fathers Olympics #Bang-won also shares traits with Loki Prince Hal and Malcolm Tucker so you know he's pretty appealing to me

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smokeybrand · 3 years

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Smokey brand Reviews: Bad Romance

Palm Springs was probably my favorite film from last year. It was this quirky, time-looping, hilarious, romantic comedy with one of the dopest casts I've ever seen. It was headlined, and championed, by Andy Samberg but it would have been nothing without the brilliant chemistry between his co-lead, Cristin Milioti. This chick is fantastic! She’s been in a ton of stuff I've loved, Fargo, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Venture Bros. immediately come to mind, but never really had the opportunity to actually excel in her own vehicle. Always the Bridesmaid never the Bride, you know? And then i heard the buzz about this little HBO max show called Made For Love and it is lead by Milioti, herself. Finally, my girl has her wedding day! So, does this show live up to all the hype or is it just middling entertainment like all the other critics seem to think. Let’s get into it.

The Good

Immediately, I'm struck by how well this film is shot. This f*cking thing is gorgeous to look at. Seriously, they do so much with the camera work, so much dynamism, you kind of forget that this is basically just a cable sitcom. The quality put into this show is borderline cinematic and it really shows.

Another big thing that stands out is the music in this show. This soundtrack is exceptional. It feels almost as good as the tunes in Letterkenny. Almost. Letterkenny comes with the f*cking heat but this show, Made for Love, has a perfectly complimentary soundtrack.

I have to say, the writing in this thing is on point. It’s easily one of the wittiest, wryly hilarious, smartest, series of scripts i have ever had the pleasure of seeing performed. Seriously, I'm kind of in love with all of this dialogue. It feels very Lonely Island-esque, very Tina Fey-ish, and it’s right up my alley.

As a cat that has watched a ton of television and cinema, I've seen this actual plot before. Several times actually. That said, the way this cliche is executed in Made for Love is rather refreshing. The modern and technological framing is a really interesting take on this particular trope. I genuinely loved this story and it’s unique spin on things.

This cast is pretty dope. Ray Romano, Kym Whitley, Dan Bakkedahl, and Noma Dumezweni are all great in their supportive roes but this is, one hundred percent, Milioti’s vehicle. I’ll get into detail about that later but everyone in this show is excellent in their perspective roles.

That supporting cast are gems in Milioti’s crown but Billy Magnussen is definitely the prize. Dude’s Byron Gogol is f*cking repugnant, man, and Magnussen effortlessly captures that scumbaggery. Like, by the time this first season ends, you definitely hate dude and for good f*cking reason. That said...

Cristin Milioti wears the f*ck out of her crown. This is HER show and it wouldn’t work with anyone else. Milioti is hilarious and vulnerable and crazed and triumphant and defeated and that range is so palpable in her performance as Hazel. you can tell she was able to actually show her stuff in this role and she puled out all of the stops. This is definitely a star making performance and i think, if this wasn’t a pandemic release, she would be one. Time will tell. Personally, i think awards are bullsh*t but, in the context of the industry, the doors those things can open, they are still relevant. Milioti definitely deserves all of the awards for this run.

The Bad

I didn’t really like the ending. It felt out of character, especially that last shot. I understand why Hazel did it, that make sense, but it still feels off. After you’ve spent seven hours and fifty minutes with this character, seeing what she does in the last ten is kind of bonkers. Actually, that revelation early on feels a bit contrived altogether. I imagine, considering this show is a book adaption, it works better in print but onscreen? Kind of blergh. Especially considering this leaves the show on kind of a “cliffhanger” for a season two.

This isn't a dig on the show, itself, but i f*cking hate these weekly releases. Let me binge, man. I don’t want to wait a week to see new episodes constantly. These ain’t Saturday morning cartoons. We grown and this sh*t ain’t TV. Get your sh*t together, HBO!

The Verdict

I really liked this show. Made for Love was a fun watch in the same vein as Palm Springs but with a much harder edge. The writing is on point, funny in a macabre sort of way, but entertaining as a whole. It is chock full of great performances, headlined but the ever excellent Cristin Milioti. It starts fast and never really lets up, until it does. That ending, man, was rough. I understand why it went out the way it did but i don’t like. It feels disingenuous to the Hazel we’ve spent this last month with, ultimately sacrificing the character’s spirit for season two bait and i kind of hate that. Made for Love is a fun watch at a brisk eight episodes but kind of flubs the landing. If you can look past that and just accept this hing as a vehicle for Cristin Milioti to really show her stuff, i think you’ll have a great time with it. Questionable conclusion aside, i think everyone should check this one out.

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dressupdressshopp · 3 years

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Fishing I Love A Good Pole Dance Vintage T Shirt

RESTROOM SHE DOES I DO NOT TRUST A Fishing I Love A Good Pole Dance Vintage T Shirt POLITICIAN WITHOUT CHILDREN WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THAT I DON’T KNOW MAYBE MAYBE TO USE HARRIS’S OWN WORDS MAYBE SHE WAS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 18 AND 24 MAYBE SHE DID SOME DUMB THINGS THAT MAY OR START STERILE STERILE YOU FROM YOU IS THAT DUMB THINGS ALL THEY SAID OH NO THEY SELL THEIR EGGS IN ALL THEY SELL MONEY YOU GET WHEN WHO KNEW THAT THE YOUNG YES I SO SOMETIMES THEY DO SOME DUMB THINGS I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW I HAVE WHY SHE NEVER HAD ANY CHILDREN SHE’S PROBABLY STERILE SOMETIMES A WOMAN MAY NOT BE STERILE SOMETIMES THEY SIMPLY DON’T WANT CHILDREN SOMETIMES YOU HAVE WOMEN WEAR SOME STERILIZE THEM AND IT WAS NOT THEIR DESIRE TO BE STERILIZE YET IS YOU THAT BLACK WOMEN IN AMERICA NOT JUST AMERICA BUT THEY BEEN STERILIZE HYSTERECTOMIES WHERE THAT THE UNIVERSE IS REMOVED SO HARRIS A STORY I DON’T KNOW BUT YOU ALSO NOT REALIZED THAT MICHELLE OBAMA HER TWO DAUGHTERS WERE BORN OF SURROGATE MOTHER SURROGATE MOTHER SO I DON’T KNOW THE WHOLE STARTING MAN OKAY SO AND. Make sure to litigate the fact that check this out boysand we didand he didn’t affect his idea about this movieand were discussing the going on with all is after a while what we started I get taken it seriously does realize it was a pretty cool idea about you taking to the movieand fit in with the overall song is pretty basic idea songs about the bookand a movie after that the state tells that little guy with a box on the day he now cool to do it with like when you concept with it also noticed with in a sanity is yet a concept that’s really only telling half of itand then do so many things about videos I think that we still don’t know that work learning about things you do when you like I did get all with different visual things he can do with blending thingsand all the crap that were like complete newand weird so you know the idea was that it was pretty cooland the whole way was put together that’s what made it work very focused trialand message to the family until incurring the going anti now seems to be the site awareand you know Texas about which were by yearand a half takes us you know which is about six months offand then the we start writing salsa wood on the recordsand longed to year is three years already so it seems to be what we can stuck in right now so you know only on 94 is taking time with anything you know you want to just write in the mechanic at the money now to make sure that it’s rightand how long you’re in the studio always causing as much oh my God you know in the long run it is really matter if you’re happy with the workand six month break we definitely needed after that long to her in writing materialand we take pride in his chair out in a 30 sauceand pick up 12 best whatever caseand it would To finally write daily life cannot be fairly quick actually clicked by standards I think the whole brining process took about eight weeks eight weeks premature never saw him it was quiteand I was just like been three years last on the ideas are stacking up was just kind of taking eight months offand all that was really an email the right thing to do because when we can actually like really gung hoand going for some pretty much the right thing to do is fill out we get a couple must account a jam onand I was the cool thing we didn’t get to do that on some of the other albums you have a few of them readyand we all jam togetherand go in the studioand still be writing stuff for the other guys never even played it with us so you two is about the stars maker is a risk can safely say that this lonely can add them off a couple monthsand generally settled in to see where they were going all the vocal stuff is almost ready to go to the next phrasing so when you can where the song was sitting helps like with each person doing drum step by step on the vocals of time things it was the first time that we ever actually counted with a producerand somebody else was kind of like weird at first light when the rehearsal roomand the site guys in the room taking notes of my of those scary first couple days but got comfortable with that he was just as great you really changed much around the song line but it was good that somebody can fit throwing ideas can blend almost like what other bands do refining is a no signing they want a lot of things I regret like a year later Lindsay like the last couple years just to open up your mind to different things got to go with what feels like you can’t worry about what you said four years ago in an interview in Langley look at things differentlyand get olderand obviously felt thing I was even like it was like a list of people that was just like well it is Bob rock on it we should meet him so we flew upand then was not like a huge thing to me does not like people history something being forced upon us by management a record company payroll very happy that we finally sort of look outside todayand for somebody else to help with planning unit was never really a producer in the classic sense of how worried he was more like a technical for super engineer Canada push the buttonand when really cannot say in there this amino real Canada coaching he said at a counter is not a performance oriented which I think it became apparent to those who really needed somebody to start helping us get some life into Iraq Tinaand him Bob makes pretty lively records flooding knew what we wanted sound wise the sign performs at an early screw this I thought I could fulfill that the way you really knew what is supposed to doand the producer does is makes you sound more like you not not taking Bon Jovi ideasand put them on this band is not his thing in pulling the best of value being object from a different way you might sitand go you know how I want to know what they did because you like in the middle of tracking is something like they just can’t step outside yourselfand can looking for somebody like Bob really helpful when Canadian what is your afterand then when you feel that okay now this guy understands what it is whereafter then you can leave it with you Dominicans were a lot more about performancesand going for them the engines were about overseeingand making no major decision you know cannot about that kind of stuff so it can lilies of us to deal with potential to greatly justify the ones we didn’t trust him it took a little while when you finally say this guy knows aware what we want do is wake upand it was cool in any so that the couple weeks but I’m low levels strain theand domestic fail taband select thought unknown failing to agree that is little will pull the simple timing the simplicity of it all you hear the easy things to Gary register saw a different approach to songwriting in a different thing to go for production wising a lot of people have been shown the last couple weeks is easier record to Mason to mechanic say that you know suggesting a contrived thing but the thing is when you have a different approach the way you write the songsand you have like she almost like enjoy yourself when you’re playing that comes across like a different feeling record before then I think all those things make it easier listen to is not sent down to make a record that is you listen to dislike were like having fun in all this attitudeand then comes through in the planeand that makes it easy for you listen to cannot be part of what we trying to deny me heavy load that isolates the styleand how the law last think we really try a lot of that stuff a lot more self conscious if I comes up interviews afterwards sitting somebody throw the question is what you want we do that will make you know we just do things you would always wanted to do things differently than what a lot everybody else is doing sometimes might look at somebody elseand discounted subconsciously save your cell wall maybe things will be differentand wanted to spend a go this way for a while is not to vilify myself interviewsand talking about it seems like what we do things happen in people always want answers afterwards weird analyze something that doesn’t really take a lot when it is taught is getting together you mean it will fit adult looks like shorter songsand conversation taken off five seconds like arthritis source out okay in a letter to this okay like you know 30 seconds later why do you think of things that contain one more more answers in England but anywhere else What would you think about all this concept that’s happening the mine would get sand shooting a band engineering band shooting us never a big fan of being shot but the video cameras okay you get you get professionals out there that their little jaded with all that hailand put my mark on this with thisand this is my styleand that I well anybody really if you’ve been doing it long enough you you develop a styleand it’s kind of hard to break out of that the fans shoot from that basically she was able to see so it makes total sense one thing that people can be curious about the tatsand dumb I was just wondering what you had any that you could maybe briefly show whatever it’s a good bit of the story about what it’s in the means to you yet while I mean these guys here first of all means but through my time of the country infatuated with Angelsand just the the next afterlife or somethingand you know my parents leaving us are earlier than others having some kind of guide in my life because I know I like I should’ve died hundreds of timesand I’m not the only one but I can only speak for myself that I know there are things like after I’ve done something like that was really stupid I could like man made my mom or dad or somebody is it made made car turn this way instead or somethingand it’s it’s kinda nice to see those those are realize those things this is my higher power this is an angel bringing the gift of music to me these are actually my hands the the tattoo artist Jack Rudy he he took a Polaroid of my handsand then he copied him so that’s meand struggle this is the angel bringing me music to help me through the fireand this in Latin is don’t die which means gift from God so this one is besides my kids namesand all of the other many of obviously are not meanings but this one is pretty importantand then Cliff you know this is cleverly Burtonand this is the middle bit 20 Ryan the base part delete duty duty do it on right those people find it hard enough to stop drinking like you to win stresses alive around the I know I my battle leaving the bottle way too often some like yourself who has a polygon the US scrutinized by people unfairly whatever like what you kept you going to be Abba to do to do what he can do what you did set deck can’t be an easy thing is it is tough inand learn in certain tools is important to be on the road especially while you are nowadays there’s a lot more bands out there that the bottles not that important to them or the drug or the smoke of the whatever the checks into whatever it is that sidetrack you a lot is not as important as it seems as it used to be but yeah can be challenging on the stuff they’re sitting right in front of you know in them for me is it I’m not really haven’t been really good at long term goals in healthand long term happiness is was always pretty foreign to me to be happy right now I want it now is I feel like shitand into the drain chair that whatever was always a quick quick fix to use it but if I want to if I want to miss it if I eat off of five of five feed the dog that says this was so great remembering this or if I feed the dog that says do look how great your life is right now look at the crap that you used to be in the know this that depends on how you look at itand I know I could I could I could go back in things up pretty quick quickand I don’t need to do that so but also you went you know the criticizing that the public guide of things like that it really depends on my mood is on a really good mood I can I can take anything at any time but if I’m feeling a little insecure little tired or look hungry or whatever it is or just know fraid from the roadand that’s why we don’t go out for such long periods of time as you do you start to get fraid in your head starts to swell you think you’re greater than you are in all of this stuffand I could do whatever I wantand then all of a sudden you don’t do stuff I don’t need to be doing so keep in keep in the tour legs shorter has helped a lotand in all the criticism he has is people are people man you know were no greater than each other we get the same size souland were trying to try to feel happy nor trying to feel loved simple as thatand some people think if they could put someone else down they feel a little more the ego comforts them a little bit I know what that’s like mad so I I contributed to that psychologist being like that now you know get nothing to do with me so been able to tick tenant let it bounce off it is sometimes difficult but that’s the tool I like to use what is it that so that prevents you from some straying away from you telling it there there there are two sites me on that the one side is I’m so happy here I get to write whatever I want to I just wrote an intro to my apocalypse last weekand we played at the concert the other night all this is awesome is a lot of freedom if you let it you know that is a lot of times when we all can it get hung up on each otherand want to try this is like wool may be no way you know this the democraciesand and now I got step backand think second level maybe that’s best that’s best for us for not all in agreement with it let’s not do it man you know or management thinks while this is maybe a bad idea likeand fighting a little bit on itand then click well wherever the passion is I’ll believe you probably be on that the true passion is the keyand that is that we go with that so obviously enough of that in the band to be Abba to the sustain you without taking to the credit elsewhere I think I keep trying to do stuff outside of it you even feel like writing nothing else matters that was not metallic I was not gonna be from attackand I was just meand my head in my know misery for a whileand they heard itand said he ring it onand so it seems like anything is able to be metallic now which is fine as the other side of me this like well you know they’re keeping me know management doesn’t me to do this because it’s affecting the name of the band so I can’t do what I want here in theand he gets gets it gets single mindedand this does notand I know that’s not the right thing to do you know we got a great thing going here is this this part of me that thinks you know as soon as somebody goes offand does a side projectand how I don’t take them seriously anymoreand not not to knock other bands but say it you must let not Corey amazing from an amazing singer please don’t really know which band e zine at the moment you know he’s got so many things going onand if that’s you knowand I can’t I certainly won’t judge him on that if the if it’s maybe it’s maybe he’s doing that to survive maybe the money thing is tough or who knows what it is but maybe not getting in all the stuff that he needs to get in but that’s his that’s his journey I don’t I know I would much rather I think I think I think dedicationand loyalty it was a long way with me what album to you like what you a young kid was one of those outlets I said this is this is my calling man like what the hell is this a guardian more of it by add abuse set black Sabbath no one out of all the records in my brother’s record collection my my my brothers 10 years older than I he was in a bandand he had all kinds of albumsand email from Jethro told of the Beatles to whatever all this other stuff in a put on black Sabbath that was that was pretty much it like Sabbath like Sabbath you self taught here had the first album put it onand it was while this is differentand I like this you know this is got some cool it’s got some ball this got some heaviness it’s got a little bit of scariness in there but as its next level you know it’s is taking it a step further this is just not regular bouncy rock this is the highlight of the way this has this has emotion behind it says howand help our fear whatever it really has to do with your roots man when you’re growing up that stuff so importantand it’s so impressionable on you so everyone has that in their lifeand whatever bandit is at that time you know for my wife it’s no Phil Collins that’s okay it moves her that she reminds her of stuff of her teen years or something that she connects withand goes while I can ground myself in his music for me going back listening to Sabbath listening to Skynyrd listening to UFO listening to priest listening to early maiden stuff like that it does that it does that for me with your proudest track that you overwritten personally itself that’s difficult question because I think we’ve all we’ve all accomplished some great things that with different feels there are some songs that we cannot forget about that I think are pretty amazing I think leading me is one of those moments I think outlaw torn I think the picture you a little bit of those epic E in a with its cut instrumentals with lyrics really there is I’d say the third verse in unforgiven to is a distant when it when it breaks downand there’s that way around land where you know the little law plane is parting from Bob Roxio in the lawand second were professional now it sounds like it’s almost Jimmy page you know so where we were entering the realm of zeppelin at that pointand not pretty proud of that to this easy to most of them going on stage he says something which is up to the back your head that use of sale as you used to be afraid of on the stage but obviously five that yeah water afraid of drowning them out I would say I think all of us together used to be a lot more scared to be okay with no wrong to be wrong were playing just a variation on the album you can get away or you can just say hey I felt it my best I try my bestand that’s all I can do if it was you know 30 in Russia when we played that soloing in my fingers froze up that’s as good as I could do work at my throat was swollen shut like that I’m trying to say nothing else matters I did my best so I think were a little bit better at accepting how things are in the I’d say the thing I’m most afraid of his probably like something like my back going out something like that on stage wishes like you go downand then the wheelchair comes up at the stretcher SCA will make this one up you know you don’t like making gigs upand I’ve kinda been the one who’s been making everyone else make up most the gigs with’s broken arms are catching on fire backs going out or eating bad oysters yeah that’s actually not remembering something on the website about that is like you seem to have that strength that you two way this way keep on going to get the fuck right train rolling while your bestand if it we can do a show you where human at the end of the day if we can’t will make it upand that’s the best we can doand if people travel a long time ways you know to come to that show that they can’t make it the other dates it’s a bummer but it’s part of life in can be superhuman fuel questions always late but yet thank you I really appreciate on really hope they show guys wealthy guys next to not something awesome displaying a part of everything he liked the three days of living doing this with Chaffin Vicki’s it’s it’s been great also experience I really had tends out good looks greatand stuffed as is Le Havre so that ion thanks again Bob we we dignified man we we love having fans come from all over the placeand it’s no snow short swim man for youand others you know we appreciate thatand the dedication that you guys have for usand you know this is upand spread the word of this to good vibes man in a row to have some fun absolutely thinking that if I had to have a right has to get going even investors came to the aliases Celia McKim on again the 20 validated on the task I have lensesand interviewand married okay to a economic spaceand shows NAM Davis been POC for a movie steadfast but it still see pod people answered all the others in their bestand send them in is a public heand Elder can set up it was in a deal of schedulingand reforming a few of spirituality staying here always in a suit all lost key to get the M Solvay spitting us to form signify such assets need to lean in in in some industrial opportunism it could since it will start to buy on a naming scam it’s speeded in dust beneath these needless to all of you to be ancient veins set aside a DEA area today is okay piano I think is a is the government will be seen as that come to an Anita lost the was awarded mainand said that Kindle edition one minute station shows two super massive be the people at on the lobby wasand for scabies cleaning today get some stated that in some cities to diabetesand take other people in schedule started I put sword at the UK the putting she showed on CD you know you need made. Plane lease you are the first because I get off the plane and the essay looks like hell what happened what happened to our president is is a choice between a job super recovery or a buy depression and depression 401 k s down the tubes look out radar software had a little bit yesterday as Nancy Pelosi will not approve stimulus that so enjoy playing a boom or a abiding lockdown but you’re already down in we got again or go we again you like to the deck is every kind of I make this even a little bit of an essay them in one of the right basket I placed a crazy 60 minute was you just kept asking me and then they interviewed sleepy gel is like everybody his fellows and they got great ratings that’s unfortunate they get such good ratings and I want to do it again now what time of the difference one is a craziness I fire coming out of her eyes I love he says that he said I am prepared by tough questions I suggest be fair know I’m a top is the way starts with by this hello this is about did you see the reporters that

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QUARANTINE MOVIES PART FOUR

It’s wild to watch any movie knowing that none will be made for the foreseeable future, and that the whole collective experience of filmgoing might be dead. I tend to have a certain sad, scared lonely feeling when I contemplate the future at night, and while I attempt to put off by watching movies, it only partly works. Now, more than ever, movies are a larger part of my processing of the world than the ongoing conversations I have with friends.

Smithereens (1982) dir. Susan Seidelman

There is something particularly powerful about movies where people run around, socializing. These things are pretty resonant with my youth, but “youth” in this broad sense that just means “the before times,” because if there’s anything quarantine is bringing home it’s the importance of a form of adulthood based around domestic partnerships with someone you like and having “real jobs” that can translate to telecommuting. Of course, socializing of the sort no longer allowed is really useful, and shouldn’t be written off as youthful frivolity. Smithereens is not a particularly romantic movie: While it might be famous for being “punk” in a “cool” way, documenting young New York nightlife in a way where David Wojnarowicz’s band 3 Teens Kill 4 is on a club’s marquee, it’s really about young people as these sort of upwardly-mobile opportunists with no real talent trying to exploit one another for a mixture of sex and social clout, and ignoring those who are not actively useful to them. It’s a useful document of people being shitty where the appeal now is how cool they look, and it’s interesting to watch in this moment where I’m worried that the whole idea of community will be lost very soon, in a way we won’t even be able to articulate. We’ll all be scrambling for jobs and security but everything will be further hollowed out, and we’ll be left with an even more vicious and dog-eat-dog citizenry. So a movie like this has nostalgic appealing, but by depicting the seeds of what will only become more widespread problems, it avoids feeling dated or idealistic.

Gloria (1980) dir. John Cassavetes

Oh shit this movie rules! I was under the impression I disliked Cassavetes, based on the others I had seen, and watching the first twenty-odd minutes reminded me of why: Sort of circular conversations, involving a lot of people being upset with one another. But this ends up feeling more like a movie, and less like a play. Once Gena Rowlands kills a carful of people I was completely on board. She’s great in this, playing opposite a child, who is also amazing in it, tons of dialogue that should be quotable: “You’re not my mother, my mother was beautiful” being but one amazing bit of poetry. Both extremely cute and extremely badass from moment to moment, the parts of this movie are in tension with one another where it also feels like it’s going from strength to strength, and ever scene, every moment, is great. Incredible music, and also great documentation of a world that doesn’t exist anymore, of telephone booths, smoking sections, and places that’ll develop photos for you. Highest possible recommendation.

The Naked City (1948) dir. Jules Dassin

Seemingly the first movie to be shot on location throughout New York, rather than studio backlots, and it milks the city for all its worth, shifting frequently from one location to another, introducing to new characters. Initially guided by omniscient narration but quickly focusing to become a police procedural. I knew Dassin from Rififi but this feels more exciting, I would gladly watch movies bite the techniques from this every few decades, though Gloria does a good job of moving through the streets of New York in a less-contrived way. There was a Naked City TV show ten years later, shot on location and focusing on a police precinct.

Near Dark (1987) dir. Kathryn Bigelow

I consider this Kathryn Bigelow’s best movie, but circumstances have not led me to watch it as many times as I’ve seen Point Break, so the memories I’ve retained of it were kind of inaccurate: Specifically, the thing I thought of as the climax, the part at the hotel where light is getting shot through the blankets taped up to cover windows, happens like halfway through. Screenwriter Eric Red wrote this at the same time as he wrote The Hitcher, and that’s another one that just GOES, moving from one scene to another where they all have this climactic intensity constantly but the scale is shifting of what you’re invested in? The Hitcher is a nightmare and this is more of an action movie. People point out this movie has a bunch of the cast from Aliens but I didn’t realize there’s a shot where Aliens is actually on the marquee of a theater. I also wonder if this whole horror/action/western/but with vampires thing was an inspiration to Garth Ennis? I kinda feel like the pacing I find so powerful could not really be sustained over the length of an extended comic run.

Hero (1992) dir. Stephen Frears

Dustin Hoffman plays a criminal schlub, doing a weird voice. It’s almost like he was told that the role was written for Sylvester Stallone, but Stallone’s insistence on getting a writing credit on every movie he acts in complicated the premise in a weird way, so Hoffman just attempts a Stallone impression. One of his few redeeming characteristics is he’s a loving father, but that isn’t why he’ll remind you of your dad. Maybe most men are just Dustin Hoffman doing impersonations of Sylvester Stallone! From 1992, so Hoffman’s I guess in a post-Rain-Man mode, but the film also feels very early nineties in its commentary on television news turning stories into celebrities, and an analysis of the problems with professional cynicism that seem very much of their time. It’s not like a more sophisticated critique has found its way into any mainstream film I can think of, we’ve just stopped thinking about these issues, as they’ve become much worse. Joan Cusack’s good as his Hoffman’s ex-wife, and Susie Cusack’s good as his lawyer. I would like to see Susie Cusack in more things! Geena Davis plays a television reporter, Andy Garcia plays a decent guy who is a contrast to Hoffman, there’s also small roles for the likes of Stephen Tobolowsky and Tom Arnold, really placing this in a moment of time.

The Age Of Innocence (1993) dir. Martin Scorsese

I didn’t like this one, for all the obvious reasons: I don’t like costume dramas about rich people, and I don’t like Daniel Day-Lewis. It’s an Edith Wharton adaptation, all about a world of well-mannered old money with very rigidly defined rules of behavior. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the true love Day-Lewis is kept from by the mores of the day, and part of her romantic appeal is she’s able to see through the rituals and make fun of them, while Winona Ryder fully buys into them, and thus reaps the benefits. Everything is repressed, all behavior is affect, this is of course the point but very much not my thing. There’s also a lot of a narrator reading the text of the book while the camerawork fades between lavishly composed image, while the cinematography probably looked great on a big screen I would still be very anxious about getting to the storytelling.

Experiment In Terror (1962) dir. Blake Edwards

This one starts off super-intensely, with a home invasion scene, the sense of horror in this is palpable but the fear is just used as this blackmail structure for some noir stuff? It straggles the genre line pretty well, feeling weird because of this horror energy of sheer creeping malevolence defines it. This is also considerably longer than most of the other film noir I’ve watched recently, because those moments extend and take away from the sense of a building plot, to instead feel like they might derail it. Lee Remick is the lead, and she is this terrified victim, which makes the film more interesting than if it were focused on the cop played by Glenn Ford. The main character’s younger sister gets kidnapped at one point, it gets creepy. The climax occurs at a end of a crowded baseball game, and there’s shots that I assume were done via helicopter, which seems like it would’ve upped the budget considerably.

The Harder They Fall (1956) dir. Mark Robson

Humphrey Bogart stars as a former sports writer, working to drum up publicity for a fresh-off-the-boat boxer who does not know how to fight, but is naively participating in fixed matches, for the economic benefit of the mob. While the boxer is being exploited and making no money, despite his celebrity; Bogart is being well-compensated to sell out his conscience and he is very good at playing a dude in moral conflict with himself, struggling to do the decent thing. While this isn’t the best boxing movie, or the best Bogart, it’s still pretty good.

The Devil And Miss Jones (1941) dir. Sam Wood

Heard about this one in the context of it having good politics. It’s about a rich guy who goes undercover at a department store hoping to bust the union only to realize that the guy organizing the union is supremely decent and the middle manager should get fired. It has some scenes that feel like they might play for “cringe comedy” but also are just so fucked up? One where the rich dude is forcing shoes onto the feet of little girl who is crying saying “I don’t like it! I don’t like it!” feels way too much like a pervert’s fetish for me to be comfortable with. The female lead is played by Jean Arthur, who is very good at playing a genuine, kind, and idealistic person. I am very grateful she dates the union organizer and the old rich dude’s love interest is someone age-appropriate. Interesting to see a pro-union movie from a time when unions were popular, so it functions as populist entertainment while Sorry To Bother You gestures at being radical propaganda for self-congratulation’s sake.

Human Desire (1954) dir. Fritz Lang

Another noir from Lang, with the same leads as The Big Heat. This one made me worried about age-inappropriate relationships too, as it begins with a dude being back from war, moving in with his friends, and their daughter having “become a woman” while he was away. Luckily the title refers to a desire he ends up feeling for a married woman who as an accomplice to a murder committed by her abusive husband. Glenn Ford stars in this one, and he has this very boring morally upstanding male lead quality that makes these well-made movies feel generic. This thing is happening to me watching movies where I get kind of hung up on how no one ever explains themselves or their feelings: I don’t think they should, I think the whole thing of watching a movie where you watch it thinking like “Why don’t you just tell her you love her??” is interesting because… a writer doesn’t need the characters to explain their feelings to each other if the viewers understand them, these feelings are the most obvious things and so can go unspoken, and so you would really only have them say these things if they were lying or being manipulative? But maybe in more modern movies people really do state their motivations because screenwriters are dumber now? I don’t know.

Fail Safe (1964) dir. Sidney Lumet

I have talked about this movie a lot since watching it, and in a way that doesn’t even mention that the opening is amazing, and the title and credits sequence are all-time greats. Instead I mention that Henry Fonda’s performance seems to have inspired David Lynch’s performance of Gordon Cole, and how the weird, fucked up nightmarish ending doesn’t really change the fact that watching it in 2020 it feels like a sort of pornography of competence when contrasted against our own reality. The whole movie is about an accident that leads to a U.S. military plane flying to Moscow to drop a nuke, and everyone (except for the pilots) realizing this is a mistake and trying to avert global nuclear war. The ending is pretty astounding in its darkness. Walter Matthau plays a guy whose role is to argue for the pragmatic value of mass death, but the moral calculus that ends up being embraced is far beyond the nihilistic death drive he advocates for. Mutually assured destruction is such a motherfucker of a concept. I am really hung up on the idea that unilateral nuclear disarmament never became a thing really set a precedent for how political parties in this country will never unilaterally dismantle their propaganda machines. 24-hour news is a nightmare, not really on a par with nuclear weapons, but similarly something that should be illegal, but for the calculations made. We would be a different country if we were willing to make these kinds of sacrifices but we really are not.

The Deadly Affair (1967) dir. Sidney Lumet

James Mason stars in this John Le Carre adaptation. He plays a spy whose wife is cheating on him, with another spy. None of the twists in this are unforeseen, in fact, the title alone explains a bunch, but the title is also so generic you might forget what the movie is called while you’re watching it. James Mason is good in it, although it’s weird that he’s playing a likable guy who sort of doesn’t seem to understand why everyone can’t get along or be honest adults with one another considering his work in the intelligence community. Another solid Sidney Lumet movie.

Three Days Of The Condor (1975) dir. Sydney Pollack

This movie does a very good job of not explaining things up front, and then portioning out understanding as it goes on. The movie begins with Robert Redford getting his office getting shot up, and we eventually learn he works for the CIA, but he cannot rely on them for his protection. It doesn’t introduce the female lead, played by Faye Dunaway, until like halfway through the movie, when our hero takes her hostage. Redford can’t really explain the situation to her, and just sort of acts like a psychopath, but they are able to have a quasi-romantic relationship where she trusts him because he’s played by Robert Redford, who is in some ways the seventies’ answer to Glenn Ford. The movie star aspect allows him to sell his agreeability, although he’s also supposed to be something of a nerd, a guy whose job is just to read books and analyze the information. Max Von Sydow plays the villain.

The Third Shadow Warrior (1963) dir. Umetsugu Inoue

Watched this because it’s made by the dude who made Black Lizard, it’s a samurai thing about a warrior who employs body doubles. It follows one such body double, overshadowed by the man whose existence he supports, at the expense of his own individuality or happiness. Interesting enough, feels like it occupies the solid middle of samurai movies- Something sort of common to stuff on Criterion is something that doesn’t blow you away but it is definitely a “real movie” at the very least.

La Cienaga, (2001) dir. Lucrecia Martel

That said, you kind of do need to be careful with newer Criterion channel stuff, because some things feel more like they’re just trying to engage with an art house history in order to earn their place in the canon. This movie isn’t bad, but I do feel like the reason it’s interesting stems from a context the film itself has nothing to do with: After Martel made Zama (2017), there was talk of her being asked by Marvel to do a Black Widow movie, which is insane. The studio also volunteered to handle the action for her, which she said she would actually be interested in learning how to do herself, but she had no interest in working with Marvel. Let Lucrecia Martel make a big-budget action movie without corporate properties you cowards! This movie is pretty difficult to follow, with no clear narrative thread, a lot of characters, weird pacing, etc. There’s moments of poetry or tension but this is one of those things that’s just beyond my preferences enough to remind me of a certain aesthetic conservatism I possess. I didn’t finish Zama, though I had read the book. It’s honestly tough to imagine Martel making a movie with straightforward plot that can easily be followed, it doesn’t seem to be what she’s interested in, even in terms of editing a movie so that you have a sense of where scenes stand in relation to one another in time. Many scenes still maintain a sense of beauty or mystery but at there’s no velocity. She’s closer to Apichatpong Weerasethakul or Carlos Reygadas or Bi Gan, to name three people whose names I absolutely had to Google because I couldn’t think of them off the top of my head.

All these movies are streaming on The Criterion Channel, if you want me to recommend things on other streaming services, please DM me your login information.

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freedomisunderrated · 5 years

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Elected officials have always had their reasons for wanting to end America’s recent unpopular wars, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Some cite broad concerns over blood and treasure, others focus on the geo-political and domestic consequences of prolonging quagmire and endless foreign intervention. Many are outright pacifists, they don’t believe in war to begin with.

Conservative Republican Congressman Walter Jones was the only lawmaker I can recall who turned on war out of profound guilt. Life-changing guilt, borne out of watching coffin after coffin return to his North Carolina district draped in the stars and bars and met with the white, blood-drained faces of mothers and wives, fathers and children. For anyone, such a scene—repeated as much as it would in a district that hosts one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the country at the height of war—would be devastating. But for Jones, a man of deep Catholic faith who had come to believe that the Bush administration lied to Congress to get its approval for the Iraq invasion in 2003, it was intensely personal. He wept openly and talked about it. There was no whiff of political contrivance or calculation. In fact, his pain was so visceral it was at times hard to look at directly.

Those of us who did look, saw a brave, brave man who chose the isolation of his peers in the Republican party over compromising his own convictions. Simply put, there was Walter Jones pre-Iraq vote, and Walter Jones, post-Iraq vote. The latter spent the rest of his life—until his passing on Sunday at the age of 76—working towards redemption and a future where America’s sons and daughters aren’t sent into a meat grinder for politicians’ senseless wars of choice.

He told me in 2009 that writing thousands of letters of sympathy to the survivors of dead servicemembers was in part, penance for his vote. “I think I have been forgiven, though all of those letters, I really do,” he said. In addition, he’d joined a small, but stalwart cadre of conservative voices against the wars based on moral and Constitutional grounds (including new interventions in Libya and Syria). He became one of the loudest voices in favor of invoking Congressional war powers, starting with a pair of unsuccessful bills in 2012. He worked across the aisle with anti-war Democrats, as well as tireless independent voices in his own party like Ron and Rand Paul, Thomas Massie, and Justin Amash. He sought, and became a friend and compatriot to activists and non-interventionist media like Antiwar.com and The American Conservative.

“I would answer the phone and hear, ‘please hold for Congressman Jones.’ It made me feel really great,” Antiwar.com founder and editor Eric Garris told me last night. “(He) was a very sweet and principled man.”

Garris sensed that Jones was animated by his guilt over “sending soldiers to their deaths.” I remember his speech before the TAC’s foreign policy conference in 2017 where he recounted an anguished conversation at the airport with a young woman carrying an American flag folded in accordance with service members or veterans who have died. “It was so sad for me, Jones said, describing how he struggled, even after all of these years, to come up with words that did not sound trite or canned, to soothe her.

It was a lonely burden, this cross he carried. Republican hawks and neoconservatives were the most venomous in their spite and disregard. Just see how they sneered at Ron Paul in the 2008 presidential debates when he suggested that America was creating terrorists, rather than beating them, after bombing Iraq since 1991. In our upcoming TAC print edition, writer Bill Kaufmann describes how the party took away Tom Massie’s committee chairmanship and tried to sabotage his re-election over his anti-interventionist views.

In 2005 Christopher Hitchens, then a darling of the pro-Iraq War, called Jones a “right-wing big mouth…a moral and political cretin.” Years later, in 2014, “Wall Street billionaires, financial industry lobbyists, and neoconservative hawks” tried to unseat Jones (he was in his 12th term when he died), by bankrolling his primary opponent. Turns out much of the “dark money” funneled to defeat him that year came from a PAC called “The Emergency Committee for Israel,” headed by neoconservative Bill Kristol, with the suggestion that Jones’ war views, which have included diplomatic solutions with Iran over confrontation, were anti-Israel.

Daniel McAdams, who worked with Rep. Ron Paul for years on Capitol Hill and now runs the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, recalled to me a vignette that perfectly encapsulates the daily challenges that Jones met, always with fortitude and grace: It was yet another emergency evacuation of the Hill, very common around 2005. A plane had flown too close to the center of Washington—but it was ultimately a false alarm, and members started walking back to their offices.

“As it happened, I spotted Walter Jones walking back up by himself,” McAdams said. “While the other Republican Members greeted each other, walked a bit together, shared stories, and compared notes on the way back up the Hill, no one spoke to Walter Jones. No one smiled at him. No Member extended him that normal courtesy. They looked the other way.

“I watched this play out in astonishment. Again and again. Once Walter Jones exited the war cult he simply ceased to exist. A man alone, wrestling with his guilt, determined to make amends. There are few in life I have admired as much as this brave, decent, and gentle man.”

Jones was indeed a man who viewed every soldier a human being, each a fellow member of God’s family on earth. He loathed to think they were pawns, and died a little more with each of them, every day. There are few people left in public life, particularly politics, who will leave such a legacy for the rest of us to both measure up to, and mourn. No doubt he achieved his redemption.

#walter jones #anti war

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dubsdeedubs · 5 years

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A Thousand Natural Shocks [Epilogue]

[AO3]

[A/N: lmao sorry i know drag me]

One said, Tell us…what is it like?

“What is what like?”

One said, Being insane. Being human.

September 20, 2012

from the Journal of Stanford F. Pines

It has been some time since my last entry. I suppose that is to be expected, given all that has occurred in the past several weeks.

I am writing from Northern California, with the sound of my brother's loud snores rumbling faintly through the wall that separates our rooms. We are well on our way to Piedmont, but with our age and the single valid driver's license between the two of us (one that matches neither of our features exactly) it seemed prudent to rest before continuing onto the last leg of our journey.

...Preferably to do so without ear plugs, hence my rare moment of privacy.

Lately, I have had no real opportunity to seek out new creatures to fill my notebooks with. Nor, if I must tell the truth, has there been much desire.

Instead, I have taken the time simply to think. Making up in some way for the many years for which contemplation was a privilege I did not hold.

I have been considering the anomalies in the world that Weirdmageddon might have woken from their long sleep. I have been pondering on the nature of family, and whether I will find it in the familiar strangers I shall meet for the first time tomorrow.

Mostly, however, I find myself thinking over what I now remember seeing in that strange space between consciousness and the lack thereof.

The green glint of eyes. The unspoken promise of safety. There is no doubt in my mind that they knew me. And, even in my indisposed state, I had known them.

'Stanley,' I said then. And they had answered.

That should surprise me far more than it does.

I tell myself that I must think about this logically. Instead, I feel myself considering the impossible.

I realize better than most just how finicky the concept of time can be in the context of the multiverse. Jheselbraum had once spent hours trying to explain how impossible it was to define a beginning or an end when speaking of creatures that transcended linear realities, that for them once something had occurred, there is a version of them for which it had always occurred.

However the entity has been changed by their deal with Stanley, the effects have extended as much into the past as they have into the future. They have become entirely independent from the single, fragile timeline of our individual dimension.

That is a powerful position to hold. But it is also a deeply lonely way to exist.

Stanley had once told me to trust in his ability to figure things out, to make things work. I do. But I am also deeply aware of how important family is to my brother, how important it is to him that he can protect those he considers his - the kids, Soos, Shermy. Me.

The entity has no family.

Yet I am hopeful, perhaps illogically so. As I think back to my time wandering the multiverse, I cannot help but remember the times I should not have survived. And there were many, more so than I can recall coherently. A blaster jammed at the nick of time, back-up guards that were called but never came... occurrences that had always seemed too contrived to be pure coincidence, especially in conjunction with one another. What if they were?

What if they had been helping, in whatever way they could?

...I would be the first to admit that these are fanciful thoughts, but I refuse to consider them impossible. After all, true family is not inherited - it is found. If nothing else, the entity has time.

And the multiverse is a very large place indeed.

It’s in the darkness where your eyes can’t see. The universe becomes two halves, and you live in the half behind the eyes.

An eldritch abomination walks into a multiversal bar, orders a Manhattan, and gets it.

"Huh," they said, or the nearest approximation of it. They prodded at the borough uneasily with a carefully corporeal tentacle.

The screams of approximately 1.7 million residents increased briefly in volume.

"...Y'know, I really don't know what I expected."

A bit more whiskey, perhaps?

A large amphibious creature perched casually on the bright red bar stool across from them, pink frills draping over the vaguely sticky countertop. It nursed a glass of murky liquid between two delicate paws, beady eyes unblinking as it looked directly at them.

"...I know ya, don't I?" They said after a long moment.

Yes. A long, transparent blink. No.

"Oookay." They fidgeted, as much as a mostly incorporeal mass of cosmic star-stuff could fidget. "So. You uh... come here often?"

I come when I am needed.

"...Right."

The frills twitched. And what brings you here?

"Um."

The Axolotl waited patiently.

"Got bored, I guess."

Boredom. The expression on its face never changed, but somehow the stretch of its smile became more noticeable. How entirely unlike us.

They went still at that, stiff with realization.

"You."

There was a silence that stretches for millennia and milliseconds, and for no time at all.

"...Why did you do this to me?"

I was under the impression you did this to yourself, said the Axolotl.

They made a face. "But ya came up with the rules for all of this, yeah? Things didn't have to turn out this way."

They never do.

The Axolotl hummed.

Are you angry?

"Hell, why wouldn't I be? I would sure love to still be out there eating planets and universes instead of..."

They trailed off, glanced around them as if to reiterate their current situation.

"Moping over shitty cocktails with a giant lizard that's drinkin' swamp water out of a wine glass."

The Axolotl blinked slowly, its smile unchanging.

No, it disagreed politely, you would not.

Their silence was answer enough.

"...What the hell am I, now?"

You will never be human, the Axolotl said. But you hold symptoms of humanity.

"Symptoms?" They repeated disbelievingly. "You make humanity sound like... like getting head lice, or something."

Is it not? It chirped.

"Er."

Humanity is imagination, is belief, is hope. It is not given or bestowed, it is caught. The Axolotl blinked. What is it then, if not a very contagious disease?

"...I would be lyin' if I said that metaphor doesn't make me incredibly uncomfortable," they said slowly. "But I get what you're saying. Kinda."

Your drink remains untouched.

They blinked, six eyes shuttering and opening at once, as if just then remembering the screaming mass of human civilization sitting right in front of them.

"Look, I know I'm from Jersey and all," the entity said defensively, "and sure, I hate shoobies as much as anyone out there. But I'm not actually gonna eat all of New York."

You are not from New Jersey, the Axolotl reminded gently. You exist without precedent. You are not 'from' anywhere.

There was a moment of silence.

"...I need a drink," they said blankly.

You have one.

"A drink without a million screaming people in it, alright?"

Would you like to have a sip of mine? The Axolotl offered generously.

The entity stared. "Buddy," they said slowly, "the day I willingly drink swamp water is gonna have to be a hell of a worse day than today."

No, it will not. For you, there are no days.

It blinked, long and slow. No weeks, no months, no lifetimes.

You have 'now', and you will have it forever.

They twitched at that, component parts squirming.

"...Great. So, uh, is this all there is?"

This?

"You know." Something like a grimace flashed momentarily across their form. "Floating around in the multiverse, messing around with planets and galaxies, playing all these giant - cosmic games that don't mean anything to anyone."

For us, yes.

The entity hesitated. "Then what - what do I do now?"

What would you want to do?

"Well, I wanna catch the latest episode of Ducktective, for one," they said, a tad bit wistfully. "Munch my way through a coupla bags of toffee peanuts. Work on a new exhibit for the Shack. ...Hell, maybe I'll even drag Ford up from his lab one of these days. Drive down to visit the kids. Just to see how they're doing."

The Axolotl said nothing.

"...You don't hafta to tell me. I get it, alright?" The entity said quietly. "I'm not stupid, I know I can't do any of that stuff. Not without bringing the whole damn universe down on our heads."

They hesitated. "Again."

You are not incorrect.

"Besides, Ford and the kids..."

There was a long, long pause.

"They've got a Stan already. I'm just - leftovers."

The Axolotl said nothing.

And then, slow and measured, it says, Not all of them.

The entity went still. Six eyes blinked as one.

There are many universes like the one you are familiar with. Certainly, they have their differences.

But where there is a portal, there is someone who went though it.

"Ford?" They said hopefully.

Someone.

"And then, they're here," they said, an odd note in their voice. "Here. Where I am."

Yes. At some point in time, at every point in time. Working through their own personal timelines.

The entity was quiet. "Are any of them, y'know -"

There is no version of Stanford Filbrick Pines wandering the the multiverse that is fully the brother you remember. There was only one, and he has returned home long ago.

"Right," they said, an odd tone in their voice. "Right, of course. We knew that."

The Axolotl inclined its head. Does that matter?

"No," the entity said immediately and stilled, surprised at themselves.

Then, with a second wind of confidence, "No, it doesn't. Because - then that just means every version of Ford out there in the multiverse is just as much my brother, yeah?"

The Axolotl paused. Then it smiled, and that was that.

And the multiverse is a very large place indeed,

It finished its drink in the stillness that followed.

"Hey. Hang on."

There's another long silence.

"...You know what I'm thinking about," says the entity softly. "What we're gonna try to do. You're not gonna tell me it's a crazy idea? That I'm gonna rip open the fabric of the universe, or something?"

The Axolotl blinked ponderously.

They hesitated. "Then, you got - advice for this, or something? Anything?"

Advice?

The Axolotl smiled, pale pink fronds waving gently around its face.

Yes. Perhaps. Just the one.

"Alright, good, because I'm -"

Choose life.

The entity reared up.

"What the hell is that supposed to -"

But the Axolotl was already gone, as if it had never been there at all.

A single glass of untouched swamp water sat on the varnished countertop.

They sighed.

"...Whelp, that's one extradimensional entity I'm never playing cards against."

I have seen galaxies die. I have watched atoms dance.

But until I had the dark behind the eyes, I didn't know the death from the dance.

Ford was fairly certain that when one looked into the abyss, it was not supposed to wave back.

He blinked blearily, trying to make sense of his swimming vision. The dull ringing in his ears did not help with that endeavor, and neither did his budding concussion. Still, he could not rid himself of the peculiar certainty that there had been something out there in the darkness of space, something friendly enough to say hello.

How many times did he hit his head? How many times did his alien captors hit his head? ...Were those different ways of phrasing the same question? Between the head injury and general exhaustion, he couldn't even begin to make sense of it.

Distantly, he could hear the click-clack sound of arthropod feet on the steel flooring and angry chittering he could only assume - with the context of a lifetime consuming ridiculous sci-fi media - translated to, "Re-capture the prisoner!"

He pulled himself away wearily from the window and the void beyond. He had made a good attempt, but there was nowhere else to run.

Ford swayed, and fell.

- and then it started, as it always did, with a dream.

He had all but forgotten the possibility. Ford had not dreamed since he had fallen through the gap between worlds, that uncertain number of decades ago. Maybe Bill had taken the capability to do so from him as retribution, perhaps he had been cut off from the Dreamscape as sharply as he had been from his own home dimension.

There was no way to know for sure. All that was certain was that he did not dream, until he did.

Stanford Pines dreamed he was in a house, one that once upon a time was his. It was as familiar to him as it was strange. There was a sense of the worn and the lived-in here, one had never developed in his own years of living between these walls. He saw it in the sloppy pile of dog-eared magazines on the counter, in the photo frames scattered all around, filled with faces he can't quite make out.

There was something here with him, sitting legs crossed on the armchair.

Something wearing Stanley's face, young and unlined and exactly as Ford remembered.

It even had the mullet.

"It's been a long time, Sixer," it said conversationally, green eyes glinting, with a familiar conspiratorial grin that sent his heart into his throat.

Impossibly enough, he hoped.

"We heard you needed a hand?"

#gravity falls #gravity falls fic #my fic #a thousand natural shocks #lmao i'm ridiculous #sorry #but take it #read it on ao3 if you can!#formatting sucks #anyways i aten't dead #it's just been weird writing about grunkles after my grandfathers passed away #like age didn't 100% hit me until then you know?#also heart attack jokes are v uncomfortable now oops #may the grunks live forever

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literaturegeek53 · 5 years

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Edgar Allan Poe - ‘Evening Star’ Analysis

Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most Gothic short story writer of the nineteenth century. He was a predominant figure of the Romantic Movement in American literature and is regarded as the inventor of the detective story.

He has had a very hard life. His father left him and his mother a few years later after his birth. His mother then died due to tuberculosis. His wife – Virginia – died similarly. The recurring themes in his works – the death of women, bereavement, horror, madness, premature burial, decay, revival of the dead, life after death – are suggested to have resulted from his own life which – as mentioned – was a sequence of tragic events and frequent abandonments. Poe skillfully weaved these themes into his meticulous plots and created the macabre world of terror and dark Romanticism bringing alive the horror through the choice of his words.

Likewise, Poe has written a magnitude of poems, all of which are largely acclaimed, read and enjoyed. One of the darkest, fiendish and the most famous of all is ‘The Raven’ – which was the inspiration of a Hollywood movie in the year 2012. Amongst these poems of his is the poem ‘Evening star’.

It does not narrate a series of peculiar events nor does it portray a lot of horror and supernatural like the other poems do. Instead, this one is fairly short, concise, effective and to the point. Even then, Poe infuses it with a lot of feelings, emotions, symbolism's and allusions which he knew would keep the critics busy for centuries to come after his death – and it has.

This article will endeavor to analyze the poem ‘Evening Star’ by not fixating upon any preconceptions, preliminaries or afore formulated perspectives. Instead, it will try and walk the readers through the poem by laying out different pieces of the puzzle for them, so that they may assemble any image according to their liking of this marvelous poem.

Evening star by Edgar Allan Poe: (Published in ‘Tamerlane and other poems’ in 1827)

'Twas noontide of summer,

And mid-time of night;

And stars, in their orbits,

Shone pale, thro' the light

Of the brighter, cold moon,

'Mid planets her slaves,

Herself in the Heavens,

Her beam on the waves.

I gazed awhile

On her cold smile;

Too cold- too cold for me-

There pass'd, as a shroud,

A fleecy cloud,

And I turned away to thee,

Proud Evening Star,

In thy glory afar,

And dearer thy beam shall be;

For joy to my heart

Is the proud part

Thou bearest in Heaven at night,

And more I admire

Thy distant fire,

Than that colder, lowly light.

Analysis:

“'Twas noontide of summer, And mid-time of night;”

Edgar Allan Poe conjures a mood of loneliness and fear from the very beginning through his meekly dark and gloomy tone. He also mentions ‘night’ which is usually affiliated with horror, supernatural and fear – especially in Gothic stories when all sorts of violence would happen during the ‘night’.

Moreover, anyone who reads this poem would comprehend through the very first reading that Poe is juxtaposing between the ‘cold moon’ and the ‘evening star’. He conjoins the ‘moon’ with ‘night’ – darkness – and the ‘evening star’ with ‘fire’ – light. By doing so, he is taking a dip into the realm of nineteenth century religion where ‘fire’ would add up to hell-fire. Considering the fact that Poe was an atheist, why would he mention these two controversial subjects in his poem? A suggestive answer would be that he is using these religious thoughts to announce the situation of his dire, sad and lonely life, and how he would rather prefer death than life, as he puts it very subtly but cleverly, in the final two lines of his poem: “Thy distant fire, than that colder, lowly light.”

“Shone pale, thro' the light of the brighter, cold moon,”

Poe portrays his astonishment through his tone of surprise in these lines when he states that due to the cold moon even the stars – which would usually shine bright – now ‘shone pale’. Through this, he is demonstrating to his readers that the ‘cold moon’ is some kind of a vicious entity which sucks away the light from all things and leaves them cold; hence, his description of the moon as ‘cold moon’.

As mentioned above in the introduction, Poe has had a very troubling life. He has witnessed a lot of death and has been abandoned too many times. Therefore, it would not be preposterous or insane if we as readers were to suggest, or imply, or perhaps contrive that the ‘cold moon’ which Poe keeps on mentioning is a symbol for himself. The fact that everything turns cold due to the effects of that moon, such as the stars, may allude us towards believing that Poe blames himself for the death of his loved ones; that whatever he touches turns ‘cold’, as in lifeless, as in ultimately dies.

What strengthens this argument is that he mentions the cold moon as ‘brighter’. Meaning that he was aware of his genius, of his talent and the skills which he possessed that very few did in his time. However, he immediately brings forth the ‘cold moon’ again, right beside the word ‘brighter’. This could suggest that, as mentioned, Poe was aware of his genius, but he was also aware of the mournful fact that his genius – perhaps because of himself, as mentioned before – was left unnoticed in his lifetime. This notion would again explain to us, the readers, why he symbolizes himself as the ‘cold moon’.

“I gazed awhile On her cold smile; Too cold- too cold for me-”

Here Poe says that he ‘gazes’ a while on the cold moon’s ‘cold smile’ which was apparently ‘too cold’ for him. This exudes a tone of discomfort and malice.

Now, let us, as readers, perceive that Poe symbolizes the ‘cold moon’ as his life and not as himself. What he mentions in these lines then is that he ‘gazes’ back, as in ruminates back onto his life and witnesses how ‘cold’ it is; filled with death, pain, suffering and devoid of happiness. That is why he mentions the ‘cold smile’ which suggest some sort of sinister-like appearance or happening.

Another perspective to this concept could be that when Poe ruminates back onto his life he notices that his ‘cold’ life is ‘smiling’ at his present miseries and state. Which is why he would rather die than live – as already mentioned above.

“Proud Evening Star, In thy glory afar,”

He then moves on to the ‘evening star’ describing it as ‘proud’ and with the kind of ‘glory’ with ‘far’ reaches.

Before I go further, it is important to mention that the nineteenth century aristocratic society was not Poe’s favorite. They didn’t treat him as he thought they should which is why he despised them. Moreover, we as English Literature students are already somewhat familiar with the eighteenth and the nineteenth century society.

Keeping that in mind, when we reflect onto these lines, we can assume that Poe symbolizes the ‘evening star’ as the society around him. Which is why he states that it is ‘proud’, as in inconsiderate about the well being of others, discriminating between the rich and the poor and between those with power and wealth. He then states: ‘glory afar’, perhaps alluding to the fact that its influence reaches to the far corners of the world. It could also mean, considering Poe’s resentment to it, that ‘glory’ is ‘far away’ from it because according to him it does not deserve it or isn’t worthy of it.

Another understanding of these lines could be that by ‘evening star’ Poe imagines a life for himself brimming with ‘pride’ and ‘glory’. Which is why he further states that ‘And more I admire thy distant fire’, meaning he admires the ‘evening star’ more than the ‘cold moon’ – which is his current life, as mentioned above. However, he uses the word ‘afar’ with it. Suggesting that he himself discerned that the life filled with glory and pride which he hoped for was as far away from him as the ‘evening star’ – Venus – was in real life.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude this article by mentioning that the analysis enumerated above are as per my deductions and comprehension of the text and the context in which the poet tries to place them. There is no doubt that this is only a drop in a vast ocean of allusions, symbolism's and meanings which Edgar Allan Poe has embedded within his writing for his readers to extrapolate. I would also like to state that from numerous of Poe’s poems only a few have been analyzed. Therefore, as students of Literature it is our responsibility to understand what this great author, poet and critic had been meaning to say through his writings. Hence, I would urge all students of Literature to embark upon this fantastical journey so that the world may fathom the glory and greatness of Edgar Allan Poe with much more stability and vigor.

#writing #my writing #amwriting #edgar allan poe #edgar allan poe poems #evening star by edgar allan poe #evening star analysis #husain necklace #edgar allan poe poem analysis #literature #literature students #english literature #english literature analysis #english blog

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