#like a way to allude to the past in a philosophical sense

[rfhusnik]

The Return Of The Man Behind The Screen Part Two

     Written By:  Anonymous

           It’s been said that it’s somewhat difficult to simultaneously believe in the tenets of  Christianity and existentialism. One’s a religion. One’s a philosophy. But both concern how mortals should and/or must conduct themselves while they live upon Planet Earth. And Christian existentialist Soren Kierkegaard had no problem justifying the two, yet other great philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche could not meld them.

           And, in recent years the tern “existential” seems to have been rather loosely and sometimes perhaps incorrectly used by various liberal journalists and left wing politicians. Indeed they’ve supposed it to connote either someone or something which in their opinion constitutes a threat to the very being of some sort of person, place or thing. And this negative understanding of the term has apparently influenced many to believe existentialism is something other than the philosophical study of each individual mortal’s quest to find meaning and fulfillment in his or her own life, while he or she exists within a temporal world of probable daily routines and possible daily emptiness.

           And of course it could be said that modern philosophy has involved the attempt to fully understand the viewpoints of great thinkers. And most often it’s seemed the ultimate goal of such thinkers has been the contemplation of how temporal life upon Planet Earth could best be lived. In other words, should mortals live their earthly existences for temporal goals only or, should they, while still alive upon the Earth, be preparing themselves for an afterlife which for them would be based upon how they’d lived temporally?

           Well, I didn’t mean this to be a critique of philosophy or philosophers; yet, one would expect that to be involved in philosophy one must have some amount of keen intellect. But of course, while that’s true, philosophers are only human too; and, like all other humans, must ultimately contend with the question of what becomes of one after one’s physical earthly death.

           Yet, for those of us who’ve been chosen to either live within, or at least have significant contact with “the city,” ours is a very special knowledge of reality. For example, magistrates from other earthly realities have mandated that whenever I appear in public I’m to wear a metal screen about my face! Therefore, I journey out as infrequently as possible. And, I’ve been told that the metal screen I wear has a three point symbolism which I’ve already alluded to, but not yet divulged. Well, those points are (and I’m going to list them according to my interpretation of their importance):  1. A reference to Lucifer’s eternal attempts to damn each individual mortal, 2. An acknowledgement of the sinfulness of mankind, and 3. An allusion to the fact that all humans are continually subjected to radical, usually left wing, political rhetoric.

           And having now disclosed those symbolic reasons, my quest in the remainder of this discussion shall involve what I consider to be searches for truth. And as I search, I’ll seek the guidance of those who are supposed to guide me. They’re good leaders. And they know the difference between the time of day and the time of man. And they’ve spent their pasts in pursuit of goodness and Godliness, rather than in anticipation of changes in the winds of politics. And yes, they know that only so many foreigners, whether they’ve entered a nation legally or illegally, can be absorbed by the host nation. Otherwise, eventually the large numbers of “new people” will certainly impose their way of life, as well as their native language upon the established citizenry of the nation whose borders they’ve breeched. And eventually this will cause the downfall of what had previously been a great nation. That’s what happened in Rome.

           But now I sense an otherworldly guidance descending upon me! And, oh yes, it comes from my superiors! Here are its words!

           Jerusalem:  I’ve learned that religions exist for salvation. And three of the world’s greatest, as guideposts to current conduct and further divinity, exist within you, emanate from you, and love you. And the Venerable Bede, in a probable reference of you to eternity, said that you’re with milk and honey blessed, yet know of hearts and souls oppressed. And through such expression, I’ve learned that depression, if derived from such oppression, can be lessened.

           But as a sinful mortal, I find my strengths emulating toward faces of pain outside my window. And I know that behind those images of strife exist inheritors of a tyrant’s dream – a dream constructed with the aid of forces from the abyss. And in my comprehension I can see those inheritors in peril today. Earthly false prophets lied and told them they’d know a better life. But they know far from that now! And may God’s pity be upon them! They apparently didn’t understand how easily their basic common sense could be negated.

           Nevertheless, I believe the people of tomorrow will live in peace only after they find common religious beliefs, order and moderation. And undoubtedly there is hope that Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, and all other humans, whether they worship other deities or not, can live peaceably upon this planet.

           But I hope we’ve learned by now that war is futile. Oh, we must look upon it as a senseless waste of life! Yet, we must also regrettably understand its ultimate irony; that being of course that if we “let down our guard” toward it so to speak, we then invite its occurrence through our very revulsion of it. Yes, this is a simple but unfortunate truth. And it exists because since sin entered the world, mankind now possesses, along with a God like image of righteousness, an inherently jealous and evil tendency.

           And doesn’t it seem as though one has so little time to “open one’s heart” so to speak? But yet, if one does manage to lay one’s emotions bare, does one find the components of pleasantness within them? And is one’s congeniality genuine, or is it a façade? And do love, peace, kindness, and all such other similar traits exist within one, or does uncertainty dwell in one’s heart instead?

           Centers of being, controlled by the desire for conformity, have no capacity to improve life. And they trick mankind’s comprehension to believe that all will always remain as it is today. But of course, if no one else will fight against non-change, the forces of hell certainly will. They shall never allow life to tranquilly flow by for humankind upon Planet Earth. Yet, they can’t compete against love eternal; indeed they struggle mightily even in the face of love that’s temporal!

           But time does go by, and people and situations do change! And in the face of change, new approaches to life are sometimes adopted. And I’ll speak of some of them now.

           Sometimes, in dreams, I imagine I must relive portions of time already passed. And then, with a mind constrained from the completely clear capabilities of wakefulness, I become very fearful that I’ll not be able to reconfigure those pieces of what once was in such a fashion as whomever or whatever controls my sleeping thoughts seems to wish they be recast as. And though, at those times I’m obviously not entirely cognizant of all I hold to be true, or at least real, I sense a stark onslaught of trepidation and remorse then still. And, oh yes, at such moments as those, although I’m functioning then in a sort of dubious mental clarity, I’m still exceptionally aware of the fact that all mortals have sinned.

           And, when I awake, and leave those dreams behind, I usually feel relieved then minimally, and often vindicated substantially. Still, maybe my mind sometimes tricks me while I exist in either slumber or alertness. And maybe too much blame has been assigned to too many diverse actions taken, random actions not taken, miscellaneous occurrences, and certain suppositions, realizations, and emotions – but maybe not.

           And sometimes, as today, in my first cognizance of wakefulness, I’m where all of life is fragile – as in a glass world. But in that see through world there exists a room within in which I can remain until my mind clears again, or comes back down, as however one may wish to term such a supposed return to normalcy. And a long hallway adjoins that room. And I often walk to the door of that room, and peer out at that hallway, but don’t enter it! Yet, from where I’m standing then, in the doorway, I can hear the echoes and reverberations of memories from long ago as they bounce by me; and I can almost see them as the collide with the walls of that hall, but then rebound off them.

           But then, as I leave the doorway, and close the door, shutting out as it were those reminiscences which for some time then had been visitors in my recollection, I’m always struck by the way in which my unquestionably real, and undoubtedly fictional worlds are so lightly decorated! They seem to have a brightness about themselves! And love seemingly floats on weightless breezes through them.

           Please, will you bring a more common love, and a more approachable hope to me here in this room? My mind now has imagined natural landscapes portrayed on canvas! Oh, and now I fear I’m struggling to distinguish what’s real from what’s most likely unreal. And at these times I tell myself that what’s real is what I can physically hear, see, touch, and live within. And yet, I fear a large domain of unreality exists near me also.

           Or is unreality real in the sense that it once occupied a spot in someone’s mind? Masters of heaven will you allow true artists to show me what separates clarity from illusion? Masters of heaven please permit my image to exist eternally within the murals of timeless light! Don’t allow it to be banished to Lucifer’s abode of damnation in which pain, remorse, wretchedness, and a fire which burns in darkness, shall exist everlastingly.

[sepublic]

Hunting Palismen Speculation

           Hunting Palismen… Well, I bet Eda’s whistle from the Bat Queen will finally come into play here! She mentioned in the Reddit AMA that the source of wood used to create Palismen is becoming more scarce, and it likely has to do with Belos and his hunger for palismen, desire to control and commodify magic, to ‘tame’ this world by sterilizing it; I can imagine plenty of reasons for him!

           This is possibly where we get out shot of a frantic, panicked Kikimora;

           As well as this knight from the Emperor’s Coven about to be hit by something;

           If I had to guess? Several palismen, led by Luz and/or the Bat Queen are leading a counter-attack, or the Emperor’s Coven is finding difficulty in trying to secure the source for palisman wood thanks to the local creatures! We could get a Ferngully kind of plot where the Emperor’s Coven is trying to raze down the woods, convert them for another purpose, perhaps a specific one, or just a bunch of general ones, maybe related to the Day of Unity at hand!

           But speaking of Palismen, this also brings up the red cardinal on Luz’s shoulder;

           There’s a good chance that this cardinal is a Palisman! Will we see Luz get her own Palisman here, the cardinal? It’d complete her own Clawthorne motif and solidify her as a member of the family! She also has the Golden Guard’s staff… Might we see lore regarding Belos and the Golden Guard’s unique, technological staffs?

           Does Belos intend to replace palismen with this brand of machinery, similar to the training wand we saw Amity use in Adventures in the Elements? A mechanical, controlled way of harnessing an outside source of bile to aid and supplement one’s magic… Seems like something Belos would be fond of! We’ll probably get this shot from the trailer of Belos breaking a staff in this episode as well;

           This could be showing how Belos devours Palismen, and with the similarities between the Golden Guard’s staff and this one –note the swirl- it’s possible we’ll see the process of Belos ‘civilizing’ the staffs of wild witches, repurposing and reusing their bases as a template for his own technological brand of staff. This could be a flashback introducing how the Golden Guard got his staff, or just Belos tinkering in general; The countdown art by Dana for Day 4 shows him tinkering with his own staff using tools like it’s a car and he’s the mechanic, so who knows?

           Combining technology with magic… I have to wonder if there’s any connection to Blight Industries, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

           Could we see Palismen be reincarnated, repurposed into those red orbs that Belos and the Golden Guard adorn their staffs with? Does Belos devour a Palisman and ‘digest’ its magic to form those red spheres? Could the red cardinal connect with the red crystals on Belos and the Golden Guard’s staffs? I can only imagine… It’d be interesting if we got to see that the Golden Guard’s own palisman is actually the cardinal- Perhaps he abandoned it? Will we get more insight into how palismen are abandoned, no doubt thanks to Belos’ hunts and crusades against wild witches, encouraging them to throw theirs out?

           Not only that, but if this episode has Luz with her special pants, then this other shot of a similar-looking background is probably from the same episode;

           We see this large structure that looks vaguely organic; Could this be a cut-down stump from a palisman tree? Are these structures carved out from palisman trees? If so, then Luz using that wood to place her glyph combo could lead to some very devastating effects! This could be a town settled around a source of palisman wood, so potentially Luz will go out and travel to deal with this plot; Adding to the new locations for the Boiling Isles that Dana promised us!

           Not only that, but if we have Kikimora and Luz’s cool new pants, possibly given to her by the Bat Queen, or just an aesthetical choice, then…

           THESE shots could also be from Hunting Palismen! Luz is climbing up some sort of blimp or airship, possibly one containing several caged palismen, a classic plot of poached animals and whatnot, as she tries to stop the Emperor’s Coven. Atop this blimp, she is approached by a dragon with a notable hand motif… And, well; You all know the theory that this dragon is Kikimora, hence the hands and similar coloration, the yellow-and-red eyes! And of course, this theory connects to the Hand Dragon being the same type of hand that steals King’s crown from Eda’s story in the first episode!

           AKA, we could get a look into how Kikimora deposed King in the past, as well as see her transform and reveal her true power- Hence that berserk state of hers from the intro, alluding to something more with this witch! And if you go by the theory that King was the Bat Queen’s original owner… Well, that’d tie things together very nicely; Kikimora might be able to recognize the Bat Queen as the Palisman of the giant she defeated and deposed, a connecting thread between these two characters with missing backstories!

           Also, this shot of Luz climbing up the air ship has what seems to be in tow an orb of palisman wood;

           This being palisman wood would make sense, and could add to Luz growing a vine around this structure as well, if it’s spawned FROM the wooden orb itself! We might see how the palisman trees can be remade and repopulated, restored after Belos’ destruction.

           Also in the background of our shot of Kikimora, the coloration of the sky looks like it could match what we see with Luz on the air ship! And there seems to be acid melting what looks to be trees in the background… Which again, adds to the idea that the Emperor’s Coven is trying to hunt down Palismen –hence the title- and also seize the wood created to use them as well! But they might get resistance from the locals, some acidic resistance, which could prompt Kikimora to figure out something of her own to handle the situation, even as the Bat Queen implores Luz for help…

           I can’t tell if the sequence where Luz has the Golden Guard’s staff and the cardinal, while combining her Fire and Ice Glyphs, comes before or after all of this! But nevertheless, we could get a look into lore about Kikimora, about the Golden Guard, about Palismen and Belos’ relationship with them, how his coven system has begun to devour and repurpose the wood they’re made of- And insight into those mechanical staffs! 

          Will we get a look into the kind of magic that Belos and the Golden Guard use, perhaps fueled directly by harvested bile, like the Philosopher’s Stone from Fullmetal Alchemist- They’re both red forms of inexplicable, rule-defying energy/magic that run on unethical sources! And hey, if Belos has a sudden need for more Palismen, hence the hunt, maybe it’s because his own condition is worsening?

#the owl house #the owl house bat queen #palisman #palismen #palismans #the owl house kikimora #the owl house golden guard #the owl house luz #luz noceda #speculation #theory #analysis #the owl house hunter

[istumpysk]

When did the idea of Others = Climate Change originate ? Apparently one needs WMDs to counter them. Seriously 😳😂

Good question. I couldn’t tell you where it originated from. (Paging @butterflies-dragons)

However, I do know he talked about it extensively here.

Manjoo: Many observers have pointed out that “Game of Thrones” offers a perfect metaphor for understanding climate change. What do you think of this interpretation?

Martin: It’s kind of ironic because I started writing “Game of Thrones” all the way back in 1991, long before anybody was talking about climate change. But there is — in a very broad sense — there’s a certain parallel there. And the people in Westeros are fighting their individual battles over power and status and wealth. And those are so distracting them that they’re ignoring the threat of “winter is coming,” which has the potential to destroy all of them and to destroy their world. And there is a great parallel there to, I think, what I see this planet doing here, where we’re fighting our own battles. We’re fighting over issues, important issues, mind you — foreign policy, domestic policy, civil rights, social responsibility, social justice. All of these things are important. But while we’re tearing ourselves apart over this and expending so much energy, there exists this threat of climate change, which, to my mind, is conclusively proved by most of the data and 99.9 percent of the scientific community. And it really has the potential to destroy our world. And we’re ignoring that while we worry about the next election and issues that people are concerned about, like jobs. Jobs are a very important issue, of course. All of these things are important issues. But none of them are important if, like, we’re dead and our cities are under the ocean. So really, climate change should be the number one priority for any politician who is capable of looking past the next election. But unfortunately, there are only a handful of those. We spend 10 times as much energy and thought and debate in the media discussing whether or not N.F.L. players should stand for the national anthem than this threat that’s going to destroy our world.

As far as Daenerys or her dragons playing any role in fighting the Others, I truly don’t know how people reached that conclusion. I’ve ranted about it before.

Philosophically it doesn’t work, like you alluded to. You don’t use one threat to civilization to stop another threat to civilization. The author has made pretty obvious literary parallels between dragons and the dead, with both symbolizing the destruction of life (dragons plant no trees, etc. etc.). You’d really have to delude yourself to believe he’s going to turn around and portray dragons as entities critical in bringing the dawn/spring (life).

Beyond that, those people are simply ignoring canon, which is incredible as they champion themselves as defenders of it. Vermax was notably ill-tempered in the North, and that took place in autumn. Silverwing refused to cross the wall, despite never before rejecting Alysanne’s direction. Information like that isn’t accidental or trivial, the author is trying to signal to the reader, but some people are too blinded by the curtain of light, I suppose.

This is pure guesswork (aided by a logical timeline), but I believe both threats to humanity and the realm (ice and fire), are meant to land/attack simultaneously. It just kind of clicks for me.

#anon #asoiaf #anti daenerys #anti dragons #no i will never shut up about the curtain of life #peak fandom wank #stumpy ask

[autumnblogs]

Day 3: Vendetta against Bro

Welcome back to more Homestuck Liveblogging. Picking up with Nannasprite as she prepares to give John the Dirt.

https://homestuck.com/story/421

Sburb’s opening move is to take John’s Dad away from him. If @mmmmalo​‘s theory about psychological storytelling is to be believed, Sburb provokes fear and then manifests it in the form of a character’s antagonists. If you wonder why I bring them up so much, it’s probably because I’ve been reading their blog lately. I am almost always game for more Homestuck theorization, and would love to be able to reference more people and engage with their thoughts in my theoryposts and liveblogging, so if you know somebody with good takes, please pass them along my way.

The Incipisphere, like John’s name, was invoked into existence by player/character action, but paradoxically, has always been that way. By engaging with Sburb, John authenticates its retroactive existence, like a mailman taking a signature of receipt for a package.

When we engage with the fixtures of our cultures and material realities, we too, authenticate them. This can be good or bad - when we communicate with each other, recognize each other, we authenticate each other too. Observing and being observed is a mutual act of validation for everyone involved. I see you seeing me seeing you.

I’m full of horseshit again. Read some more horseshit after the break.

Content Warning for this one: Pedophilia Mentions.

https://homestuck.com/story/422

There’s a lot to unpack in this sequence of pages, and I’m almost certainly going to miss a lot of it, but I’ll come back to stuff that I miss as it comes back up in later pages.

As a Crucible of Unlimited Potential, Skaia can become absolutely anything, and the shape that it will take on will be influenced by the actions of the players. But it isn’t anything yet. 

This is the second time in two pages that Nanna has brought up the light-darkness dichotomy of the forces at play in the Medium, and after just talking about the act of mutual authentication through mutual observation, my brain is screaming the words Hegelian Lens at me. Might go somewhere with that too.

I also wanna call attention to the name of the Medium. As a story about stories, it only makes sense that the name of Homestuck’s main otherworld should evoke the field used to propagate mass communication.

https://homestuck.com/story/423

I’ve always thought that it’s interesting that of the two forces in the Medium, the players have natural allies in the form of Prospit. The choice here is not to act on behalf of one or the other, the choice is between Action and Inaction. Not doing something is itself, doing something.

https://homestuck.com/story/427

You Can (Not) Redo.

Sburb relentlessly drives its players forward. If you attempt to go back, or stay where you are, you will be punished. No getting your parents back, no getting your planet back.

What’ll it be John? Advance or Advance?

https://homestuck.com/story/431

John is extremely resistant to being made to do things that he doesn’t want to do anyway, even by Narrators.

More thoughts about Cake and Baked Goods in Homestuck and in relation to John. The other main characters baking is associated with in Homestuck are all women - The Condesce, Meenah, Jane, Nanna - and baking in general is pretty strongly associated with women, moms, etc. I’ve always thought it was a little out of place amongst Dad’s other character traits, which are definitively masculine. Maybe it’s for exactly that reason - baking is culturally feminine.

Maybe John’s resistance to baked goods is because he’s uncomfortable receiving feminine affection (especially, but not only from his Dad). It’s like getting kisses from your Mom in public or other public displays of affection between men and the women in their lives, or even men and other men in their lives. John is certainly pretty clueless about affection from women when he receives it later in the story. On the other hand, he responds very well to masculine displays of affection, like the aloof but ebullient cards he gets from his Dad, or the one-upsmanship between him and Dave.

 (I’ll have to think some more about the capitalism thing from my other post.)

https://homestuck.com/story/433

More of Rose seeing enemies in every shadow. Then again, could it be Jasper’s fault that they’re in this mess?

https://homestuck.com/story/442

I think the fact that we jump to this point in the past suggests that Rose is probably reminiscing about this spot, going along with my theory that when the Narration is focusing on a character, it’s also giving us that character’s stream of consciousness - we’re experience what Rose is experiencing.

That probably goes a long way to excusing the kind of puzzling, irritating experience we have of our first minutes with John. Due to his tendency to get distracted by things and forget how things work, we have to suffer through his own inability to navigate his disorderly environment exactly the same way he does.

Oh, so that’s why this story gets compared to Ulysses.

It is Jaspers’ fault that they’re in this mess. My hypothesis gathers more data.

https://homestuck.com/story/444

The third of the prose poems. Drat. Got to Dave’s Poem before I even had the chance to write about Rose’s Poem. Guess we’ll come back to this one later later.

https://homestuck.com/story/445

I’ve almost certainly missed a few of these gags by now but “Left him hanging long enough” is one of the jokes that Homestuck reproduces over and over again. Homestuck reproduces itself frequently, like variations on a theme. Its self-referential nature could be called incestuous, as it turns one-off gags into recurring gags.

https://homestuck.com/story/448

While Bro and Dirk are both definitely irony ninjas where Dave is just performing irony to get his Bro’s approval, I think all the irony is an effort to distance themselves from the fact that they really do sincerely enjoy the things they’re “ironically” into. That too, is probably ironic.

Unfortunately, the actual subject matter of Bro’s interests, while innocuous in a vacuum, are still extremely inappropriate to leave out where a thirteen year old can have access to them. Bro probably isn’t a pedophile, but between the martial education, and the uncomfortable degree to which he involves Dave in his sex life, his relationship with Dave recalls pederasty which is one of many, many links between Dirk, Bro, and the Classical Hellenes, and Monastic Shudo, a similar practice historically attested from their beloved Japan. (The term Platonic Relationship is called that because Plato is one of the first Greek Philosophers to argue that maybe it would be better for students’ education if they weren’t also sexually involved with their mentors? Or so the story goes.)

I may have a bit of a vendetta against Bro Strider, which probably has at least a little to do with the fact that, when I first read Homestuck, I got fooled into thinking he was kind of awesome, and it wasn’t until I was able to deal with my own childhood abuse and the fact that I had been indoctrinated with a lot of the very same toxic ideas bro inculcated in Dave that I was able to realize that Bro Strider is kind of a horrible guardian, so I have a sort of special ire directed at this character. Maybe I’m afraid in another life, I could have grown up to be that kind of creep. I’m glad I didn’t.

https://homestuck.com/story/449

All throughout this section, the narration suggests that Dave is both subconsciously aware that his Bro’s pasttimes make him uncomfortable, but trying to soothe himself by affirming them. So, in spite of my sharing some youthful confusion with Dave, the Narrative at least communicates to us from the very beginning that something is off about Bro.

https://homestuck.com/story/452

To interrupt my dark and brooding reverie, please enjoy some Skate 3 Glitches.

I guess here’s a good place to note that I am going to be using the #personal stuff hashtag to denote when a post contains me alluding to my own dark and troubled past.

https://homestuck.com/story/457

The password is six letters long, and based on the fact that it’s the most awesome thing that it could be, I have no doubt that it’s Strider.

https://homestuck.com/story/465

Yup.

https://homestuck.com/story/466

:)

It warms the cockles of me heart that Dave’s first inclination when he starts to flip the fuck out is to reach out to John Egbert.

https://homestuck.com/story/484

8^y

https://homestuck.com/story/485

Remember that one-upsmanship I was talking about? Any chance Dave and John get around each other, they talk each other down. I’m not sure if Andrew was saying anything about Toxic Masculinity at the time. I expect, like a lot of us, he didn’t have those words on his mind in 2009, but that’s textbook toxic masculinity, and I think when viewed as a complete work, Dave and John’s growth out of it is a sign of healthy maturation. Build each other up, boys, don’t tear each other down. In this life, we’re all we’ve got, and you owe it to each other.

https://homestuck.com/story/503

Leveling up is one of those weird things about Roleplaying Games that I didn’t realize until some point in the last two years is kind of an integral fixture of them. Overcoming hardships permanently makes you stronger in games that have an experience-level feature in them, and once you’re strong enough to beat a challenge once, you’re almost always strong enough to overcome that challenge in the future.

It’s a kind of storytelling that on closer examination is weirdly propagandistic, but it’s actually all over media. It’s pretty rare for a story to say “When you overcome a challenge, good job. You will have to overcome that same challenge again and again - maybe every day of your life.” The interesting thing, and I might come back to this, is that I think Homestuck actually takes this latter approach. Exactly the same emotional struggles they begin the story with are the ones they spend all 8000 pages of Homestuck agonizing over, and these characters will probably spend their entire lives wrestling with the baggage of their youth.

Suffering and toil is the fate of humankind, I suppose.

https://homestuck.com/story/518

Surrounded by Idiots.

https://homestuck.com/story/538

Saw is a story about a serial killer who subjects his victims to gruelling trials catered to make them face their own fatal flaws and emerge changed into better people, which is a lot like authorial scorn, which Andrew describes thusly in the commentary for Vriska’s introduction: “It's not as ill-willed as it might sound, but more of a universal principle of storytelling that for things to be interesting, harsh outcomes must befall those you create, in response to which they may thrive or fail. Which to the casual observer may read as hate.“. Lord English and Caliborn bear visual similarity to Jigsaw’s creepy puppet avatars, and serve as instruments of Andrew’s Authorial Scorn. Bro reproduces the same kind of creator’s hatred that Lord English bears toward all of Paradox Space, and reproduces it for the dubious benefit of his ward - Dave is to overcome the challenges thrust upon him in order to become strong.

https://homestuck.com/story/571

Dave does not care for being watched.

https://homestuck.com/story/588

If Dave’s first instinct for when he’s uncomfortable is to go talk to his friends, his second instinct is to attack.

https://homestuck.com/story/625

I don’t remember where I read it originally, it’s too far away in the past, but each of the items in the Rocket Pack is representative of one of John’s friends. The Cinderblock Dave, the Flower Pot Jade, the Violin Rose. John’s friends, his connections and bonds (Blood) tie him down and prevent him from indulging his most impulsive behaviors (Breath).

https://homestuck.com/story/631

In addition to Mad Science (or perhaps as an aspect thereof) John demonstrates remarkable lateral thinking.

https://homestuck.com/story/635

Alchemy has helped me get my thoughts in gear on a subject I glossed over the other day - the way the characters’ personality traits and objects fill the background radiation of the comic. In a way, the same thing is going on when the characters produce all kinds of neat shit from the odds and ends around their house as is going on when Sburb populates itself with symbols from the characters domestic lives. 

Clowns become a threatening symbol throughout all of Homestuck, basically because there are a bunch in John’s house from a Doylist perspective. From a Watsonian perspective, Sburb seems, through the vehicle of destiny, to deliberately latch onto things from the players’ lives that will help them to contend with their anxiety and trauma. John has bad dreams about clowns, and seems to conceptualize himself as a clown in his self-critical estimation of himself. Maybe even as a Dark Mirror of his aspirations to be an entertainer? Is a Circus Clown a funhouse mirror version of a stage magician? I don’t have a follow up to that question, but it makes me think. If you checked out the essay from Malo I linked earlier, you might recognize some other things that John is afraid of which characterize his session, like his alleged fear of heights, and his anxiety about confronting his Dad.

I think that’s all for this evening. Another 200 pages down.

Cam signing off, alive and not alone.

#homestuck #liveblogging #commentary #authentication #validation #irony #personal stuff #authorial scorn

[mysterioh]

The Ignorant Beauty and The Beast of New York - Ch. 6

PAIRING: MOB!STEVE ROGERS X READER

SYNOPSIS: Y/N is an exhausted bio major. Steve is danger with a capital DANGER. She thinks he’s a sarcastic prick with an impressive knowledge of art history. He thinks she’s cute even if she’s only running on one brain cell. All he wants is a single date, but she’s adamant upon denying.

Masterlist

I’m Your What Now?

Ah, Columbia University. The pride and joy of New York. The mecca for philosophical thinking and scientific advancement.

It kept only the cream of the crop. Sons and daughters of the wealthy, valedictorians, and exceptionally bright international students. The future president. The next Plato. Another Einstein.

There was a certain standard that came with being a student here. The ooh's and ah's and the jealous eyes that bore into their backs were natural for these Ivy League students.

And yet as Steve stood there he found it to be like the overpriced Catholic school he spent twelve torturous years at. After school, he didn't really see a reason to go to university. His future was predetermined and he had no desire to go against it.

Steve wasn't stupid. He was intelligent. An expert in combat and tact and a mogul in the business world. His performance was better than his peers with their fancy degrees and certifications. He had them under his foot and they only moved when he let them.

It just went to show that knowledge and wisdom didn't come from going to a fancy school. It came from experience and hard work, rigor, and determination. But even so, he couldn't help but feel an odd sense of pride in his chest when he learned you attended Columbia.

Mrs. Rogers, you genius woman.

He sprinted up the steps and in towards the overarching gate. It was like a world populated by teenagers. Here, twenty-five was considered middle-aged. They milled around clad with backpacks and textbooks usually in a small group of three or four. Some passed by on bikes while others strutted to the beat of their music.

There were a plethora of styles. Punks and goths. Preps and jocks. Basic white girls with their leggings and UGGs. Snazzy poets in all black and topped with berets. Those avant-garde chicks that had an aesthetic like none other. Diversity was key at Columbia. The world was being represented here.

Steve passes by, following google maps on his phone to find the Student Resource Center in a hope to find you there.  

A day ago…

"Okay," Sam sighed, holding a paper in his hand with a laptop sitting on Steve's desk. "Quentin Beck, a biochemical engineering student at Columbia. Around twenty-one years old and is most likely a total geek."

"Hey," Steve warns. Bucky snickers like a child, chomping loudly on some potato chips.

"Sorry," Sam replied. "No social media accounts. Not even an old facebook. You sure this chick's not a hermit?"

"She's probably focusing on her studies. She's diligent."

"You're defending her as if you know her," Bucky piped up.

"I do know her," Steve said.

"Yeah, that's why you're googling her like a pervert."

"Shut up before I punch your teeth out."

"Anyways," Sam called them back. "She's on the school website."

"She is," Steve pushes him to the side. "Lemme see."

"There's no picture. It's just a list of tutors."

"She's a tutor? Smart chicks are so hot."

Bucky rolls his eyes. "I can hear your heart pounding all the way over here," he said lazily while sitting at his desk.

"Get your dirty shoes off my desk."

"Make me," Bucky taunted.

"So it's got hours of availability here," Sam said scrolling down. "Like when she's working."

"Ya know Sam I know you're a freak and all, but this is low, even for you," Bucky said, his feet still on the desk and his right hand greasy with potato chips. "I didn't know you were as big of a creep as Stevie."

"I wouldn't be talking, Mr. I stalk my ex's insta at four in the morning." Sam retorted, making Steve chuckle.

"I don't!"

"Bro, I saw you the other day!"

"What the hell are you doing at my house at four in the morning, you freak?"

Nat walks in to see the three lazing around and sighs. Sam quickly slams the laptop shut and Bucky slips his feet off the desk.

"What are you three doing?" She asked.

"Nothing," Steve smiled.  

"For NY’s biggest mob man, you sure do suck at lying." He frowns. "You're also pretty horrible at signing your own damn name on important papers." She said, waving a paper in her hand. "What the hell are these hearts?"

"That's not me!" He retorted with a light blush. "How do I know it's not you?”

"You really think I have the time to do that?" She snapped at him. "We've got shipments coming in today and you have a meeting with the Gambino head tomorrow. Do you have anything prepared?"

"No…" he whispered.

"Am I the only one working around here?!" She shouted making the three cringe at her shrill voice. "What have you three been doing all morning anyway?"

"Planning," Bucky spoke up and Steve whipped his head towards him. Bucky if you say anything.

"Planning?"

"Yeah, we're planning Steve's wedding."

Nat almost snaps her neck by the way she turns to look at him. Her red locks bouncing around as she turns. She gapes at him with a million questions.

Steve sighs, rubbing his face with his hands in embarrassment.

"Stevie, you're getting married?!?!"

"Sn2 Reactions have bulky bases and only occur when you have…" you said, snapping your finger to remember what comes next. "Wait, don't say it," you stop Quentin. "Primary carbocations!"

"Correct," he smiled, looking up at you from the flashcard in his hand. "Man, you're just killing it today."

"I've been studying," you informed. "...and living in Chubbic's office.

"And it shows," Quentin chuckles.

Tutoring was slow today with only a student here and there, leaving you and Quentin with some prime time to study.

"I swear all you ever do is study," Quentin said.

"No, I don't," you denied. "Last night, I played Overwatch till three."

"Okay, scratch that, you're a geek." Quentin corrected. You huffed.

"No, I am not," you retorted.

"Y/N, you don't do anything but school and work. You don't even go to parties or socialize with other people."

"People are overrated. I have better things to do with my time."

"Like what?"

"Like...stuff," you said.

Quentin rolls his eyes. "You can't keep living a shelled life, Y/N. It's not healthy."

"I don't see how it isn't."

"You have to go out and make friends. You're gonna go crazy if you sit in your apartment forever," Quentin sounded like a mom.

"Quentin, my dude, it's the 21st century. Technology exists."

"That's not good for you either!" Quentin sassed then sighed. "All I'm saying is that you should be more open. Not everyone is out to hurt you."

You sink in your chair with a frown. You look out the window of the second floor to watch people walk by meters below. "But that’s how it always is in the end," you murmured. Quentin frowns. "Besides what do I need anyone else for? I have you."

Quentin's heart skips a beat, but he tries to ignore it. "But what if I'm not here? What if I have to leave?"

You sit up. "Where are you going?"

"I applied for this internship for this company in London."

"Wow, Quint! That's great!" You exclaimed. "I know you'll get it!"

"Thanks," he chuckles at your enthusiasm. "But I just worry about you sometimes. You're going to be all alone if I leave and I worry if you'll be alright."

"Then I'll call you every day!"

"Y/N," Quentin said with a lopsided smile. "I'm being serious."

You exhaled, masking the fear of him leaving by giving him a bright smile. One that's always only been for him. "Don't worry about me, alright? I'll be fine. You go out there and show 'em what you're made of. You're gonna kill it."

"Yeah?" He asked and you can sense the nervousness in his shaking hands.

"Like my good friend Naruto once said…" you alluded. "Believe it!" You said, giving him a thumbs up.

Quentin groans while crossing his arms. "You still watch that crap?"

"It's cool!" you defended.

"I swear you're a nerd."

"Hey, Quentin," Angelica from the front desk called walking towards you.

"Yeah?"

"There's a guy at the desk asking for you," she pointed.

"For me?" He asked puzzled. She nodded before leaving.

He gets up to leave. "I'll be right back. E1 reactions are next," he reminded. You nodded with a chuckle and took the cards he left.

Quentin walks up to the desk to find a blonde dressed stylishly at the front desk, chatting up one of the employees.

“Oh, Quentin,” Maria at the desk said as he arrived. “This is Mr. Rogers.”

Steve turns to look and his shoulders drop. “Uh, sorry, I think they’ve got the wrong person.” Quentin furrows his brows in confusion. “I’m looking for a Quentin Beck.”

“Um, I’m Quentin Beck,” he replied awkwardly, shaking the photo id that was around his neck.

“No, no,” Steve shakes his head. “I’m looking for a girl and her name is Quentin Beck.”

“There’s only one Quentin Beck here and he’s a man and it’s me,” he said in the nicest way possible.

Steve snorts. “Just because you grew a little beard doesn’t mean you’re a man,” he guffawed.

Quentin blinks once and then twice and a third time for good measure. “Excuse me?”

Back over at the table, you wondered what was taking Quentin so long. Taking a sip from your Hydroflask, you crane your neck to get a view of the front desk. The head full of blonde hair and spread of broad shoulders was hard to miss. You choked while drinking. Quickly placing your bottle on the table, you pat your chest in need of air.

What was he doing here?

You quickly jump up and run to the two. Steve catches you in the corner of his eye and pushes past a fuming Quentin.

“I knew I’d find you here!” he exclaimed.

“What the hell are you doing here, you freak?” you seethed.

“What do you think?” Steve chuckled, loving the way you pouted at him. “Here to see you, princess.”

Your cheeks burst in color and before you could say anything Quentin spoke.  

“Y/N, you know this guy?” he asked.

“Y/N, so that’s your real name,” Steve takes both of your hands in his. His smile is so bright that you cringed under him. “I knew it wasn’t Quentin. I mean it doesn’t even make sense,” he starts to ramble and you just listen. “To think someone as pretty as you would have a name as ugly as Quentin. Like who the hell names their kid Quentin these days anyway?”

“Ah, Y/N,” Steve sighs dreamily. “It’s like a sweet melody to my ears.”

You tried to reply, but all you could let out was a garbled jumble of words.

“Quentin’s a good name!” your brunette friend jumped in.

“Yeah, if it’s the 18th century,” Steve deadpanned, before turning back to you. “Anyways…”

“Y/N, who the hell is this guy?” he questioned irritated.

“Uh, well, you see, um…” you tried to explain.

“Been keepin’ me a secret, huh, baby?” Steve chuckled. “I’m Steve, a friend.”

“We aren’t friends,” you hissed, breaking from his grasp. “How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone, huh?”

“Wait,” Quentin butt in. “Is he that guy?” he pointed at Steve while looking at you. “Is he the bad guy?”

“Bad guy?” Steve asked you, making you blush under his gaze. “So you have been talking about me? Y/N, sweetheart, I ain’t a bad guy. I promise I’ll be nothing but good to you,” he said with a wink.

It’s like every ounce of sass inside of you is gone and you’re left speechless. Screw this man and his way with words.

He takes your hand in his and brings it to his soft plump lips before Quentin butts in and swipes your hand.

“Yeah, she told me about you,” he hurls at him, his voice firm and his grip on your hand firmer. “Who the hell do you think you are, messing with my girlfriend?”

Steve is taken aback by his words and you gape at Quentin. You’re his what now?

Quentin looks towards you and sends a message with his eyes. Just play along.

“Y-yeah,” you stumbled at first, “Quentin’s my boyfriend and I like his name! Actually I love it because I love him.” you straight up lied. Steve’s brows creased in irritation and he had the biggest frown on his face. You wrap your arms around Quentin’s. “So leave me alone, freak,” you hissed at him.

Now it’s Steve’s turn to be speechless. Your words pierce through his heart like a bullet. It’s like being shot in the core of his spirit over and over again until there’s a big gaping hole.

“Listen, jackass,” Quentin calls him back. “If you even look in my girlfriend’s direction, I’ll rip your eyes out,” he threatened, before turning around and taking you with him.

“Wow,” you whispered to him. “I think he bought it.”

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” he said, clearly dissatisfied.

“Shut up and kiss me on the cheek.”

“What?” he freaked out with a light red creeping on his cheeks.

“Just do it,” you ordered quietly. “And wrap your arm around my shoulders.”

He sighed. “The things you make me do,” he groaned, making you chuckle quietly. He places a sweet kiss on your cheek while hooking his arm over your shoulders protectively. He turns his head to see Steve still standing there. His face twisted in a scowl and fists balled so tight you could see white in his knuckles.

Quentin’s sharp blue eyes locked with his own. His gaze was as deadly as a violent act with an intensity that had the fearless mob man’s chest tighten. His eyes drilled out any notion that it could all be a hoax. Either he was a really good actor or there really was something between the two.

Whatever it was, Steve stood still with a strange sense of deja vu. He was a hopeless romantic and hopeless in all things that concerned love. And as he watches your retreating form chuckling at something the boy whispered in your ear, he regrets even thinking he had another chance at love.

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #mob!steve #steve rogers #mob!steve rogers x reader #mobster steve rogers x reader #mob au

[warsofasoiaf]

Alluding to the previous ask about the Stark-Tully coalition declaring for Stannis: what happens to Robb’s bannermen is he declares for Stannis? Obviously they’re wicked proud of their independence, and the Rivermen are especially sick of the Iron Throne, but do they fall in line behind Robb as Stannis’ Warden? Him declaring definitely butterflies away a ton of plotting, like Tywin, Walder and Roose, but there’s still danger of losing support. What do you think?

It’s not that the Northmen are proud of their independence. In the past, House Stark gladly participated in the concerns of the realm as a vassal. The real issue is whether Robb can square the circle of the circumstances as laid before them. Here’s the relevant passage, important parts bolded:

"Tommen is no less a Lannister," Ser Marq Piper snapped.

"As you say," said Robb, troubled. "Yet if neither one is king, still, how could it be Lord Renly? He's Robert's younger brother. Bran can't be Lord of Winterfell before me, and Renly can't be king before Lord Stannis."

Lady Mormont agreed. "Lord Stannis has the better claim."

"Renly is crowned," said Marq Piper. "Highgarden and Storm's End support his claim, and the Dornishmen will not be laggardly. If Winterfell and Riverrun add their strength to his, he will have five of the seven great houses behind him. Six, if the Arryns bestir themselves! Six against the Rock! My lords, within the year, we will have all their heads on pikes, the queen and the boy king, Lord Tywin, the Imp, the Kingslayer, Ser Kevan, all of them! That is what we shall win if we join with King Renly. What does Lord Stannis have against that, that we should cast it all aside?"

"The right," said Robb stubbornly. Catelyn thought he sounded eerily like his father as he said it.

"So you mean us to declare for Stannis?" asked Edmure."I don't know," said Robb. "I prayed to know what to do, but the gods did not answer. The Lannisters killed my father for a traitor, and we know that was a lie, but if Joffrey is the lawful king and we fight against him, we will be traitors."

So as we can see, the relevant problems are that Robb and the rest of the Northmen and Riverlanders believe that Joffrey is the legitimate heir. This hampers their actions. If they are to depose him, Stannis is the legitimate heir, but he has no support. Renly has support but no right. Joffrey

Here’s where knowledge of the bastardry would have come in handy. If that was known, then it’s easy, they support Stannis, because Joffrey and Tommen are “no less a Lannister” in a much more true, genetic sense than the metaphorical way they’re explaining here (although Tommen isn’t Joffrey, he’s a creampuff). Without this though, the North and the Riverlands have a lot harder philosophical quandry. To them, Stannis’s rebellion doesn’t have the backing that Stannis himself knows that it does, and so the North and Riverlanders go for an independence movement because the rationale is that the Iron Throne has continued a sustained pattern of abuse against them, from raiding their lands to murdering their lords, going all the way back to Mad King.

Now, if Robb was looking to justify declaring for Stannis, there’s ways he can do so. Stressing the wartime links between Stannis and their lands forged in Robert’s Rebellion (and to a lesser extent, the Greyjoy Rebellion) might be a good way in a practical sense. But really, the bastardry would be what Stannis needed to get them on his side.

Thanks for the question, SerSpaceman.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#war of the five kings

[alexsullivanjapanesenewwave]

Blog Assignment 1 COMM 261-001

Japanese New Wave cinema developed post World War II when Japan was undergoing massive change and societal upheaval. Cinema began to incorporate more violent and graphic ideas and shots into films. Many films also began to focus on Japans youth and a problem with a growing number of delinquents in the nation. Many films incorporated narratives that would discuss or allude to the societal issues of Japan or discuss the carnality of man having films include themes of corruption, or immoral actions. These depictions allowed for viewers to enjoy a more analytical and philosophical approach to discussing Japans societal issues post World War II. Some notable film makers of this type of cinema are Nagisa Oshima who made movies like “In the Realm of the Senses” which was sexually explicit film which was very graphic and groundbreaking film compared to what was depicted in cinema prior to Japanese New Wave. Another famous Japanese New Wave director would be Masahiro Shinoda whom depicted major acts of violence in his films like suicide and graphic fighting these themes of violence are a staple of the tropes of Japanese New Wave a genre filled with graphic and jarring content that pre WWII was not often seen. These two directors as well as Kiju Yoshida are often referred to as Shochiku Nouvelle Vague (nuberu bagu) these three directors though were especially of the title of their new found genre mostly because of the comparison it made between them and the French and Italian New Wave Cinema and its directors. These directors and their studio Shochiku pioneered the new wave and though it came from corporate roots it quickly evolved into a more individualistic and indie type of cinema with lots of artistic thoughts and ideas being displayed and discussed within films. This being said many other major studios also wanted their stake in Japanese New Wave so many corporations changed gears into changing their films to fit the new genre and appeal to the younger more progressive audience rather than the more conservative generations of the past pre-war Japan. This movement unfortunately collapsed in the 70’ many of Japanese New Waves directors shifted into more developed genres like documentaries essentially ending the movement of Japanese New Wave entirely. This genre certainly left its mark on film making and helping violence and explicit action become more commonplace and status quo within cinema. This type of cinema also helped incorporate films that have a heighted reality or have nonrealistic action for example films with excessive violence or comic book like physics that allow the cast to do unnatural things. Often this anarchy or over exaggeration was used for comedic effect or to show intense other worldly violence not usually depicted in films and this is part of what made Japanese New Wave revolutionize and permanently change the film industry helping pave the way for more modern types of cinema which are laden with blood, gore, and other explicit content. That is a short overview of Japanese New Wave and its effects on the film industry as well as, its key figures.

[girl4music]

Suicide/Self-Sacrifice/Manic-Depression

This may well be my best post yet regarding philosophical theories and artistic interpretations, using the characters and storylines from the show, ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’, as a staple, if I can explain my thoughts and feelings on it well enough. I want to tackle the themes of ‘suicide’, ‘manic-depression’ and ‘self-sacrifice’. Some posts I’ve reblogged on Tumblr have inspired me to write down my take on these subjects, and the situations, circumstances and consequences that follow. This will probably be a very long post, so bear with me. I’ll try to keep on topic as much as possible, as this will be very hard to explain in a way that will not be offending, ignorant or just plain stupid. I want it to come across to people in a positive way!

Callisto:

The character Callisto was introduced in Season 1 and her story was very complicated. It was difficult to understand her consciously and morally for the awful things she was doing, and her reasons as to why she was doing them. Eventually there came to a point in the show where she felt she had nothing left to live for and she wanted to die. This was right after she heard the screams of Xena mourning the death of her son, Solan, in the Season 3 episode, ‘Maternal Instincts’. You see the expression of pure ecstasy on her face, as she had desired this for so long. To make Xena feel the pain and the grief she caused her when she burned her hometown and murdered her family. To give her a taste of the immense torture it had inflicted on her all throughout the years growing up alone and full of revenge, driving her to psychopathy. I’ve said this before, but I could never quite look at Callisto as a villain, as I could see she was so damaged and depressed, that she really couldn’t help becoming the way she did. I feel she was seriously misunderstood, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels this way about her. This scene in the episode was supposed to be her moment of accomplishment and relief. But then her facial expression begins to change to confusion and apathy. She realized it didn’t do anything to cure her condition, it only made her empty and numb inside. She was waiting for the relief to wash over her and for the pleasure to settle into her system and it didn’t. After so many years of wanting to destroy Xena’s soul, she finally got her wish… and it did NOTHING!

What brought her to the point of yearning for death was the fact that she couldn’t feel anything anymore. Not even her hatred for Xena… which was what was motivating her to hold on to her life to begin with. She believed the only meaning to her life was to destroy Xena’s. The delicious scent of fulfillment never came, and she was done with it. From that point onwards she craved oblivion, and unfortunately for her, since becoming a god, that wasn’t possible. The Olympian gods cannot take their own lives. Another must do it or they must get permission from Zeus, as their roles as immortals are important and too valuable to be wasted, according to the king of the gods. This was the fatal flaw in her plan. She wanted to live long enough to sate her vengeance. But what she ended up doing instead was giving herself no way out of her emotional and mental torment. What did, however, relieve her of that, as we see later in the show, was Xena sacrificing herself to save her soul from eternal damnation in Hell. Thus, as an angel, she was reformed and could forgive Xena without question. She helped Eli bring her and Gabrielle back to life, as well as provide her with what she once took from her. A child. A human life, that to which would conceal her reincarnated soul, giving her what Xena once took from her. A mother. Such a beautiful and satisfying end to her story. If she had found a way to destroy her existence, that would have never happened for her, as it was impossible for her to not experience consciousness. No matter which reincarnated body, denomination of the afterlife or alternate reality she was in. Committing suicide would not have helped anything. It would not have given her any kind of respite whatsoever. Suicide was not the answer. Xena’s self-sacrifice was. It was down to Xena to save her, as Callisto was well passed the point of saving herself.

Xena:

Now this is where I need to be very careful because I don’t want to upset anyone who has had personal experiences with losing loved ones to suicide, or give those who might have suicidal tendencies an excuse to act on them. I’m going to try my best to express myself in a respectful way regarding Xena’s story, and whether she was suicidal or not, as some Xenites have pointed out parts of the show where it’s explicitly implied that she was because she had no regard for her own life and felt she never deserved forgiveness. We’ll start off with the pilot episode, ‘Sins Of The Past’, as this is where her story starts after changing her ways and reforming into a heroine for the ‘greater good’. Turning away from her darkness, and her desire to destroy anyone who got in her way of conquering entire nations. We see her riding Argo into smoke-filled areas, where an attack has evidently struck. Her mind occupied with images and sounds of the sins of her past. Remembering all the lives she had destroyed physically and emotionally. She comes across a boy in the wreckage of the village she was passing by and gave him some food before speeding off out of the area. I personally think this scene was a delusion, as the boy was talking about how it was Xena who killed his parents, and that she came out of the sky “throwing thunderbolts and breathing fire.” I believe the boy and the decimated village was real but the experience he was relating was not. So, therefore, I feel it was just her deluding herself with the memories of the horrible things she had done, and the consequences it had on the lives of those she victimized and destroyed.

Next we see her in a wooded surrounding taking off her armor and leathers, leaving her in only her under-shift, and burying them, covering them with soil and leaves. It is here where it is possible she was thinking of committing suicide as we also see her staring blankly, presumably deep in thought at what she was about to do. Contemplating on going through with it, I would assume. Now if we go all the way to the second to last episode, ‘A Friend In Need Part I’, we see her do the exact same thing, only this time, her last look and thoughts were of Gabrielle, walking in the opposite direction, with absolutely no inclination of what she was about to do, which was to allow the army to kill her. We watch her put up enough of a fight to take out as many men as she possibly could, until finally meeting the general face to face as he cuts off her head, in first-person view, with blood covering the camera screen, shocking us all. She was allowing him to kill her as she could have easily stopped him if she had wanted to, as Gabrielle points out later. She evidently was wanting to die. So these parallels definitely allude to her being suicidal and caring nothing for her own life. Only Gabrielle’s and the people who were about to be attacked by Yodoshi’s soldiers. I don’t blame her to be honest. The 40,000 lives she had taken all those years ago would have drove her to that conclusion. Their blood on her hands, if only figuratively, making the decision for her. So considering those scenes, as well as her confession to Gabrielle, in the Season 6 episode, ‘Legacy’, that she was the one who changed her decision to “wanting it to end”, it is very conceivable she was plagued with suicidal thoughts throughout the entire show. And given this theory is accurate, it tells you Gabrielle saved her life without even realizing it from the moment she first met her. That is an astonishing revelation, and it completely changes the tone of the whole show. The thought that Xena could have been suicidal all that time. She was only happy when she was with Gabrielle, who she referred to as her “light” and her “source”. Her reason for existing at all. Therefore, what the meaning of life was for Xena wasn’t a theme of any kind. It was a living and breathing human, who seemingly enjoyed her life and was very peaceful about it to begin with… but was she really? We’ll get on to her next…

Gabrielle:

This is a perspective that might be a little bit of a reach, and there certainly isn’t any reason to make this show seem any darker than it already is from what I’ve talked about previously, but I feel I must include this character in this topic of conversation, as she is my favourite character in the whole show. @brifigy made an enlightening post that I would like you to read:

https://girl4music.tumblr.com/post/168126126575/girl4music-brifigy-girl4music-brifigy

I think @brifigy had a valid theory, and I’d like to elaborate on it to support it. I am quite observant, so I notice things others completely overlook. There are certain traits from Gabrielle’s psyche I want to bring to light to you all, in continuation of @brifigy’s theory. Gabrielle might have been struggling with manic-depression. However, because of her incredible capacity for emotional strength, she was able to hide it from the audience and convince them that she was a happy person, as she so evidently appeared to be from the outside.

You must look very deeply into her character to pick up instances of depression and mania. It is very probable she could have been manic-depressed. Obviously, back then, there was no such term or diagnosis available for mental and emotional disorders. It’s a very relevant and logical perspective to come to, as her character is very layered and complicated. Though, it’s rather hard to pinpoint exactly where it might have been accurate. This is my attempt at pinpointing moments in the show where this perspective makes sense, with my limited knowledge on manic-depression.

The first thing I want to mention is Gabrielle’s insistence to cater to and sacrifice herself for others, both physically and emotionally. We see this side of her right from the start. In her introduction scene, she is shown sacrificing her own life for the health and freedom of her family. The very same event that saved Xena from committing suicide… was also the one where Gabrielle offered her own life to the slave-traders. In fact, throughout the whole of the season we see her constantly doing this for others. Putting herself in harm’s way. Throwing herself in front of strangers. Doing dangerous tasks to prove herself as a responsible young adult, and worthy of being Xena’s sidekick. Bravely stepping up to the plate time and time again to protect and defend others, even with her lack of fighting skill and strength, all the while showing extreme naivety and recklessness.

But what for? What was her motive? Why did she behave this way? Why was she so compassionate and selfless? Well, if you’ve ever met someone who struggles with manic-depression, you will also most likely meet a person who is the most caring, kind and optimistic person you’ve ever encountered in your life, as this person is so tormented by their inner-demons, that they would never wish the same on others, and will endeavor to be a person who will always be there for others, and offer as much help and emotional support as they possibly can. They are usually very empathetic, artistic and adventurous. Always wanting a change in routine and schedule to keep them passionate about life. Always looking for meaning in everything, as they want to be able to give to the world their help and healing. The very thing they do not have for themselves or know how to give themselves. They are also somebody that always doubts themselves, and believes they have more faults than skills, but they express it in such a way where it seems like they’re not being serious. It just comes across as a funny passing joke. Laughing at themselves and their imperfections, but deep inside really struggle with them, and believing in themselves and their capabilities. They give to others what they cannot give to themselves. Pointing out their potential and strengths to lift that person’s confidence and vibration. They talk about subjects that refer to overcoming obstacles and finding the meaning of life. But you never really notice that they’re talking about themselves because they’re just so damn good at putting it into a non-personal way.

If this does not sound like Gabrielle to you in the first season, you haven’t really been paying enough attention, because I can point out many times where Gabrielle has shown these personality and behavioural traits, and not just in the first season either. Gabrielle had an immense evolution, and a lot of what happened to her in Season 3 made her really grow up. She became stronger and wiser because of it. Initially, she appeared to be an overly enthusiastic, loving life, kind of person. But was she just putting on a show? And if she was suffering with manic-depression, (or what has come to be known as ‘bipolar disorder’ nowadays) what caused this manifestation of mental issues in the first place? Childhood trauma, perhaps? It seems like Gabrielle’s first experience of trauma is in Season 2 and Season 3. But we have no idea what was going on before that in her hometown or inside her head. We’ll never know. But what we do know is that Xena saved her, as she confesses that in the Season 4 episode, ‘The Ides Of March’, as @brifigy​‘s post said. It’s as good a confirmation as any. 

Thank you, @brifigy for enlightening us with this insight into Gabrielle’s character. I merely only wanted to elaborate on it and support it. I hope you don’t mind. I’m done! That was long-winded, but I hope you took something from it. It’s a hard topic to talk about, but I thought I’d express my thoughts and feelings on it, thoroughly, anyway. If you got this far, thank you so much for reading. I love my Xenite family. I hope none of you ever take your own life, or put yourself in a situation where you could die, because you don’t care about yourself. You are deserving of so much in this world, and it would not be the same without you. Do not follow Xena!

IF YOU EVER WANT TO TALK PRIVATELY… MY DM’S ARE OPEN!

#xena warrior princess #xena and gabrielle #xena #lucy lawless #gabrielle #renee o'connor #callisto #hudson leick #return of callisto #maternal instincts #legacy #sins of the past #the ides of march #suicide #self-sacrifice #manic-depression #bipolar disorder #brifigy #theory

[chiseler]

Two-faced Woman

Although one image of Joan Crawford has persisted in the cultural memory—a hard woman on the edge of hysteria, with caterpillar eyebrows, big shoulders, and burning eyes—in fact she remade her image many times, perhaps more times than any other star. At MGM in the late 1920s, she was photographed by Ruth Harriet Louise in a dazzling array of personas, almost as though she were auditioning to be a female Lon Chaney—the woman of a thousand faces. It was with George Hurrell, Louise’s successor as chief MGM photographer,that Crawford would define her archetypal look of bold, hard-edged glamour. In the earlier pictures, she hasn’t settled on an identity, and she’s so young there’s still baby fat in her cheeks. In some portraits, with her fresh face and short bob and sporty clothes, she is the twenties’ ideal of the boyish woman. Modeling fur coats, she is a shop girl on the make, eyes uplifted in hungry aspiration. In a black wig, with a handkerchief to her mouth, she tries out the tearful appeal of a wronged maiden. Swathed in a bizarre gold-lamé cowl, with her lips lacquered and her huge, luminous eyes fixed on the camera, she’s an exotic temptress. Gazing up lovingly at Robert Montgomery in a still for Untamed (1929), she’s the girl next door. She did cheesecake photos, but she also appeared as Hamlet in a pose and costume imitating John Barrymore. It’s an extraordinary picture, gorgeous and glowering and—if you look too long at her fierce, dark-rimmed eyes—rather alarming. There’s no Hamlet-like doubt or introspection in them, only implacable will.

This burning drive was always at the heart of Crawford’s screen presence; but throughout her career, the peculiar instability of her identity remained as well. If Barbara Stanwyck was driven by the determination, as she said, to “be the best of all,” Crawford’s drive seems more like a dogged, unappeasable need for approval and acceptance. She could play tough and hard, but it always feels like a brittle shell, as mannered as the refined hauteur she wears in other roles. Underneath is a strange blend of fiendish energy and quivering need. Even in her later roles, when her looks have become harsh, her face can open up in a soft, glowing plea, so naked it’s uncomfortable to watch.

One of the earliest and most interesting demonstrations of Crawford’s duality comes in Rain (1932). (In the silent flapper roles that made her a star, Crawford is radiantly confident and spontaneous in a way she would never quite be again.) This was the second of three Hollywood adaptations of Somerset Maugham’s play, which is also memorably alluded to in Scarface, when Tony Camonte takes his boys to improve their minds at the theater. The play is a scathing attack on missionaries, whose prudishness, sanctimony, and hypocrisy are contrasted with the natural sensuality of life on the tropical island of Pago Pago, and with the compassionate tolerance of disreputable Americans like Sadie Thompson (Crawford), her marine sergeant beau O’Hara (William Gargan), and the philosophical store-keeper Mr. Horn (Guy Kibbee). There is nothing fundamentally implausible about the play’s premise, in which the domineering missionary Alfred Davidson converts Sadie, a loose woman with a shady past, and then succumbs to his own lust for her. But as written, and more importantly as played in the 1932 film, the story comes across as something much stranger and more disturbing.

The problem is that Davidson, as played by Walter Huston, is so hateful, so gratingly smug, spiteful, and bullying, that it’s impossible to believe he could convert anyone. Every one of the sympathetic characters sees through him immediately and despises him. He mercilessly persecutes Sadie, coercing the local governor into deporting her back to San Francisco, where she is wanted for a crime she says she did not commit. Sadie lashes out at him furiously—and then abruptly, as though her brain has just snapped, she falls under his spell, reciting the Lord’s Prayer in a robotic, hypnotized voice. Crawford plays the converted Sadie as brainwashed, doped, pathetically clinging to the man who insists that she must be punished, even unjustly, in order to be saved. When she gazes upward with blurry eyes and intones, “I must be punished,” it becomes shockingly clear that this relationship has nothing to with religion; Crawford is playing Sadie as a masochist who gains a sense of worth through submission to a man who breaks her spirit, then grants her fulsome praise and loving approval once she is his slave. This is not a case of spiritual fervor as a substitute for sex; on the contrary. Sadie is a sometime prostitute for whom sex is just a fact of life; she is emotionally enslaved to Davidson because she believes he is a “holy man” who can cleanse her of sin, whose love for her is pure, and this bondage is only broken when he reveals himself to be just like other men. (It’s never clear in the film what exactly happens when Davidson comes to Sadie’s room—whether he rapes her or only attempts to.) By this daring move, Crawford makes some sense of a script that is otherwise unconvincing and overly schematic.

She is much more successful in this radical transformation than she is in playing Sadie Thompson as she first appears—a vulgar, earthy, good-hearted good-time gal. It’s a part Joan Blondell could have played with perfect ease and natural sympathy, while conveying the kind of secret shame and regret that might lead a woman like Sadie to be vulnerable to a soul-saver. Crawford is anything but easy in the role; her slangy, red-hot-mama act is as caricatured as her look, with so much makeup caked on her face that it’s almost a clown mask. The artificiality is not entirely wrong, since Sadie has clearly developed this persona as her way of getting by, and her forced gaiety and defiant brassiness are put on like her cheap bangles and black fishnets. She’s all nervous energy, constantly fidgeting and fiddling with her clothes and fretting about the constant pounding rain.

Director Lewis Milestone combats the staginess of a filmed play with lyrical, scene-setting shots of raindrops falling on sand and palm fronds and water; and with fluid camera movements that circle around the characters. But it is Crawford’s performance of Sadie’s conversion that makes the movie more than just an artfully crafted but flawed and heavy-handed message drama. Her transcendent and pitiful submission would reappear in future films like Possessed (1947), Sudden Fear (1952), Female on the Beach (1955), and Mildred Pierce (1945), which represents the apotheosis of her double nature: a strong and self-reliant woman martyred by abject, obsessive love.

by Imogen Sara Smith

#Imogen Sara Smith #The Chiser #Joan Crawford #Two-faced Woman

[eyeodyssey]

For most of the month I’ve been somewhat off the map with an obnoxiously persistent flu, it started off as a common cold but turned into a lingering energy drainer after the first several days. I haven’t been able to do any filming as I haven’t really gone out that much until more recently, so I spent my time drawing shots for the animated segments of The God Machine. It’s starting to feel like things are fully coming together now in the overall treatment. I’ve been going around drawing out certain scenes while writing out various script and plot synopsis drafts to fully hone in the vibe and tone of the film. It’s starting to reach a concrete point where I can confidently make a finalized screenplay to send out to actors and decide resources that’d be needed to finish the film. I’m also recording incidental music for certain scenes. Viewers of Madhouse Mitchel (the film that The God Machine is effectively a revision of) will recognize one of the tracks I posted (Death Anthem) as being a revision of the death march heard at the ending of the 2017 animation. Soundcloud uploads of the current incidental music: - God Machine Ambience (Excerpt) - Cemetery Shootout (Film Take) - Death Anthem (6-Minute Excerpt) There are a lot of different tonal extremities at play with the concepts I have. I’m thinking specifically of the possibility of fusing these different opposing atmospheres and styles together for a very deliberate reason. In retrospect, I came to find that the ero guro art movement and Georges Bataille’s theory of the limit-experience are closely paralleled thematically. Both artistic philosophies essentially involve the shattering of standard comprehension in conceptual extremity. Given the mythological themes of The God Machine, I plan to cross guro art with the mysticism of Bataille’s limit experience to depict a form of mystical cyberpunk grotesque nonsense. The film will clash together certain emotional states that are so opposing to one another that, in concept, it will embody its own limit-experience. Some of the styles it will work with are experimental structural sequencing, science fiction, body horror, kaiju film, documentary, absurdist comedy, and theatric performance art. One of the main examples I can give is the film’s clashing of action and decay. All the possible action in the film is effectively dissected, revealing beneath either the misanthropy of the characters or the absurdist black humor of the violence they embody. There will be a great emphasis on foley audio in these certain scenes. Most action that does occur is seen at such a distance where any excitement it can give is completely devoid, depicted with a grueling slow-burn pace. The best likeness I can give is the last several minutes of Evgeny Yufit’s Knights Of Heaven (Рыцари поднебесья), as it’s where I got these ideas. Yufit’s films were part of a contemporary movement called Soviet Necrorealism, where fantastical science fiction ideas were rendered to their most primal minimalistic states. The movement was somewhat of a parallel to the Japanese cyberpunk scene (which in itself was a relative to ero guro) in that the films explored the concept of rapid technological advancement leading to entropy. Necrorealism took a more Tarkovsky reminiscent approach with the previously mentioned slow-burn pacing, alluding to the sense of technology degrading and returning to an organic state. In that way, The God Machine can be seen somewhat as a late bridging point between these movements, crossing the high-tension extremity of guro and cyberpunk with the decay and organic atmospheres of Necrorealist filmmaking. This is all just considering the film’s tonal effect, the story itself also has various different elements working behind it. Like Kafka’s Supermarket, the film is more socially themed. The main plotline of the film, when it’s unraveled, essentially amounts to a social drama about the exploitation of workers and abuse of power. I got a majority of the premise from a cross-viewing of Ken Russell’s The Devils and Teshigahara’s Pitfall, though thematically it leans more to the ladder. Working with the socially themed narrative are some philosophical questions about the nature of mankind and the conflict between sentience and primality, and how the two are used for violence in power structures. Last thing I feel I should probably note, I’ve been listening to Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Brain Salad Surgery for more often than is likely healthy for the average person. Not the full album, but the self-titled single (and some of Karn Evil 9). Dunno if that’s been altering my judgment at all these past several weeks. Most of my brain waves at this point are synth lines comprised of 500-something notes and Moog bass riffs. Brain rot perversity.

#art #artists on tumblr #my art #guro #Guro Art #horror #grotesque #surreal #dark #macabre

[armageddon-generation]

Starting the DCEU right: fixing BvS and its lead-up

BvS is really frustrating, so I rewrote it, re-ordered the existing movies and inserted in a Batman movie

1. Wonder Woman

Start the DCEU off with  a ‘bold’ statement with the first female led superhero movie, and the first chronologically.

2. Man of Steel

Bright colours, bloody hell

Cut the heavy-handed Jesus/Messiah symbolism. Superman was created by Jews anyway, Christiansing him feels disrespectful

Put it in chronological order starting in Smallville, so we’re invested in Clark’s struggle

Pa Kent doesn’t die in a tornado, that scene is ridiculous

Move the Krypton sequence in the beginning to when Jor El is explaining Clark’s origin to him in the Arctic ship, so we maintain the mystery and don’t repeat ourselves

Focus on Clark trying to live a normal life – his relationship with Lois, becoming a reporter, while he fights regular crime in secret (the Smallville blur trope)

Zodd attacking disrupts that peace and forces Superman to go public for the first time

Thematically, classic ‘regular guy doing the right thing’ Richard Donner Superman is fighting off the ‘detached alien Messiah figure’ Zack Snyder Superman Zodd wants him to become

Metropolis’ destruction and Clark being forced to kill Zodd still happens, but show Clark trying to avoid populated areas and save bystanders instead of fight, Zodd just won’t let him.

3. Batman: Under the Red Hood

Under the Red Hood (UtRH) with a depressed robin-less Batman

Follow basic outline of UtRH animated movie (75 mins) in a 2-hour movie, incorporating elements of The Killing Joke

UtRH is a mystery that lets us focus on Batman’s detective side

Talia resurrected Jason as an apology to Bruce – allude to Damian’s existence when we visit the League of Assassins and establish their past romance

UtRH is the perfect story to introduce the batfamily - Bruce still isn’t talking to Dick after kicking him out to become Nightwing, the Red Hood pushes them to work together, but uncovering Jason’s identity fractures their relationship further (fight?)

Killing Joke happened recently and Barbra is still recovering. Show the events leading up to and after it in PTSD flashbacks, but framed through Barbra’s empowering story of recovery, not the traumatic incident itself. Maybe introduce Leslie Thompkins as her therapist.

Bruce is also estranged from Commissioner Gordon as a result of Killing Joke. When Jason finds out the Joker paralysed Barbra after he died and Bruce still let him live, he’s even angrier

This story is the perfect set-up for the DCEU’s (recast) Joker; he’s a secondary villain to Jason, but by mixing both UtRH and Killing Joke, his two most famous/heinous crimes, he immediately becomes a terrifying bogeyman with an established relationship with Batman

Stealth set-up for Birds of Prey (Oracle), Nightwing, and Red Hood and the Outlaws movies

By the end of the movie both Jason  and Joker escape and Bruce is left isolated and questioning his no-kill code after Jason’s arguments, Joker escaping yet again, and all his recent trauma, setting up his emotional state for BvS

The only ones to stay by his side are Alfred and Lucius Fox

4. Batman vs Superman

Clark is our protagonist, Bruce the sympathetic villain who’s redeemed by the end

After killing Zodd in MoS, Clark is determined not to kill – CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT through an opening action sequence

He and Lois are newlyweds 

Clark wants to be trusted, and that means conforming to government control (like in The Dark Knight Returns, except this time it’s sympathetic) – his moral dilemma is whether them controlling Superman is a good thing

Clark hates Batman because Bruce is becoming more and more recklessly violent (The Dark Knight Returns) since UtRH and The Killing Joke and his support structure collapsing. Clark reports on how the Bat-Brand is causing criminal deaths (which is now a big No-No for Supes, without him being  a hypocrite) - cut the unimportant conflict with Perry White

During the Metropolis attack Bruce loses someone. I don’t like killing a black character, but it makes the most sense that Lucius Fox would be in the Wayne Tech building and die. The audience has a history with the character – not only was he in UtRH, but also the Dark Knight Trilogy.

Alfred loses a leg, as in the Earth One graphic novels – that gruffer version of the character is similar to Jeremy Irons’ portrayal anyway

Bruce now has legitimate reasons to fear Clark, and he has no support network left.

Wayne Industries is funding the rebuilding of Metropolis, in collaboration with Lexcorp (like in the No Man’s Land comic event). Lex (recast) is presented as an ally to Bruce, sympathising with and stoking the flames of his Superman hatred

Insert the Diana subplot in here – BUT DON’T SPOIL HER BEING IN THE MOVIE IN THE TRAILERS. Bruce catches her snooping around at one of Lex’s fundraisers for rebuilding Metropolis. 

Lex doesn’t just have her photo – in the hundred years since Wonder Woman, Diana has become a protector of mythological beings (Nick Fury for the Gods). Instead of the email attachment of Justice League teaser trailers, Lex has stolen information from Diana that reveals the locations of Themascyra and Atlantis, the sister cities.

Bruce and Diana can have a philosophical discussion about new gods outmoding old gods without it being out of place – Diana is unsure of her place in this changing world

Lex is also planning to run for President – he encourages Bruce’s anti-authoritarian sentiment. The GCPD have started a manhunt for the more brutal Batman. Legitimise this sentiment further by having Clark’s main contact to the Government be morally corrupt Amanda Waller (replacing Holly Hunter’s Senator) who wants to use Clark in black-ops missions.

We see one of these missions. Amanda wants Clark to kill, which he refuses to do, only for her to kill the targets anyway. (a version of the drone strike scene that opened the original BvS)

This causes huge moral conflict for Clark – show he and Lois debating and supporting each other at home – Lois doesn’t trust Waller and starts investigating her.

Bring in the Sons of Batman subplot from The Dark Knight Returns – Batman’s brutal new tactics inspire a gang of, deadly copycat vigilantes. Possibly you could turn them into the We Are Robin gang from Scott Snyder’s comic run

We learn about the gang from the POV of one kid – Tim Drake (or Duke Thomas, but we’d have to give him Tim’s origin – figuring out Batman’s identity as a child detective)

Tim experiences the terror and violence Batman’s new brutality is inspiring on the streets of Gotham – he goes to Wayne Manor, only to find it abandoned. Alfred lets him into the Batcave to shake some sense into Bruce, and Tim gives his pitch about Batman always needing a Robin to balance him. Bruce kicks him out.

A scene where Lex inducts the wheelchair-bound Metropolis victim into his scheme.

The conflict and tension is driven up by Superman breaking up a Sons of Batman rally, then confronting Batman while he’s torturing some criminals.

Bruce is working on his power armour, exhausted. Here we see a version of the Knightmare sequence:

Future!Barry runs in, grabs Bruce and zips into the post-apocalypse to show him the future. This is the only time we see Batman kill in the movie – driven over the edge. He is fighting Evil Superman, bearded in the black suit, looking a lot like Zodd. Darkseid looms as a dark, unidentified figure in the distance. Barry runs Bruce back, yelling to find him in the present and watch out for Luthor, but Darkseid’s Omega beams hit and kill him just as Bruce is thrown back into the Cave.

He passes out, then wakes up later, convinced he’d had a dream about Superman destroying the world.

Lex lets Batman steal the kryptonite – he’s getting desperate

Finally, with the Batman crisis worsening, Waller orders Clark to take Bruce down.  Bruce is waiting with his power armour.

The fight should be a pastiche of fights from the comics – sonic weapons and kryptonite gas, but also Red Sun lasers and that moment in Hush where Bruce electrocutes Clark with the mains supply of a whole city.

Meanwhile, Lois’ investigation into Waller has uncovered that the government agents ordering Clark around answer to Lex Luthor. She realises Lex has been manipulating Superman and Batman into fighting in the hopes of killing both (supplying the kryptonite etc). Mercy Graves shows up to kill her but Lois escapes.

Meanwhile, Tim breaks back into the Batcave and steals a Robin suit.

Both Tim and Lois arrive at the scene of the fight and stop Bruce delivering the final blow. Instead of MARTHA!, Tim and Lois talk their respective heroes down, Lois explains Lex’s role. Bruce remembers Barry’s warning – was that dream real?

Lex realises what’s going on and releases his Big Bad, Metallo (replacing shit Doomsday), a kryptonite-powered cyborg mech created from the wheelchair-bound Metropolis victim and  Kryptonian-killing weapons technology from Zodd’s ship. This way the fight ties in with the consequences of Clark destroying Metroplolis.

Diana, having been in the Lexcorp facility to steal her information back, arrives to fight with Clark and Bruce. She’s decided she’s still a hero.

The power is out in Gotham after Bruce used the mains to fight Clark, and the city is in chaos.

Bruce enlists Tim to evacuate the city and stop rioting while Clark and Diana fight Metallo – adapting the Dark Knight Returns sequence where Bruce rides through Gotham on horseback, enlisting the Sons of Batman to do some good.

This is the culmination of Bruce’s arc; accepting Superman is needed while stopping a repeat of Metropolis’ destruction by damage-controlling his fight. He’s also taking responsibility for his impact on Gotham through the gang.

Lex remotely sets Metallo to self-destruct when he starts losing the fight. Clark tries to save his enemy (DEVELOPMENT from MoS) but dies in the explosion due to the fatal dose of radiation poisoning. This death sets up the next 'phase’ of movies

We’ve set up several threads for future movies – we are aware of Atlantis thanks to Diana’s information, without having Aquaman thrown in our faces.

Lex gets away – Bruce breaks into his office and confronts him, but Lex is untouchable and still running for President

Bruce is now privately investigating what he saw in the Knightmare, including finding Barry Allen

Tim starts training to be the next Robin – Bruce is learning from his mistakes with Jason.

Amanda Waller sets up Suicide Squad

Lois is revealed to be pregnant with Clark’s child at the end, paralleling Clark’s natural birth in Man of Steel

#batman vs superman #batman #superman #bvs dawn of justice #wonder woman #red hood #under the red hood #tim drake #robin #red robin #clois #clark kent #diana prince #bruce wayne #batfamily #oracle #the joker #the killing joke #the dark knight returns #mos #zack snyder #dceu #fixit #my writing #lex luthor #barry allen #dc comics #dc cinematic universe #barbra gordon #jason todd

[boredkids]

A Tribute to Chuck Person’s Eccojams

By E. Schoop

The age of pop detritus has been upon us for quite some time. Not so embedded in the virtual age, but rather, the analog era of which preceded this revolution was full of bargain-bin pop. And so, the cultural zeitgeist overflowed with works briefly shining and flaming out like the proverbial comet, falling into obscurity. For the critical eye, it has been trained and tested to disfavor kitschy novelties, “corniness” being an operative phrase to describe this phenomenon. Beneath the sewers of disregarded music lay a dormant beast of melody and sensation. Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, set a path that has become a full-blown movement. If one is to take influence as the sole arbiter of taste, then Chuck Person’s Eccojams Vol. 1 is surely the most important avant-garde album of the decade.

Simplicity is key, but simple does not mean easy. Slowing down music and warping it to great effect had been a concept since the days of DJ Screw had Houston mesmerized with chopped and screwed and Lopatin realized the possibilities of a genre that was reductive ad infinitum, curation by rearrangement and a keen ear for the rhythmic structure of a song. Previously, he’d flirted with these ideas through his sunsetcorp Youtube channel, allowing for a less structured aesthetic to appear, floating bits and pieces of his new ideas into the public. The earliest snapshot on the Internet Wayback Machine has “nobody here” at 51,000+ views, which, while numerous, show the lack of virality Lopatin was yet to cultivate. Even so, comments like “The sole reason Youtube should exist” and “They should play this at Chris De Burgh’s funeral” were indicative of the allure that “eccojams” held in the populace’s imagination.

Through the aptly-named Curatorial Club, Lopatin released a mixtape under his Games alias, further creating a world only distinguished by 80s R&B samples and remnants of an HBO afterlife. Spend The Night With might be a supplement to the ethos Lopatin was defining himself by in this era, but it stood as a little beside to the plunderphonics he would come to create in both Eccojams and his next Oneohtrix release, Replica. There seemed to be an effortlessness insofar as grafting samples for songs, with the likes of Janet Jackson, Toto, and Fleetwood Mac all being used as maestros with which Lopatin could craft his singular vision.

“A1” is a sublime way to begin the album. Before all the “Africa” memes, before the Toto-Weezer bizarro crossover, Lopatin predicted the future with this slice of heaven, a cosmic entity that forces the listener into bliss, whether consciously or unconsciously. It’s a perfect primer for the Chuck Person galaxy, assaulting the senses in a barrage of track splitting and cutting that would make John Oswald blush. The signature technique of pulling a single phrase from a song is unveiled here, wherein Toto frontman Joseph Williams sings “Hurry boy, she’s waiting there for you”, it’s chopped into a beautiful repetition that buoys the entire song to euphoria. Chuck Person draws an incredible conclusion from the pop tradition of ephemera -- only a few seconds matter.

sunsetcorp again rears its prescient head with “A2”, adapted from “angel” off of Memory Vague. Hauntological pop was nothing new at the time, with Ariel Pink and Leyland Kirby dabbling in the genre, but Lopatin took it to a whole new level with the track. “Angel please don’t go” provides a goosebumps-inducing refrain, Christine McVie’s vocals warped and looped like a psilocybin  nightmare. The use of vocals is incredible, affecting mind and body and transporting the listener into different worlds and states of being. Lopatin’s re-appropriation tactics came to define the concept of vaporwave itself, as choral focus of pop magnified at-large. Never before was the human voice so acutely presented, its power in the abstract realized by the curious power of Ableton.

The three-piece of “A1”, “A2”, and “A3” may be one of the most potent 3-track sequences on any album. “A3” is the most widely-known song off Eccojams, and for good reason. It’s a massive piece, a song that could fill stadiums given its euphoric propensity. Fantastical images abound, bringing JoJo’s “Be real, it doesn’t matter anyway / You know it’s a little too late” from pristine into dazed iconography, a collusion of sounds and senses. What’s even more fascinating is that Lopatin then turns around and samples “Castles in the Sky” by Belgian trance project Ian Van Dahl, finding an ornate balance between the polished pop of JoJo and the kineticism of Eurodance in an ambient interlude.

There are more sunsetcorp deep cuts on here repurposed as a cohesive unit, such as “demerol” as “A4” and “nobody here” as “B4”, but the true stars are the previously unreleased jams that Lopatin cooked up in his laboratory. In his Reddit AMA he alluded to “cryogenically unfreezing” them, and it’s an apt metaphor for such otherworldly music. “A6” features Janet Jackson trapped in the A&R purgatory of pop, glamorizing the dissonance until Lopatin cranks up the chopping, until Janet is no more. “A8” is absolutely fascinating, and listening back to Marvin Gaye’s “My Love Is Waiting”, it’s wondrous that the sensual elegance of Gaye could become such a deformed product, a tangled mess of misshapen R&B that is utterly majestic at the same time.

The second half is much more akin to noise, finding a home in cacophony rather than keep relying on the scrambling of hits. While there are straightforward samples like “Me Against The World” by Tupac on “B5” or “These Dreams” by Heart on “B6”, Lopatin opts to go for a manic approach in his quest boil pop down to its essence. In an interview with Simon Reynolds, he explains this process saying “Noise can be sculpted down to become pop; pop can be sculpted down into noise.” Eccojams plays with these assertions constantly, erasing any sort of dichotomy present beforehand. “B1” is a sensory overload, with all the energy of a panicked anxiety attack, until its outro calms the mind and body. After, “B2” packs radio static together and unravels it, syncopation drowning out any coherent thoughts. It’s as if Lopatin cut and pastes memory until nothing familiar is left.

Vaporwave’s influence has been abundant through modern culture, from the hyperreal facets of music videos by Drake and Tame Impala to our endless obsession with 80s and 90s culture being rebranded and sold to us, there isn’t an online soul who can say they haven’t stumbled across some form of this phenomenon. Yet beneath all the memes and bastardization lies a cultural statement of hybridity and ephemera, and Chuck Person stands in-between all of this. It’s more philosophically meaningful and spiritually fulfilling than any other release in the microgenre, artistically brilliant and packed to the brim with matchless ideas undeterred by the limits of audio software and the human brain. Chuck Person’s Eccojams Vol.1 is the emotions we’ve never felt and memories we don’t have, sealed deep into the shared consciousness of us all. And to think, Lopatin intended all this as a joke.

#chuck person #eccojams #vaporwave #daniel lopatin #oneohtrix point never

[otnesse]

Analysis on MGS4's ending

Hi. As I alluded to in earlier posts, I mentioned that MGS4's ending really wasn't particularly good or well-written. I've said a few times that sad endings are really overrated regarding realism. Well, I can tell you that MGS4's ending alongside The Matrix Revolution's ending, was so unrealistic that even Disney-style happy endings are a LOT more realistic than them. Might as well cover exactly what the problems with the ending were.

1. Liquid Ocelot's plan and rate of success

The first part of the problem deals largely with the reveal of Liquid Ocelot's true plan, after manipulating Snake into carrying it out for him. See, after Snake shuts down GW (and, inadvertently, the whole AI network), Liquid Ocelot reveals when Snake asked why he didn't stop him that shutting down the AI network was in fact what he planned all along (he had earlier led everyone to believe that he sought to just usurp command via GW, how that would work I don't know since it's technically locked out of the system, so even IF Liquid did indeed try to shoot out JD, he'd still have to contend with AL, TJ, and TR before he can come close to taking over the network). Then he basically gives the history lecture about the Patriots and Outer Heaven's little war between each other before basically gloating about how the world is now "Free from FOXDIE... Free from the System... Free from ID control. Our minds free from their prisons. That is the haven [Liquid Ocelot had] yearned for", and then after a fight basically infers that now with the AIs gone, people will just shoot each other for fun like in the Wild West with full-on anarchy, the complete absence of law and order. Otacon after Liquid Ocelot's death then basically reveals that such didn't come to pass because Sunny "kept the brain stem intact" when writing the code for FOXALIVE, and gives a list of all the elements of society that were preserved to prevent a holocaust that Liquid Ocelot envisioned to free the world from The Patriots.

Here's the problem, though: The stuff Otacon listed as being the vitals of society either wouldn't have been controlled into existence by the Patriots at all (or, heck, even their predecessor organization the Philosophers), or even if they did actually control them, their dismantling would have at worst been a minor inconvenience and not an apocalyptic scenario like the rest of the cast indicated. Here's the list as described by Otacon in the ending:

Otacon: She [Sunny] analyzed Naomi's black box and separated the Patriots' control system from the vital lifelines of society. Water... Air... Electricity... Food... Medicine, communication, transportation...

Let me start by covering each of them and how they would not have even remotely in danger of dying out thanks to the Patriots going away:

A. Water

Water has existed since well before even the Philosophers were founded, let alone the Patriots, so it shouldn't even need to be stated that the Patriots' destruction wouldn't impact water at all (and that's not even getting into rain-clouds). Even if we are to take that to mean water purification for drinking, that's existed since the late 18th century, not to mention made accessible to the public in a practical manner since 1910. There's definitely no way the Patriots would have negatively impacted water unless the Earth was so polluted that water itself was poison, that and maybe a weather-altering device (I guess that might explain why MGSV oddly had Diamond Dogs possessing weather altering technology). On that note, that also would prove to be a problem for citing electricity, which I'll get to in a moment.

B. Air

Like with water, air itself has existed since long before even the Philosophers, let alone the Patriots, were created, as breathable oxygen and also the weather, so their destruction would not have negatively impacted it. I'd expect something like that from Mega Man Zero, where that at least had Harupia being capable of altering the weather as well as his weather station. Probably the only way that would fly is if the Earth had inhospitable weather beforehand (think Fichina before the weather control center was installed in Star Fox Assult).

C. Electricity

One of the first methods of getting electricity involved water mills, and that's not even getting into the Incadescent Lamp (aka, the Light Bulb) that Thomas Edison invented, all of which pre-dated even the Philosophers, let alone the Patriots. And let's not get into Ben Franklin's invention of the electric rod. It's pretty obvious that the Patriots destruction would not destroy that from modern society. And even IF that was meant to imply the Patriots were only able to generate electricity a'la Dr. Weil's having control over all the energy, that only would act as a minor inconvenience, not an apocalyptic scenario. I live in the Branches of Dunwoody, which is rather infamous for being the last place to have restored power in the event of a blackout. No one ends up deciding to just loot and pillage their neighbors via mob rule whenever there was a blackout that occurs. Probably the only time something like that occurred might have been the 1977 blackout, and even THAT had other factors that were being ignored such as the mayor just letting everyone cut loose and not even bothering with enforcing the law.

D. Food

You're kidding right? Food has practically EXISTED since life first existed, which was well before the Patriots or, heck, even the Philosophers were formed. Food was hunted and even grown since time immemoriam, and there were even things known as harvests. The Patriots being destroyed obviously wouldn't hamper food. Not to mention the Food & Drug Administration was formed in 1906, well before the Philosophers were formed, so even doing preventative measures on bad food would not have been severely impacted. At worst, they might do slightly outdated aspects. Even in Weimar Germany during the 1930s, that was more the cause of a loss of money thanks to the Great Depression than an actual lack of food, not to mention in the USSR, that was due to the higher ups adhering to "to each according to his needs, to each according to his will" in a very self-serving manner despite the PR.

E. Medicine

Sure, several cures to diseases that were discovered between, say, 1921 up to 2014 probably would have been hampered if the Patriots were destroyed, but any cures to diseases made prior to that time would have very minimal effect, if any, by the Patriots shutdown. And even there, it would be a minor inconvenience at most, as humanity has managed to survive without modern medicines in the past, and find a way around it.

F. Communication

Probably the only thing I can think of that MIGHT actually be shut down are wireless phones and the internet, which were made by, if not the Patriots, then at a bare minimum the Philosophers. And even THAT would overall be a minor inconvenience at worst. Humanity has communicated by talking face to face, not to mention writing letters, and even the telephone was created during the 19th century by Alexander Graham Bell, so that wouldn't have been impacted much (in fact, I and my family often use dialup as an emergency for a power outage if it knocks out Cell phone usage). So no, communication would not be harmed by the Patriots fall, certainly not to the degree of it being an apocalyptic scenario in any case. Also, combining this with transportation, one of the earliest mail carrier delivery services was the Pony Express, back in the 19th century.

G. Transportation

Other than maybe automobiles or aerial craft, transportation would not be negatively impacted by the Patriots' shutdown. People have used roads since WELL before the Philosophers existed, let alone the Patriots. Not to mention they've used horse buggies and other means of transportation. And since the Ironclad and steamships existed in the 19th century, even the more modern warships wouldn't be negatively impacted. And even regarding cars or airplanes, that would be a minor inconvenience at worst, at least by comparison. Now, that being said, I can sort of understand how that might be bad due to Icepocalypse 2014, but even that didn't result in Armageddon or all of Dunwoody dying (I think there was only one fatality reported from that event).

Overall, the Patriots' total shutdown would not have been even remotely apocalyptic despite what the cast claimed. As such, because of that, Liquid Ocelot's plan, when you get right down to it wouldn't work at all even WITHOUT Sunny's rendition of FOXALIVE preserving everything. It has as much of a chance of happening in reality as revolutions popping up like leprachauns all over the world via what Karl Marx advocated [newsflash guys: other than the USSR, the only other revolutions that occurred were in Germany and Prussia, and even those were put down fairly easily]. It's almost as if Hideo Kojima thought society without the Patriots would have been like what that TV series Revolution depicted.

2. The outcome of Sunny's modifications

So, essentially, thanks to Sunny's modifications, it was supposed to end the Patriots, and avoid Outer Heaven being formed from the dust, leave people "free to choose." There's a small problem with that, however: The people who had those aspects probably would just choose one or the other anyway, and if anything actually makes a neo-Patriots that's arguably even WORSE than the original and/or an Outer Heaven war-torn world all the MORE likely, which could even be seen with Drebin 893's drunken rant to Otacon below:

Drebin           : Yeah, well, it ain't all sunshine and rainbows. Lotta folks lost their entire sense of being the moment SOP went offline. Otacon           : You mean SOPS? I heard some people are going through withdrawals... SOP Syndrome. Drebin           : Yup. SOP kept more than just alcohol under control. Those poor slobs are virtually naked now. Otacon           : From what I hear, over 10 percent are showing symptoms. I guess getting rid of the Patriots won't solve all our problems overnight. Drebin           : You probably already suspected this, but... I'm not actually an employee of AT Security. Otacon           : Huh? Drebin           : The Patriots raised me to be a gun launderer. Otacon           : The Patriots? Drebin           : My earliest memories are of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army)... They kidnapped me... Forced me to fight. Yup. You're staring at a former child soldier. My parents, brothers and sisters... All killed in the war. Guess that makes me what you'd call a war orphan. After that, the Patriots picked me up and brought me into the family business. I was Drebin 893. There's a whole lotta pawns like me all over the world. How you suppose I laundered guns like I did? 'Cause they let me. In fact... I was under strict orders to back you guys from the start. Otacon           : You what? Drebin           : Hey man, don't take it personal. I wasn't the only one under their orders. Otacon           : Huh? Meryl and...? Drebin           : They probably never realized it themselves, but... Rat Patrol Team 01.... Voila! Otacon           : Patriot! Drebin           : Played like a violin. Otacon           : But... Why? Drebin           : Obviously, Liquid's plot was a threat to the Patriots. So they planned to have you guys take care of it. Otacon           : Didn't turn out quite how they planned, though, did it? Drebin           : Yeah, well... I don't think they expected you to crash their System and wipe them out. Otacon           : So does that mean you're out of a job now? Drebin           : Are you kiddin'? I got the DREBINS. All the Drebins in the world are in on it. From now on, we're in business for ourselves. We are pawns no more. Otacon           : Easy there. Drebin           : The White House might've lost its taste for unilateralism... Started to rebuild. But there's a lot of failed states out there that went bankrupt from their PMC habits... And they owe a shit load of money. Now only question is... Who's gonna pick up the tab? I'm sure these new governments will try and keep it under control with PMC corporate reform laws... But it ain't gonna be good enough. They're all sunk up to their eyeballs in the war economy. Might not be a New World Order... But the old order under the war economy's gone for good. I'm guessin' the UN is gonna be more important than ever, what with multilateralism and all. A certain President said it best back during the Cold War... For in the development of this organization rests the only true alternative to war. Then again, the UN itself's just an old 20th-century relic. And if you think about it... When you look at its history... It ain't that different from the Patriots. Otacon           : That's right... The nanomachines used to keep you sober. Drebin           : Crush. Mix. Burn. Repeat.

Based on what Drebin was talking here, there are only two possible outcomes for Sunny's FOXALIVE, neither of which are actually good, in the long run or the short run. On the one hand, you've probably got a booming business for weapons dealers (since the DREBINS, as Drebin 893 pointed out, is a gun laundering group/arms dealer group, and not the legal kind either), which likewise implies that the world is even MORE likely to be at war with each other than before, probably far beyond what even Liquid Ocelot himself envisioned. The other scenario involves the entire world being more broke than Weimar Germany and the United Nations taking over the Patriots role as the NWO organization, arguably being even WORSE than before, meaning the cycle isn't just going to continue, but arguably get even worse, thanks to Sunny, Snake, and Otacon. Put that way, this isn't a bittersweet ending which would indicate at least some positives to the whole thing, it's an outright downer ending with NO ONE winning out, not even Raiden, who has a bone thrown to him for once by letting him actually reunite with his family at long last (in fact, it's about as much of a downer ending as The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, also The Matrix Revolutions). Actually, if that were the option, letting the Patriots continue to exist and/or having Outer Heaven take over would have been far more preferable options. At least Outer Heaven has a military hierarchy that respects soldiers (and thus really can't qualify as anarchistic since anarchy doesn't allow for any hierarchy, structure, stability, or law and order, viewing such as "oppressive"), and even the Patriots at least attempt to adhere to law and order. Seems like Hideo Kojima just failed to think things through.

Anyways, that's pretty much my two cents on this. There may be more I might think up of later, but for now that covers everything.

[girlmood]

so yesterday, after crying about my phone being in the hands of some stubborn, unsophisticated uber driver, my mind kept going back to something i’m a bit obsessed with. i have had these obsessive and compulsive thoughts for around a year and a long bit now, and they make me feel unsafe because they revolve around someone. the thoughts themselves are innocent, yet they’re incessant and i feel that they get in the way of being active and focused on things. 

for a long time now i’ve tried to make sense of these thoughts.

i’ve come to the conclusion that these thoughts are in the way of something.

whenever i am daydreaming this recurring thought, i close my eyes. i reflect and become drowsy. even when i am trying to reject these thoughts i try and use sleep. needless to say that this gets in the way of things like reading and creating. however, i always insist when people ask that i am always busy reading and creating. in effect i am if i am daydreaming something all the time, BUT i am not putting pen to paper, am i? 

i close my eyes to my reality, the outside world. i live in my interior. 

i do this because it is easier.

i have said that i choose to obsess over this thing because it calms and soothes me. i always knew that the facile nature of just thinking something alone and not doing anything with it made me feel freer.

yesterday, however, it was difficult to cry about my phone OR this thing. it felt forced to encourage tears even though i felt a hollowness inside. when i noticed that this uncomfortable moment was taking place, i berated myself for not telling me how i really feel. THAT made me cry. knowing that there are things concealed from myself within myself is a fact that terrorizes me more and more each day i get older, especially because i think “I did psychology! Why don’t I know what is wrong with me?”

if i had been focusing on saturday night, i would have my phone. i was drunk and sleepy so i did not hear the uber driver trying to return it to me (or so he says). i also have no memory of the situation. i just have no phone right now.

if i admit to myself that i feel what i am scared i feel because i don’t know it, in regards to the obsession (though admitting this would no longer make it an obsession -- it would practically free me), then i must open my eyes and focus and take action towards it. it isn’t a bad thing to want what i am daydreaming about. i argue that it doesn’t make sense, but it does. my issue is that i cannot go a day without thinking about it in some form. i want to be able to focus.

i am taking a while to get to my point here but i think that this does further emphasise the importance of what my point is, to be fair.

anyways, i cried when i talked about my lack of focus, and how really, all i want to do is wri--... wri--

i couldn’t say the word “write” because i got choked up by my tears all of a sudden.

when i finally realised that “i’m not letting myself write, or create at all, by my lack of focus” i started sobbing like a child bereaved of ice cream.

i use that obsession, i use alcohol and drugs and social media and films, all to distract myself from what i truly want to do.

I want to write.

i do english. i tell myself it is because the teacher i had a crush on replied to a letter i’d given her; she said she could see me being “the next j.k rowling.” i’m sure that was meant as a compliment back then. there is also the fact that i never intended with continuing on with education past year 11 until we had to by law, but after enjoying my sixth form subjects, i found it incredulous that i had to pick just one for university, and english seems to be the perfect avenue in which to incorporate media, sociology and psychology (i also never got to do philosophy and i never continued on with french after gcses, so i also hoped to approach them in my courses).

but really, i do english because i’ve always been a good writer.

that is a bold claim to make, but in the past years i have made many bold claims. i am a sagittarius! it is our job to make bold claims and when asked to elaborate on that, we say no! like, that meme format was born out of sagittarianism.

for the sake of talking, because us sagittarians also do love the sound of our own voices, i will elaborate THIS ONE TIME.

i wrote many songs when i was younger, and used to perform them with my sister and cousins. there was this song called “girls style” that i still remember the chorus of. i must’ve written it when i was like, 7 or 8 years old? i swear, though, it’s good enough to be on a dolly advert or a song that jojo siwa could get more famous of. i think it must’ve been inspired by bratz too... anyways, that was a good song, is my point. i don’t think i could write it again and it could be as good because, for one, i don’t identify as a girl anymore. 

there was also another song that i wrote, i don’t remember how it goes, but i know once beyoncé came out with “irreplaceable” i was infuriated because the song i wrote had the exact same subject matter and tone as her song (but actually who was i telling “to the left, to the left” at 8 years old? rolling WHO around in the CAR? that I BOUGHT? for WHO?) somehow i swore blind that beyoncé had stole my song, and even though she was my whole life even back then, i had to unstan for a bit because i was mad at her.

imagine. 

i’m writing beyoncé level songs at 8 years old.

okay, i may not be THAT good -- well, actually, most of the songs on b’day aren’t so intangible for an 8 year old. not to say it isn’t a masterpiece, like every other thing beyoncé has done ever since and before and god I LOVE THAT WOMAN, but you know, i was in that ballpark, i guess, maybe...

or maybe not but ANYHOW i also learned to read at quite an early age, think it must’ve been 3 or something (despite how intelligent he is, i can’t imagine my 4 year old cousin being able to read right now, so that must have been a shock to my mother) and i was pretty artistic at a young age too, despite my main interests being in science at that time. 

i remember being in year 3 and writing a poem about ice cream that my teacher would never stop bringing up even after i left his year. i also drew a portrait of my best friend that year, and trust me, it was so good, the whole class was in awe. no joke. 

funnily enough, though, for a while, i used to deny that those things happened. you know, the pride my year 3 teacher felt or the way my best friend looked at me when she saw how well i depicted her at, again, only 8 years old. i forgot about them until now, 13 years later, in my last semester of university. 

my best friend from secondary school and my dad were so obsessed with this journal i used to bring around. my best friend used to write in it from time to time. i was so perplexed as to why she liked it so much that eventually it weirded me out and i stopped bringing the journal to school. (sorry mia, still love you!) i went to jamaica for two weeks when i was 15 and brought that journal with me, and my dad read every entry and seemed so excited by it as well that i just. stopped bringing it to show him. he still asks about it, and if i’m still writing in general. i give him mono-syllabic answers and hopes that he doesn’t ask any further questions (i mean perhaps that is because the moment i visited jamaica was also the moment i realised i really liked this one girl and since then i’ve realised i am a lesbian and since all i was doing was writing about this one girl for three years... i didn’t want to share anything too incriminating with him, a known homophobe, naturally)

in all of these instances, you can see that people enjoy my art. there isn’t an instance in which they’ve protested against it, even when i’ve explicitly named people in that journal or not everyone likes ice cream. but you can also see that i somehow conveniently forget that. like. “people enjoy my art” does not compute in my mind for a long time. it is a sentence that does not make sense, by every word. 

people? 

outside of myself? 

enjoy? 

like, actively consume and are amused? 

my? 

ME? 

art?

that’s BOLD, you believe you create art? ART? 

well, what else would you call it? what else would you say? i’m creating something whimsical here.

i’m currently studying critical aesthetics, and as far as i’ve read for this class, i can perfectly claim that the creations i allow to be consumed as such ARE in fact, poetry, by the basis of many of these conflicting philosophers.

but obviously, before three months ago, i didn’t know much about what aristotle, hume, hegel and such had to say about art and creating. however i always know i want my every endeavour to be artful. i’ve been enamoured with the concept of aesthetic for a long time -- perhaps this was vapourwave’s doing -- and i know i daydream a lot. it’s where the mental illnesses i’m plagued with permeate these naturally creative realms of my mind and distort them and they become unhealthy obsessions that i react compulsively toward. 

i’ve been to therapy and counselling and have heard the same thing. i’ve even heard it from a friend who really inspires me recently -- overthinking is not a bad thing. you just have to know how to control it so that it benefits you. overthinking could not be the bane of my existence because i probably would not be able to create without it. however, it’s dysfunctional because i don’t control it. i always think it’s about not being able to “turn my brain off”, which is impossible apart from braindeath, which i think is what i accidentally purposely try to allude to, but that isn’t what control is. 

control... is a scary word. a hell of an intimidating word for someone who is considered by many to be free-spirited and laid back. but control could have saved me the frustration of a missing phone for two days. control did save me from this obsession from furthering at one point, but after one event i lost control and have not regained it since. it is easy to blame the person in question but she hadn’t done anything wrong. i’m not really doing anything wrong. i just need to control myself.

last year, i meditated a lot. this was perhaps i was smoking weed and normal tobacco, thinking i could find myself in those vices, yet felt so paranoid and low. when you meditate, it isn’t really about controlling your thoughts by blocking them out. rather, meditation is about controlling where your mind is. where you focus. it’s choosing to relax.

strange as it sounds, relaxation is not an easy choice to make.

i often mistake relaxing for being idle. the major difference is in my thoughts. being idle allows for thoughts to intrude upon me and be incessant and unnerving. 

being idle is unfortunately a constant in my life.

it isn’t that i haven’t got anything to do. it’s just easy to be idle.

somewhere in the bible (no, i don’t care enough to go and look it up) it says “idle hands give the devil play”. or it’s a jamaican proverb. my mum says it a lot. anyhow, it rings true in every sense for me. the “devil”, my unconscious “ego”, base impulses, “play” with my mind, they swing my “idle hands”, make them shape their way, clap their way, ball their way. an innocent hand clapping game played until my hands are sore. i’m always throwing my hands at the devil to let him do what he wants.

relaxing is stopping the hand game. i put my hands down and watch the devil wait for me to parttake once again, saying encouraging things. there, i control my passivity. i spectate my own mind. 

right now, i’m relaxing. i am in bed, but also while typing this i am taking my time to focus, be honest and try not to digress. it feels so tranquil. i have written a lot but i want my point to get across so i can feel understood.

i feel like i have misguided my friends about who i am for a long time. or have i? it’s easy to be the messy black lesbian who loves one direction and is “woke” but there is this thing that i notice when i am with them: i am relaxed. well, in most instances. i listen to what they are telling me, because i enjoy listening in general but also because i love them. 

in my teenage years when i decidedly “wasn’t into friendships”, i would still listen to the people i hung around with. i’d complain about them on twitter after, which funnily enough people still joke that i do but i really do not (and CAN not) do it as much as i used to but i know by idly listening to them and not opening up i let all sorts of demons in because they can intrude unlike people you haven’t given the key to. 

now i am choosing to open up because people aren’t so bad, and people mostly like me. even if they didn’t, however, it doesn’t actually matter. 

me existing regardless of anyone else is the point here, despite me being a good writer. i think that’s what makes writing good. i think that is what makes art good. it has the ability to exist and encourage thought. 

i shouldn’t be afraid to write because i think i’m too depressed or messy or something i don’t like will come to fruition because that isn’t what its about. creating is creating. no one else would have written this. i don’t expect this to be winning the nobel book prize any time soon. i want to finally find peace in my honesty. i have been a compulsive liar for too long and it has become monstrous. now i must relax and take the true easy path in the end: the one which terrifies me the most.

i am going to be disciplined, patient, open. honest, forgiving, sensitive. 

i do love to be a mystery but it isn’t fun if it’s causing you pain and you’re a mystery to yourself for such a long time.

one way i’m going to solve the enigma that is myself, as well as the world, is writing.

[autumnblogs]

Day 51: Estrangement from The Self

https://homestuck.com/story/5935

I didn’t really take Terezi’s problem with Faygo seriously the first couple times reading Homestuck, but in terms of the way that Homestuck’s different characters mirror each other, and the Trolls’ bizarre alien problems are used to directly comment on human problems, I think it makes sense to say that Terezi’s Soda Abuse should be taken exactly as seriously as Rose’s alcohol abuse.

Rose and Terezi only interact a handful of times, which is a shame, because on a certain level, they share the same basic problem; a lack of faith in the people around them combined with a crippling lack of self-worth. Though they both have strong narcissistic tendencies, Rose and Terezi display over and over again a desperate need for affirmation, and when they can’t get it from their peers, they seek it from other sources; Terezi’s manipulation by Aranea, in this sense, is parallel to Scratch’s manipulation of Rose in terms of the motivation of the one being manipulated.

More after the break.

https://homestuck.com/story/5936

(More indication that being on the God Tiers literally elevates characters to exist more on the narrative layer than they did before.)

https://homestuck.com/story/5937

In theory, I want the story to reward Dave’s newfound aloof optimism, but I think he’s still like... going too far in the other direction from where he started. We know he’s been questioning his relationship to Bro’s weird ideology, and he’s clearly less interested in being a Hero than he “should be” - but he’s still coping with his emotions mostly just by not acknowledging them.

He’s in for a rude awakening when he gets to the new session.

I should note that like, while Karkat and Dave’s friendship develops into a romance instead of into a platonic bromance after the reset, I don’t think we’re given much of an indication that their actual dynamic is all that different aside from being more physical.

https://homestuck.com/story/5944

Davesprite’s story is parallel with Dave’s, and as I’ve probably already said, forms a core part of Homestuck’s narrative about the distributed nature of the self, and the way that we can’t ever really know ourselves perfectly.

There are the literal material distributed selves like Davesprite, or sometimes Brain Ghost Dirk, or all the various versions of a character from other points along their own timeline, or from Doomed Timelines.

Anything we learn about Davesprite helps us to learn more about Dave. Anything we learn about Lil Hal helps us to learn about Dirk.

If Homestuck is about alienation, estrangement, then through characters like Davesprite, and Lil Hal, we learn that these people are not only estranged from each other by time and space, they are even estranged from themselves by the partitions in their own head, and by the way in which they are observed by other people, and form idealized versions of themselves to aspire to that they can never be. Other better versions of themselves exist in other timelines, and two different versions of a character both wish that they were the other.

Paul Tillich, a French existentialist philosopher and theologian talks about the idea of estrangement from the self as being rooted in the same problem that estranges us from others in his essay You are Accepted.

Maybe that’s another thing that I need to write about. I shall probably do so once we get to Davepeta’s talk about the Ultimate Self. (Did I already write a companion piece about it? Maybe I did.)

https://homestuck.com/story/5955

Okay; the plot has switched tracks, but the theme is very much still exactly what it was during Davesprite’s ramble. What is the significance of all of the alternate selves? In keeping with her very Dirk-like adherence to the idea that she is a certain person who is a certain way, and needs to be who she is, Vriska’s conception of all the alternate selves is that they are meaningless and have no signifiance.

I think it’s telling that we don’t really see any alternate Vriskas in this undead army.

https://homestuck.com/story/5957

While this seems extremely obvious to me anyway, it’s worth pointing out that Meenah alludes to the reason why The Condesce has latched onto Jane in pretty much exact words.

She yearns to have an Heiress, someone that she can teach her badass ways. In short, Meenah wants the same thing that Dirk wants - she wants ideological offspring!

https://homestuck.com/story/5961

I think with Andrew’s stated disdain for Worldbuilding (don’t quote me on that; I’m just pretty sure he said it once, and the fact that his villains are the characters who engage in long-winded worldbuilding screeds is suggestive of this as well), this is another way in which He is Fucking With Us.

The worldbuilding gives us symbols we can use to think about the themes the rest of the comic addresses, but broadly speaking, it’s not actually all that consequential.

https://homestuck.com/story/5966

Aranea continues to use language suggesting that she views the universe very much like a single organism - it’s an interesting quirk of hers.

https://homestuck.com/story/5982

As we come up on the conclusion of Disk 2, Aranea’s monologuing definitely recalls Scratch’s monologuing. (And of course, the journal entries from Mindfang before that).

The background information here is definitely relevant for one thing; helping us to understand the emotional background of the characters.

https://homestuck.com/story/5986

Long isolation and hardened pursuit of justice sounds like a certain mail-lady.

https://homestuck.com/story/5997

As in her initial conversation with Terezi, Aranea calls attention to the somewhat “fake” nature of Choice, and libertarian free will as it is often conceived of. It would not be in keeping with Caliborn’s character for him to choose the other option; just as it would seemingly not be in keeping with Vriska’s character for her to abandon her pursuit of power.

https://homestuck.com/story/6017

Terezi’s black and white worldview - her view of acts as good and evil, and her view of people as either good or evil - makes her completely incapable of coping with the shame of her bad decisions. Terezi doesn’t know how to forgive, or what forgiveness looks like - she does not know how to bridge the gap between herself and someone else once they are estranged. She has never been able to forgive Vriska. And she certainly can’t forgive herself. Not for getting into a relationship with Gamzee. Not for becoming addicted to Faygo. Not for repairing her vision. And certainly not for killing Vriska.

https://homestuck.com/story/6020

And Karkat brings it around again to the ongoing conversation about the ways characters are estranged from themselves.

https://homestuck.com/story/6043

Tavros’s single emotional triumph in pretty much the entire story.

He finally ditches his abusive girlfriend, and stops putting up with her.

Ironically, being tolerated in their wickedness is probably the last thing people need when they’re involved with it.

Letting Vriska keep on abusing him is a disservice to both Tavros and Vriska.

Really, it’s best for both of them.

https://homestuck.com/story/6050

Vriska continues the pattern of shit-talking herself. She always vacillates between vastly inflated self-esteem, and complete dejection.

https://homestuck.com/story/6054

Vriska’s vastly inflated ego is part and parcel of her nature as a Thief of Light I think.

Because she doesn’t just think the world of herself in the sense of stealing everyone else’s meaning and relevance.

Vriska assigns all the responsibility in the world to herself. If she doesn’t act, or if she doesn’t, as far as Vriska is concerned, everything that comes to pass, comes to pass because she wills it, at least at the moment.

Vriska Serket is a Megalomaniac of the highest order; she conflates herself with Lord English. She conflates herself with God.

Vriska is as alienated from herself as anyone is, and it’s because she thinks she understands who she truly is, and considers living up to the ideal version of herself a matter of ultimate importance.

https://homestuck.com/story/6056

Kanaya’s intervention is parallel to Dave and Karkat’s.

https://homestuck.com/story/6065

Caliborn has graduated from having nothing but complete disdain for everyone who is not himself to having some use for other people, but even his camaraderie only extends to those who prove themselves useful to him; he makes a mockery of friendship, and his attempts at civility are signifiers as empty as his life is of the possibility of genuine benevolence.

https://homestuck.com/story/6071

Meenah’s emotional theatrics are as genuinely disheartening as they are darkly hilarious because, like Dirk, and like Vriska, Meenah is a Dangerous PersonTM; she views the violence she is capable of as being intrinsic in her nature, and something she basically is incapable of resisting. Like everyone else in the story, Meenah is basically uneasy with who she is, but only a handful of characters are like Meenah in that they are basically resigned to that uneasiness. Instead of doing the things Meenah wants to do, she does the things she does not want to do.

https://homestuck.com/story/6241

So here we are at the end of Disc 2, in the same basic predicament we were at the end of Disc 1.

Everyone is miserable. Everyone’s relationships have broken down all but completely.

Everyone is estranged from each other, and everyone is estranged from themselves, and if they think a cute little reunion is going to resolve all of the emotional problems that they have failed to confront over the past three years, they’re in for a rude awakening.

More tomorrow, as we start in on the final quarter of Homestuck.

See you tomorrow; Same Cam Time, Same Cam Channel

#liveblogging #commentary #paul tillich

[emeraldspiral]

Legit though, unless there’s a major shakeup, like a new director or different writers being brought on or something, I don’t think I’m going to be seeing the next FB movie, at least not in theaters. The visual style is ugly and the big set-pieces aren’t that interesting. The characters and dialog aren’t interesting. The ideas and themes are underdeveloped. The plots are aggravatingly dull and confusing with poorly constructed mysteries that have little to no payoff and a bunch of useless scenes that do nothing but give our heroes something to do to kill time until the finale. The tie-ins with the main franchise consist of characters existing and nothing else. We don’t get any new insight into their characters or into events previously alluded to, which is basically the only reason for these movies to even exist in the first place.

Like, I get that this is part 2 of like a 9 part series or something. But, I would argue that aside from Captain America 2 and 3 and maybe Thor 3, pretty much every non-Avengers movie after phase 1 didn’t really need to exist. They’re pretty self-contained and don’t do much aside from introducing Infinity Stones to actively set the stage for Infinity War. But most of them still manage to be decent movies that don’t waste your time, and even the bad ones like Thor 2, Iron Man 2 and 3, and Ant-Man & The Wasp are still better than either of the FB movies.

If they wanted to wait until later in the series to really get into the meat of Grindelwald’s rise to power and his eventual defeat by Dumbledore, they could’ve done it the same way they did Voldemort’s storyline. Like, from books 1-4 they keep us occupied with stuff like “What are they hiding in the castle?” “Where’s the chamber of secrets and who’s opening it?” “Why is a dead man showing up on the Maurader’s map?” and “Who put Harry’s name in the goblet?” before we get major developments to the overarching plot like Voldemort returning fully to life, Dumbledore dying, Voldemort’s origin story, Death Eaters taking over the school and the Ministry, the prophecy, or the horcrux quest.

Why couldn’t they have had the first movie just be about Newt finding his lost monsters and had the second movie just be about him trying to solve the mystery of Credence’s origins and only have little hints of Grindelwald’s involvement, instead of continuously cutting back to him so he overshadows the plot and makes you wish Newt would wrap up his bullshit sidequests so he could be more involved in the actual main plot?

Gawd, speaking of the Credence origin story plot. I just... Rowling wrote 7 perfectly competent mystery stories before this. She clearly knows how they’re supposed to be constructed, so I don’t know what happened with this one. Like, to begin with, the question of “Who is Credence” wasn’t compelling in the first place. Like, the whole previous series pretty firmly established that bloodlines aren’t important. Anyone can be a witch/wizard and being pureblood, halfblood, or muggle-born doesn’t determine how good you are, or whether you can even do magic at all. So even the fact that Credence is special because he managed to survive well past age 10 as an obscurial doesn’t automatically suggest that he’s got to be related to someone important, anymore than being strong with the force does. Literally no one was asking who Credence really was after FB1. Then they try and make us think Credence is Leta LeStrange’s brother. But we didn’t know anything about Leta and her family beforehand, aside from the fact that Bellatrix is the wife of one of their descendants. We didn’t know Leta had a brother before, let alone that he’s supposed to be dead, so the idea that he’s alive and also that he’s Credence mean’s nothing to us. Then they drop that prophecy angle on us.

“A son cruelly banished, despair of the daughter, return great avenger with wings from the water.”

But we don’t know the prophecy until right before it gets debunked, nor do we know a lot of the stuff that we were meant to believe tied into it until that same scene. We don’t find out about about Kama being Leta’s half-brother and his mother being stolen by LeStrange ahead of time or about the prophecy mentioning an avenger, a despairing daughter, a banished son, water, and wings. So we can’t connect the dots between the LeStrange family symbol being a raven, and what happened to the family, to the elements of the prophecy and be misled toward the false-conclusion that Credence is the long-lost LeStrange brother. We’re just kind of told straight-up that he could be, even though Leta says he’s dead. But we don’t know the circumstances so we can’t even make guesses about how her brother could’ve survived. So I guess it’s a misdirect to make us think the mystery is “How did he survive?” rather than “Who else could it be if the LeStrange brother angle is a red-herring?” But that doesn’t really feel like how misdirection and red-herrings are supposed to work. Like, imagine if in Philosopher’s Stone, Harry and the gang concluded that the Philosopher’s Stone was the thing they were hiding in Hogwarts and that Snape was after it, but instead of the reveal that it was actually Quirrel who was after it and all the incriminating stuff that Snape did was actually him protecting the stone, the twist was that it was a horcrux instead of the Philosopher’s Stone being hidden, or something.

On top of that, once we find out he’s not, we can’t look back on the clues we overlooked because of the red-herrings and see how the actual answer makes sense, because there weren’t any overlooked clues and the answer doesn’t make sense. Like, the only way Credence can be Dumbledore’s brother is if the established timeline of his parent’s deaths was either retconned or a straight-up lie. So how could we possibly guess, just from the fact that the Dumbledore family also has a connection to birds, that it was the Dumbledore family and not the LeStrange’s that the prophecy referred to? We also don’t know anything about why Aurelius was on the boat so even if we did have reason to believe there was another Dumbledore, we don’t have reason believe he was “cruelly banished” and there’s no indication that the Dumbledore family had an “avenger” who returned from water. Literally, the “wings” part was the only piece of the puzzle that the Dumbledore family had, so who would ever come to that conclusion when the LeStrange family had all the pieces?

#fantastic beasts 2 #fantastic beasts the crimes of grindelwald #crimes of grindelwald #fb2 #fbtcog #tcog