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notbigondoors · 4 years

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This blog is amazing! Vision seems like a really difficult character to write because he's not even human (even tho I love him as if he was one haha) but you nail his personality and manners! I would like to know some of your headcanons about how he learned how to understand humans better and the way socializing works. For example I headcanon that he watched The Breakfast Club and was fascinated by it and then he observed Peter Parker because... teenagers being weird humans! Vision is so cute xD

{out of equations} Thank you! ^_^ Vision is a difficult character for me to write, more so than a lot of my other muses. Most of my muses I write either because I identify with them somehow, their personalities are very simple for me to understand, or I know everything about them in the case of OCs, but with Vision... his personality is far from my own, and he has an entirely unique perspective on the world. That combined with his equally unique biology and “birth” makes for a significant challenge when attempting to make him sound realistic with regard to what was in the canon movies.

In some ways, though, it’s no different than trying to write an elf or a vampire or angel or some creature who is not human, may be either very old or have been brought into existence as an adult, and who may not be from this earth/plane/time/realm. You have to really put yourself into their shoes and think okay, would they know about this? Would they ever have encountered this, and if so, how would they process it given their perspective? What things would they notice first, which would be most significant to them, and how would that different from how a human views the world? You really have to approach everything with either the eyes of someone who has never seen it before, or the eyes of someone who has, but only a few times, and may not have drawn the same conclusions as a human who grew up with said things.

As far as Vision learning about human socialization and how to socialize himself, there were four basic ways he eased into this whole process: 1) observation, 2) information, 3) imitation, 4) conversation.

Observation simply means that, in interacting with humans at the Avengers compound, Vision quickly picked up on patterns of behavior. Tony made a comment and everyone in the room laughed. Well, Vision didn’t because he doesn’t understand why what Tony said is funny... but he did notice that every other human in the room had a similar reaction. Likewise, if Tony says something and everyone balks at it or tells him it’s inappropriate, well Vision now knows that what Tony said was largely considered inappropriate in some way, even if he doesn’t understand why himself. So he watched, listened, and remembered the reactions of others, some in groups and some one-on-one, and then took it to the next stage of learning...

Information. Vision has access to the internet anytime he wants. Because of this, he can watch any movie, read any book, study anything he wants. So he remembers various human responses to things throughout the day and proceeds to basically do searches for “why is this funny?” or “why is this offensive?” From there, he can learn about certain events in history, certain phobias, certain types of jokes, or even certain personality types of humans... all things that might contribute to general societal reactions to some topics of conversation. After Vision had spent a lot of time just trying to navigate generalized reactions to things, he then took on more subtle ones, such as a reaction Wanda had so something somebody said that no one else in the room shared. Or a reaction Steve had to something Vision said when they were speaking one on one. Those reactions are more complex or deviate from the norm or might be rarer and more convoluted to understand. But in doing a lot of reading on human psychology, learning about their history, the differences between makes and females, the different focuses of people born of certain races or during different decades... he learns why people react the way they do to a somewhat predictable degree... inasmuch as he learns that even the most predictable reactions may not always happen 100% of the time.

Imitation. Alright. Now he’s learned informationally-speaking about how human beings react to things, as maybe he has studied some of the subtler points of human psychology and socialization. Now it’s time to put it to good use in real-life situations. At this point Vision can begin making small jokes of his own. He can start smiling or nodding or furrowing his brow at things when others do. And some of this is pure imitation, in that he is only doing it because he has learned that it is appropriate. That’s more in the beginning. But as he continues to do this, he develops his own emotions, his own preferences, his own sense of when something offends him or makes him amused, and then he is able to employ those reactions not because someone should in that situation, but because it is the proper reaction for what he is feeling. Unfortunately for Vision, he needs to more actively and directly connect emotions to reactions, because he never gradually learned this from being a small child and taught by parents. So very early on, he needs to actively think, I have been paid a compliment, this makes me happy and appreciative, the proper reaction for being happy and appreciative is to smile and say thank you. And then he does it. It happens very fast, so it seems natural, but it doesn’t become truly natural for him until at least a year or so after he’s “born.”

Conversation. If all else fails and Vision truly does not understand something, he will outright ask. Well, with some people. He is comfortable asking people like Wanda, Steve, and Natasha. Tony... it depends on the man’s current mood. People like Clint, Sam, and Rhodes seem a bit more standoffish with him and so he chooses not to engage them as often, but that doesn’t mean he never does. Anyway, if Vision’s reaction is taken as surprising, if he offends someone, or if he does not understand someone else’s reaction to something, he will ask, especially if he’s with someone he feels comfortable with. He tends to feel less comfortable around those who seem unsettled around him or who have made it clear that they think of him as a machine. And those who distrust him because of his link to Ultron. But it is not uncommon for Vision to ask things like, “Have I said something incorrect?” or “What makes you say that?” or “To what are you referring?” This is a big part of how he learns in general, not just about socializing, and frankly, Vision loves it when someone is willing to spend time with him and entertain his questions about the world. He is, by nature, a very curious and intelligent being who loves to learn and expand his knowledge of things. He also gets adorably excited when introduced to new concepts, places, animals, objects, etc. The first things he wants to do is go have a conversation about it. XD

Yeah, so... that’s basically my big ball of headcanons with regard to Vision’s learning process and how he came to understand human socialization. His goal is not to completely mimic humans, for he is not human and nor does he wish to be, but rather to use how humans socialize as a jumping-off point for him to then develop his own unique form of socialization. Kindof like a child learning math, and learning an equation for something from a book or someone else, only to then later refine and shorten that equation once he understands it. Or for a young doctor to learn how to perform a type of surgery by the book, but then coming up with a much better way of doing it after years of practice and expertise. Vision is the same way with socialization. His starting point was how humans relate to themselves, but the more he learned, the more he developed his own personality... until he no longer needed to imitate what they did and said.

I hope this answered your question and thanks for sending this in! I love when people send in “sandbox” asks that are basically like “rant about this for a while,” heh. That’s the most fun for me as a writer, to just explore things for no other reason than to develop the character and flesh it out.

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callboxkat · 4 years

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aries and scorpius for the writing ask meme! - @I-will-physically-fight-you

@i-will-physically-fight-you

Aries: when have you felt the most confident in your writing? when have you felt the least confident?

I usually feel most confident in the chapters or pieces that kind of write themselves. Like the part of Infinitesimal when they were looking for Emile. I was very happy with those chapters.

I’m probably least confident in writings where I take risks, whether that’s with different writing styles or greater warnings needed, or if I’m writing a character I haven’t before. Especially when I don’t hear any feedback for a while. 😅

Scorpio: how much research did you have to do for your current wip? what was the weirdest thing you had to google?

Let me preface this by reminding you all that I’m a huge nerd; and if you haven’t noticed that by now, I’m not sure what to tell you.

(I’m going to use Second Chances for this one since it’s the last one I updated.)

For my writing, I do... like, a lot more research than is strictly necessary. I look up sunrise and sunset times for the season and part of the world where the story takes place. I have a timeline of events for this story and the dates and days of the week when they happen. It’s a bit excessive, for a fanfic.

Some of the things I looked up for the first installment: the legality of looking through trash cans (just making sure I had it right), pictures of vacuum steam cleaners, and various accounts of what it’s like to be homeless. I’m not going to pretend that my depiction of Roman is at all accurate to what it’s really like to be homeless, though, since it’s fiction and I’ve never been homeless or even personally known a homeless person. But I tried!

I did a lot less research for Adjustments, just checking dates (and therefore leaving space in the day to potentially later address the fact that it was the Fourth of July, which I did eventually do in a response to an ask) and checking the timeline of Disney movie releases to see what movies Roman might want to catch up on.

Pressure was pretty much the same. The only additional thing I looked up was what year Steven Universe started airing.

For Puzzling it Out, I looked up waayyyy too much stuff about rutabagas purely because I found out they were a cross between turnips and cabbage and wanted to use this story as an outlet to geek out about that weirdness. And I also looked up jigsaw puzzle solving times to make sure I gave Logan a very fast but very possible one.

For Roman’s Story, the main thing I focused on was the timeline. I had everything color coded by month in the document, and I was making sure the timeline matched up with when real high school students would be making college decisions, and from there mapping out when other events would reasonably have played out for Roman.

Most of Run Away came from background knowledge. With that one I didn’t even have to worry about keeping strict track of the timeline since it’s a prequel; and, since he was homeless, the exact dates didn’t affect Roman much. It was nice. And probably contributed to the fact that that fic ending up 3x as long as intended.

I’m not sure what the weirdest thing I’ve googled for a wip was, except maybe the stuff about rutabagas. But for another fic, Infinitesimal, I looked up a bunch of stuff about shoulder dislocations and treating them. And during a recent trip to see my aunt in NJ, I was reading a book where the author clearly didn’t do her research, and I got vocally mad about it (because I’d done more research for a fic than this author did for a published book, although I didn’t say that) and my family got very confused about why I, definitely NOT the daughter trained as an EMT, knew how to set a dislocated shoulder. I had to repeatedly reassure my aunt that no, I have not ever had to set my own shoulder. XD

#my cousin has eds so my aunt was like ‘do you have it too???’#this got long #sanders sides #infinitesimal fic #second chances fic #i will physically fight you #i-will-physically-fight-you

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luci-cunt · 5 years

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Warning for a long ranting post written by a writing nerd about cool ways to write the beginnings of your stories using Star Wars and All For the Game as examples:

[TL;DR (I don’t blame you): I think Neil’s status as an active protagonist rather than a reluctant protagonist/ the way his story as a character is presented to us is a really cool and seemingly unique way to open a story, and maybe if I break it down and analyze it so people can understand what’s so cool about it they’ll write more stories like it so I can read them XD]

I just really, really like how AFtG opens up, how it begins, I feel like it’s such a cool and unique example of storytelling. (granted maybe I just haven’t read enough books and y’all can think of five that do the same thing–if you do please rec them to me I need books like these XD)

Anyways, I think first to really explain my thinking we should look at almost any other story, say–idk Star Wars for relatability’s sake.

Luke Skywalker is a regular ass farmboy until circumstances occur and he needs to join up with the rebels and gets tossed ass-over-teacup into a badass adventure with light swords and a magical force literally called the force.

that vs.

Neil Josten is a runaway, he plays exy despite the fact that it’s dangerous, and then joins a bigger team but instead of trying to avoid his fate he just resigns himself to the fact that he’s not making it through the year.

Already, I can spot a few differences–

1. Neil isn’t a reluctant protagonist

2. Neil’s inciting incident isn’t shown

But also some similarities?

a. Both worlds are outrageous but still awesome

b. Both worlds are also grounded in reality despite this outrageousness

Now to delve deeper:

1. When I say Neil isn’t a reluctant protagonist I’m refering to the trope of “protagonist lives a normal life until [insert inciting event (for Luke it’s his Aunt and Uncle being killed)] forces them to don the cape and mask and save the day” personally I love this trope and it works well for world building since you can make your protagonist a fish out of water which makes expositing easier. But– Neil isn’t a reluctant protagonist.

He actively chooses to join the Foxes not in spite of the dangers but despite them. Unlike Luke, who doesn’t know any of the events that will happen after he joins the rebels (e.g. finding his father/becoming a superstar of the galaxy/being pivotal in the destruction of the Empire/etc.) things just happen to him.

Again: this isn’t a bad way to write your story, I live for reluctant protagonists and this way also has a lot of comedic potential especially if your reluctant protagonist really just doesn’t want to be there.

But I digress– Neil actively causes the entire plot, he basically spoils the whole book for us actually. I mean, he says at the beginning that by joining the Foxes Riko or Kevin will probably recognize him (which happens) which will lead to Riko fucking with him (check) and then his father will probably end up finding him (check check) which will end badly (yup). Neil, just automatically resigns himself to the fact that all this will happen and he won’t live through the year. By him joining the Foxes, he’s creating the entire plotline, which makes him an active protagonist rather than a reluctant one.

2. Neil’s inciting incident in the books (just like most books) I think is kind of debatable, is it when Andrew, Kevin and Wymack come to recruit him? Is it when Riko first recognizes him at the Kathy Ferdinand show? Personally, and for the sake of this long ass think piece, I’m saying it’s Mary’s death. This launches him into the hopeless state we see at the start of the books that leads him to decide to throw his (admittedly bad) life away to play the sport that will kill him. But, interestingly enough–we don’t see it.

With Luke we get a slice of his normal life, how he’s restless but likes life and has a good family, then when they’re killed we all understand why he’s joining the rebels.

But with Neil, we don’t see Mary die, we just get vaguely alluded to it. He smokes because it reminds him of his mother, and how it sounded like velcro when he tried to pull her body out of the car.

This is interesting because it gives the reader the impression that Neil’s life has been rough, so rough that his mother’s death is just another thing to live through for Neil. We can gather that Mary was important to him, but at the end of the day she’s gone and Neil’s still here and he’s just surviving.

THIS IS SO INTERESTING!!!!!!

I mean, talk about show don’t tell, I think this opening for a book is just fucking AMAZING.

(though I will admit the actual opening chapter for AFtG is a bit confusing and lowkey a lot to read though because at least the first book is really heavy on exposition. But again, this is mainly because Neil is an active protagonist and therefore is very knowledgeable about his situation. I think the way she (Nora Sakovic) presents this exposition as a character trait in that Neil analyzes every situation he’s in, is super creative and cool, but it doesn’t mean reading through alllllll that exposition, while necessary, is any fun. lmao)

sorry for another digression XD

a/b. Both Star Wars and All for the Game are outrageously awesome stories rooted in reality. For Star Wars it’s pretty blatant: there is magic, fantasical creatures, space, but it’s all supposed to follow specific rules/ laws and there’s a very familiar fascist-esque force ruling the galaxy.

For AFtG there’s mafia and a fictional sport and weird drugs and on and on, but it’s all grounded in real laws and rules and consequences we (as readers) are familiar with.

I mean, just take the character of Andrew Minyard for an example of crazy rooted in reality (albiet a very gritty reality)–

An unmarried mother had twins, she couldn’t keep them both so he got sent to foster care, where he was abused and treated like shit from an early age. So far that’s pretty realistic right? Then things get a bit of a Nora specialty twist on them because Andrew rediscovers his twin brother later in life, and then, in order to protect Aaron from Andrew’s current abuser, he gets himself locked in jail. Getting a little less relatable right? (I just mean like, this doesn’t happen every day) THEN, he gets out and goes to live with his biological mother, who–due to the stress of being a single mother (and possibly past events) she’s turned to drugs, raising her son into the addiction and ostracizing herself from her other family. Andrew, because of the way he grew up, has grown to understand that giving people chances = pain. So, when he makes the deal with Aaron, and even gives Tilda a chance just for Aaron, the only option in his mind is to permanently get rid of her.

Crazy, rooted in reality, it makes for a super intriguing balance that is so much fun to play with. Other examples of this are like the show Archer, which is more comedic and also a cartoon but it uses the cartoon world to make things funny but grounded in realism. For example, the main characters worst fears are aneurysms and alligators, those are real fears despite his outlandish, cartoony personality.

I don’t know how to conclude things, but I guess what I tried writing out in a short paragraph that turned into a whole fucking essay, is that–active protagonists are just as fun to read as reluctant ones, and I feel like I see so many reluctant protagonists that it’s refreshing to get this new perspective.

(Also I think it contributes to why I personally feel more interested in writing/ reading fanfics, since before AFtG I’d never written/read any because it seemed odd to continue a story that had ended, especially if the characters where reluctant protagonists since most fanfics change to active protagonists. NOT that fanfic’s on other stories are bad, that’s not what I’m saying at all, I LOVE fanfic I just think–for me at least–AFtG fanfic seems more interesting because it almost makes sense? If that makes any sense?)

Idk, I’m tired and rambling now and idk if anyone will actually read through all of this but I had to write it all out, thanks for reading if you did!!!

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT 2X20 - The Evil Queen

Regina! What a pleasure to feature an old a-QUEEN-tance over here!!!

Once you’re done laughing from this exceptional pun, why not stay for the rest of the review below the cut?

Press Release With the aid of Hook, Regina attempts to put a plan in motion that will help transport herself and Henry back to Fairytale land. But her plan revolves around a fail-safe that was planted within the curse, which if triggered could wipe Storybrooke off the map - and kill all of its inhabitants; and Emma’s suspicions about Tamara grow. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, the Evil Queen asks Rumplestiltskin to transform her into an unrecognizable peasant in order to kill an unsuspecting Snow White, with the twisted aim of earning the love and respect of her subjects. General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Past I think this segment was incredibly well handled in its framing. The segment is able to clearly show how Regina’s reactions to her life and her impressions about her circumstances are dead wrong while still telling a tragic story for her. Like, it is very clear that the audience is supposed to laugh alongside Rumple (A framed mentor figure with a touch more moral ambiguity at this time) as she’s decrying claims that she’s an Evil Queen and be with Snow in abject horror when we see the destroyed village. That said, we’re also meant to also see the tragedy of Regina being on the cusp of real change, only to have her own remorseless history come back at the very worst moment.

Besides just the framing, the idea of neutralizing Regina and making her spend time with Snow in an alternate form was inspired. The resulting characterization of Snow and the effects of her kindness (Namely that all it takes is some one-on-one time with Snow in order to remember the potential goodness in your heart because she is honestly just that soothing and kind of a presence) is something that’s honestly much smarter than it has any right to be. But what’s better is that for all of Snow’s goodness, it DOES have a limit, and that is abruptly reached and more when she discovers the burnt village. Also, great job Ginny for a small bit at the end of her screen time where she goes through multiple expressions of anguish after letting Regina go, both as a show of her building frustration with the consequences of goodness and her frustrations with Regina. I’m honestly willing to bet that right after this episode is when the grouchier Snow from “Snow Falls” shows up. Finally, I’ve just got to say that this is such a better handling of the possibility of Regina’s goodness than the flashback in “The Cricket Game.” Here, Regina doesn’t just fail a test she was all but bound to, but she crosses over a tangible line of decency and hurts countless others. Present The present does a lot more in terms of plot progression than story progression, but it comes with more than a few solid character interactions and moments.

I enjoyed seeing Regina and Killian working together. They have a good rapport and the betrayals and speeches between these two villains are just great. I love the little ways they screw each other over, but also this light bit of compassion they share too (Ex. Killian giving his condolences for Cora’s passing).

The Emma, Henry, Neal, and Tamara subplot was equally interesting! The search through the apartment makes for an engaging mystery, even though I know the outcome of it. There’s always this worry in my heart that they’re going to be caught and when they do, it makes for a fun moment of realized tension. Everyone’s characterization (Or somewhat fake characterization concerning Tamara in her scene with Emma) is fully in-line and the conflict is an understandable one with little nuances that make for compelling bits of dramatic irony.

The plot progression itself is fine. What we learn about the trigger and Greg and Tamara’s plans is well spread out and interspersed between good character moments. Insights - Stream of Consciousness -”Actually, I prefer with the lights on.” I bet you do, Captain! XD -”She is his mother, despite all the horrors!” Very good, Snow! Look, as far as the current circumstances of this show and season have been thus far, I’m of the mind that the Charming family is currently right: Regina does deserve to be able to see Henry, but given her history and especially her recent behavior, limiting her visitation while she continues to better herself is a completely fair thing to do. No one’s denying that Regina is Henry’s mom and the one time it was done, it was appropriately framed as a wrong outburst. -”Rumple’s cell.” David...while still a supporter of the sentiment I just presented, that’s...too far. -THE PANDA BLOOPER!!! -”But I am not evil.” Regina, you just burned down a village! That’s pretty evil! -Damn, Rumple. Cutting off trade with King George’s kingdom. That’s coooooold. ...but kind of awesome. -I love that when characters, it’s explained how they’ll look different to the world while still being played by the same actor! THat’s clever as hell! -”They still see me as The Evil Queen which they made me.” Regina, no. -Regina, this is Henry. What did you expect when you were leading up to everyone dying? -Awww! Good job giving condolences, Killian! -I wonder what it would’ve been like had Cora and Regina (And presumably Henry) went back to the Enchanted Forest and started fresh? -Snow’s actually giving Emma really good advice here! She knows no one wants Henry to get an incorrect impression about the circumstances of his parents. -I LOVE the music that plays as Snow saves Regina! It reminds me of a superhero’s theme! CAN WE GET SNOW IN THE NEXT AVENGERS MOVIE?! -Killian, how can you tell that that’s Maleficent? I can hardly tell that that’s Maleficent! It looks more like what happens when the Mummy fucks Loki! -OH SHIT! I FORGOT THE GLASS COFFIN COMES BACK!!! -”Someone from another forest taught me. Long story.” HOLY SHIT! DID THEY HAVE HERCULES PLANNED FROM THE END OF SEASON 2?! I LOVE THIS SHOW! -”Not usually [Referring to how fun stakeouts are]. But this one? Yeah, kinda.” Awwww!!! Some cute Swan Believer! -I like how there is a direct consequence of Emma not heeding Snow’s words. -So I like how Regina has moments of surprise as Snow talks about how there’s still good inside of Regina. It feels like it’s just as much of a surprise to her for her own sake as it is for Snow’s sake. -I wish past Snow remembered this destroyed village in “The Cricket Game’s” flashback. Like this episode just makes that flashback even dumber. -Snow is perceptive as FUCK with the reflexes of a GOD! -I LOVE that look of frustration on Snow’s face as she lets Regina get away. It contributes nicely to her growth of disdain for the consequences of her goodness! -”Startling. Some people would say striking.” Is this a taco commercial, because why not both? -”The one thing I excel at is surviving.” I guess this is the first aspect of that line (Other than maybe his second voyage to Neverland?)! Neat! Arcs - How are These Storylines Progressing? Regina’s Redemption - Regina’s regressing a lot in this episode and I kind of struggled with how I felt about it. On one hand, it does work on a character level. Regina’s pretty dramatic and I can believe that would be her reaction to the idea of being stranded in Storybrooke would be a big one. However, watching this regression and seeing her say how she believes that the only reason she’s The Evil Queen is because Snow and Charming made her that way is just annoying to watch and makes me feel barely sympathetic at all to her plight. Like, if Regina hadn’t shown such strength in the first half of the season, I’d have felt differently, and while get that Cora’s death and this bean incident changed things, this is such a dramatic change that I don’t know if I can enjoy it (Especially when one considers how she was able to stop herself from forcing Henry’s love in “Welcome to Storybrooke,” an even more recent example of her strength). Jeez, she even ignores Henry’s pleas and memory wipes him! And I know she improves in the very next episode (I’m having serious Dark Hook flashbacks or flashforwards, whichever they would be called), but in the confines of this episode, it goes a little overboard. Killian’s Revenge/Redemption - So I know that I’m going off of a few lines here, but I love the setup for Killian’s realization that revenge isn’t what it seems. The entire opening to the downstairs elevator scene speaks to the fact that while Killian values his revenge, its conquest essentially means that his life is over and the fact that he shows even the tiniest bit of doubt there shows that there could be more in store for him. That said, until he reaches that point, he still does want revenge and will fight to ensure it, no matter how unscrupulous and awful he has to be in the process. Greg and Tamara - Gotta say. While not super impressive nor memorable as characters, Greg and Tamara are pretty clever with the knowledge they’ve been given. Their plan to recruit Killian and neutralize Regina is pretty well thought out, and their covert nature was only partially exposed due to a complete accident! Favorite Dynamic Swan Believer. Look, this one is just fun. Seeing Emma and Henry bonding on a stakeout, sharing ice cream, and breaking-and-entering together is fantastic and cute. I love seeing the little bond that’s grown between Emma and Henry, especially after the whole lying arc from a few episodes back. This is great payoff and plays into what one would naturally expect from an eleven year old when he’s helping his mom foil his dad’s fiance: could his parents get back together. I like how Emma explains to him very clearly that that’s not the case (And I swear, that’s not a shipping thing. That’s just a matter of being careful of his expectations) but also gets the added bonus of his speculations being a consequence of not listening to Snow’s advice. Writer Jane Espenson and Christine Boylan are our writers today! And I liked what they came up with. Snow’s character progression in the past segment is as smooth as peanut butter, and she’s just the tip of the iceberg. All throughout the story are well-written character moments with mostly good dialogue. It’s only failing is, as I said before, is some of Regina’s present dialogue, specifically during her conversation with Henry. Rating 9/10. This was a good one! The story in the past is, as I said before, better than it had any right to be and draws far better lines for the characters of Snow and Regina. The present storyline is equally interesting, albeit with a touch of exhaustion from some of the more repetitive dialogue. But most of the character interactions and story progression worked very well, making it a quiet wonder. Flip My Ship - Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Hooked Queen - Damn, Killian and Regina exchange some really nice and trusting looks in Regina’s office! Hell, Killian even being here and offering his services is pretty great for them! Captain Swan - I don’t think this has ever been pointed out before, but Killian kept the beanstalk cuff! While it didn’t work for me, Killian certainly gave a touch of value to his time with Emma on the beanstalk! Swan Fire - At risk of entering anti-shipping territory, I want to point out how the whole projection of feelings that other characters have been putting on Emma about Neal works SO much better here than it did for Graham because (1) they have a past, (2) they actually spend time together, (3) there’s a level of ambiguity to it which makes this time feel more interesting, and (4) those feelings are later believed to be true. Also, I just love Neal’s reaction to the door trick! XD ()()()()()()()()() We’re almost done!!!! Thanks for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales.

Next time...though I sincerely doubt I will, I hope I won’t have to PAN this two-part finale! XD

See you then!

Season 2 Tally (166/220) Writer Tally for Season 2: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: (50/60) Jane Espenson (44/50)* Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (31/50) David Goodman (24/30)* Robert Hull (24/30)* Christine Boylan (26/30)* Kalinda Vazquez (28/30)* Daniel Thomsen (18/20)* * Indicates that their work for the season is complete

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 2x20 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

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eazyeez · 4 years

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Summary, Reading III (The New Materiality of Design) by Mihkali, 6 Oct 2020

These readings, like the previous ones as well, arouse thoughts on our society and the rest of nature as well. I like to emphasize the human race being a part of nature, including all our non-human artifacts. The reason to this is that we certainly are a part of nature and thus dependent on it. Separating humans from nature on a thought level distances us from the fact that when altering our habitat we will make changes to the complex puzzle that the biosphere is. The complex system, as it has more or less been for hundreds of millennia, is the ideal habitat for us and changing it will make it less ideal for us and partly other species. The altered ecosystem will as a result be more suitable for some species. For instance altering the ecosystem of the Baltic-sea by pumping masses of nutrients into it during decades has led to it being a more suitable environment for cyanobacterium. We all know how lovely cyanobacteria are in the water we drink, swim in or gather food from. This is a good example of what effects our actions can have on ecosystems on a slightly bigger scale.

As another example of how our actions can affect the biosphere is taking out apex predators (which are sensitive to environmental changes) from a marine ecosystem. The absence of the apex predators leads to the booming of the next level of the food chain, smaller predators. These predators will prey on the next level of the food chain too effectively, the plankton feeders, and their populations will collapse. The absence of the plankton feeders will cause a boom in macro-plankton/ animal plankton which feed on phytoplankton, the smaller plankton, mainly different algae, and the phytoplankton biomass will collapse. The absence of phytoplankton affects the physical and chemical balance of the water. Do we want to see a change in our oceans, which contribute in major ways to the balance of our biosphere and the composition of the air we breathe?

The point of this is that I often get the feeling that when separating humans from nature on speech level distances us from the fact that we are a part of nature and vulnerable to changes in it. This attitude might lead to the illusion that protecting nature is because we only want to be nice to poor little nature. This seems to me often to be the attitude of people who have an economy-first attitude to life and human society. I think it would be important in the discourses on ecology to emphasize the point that we are an inseparable part of rest of nature.

How all this in my view connects to the readings is the point that our society as it is today is the reason to our habitat being altered. The contradictory role of a designer in our society is connected to how the rest of the machinery works. The machinery which leads to alteration of the biosphere. Standardization is another element in the big machinery of our society. The machinery aims to become more effective on an endless time perspective. The non-human agents are an element of this machinery as well, aiming to a more effective production and consumption society. We constantly innovate new non-human artefacts to make human life easier and the living standard higher, which can be seen as one main driver of our society.

So the dilemmas in the texts we have read on this course are in my view not the real problem. The real problem is the structure of the society in which these dilemmas occur. This in my view is quite a justified simplification since the nature of our society will lead to problems in human existence that make problems within the functions of the contemporary society irrelevant. What difference does it make if artefacts like cellular phones create social or political problems, or the role of a designer in a mega corporation creates a feeling of having no purpose in life for the designer, or how much we should standardize the society to reach an ideal level of mundane tasks vs. more complicated tasks in everyday life of people, if the society to start with is flawed and will lead to problems of much bigger magnitude regarding the existence of humans.

But since very little change has occurred in what the human species seems to value and prioritize, and how we act accordingly, even as knowledge on the bad state of the planet has increased and become more accurate, humanity will probably see what this fooling around leads to regarding the biosphere and human society. What will the next generations´ societies look like? What roles will designers have in these societies?

UTOPIAN ALTERNATIVE:

Since I have concentrated so much on doomsday visioning and diagnosing our current society as flawed, I thought I could think about what options we could have for the structure/ nature of our contemporary society and how the alternative society structure would affect the topics of our readings.

I suppose firstly there should be an evaluation done on how we can live in order for our lives to be sustainable regarding the balance of our biosphere? Hopefully on probably evaluations already exist in heaps, but I have not stumbled upon one, not that I have actively searched for them.

How much energy and resources can every individual use in their lives? Are we forced to stop using fossil energy sources completely immediately? Are we forced to ban any form of single use commodities immediately? Are we forced to change our diet drastically, maybe allowing eating of animal based foods 95% less than we do now? Are we forced to ban recreational flight traffic or flying all in all? How about cars? Are we forced to abandon the clothing industry as it is now and maybe create an alternative where individuals have a ration of some kind on how many pairs of socks or trousers they can have each year? Are we forced to reserve huge areas of land and sea for wild nature, in order to save species and mechanics in the biosphere that make it stable? Are we forced to abandon use of any kind of plastic which is not biodegradable to eliminate the unclear threats of micro-plastics? Can we forget about space travel? Do we have to ban war XD, is it possible? That would be a huge step forward considering how wasteful wars are and what purpose they serve, which can in a way be seen as no purpose. Are we forced to regulate child birth in order to reach a population size which is sustainable? What is that population size? Of course this depends on the previous question on individual consumption. Are we forced to recycle ALL our wastes? How about wealth and money in general in the green society? If there is no market economy, is there a need for money?

What kind of a government would be the authority in the green society? A vast board of scientists from all imaginable fields? Can AI eventually help us in the task or ultimately replace a human based government? Judging by how things have gone so far and how adult humans from garbage men to (in increasing amounts) superpower leaders behave, it seems as we desperately need some sort of a parent kind of authority to tell us what is nice and what not. And what harm have Big Brothers ever caused?

Can we build a green version of this society, or is the sustainable life style just so far from our life style that it is impossible?

If it is, what is then the option? No market economy? No industry? No system XD? Sounds like a plan.

If a green version of the society is possible, how many designers will this green society employ? With industry reduced to a fraction of what it is now, as well as clothing fashion and the market of other commodities and advertising becoming partly or fully useless, will there be a need for the kind of designers we have now? Maybe not the commercial kind at least. But yes for the sectors not connected to commerciality. Design of signs of the infrastructure? Designs of communications still needed in the new world? Designers making the machinery behind this new system effective and functional?

The theories of graphic design that have developed during the existence of our contemporary society could naturally be taken advantage of in the visual communication of the green society. The same goes for theories of standardization, at a healthy level. Could the AI or the board please assess what that level is? And while at it, also hint if we should ditch the dish washer.

Connecting the green society visions with the read “Intercept from the Academy”, should peoples roles in the green society be reformed also in a way that peoples work lives would be different from what they are now, if the current system is seen as unhealthy for the individual, which leads to problems in the society? Should citizens of the green society be informed to use 4 hours of the day for work and more hours for time with family and friends? The families consisting of three or more generations, which could possibly be a cure for problems of social exclusion.

What place would authors and artists have in the green society? Based on Andrew Bennetts text, authors and the appreciation for true, pure and independent authorship are not going anywhere. Would the green society have space for art? Why not. Maybe if we weren´t busy working for 8 hours a day to afford commodities, some of us could be artists that do what they do without the pressure of turning it into money, but only to channel gods voice in order to create food for the soul for the not divinely chosen ones.

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aletman262 · 5 years

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Content for Portfolio Website

Written Content for my Portfolio website.

Home Page

I am an Illustrator!

Hello, and welcome to my Portfolio Website

Check out some of my work here:

Links to My portfolio page

My PortfolioSection 1: Where I study and what I am doing

Hello, my names Anna Letterman and I study IXD at Ulster University (Belfast). I have been working on many different projects in Art collage, creating wireframes and prototypes, designing icons and illustrations. I hope you enjoy the Case Studies I have been working on as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Section 2: Personal Branding

Section 3- My Infographic on 9/11

Section 4-My Travel Application

Section 5- Illustrations for fun

Case Study 1: Personal Branding

This is the first Project that I worked on, I created many monogram and visual marque sketches perfecting each one as I went along to find the perfect fit for my brand, as well as creating a Monogram and Visual Marque for my brand I also worked on creating a set of Brand Guidelines that will allow people to use it efficiently .

Check out my blog process and Digital research

Brief

On of the first tasks I was given in IXD103, was to create my own Personal branding that fits my personality and what I like as a designer. I completed this task by creating a Monogram made up of my initials, a wordmark that can fit together with my monogram following a single line theme and a set of Brand Guidelines showing how not to use the branding I created and how to use it. I created my own branding so my work and future designs can be identified as my own. I first began by conducting research on who I am as a person, am I bright and bubbly or and am I dark and plain, gaining an understanding of the individual I am helped me create a brand that fitted me perfectly. I will now show you how I began my designs:

Monogram

To start of the design of my monogram, I looked at many different styles of monograms created by designers, I carried this out by looking at many different books and carrying out online research. I then thought of the perfect monogram Idea for me was to combine the A and L of my initials together so that it is one long line. It took many attempt to find the structure of the A and L, until I thought of using a circle as an outline so the a and l was even in the middle and followed a nice circle structure. After I had the Basic structure of how wanted the monogram to look I then started to think about which colour I wanted my monogram outline to be, whether I want it with a noticeable circle outline around it, whether I wanted the circle to be filled with colour. I explored this using many different fill colours and outlining colours, although the best I feel worked for me was pink as it is a bright and happy colour.

Visual Marque

Through the ue of many sketches and research I had to start thinking of a suitable Monogram that will fit with my monogram colours and theme. The first Idea I had that really stood out to me was using a line drawing for my visual mark, I used many books to gain ideas of other designers that have created visual Marques using the one line theme I was going for, I also enjoy drawing so I created many line drawing sketches to find which is perfect for my brand. I came to the conclusion that I would use a dove as my visual marque, as they are very graceful and beautiful animals reflecting peacefulness and good vibes, exactly what I want my brand to represent. When I decided the structure of my visual marque I then concluded research on the the City of Melbourne and why they used specific colours, and known colour combinations. I then decided I would use blue as the fill for the the visual marque as its a dove, I felt blue would fit the theme of peace, also I love the colour blue so a win win.

Word Mark

After creating my Visual mark and Monogram I began to look at which typeface would match my brand. By doing this I found out which typefaces would match my brand and which type faces wouldn't. I learnt that for me brand I needed a plain and simple text maybe following a one line theme like my monogram and visual mark. I found that the font style arial, was a good font for my brand as it is plain and basic, which doesn't take attention of the design of my monogram and visual mark.

Brand Guidelines for Brand

When creating a Brand identify it is very important to consider how other users can portray your brand in future references. It basically is an outline of the DOS and DON'TS of the Monogram, Visual mark and word mark and to show ways They can be used together. This set of guidelines focuses on colour, layout, consistency throughout, type and positioning,

Check out my brand guidelines here

Case study 2- My Infographic on 9/11

This is an illustrative Infographic that I created showing the drastic affects of one of the most traumatic terrorist attacks and how America kept going after the disaster.

Brief

One of my tasks for module IXD103. Was to create my own infographic on any topic that we find interesting or that we might want to highlight to others. When carrying out my research I noticed that not many people have created infographics to show particular wars and attacks and the affects it had on the world after, I wanted to focus my thoughts into one major terrorist attack that everyone in the world will always remember. When writing down my ideas and ways information can be laid out I started to become very interested in the 9/11 attacks and the drastic affects that it had on over 3,000 lives and families. I felt like there is enough factual information and remembrance to create an infographic on it and not many people have. Not only did I want to focus on the drastic affects it had on the America, but I wanted to make a positive note on how America overcame one of the worlds worst terrorist attacks, and the ways that we remember the fallen.

Gaining the Knowledge

I felt that if I was to design this infographic correctly I would have to have to do a lot of research into the affects of the blast, I read a number of books on the blast and concluded a lot of online research gaining real facts and figures. I found out many tramatising facts that I could not believe about the terrorist attack, I felt that these facts should be shared with the world and an easy way to read them was to make them noticeable to the readers of the infographic was to place them around an illustration of the Twin Towers building before this attack.

Illustrations

I made multiple illustrations for this infographic starting with the Twin tower buildings before the attack, as you scroll down the infographic the 3 planes can then be seen crashing into the sides of the building, as the infographic moves down you can see the blaze of the fire that contributed to the thousands of deaths, this makes the facts more real when reading them placed around the building as it starts to burn. As you go down the infographic It then becomes brighter and happier showing an illustration of Americas New World Trade building and the positive facts that the 9/11 brought them. The last main illustration I created is the 9/11 memorial garden, and some of the ways America honors the fallen still to this year and many more.

Gaining Quotes

I included real quotes in my infographic by researching the web, I found many quotes by famous actors, presidents, the queen and from the families and loved ones of the fallen. I feel by including these in my inforgraphic the information is going to hit the reader of the infographic harder, it will show that the 9/11 wasn't just thought about in America, but those around the world felt the families pain, even people with high reputation and standard shed a tear for the fallen.

Case study 3-My Travel application

This is mobile app that I created to help people visiting Belfast to find food places that meet their dietary needs in the City Centre of Belfast.

Check out my research on my blog

Brief

For one of my projects for IXD104 I was assigned to make an app based around any sort of travel, that will be helpful to many users. The app that I decided to create was to be a quick and simple working app that will allow people that require certain dietary needs to find local cafe's and restaurants in Belfast's City Centre. I chose to base my app around Belfast because it is the place I know most about. After many critiques the original design process I was going to follow for this application changed as I included research on what makes a good Mobile App. I have illustrated many different restaurants and cafes that feature different dietary needs foods, I designed these for my app using the software Adobe XD. This application may be full of your favourite food places.

Sketches

my task was to design an illustrative Mobile app that features the topic of travel. I had to produce 3 digital screens based on my digital and paper wireframes that I created using Adobe XD. I made many different spider diagrams outlining different ideas I had for my Travel app, but the one that stuck out to me was the dietary needs application as many of my friends are vegetarian and vegan, we struggle to find top rated food places that specify both vegan and meat foods, if this app would solve my struggle, I feel as though it would definitely be useful for people of all ages that are new to Belfast. I sketched out many icon and illustration ideas for each section of dietary needs that I would like to conclude, I used books and the web to find out which dietary needs are most common and where in Belfast offers foods for each need.

Illustrations

I created many illustrations for each section of my application, featuring places that do vegan food, vegetarian food, sea food, take away food, gluten free food, healthy food, Chinese food and an "im easy" section for those who are not picky but would like to see high rated restaurants and cafes. I also created icons for each of these foods to allow the user of the application to interact with the application and select which needs suit them. For the opening page of this Application I also created an illustration of Belfast castle saying "Hey there welcome to Belfast". When creating the icons and illustration I was constantly thinking of the consistency of each making the outlines the same width and and keeping the icons the same size size.

Colour and Prototype

I thought about how the user will interact with the application and how they will know which page they are on even by the colour. I started thinking of which colours users would associate with each dietary need. Once the user clicks their dietary need the arrow at the bottom of the screen will change colour depending on which need was selected, showing the user that this is the option they are about to view. To show how this application is interactive with the user I developed a quick prototype using Adobe XD, showing the user how to navigate from each page.

Contact Me page

I am a developing Interaction Design student, would you like to come with me on my journey through the art of Design and Illustration? If so send me an email using the link below or check out my C.V..

link to my email

My C.V.

Download my C.V. as a PDF document

Blog page

Hi there, feel free to take a look at my blog.. it shows my thought processes and more research into my case studies. I also post what I cover in my lectures each day I am in class and the designers I find inspirational to me.

Link to my blog here

About me page

Hi, my name is Anna Letman, an illustrator based in Belfast looking for awesome placement opportunities I would love to get involved in.

So who exactly am I?

I am an illustrative designer based and born in Belfast, in Northern Ireland. I am constantly learning about Design and how to become the best I can be by studying Interaction Design (IXD), at the Belfast School of Art and Design.

Before I began my journey as an illustrator, I studied Art and Design at Belfast Model School for Girls. I walked out with an A in my A level but no hope as to where I wanted to be! I then applied to do interaction design and just like that I felt like I had found my place to be! I find the UX design process to be fascinating and intriguing, my favored part of my course is working out the problem and finding a solution that meets the needs of the user/client. I am passionate about finding different ways the user can react with a design.

Whether its drawing, designing, photography or dance- I am always known to be a positive happy person defeating every obstacle in my way to make people feel happy and better about the world around them.

I am currently looking for placement so if you would like to continue my journey through the world of design with me please contact me;

link to email

Also, see more on my social media!!

#IXD301

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t--o--f--u-blog · 5 years

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☼☼☼☼☼ also think tank a white lecturer using the n-word when quoting literature in a lecture? I think she used it once outside of quotation as well certainly not meant in a disrespectful way, just seems unnecessary

☐☐☐☐☐ better have a justification at least but if you just use it out of the blue it always seems like some attempt at provocation 'i can say this because my interests are purely academic'

☼☼☼☼☼ mmmmm we're reading uncle tom's cabin, so it's hard to avoid

☐☐☐☐☐ should only be quoted verbatim if absolutely necessary, if there's no alternative I think

☼☼☼☼☼ yeah seems like she could have avoided it pretty easily

☐☐☐☐☐ if she's making no acknowledgement of the word's relationship to her privilege, that's rly not good

☼☼☼☼☼ yeah she's older so there might just be an outdated perspective there 'I'm just quoting the text, it was anti-slavery so I'm fine' sort of mentality maybe?

☐☐☐☐☐ still she would know about the contemporary attitude to the word and she should at least mention that! ugh like it doesn't sound malicious or super super racist, but eh

☼☼☼☼☼ Yeah I feel iffffy about it

☐☐☐☐☐ should mention it!

☼☼☼☼☼ Trying to work out if I should send email and if so how to word it

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ be interesting to actually properly discuss it

☐☐☐☐☐ yep

☍☍☍☍☍ heck I’d be interested to know more of a history of the word basically teach properly why its offensive

☼☼☼☼☼ Yeah, I might bring it up in the tutorial different teacher, but maybe good discussion

☐☐☐☐☐ mm that seems appropriate i'd love to hear how that goes

☍☍☍☍☍ uhhh there was someone who used it at Bar Oussou the host reallllly should’ve said something and I normally would but just too tired for confrontation

☼☼☼☼☼ Yeah ☐☐☐☐☐ was telling me Sounded very cringe

☐☐☐☐☐ v unfortunate most disappointed in yhe host tbh

☐☐☐☐☐ he maybe had a old-worldy attitude to it and didn't mind or was too cowardly lol which do u think?

☍☍☍☍☍ I think he thought it was in the context of the poem she didn’t use it to degrade someone directly, but the word itself is degrading

☐☐☐☐☐ ugh but the poem is in the context of fuckin oussou yep ppl need to have a think before using words

☍☍☍☍☍ I just think its great to have a stage to do emotional work, but it can cross a line into normalising shitty white behaviour

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ I went to a coloured school so I can’t b racist wah wah wah

☐☐☐☐☐ and you have to consider your audience if your rant is dehumanising or brushes aside/causes suffering u gotta reconsider felt pretty ashamed on behalf of bartender/various black audience members not saying that dumb white shit would be acceptable with a different audience, but her obliviousness was kinda astounding

☼☼☼☼☼ wow yeah cringefest

☍☍☍☍☍ lol spoken word scene as a whole can b so lame haha rings true to why I/we left

☐☐☐☐☐ mm so macho! that's what I liked about talkbox some sensitivity there, gentleness

☍☍☍☍☍ still, I just wish people read more lok *lol

☐☐☐☐☐ yep I wish I read more

☍☍☍☍☍ like the stylistic range is generally pretty lame

☐☐☐☐☐ I guess that's why anyone reads mmm

☍☍☍☍☍ I wish I read more too

☐☐☐☐☐ hahahaha

☼☼☼☼☼ :')

☍☍☍☍☍ don’t mean to shit on everyon, I just think the scene as a whole and the conception of poetry is lacklustre - it doesn’t seem like the time for poetry, sometimes

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ ppl too distracted by netflix uwu sounds like phones but too much

☐☐☐☐☐ doesn't seem like the time for art, sometimes! hahhh

☍☍☍☍☍ its definitely a time for music

☼☼☼☼☼ I think there's a place for poetry It's just raps and memes

☍☍☍☍☍ yeh but I play dat long game there might not b a place now but I’mma fkn make one whether you like it or not lol

☼☼☼☼☼ Oh yeah fair go 4 it

☐☐☐☐☐ loll

☍☍☍☍☍ I just mean that I think 'poetry' has evolved into other forms, and now the traditional form is struggling to find a place I mean does anyone pay attention to Victorian satirical cartoons? I don’t I think it’s also tho that the low brow is more apparent in the moment, the high brow more apparent from a distance the shit sinks, basically

☼☼☼☼☼ elaborate?

☍☍☍☍☍ time brings forward higher brow material while a lot of lower brow stuff falls back or like there’s an art for getting through your days, and there’s an art for elaborate long form spiritual liberation

☼☼☼☼☼ so u don't mind about a lack of audience now if your work has staying power?

☍☍☍☍☍ different works have different digestion time and yes that is what I’m saying

☼☼☼☼☼ hmmmmmmm

☍☍☍☍☍ hmmmmmmmm?

☐☐☐☐☐ personally I don't know whether I'm prioritising the reception of my work or its value to me right now i feel poetry/art in general are useful tools for thinking about the world useful philosophical tools i guess and idk whether i'm learning for the sake of my own knowledge/making 'better' art or learning so what I put out into the world is better received I suppose the two aren't mutually exclusive but yeah - feeling fairly indifferent to the idea of creating work that will persist right now part of me feels more comfortable with being lost forever lol or at least that I should become comfortable with that, bc that is what will happen inevitably

☍☍☍☍☍ I just think in this atmosphere of complete denial of the arts as an important component of society, as well as the stigmatisation of ritual and other mystical practices that used to house what we now might describe as an artist, its important that we follow our intuition rather than give in to a system that routinely prevents us having access to basic resources like I want to be there for whoever is there when this period comes to end and those peoples are looking for anything to rudder them, whether or not I’m alive

☐☐☐☐☐ you want to add to the cultural record?

☍☍☍☍☍ I want provide a map for future generations is how I would put it

☐☐☐☐☐ mm how do you feel one can ensure the persistence of their own work? or are you just hoping it'll be around for others I suppose whether or not anything lasts is out of ur control past a certain point

☍☍☍☍☍ for one I make an effort to give away a lot of work

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ I also store it all and make sure that that stockpile is kept w care but I also think there’s something to be said that I try and operate within many pre-existing canons I also it’s important to use the more meme-y, short stay work to bring attention to the slower works yeah, re: canons, like tanka and before that wakka as poetic forms stem back as far as a thousand years - perhaps more by putting myself in conversation with the ancients... idk it feels a bit like entering a cultural refrigerator haha

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ sometimes I find it better to see my individual works as modules that make up a whole more prescient than its parts (Morton lolz) soo... maybe my work won’t carry the same weight until I finish, so to speak who knowsss but this how I think about it lol

☐☐☐☐☐ best to try and contribute something I spose rather than do nothing w ur resources

☍☍☍☍☍ I’m weird with this shit u don’t have to be

☐☐☐☐☐ mm it seems fairly simple to me and not that weird

☍☍☍☍☍ not everyone should spend their life tending their gravestone it’s a job for a particular type of person, and I am it

☐☐☐☐☐ but in a sense everyone does anyway everyone does things with the future in mind or without it in mind I suppose

☐☐☐☐☐ and i guess that influences what you leave when you die eheh, whether you do it consciously or unconsciously

☍☍☍☍☍ I just am particularly stubborn that I have something to offer - I think its partially a result of being denied that a lot in school, I found other ways to have social bonds that were more... non linear bonds with past peoples, and inadvertently bonds with future people

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ I find it frustrating that its seen as arrogant to suggest your work should be read after you die - if anything its remarkably humble as I'm acknowledging that I will never properly see the fruits of my labour it's a ridiculously isolating position to find oneself in, where your best friends - books, music, content - have no form of human intimacy with you and completely defy all survivalistic, lizard-brain humanity plus you're just on a total different dimension from most people you meet

☐☐☐☐☐ mm you're in a very specific position here

☍☍☍☍☍ lol goodluck catching up ☼☼☼☼☼

☼☼☼☼☼ unrelated btw

(☼☼☼☼☼ posts a meme in chat)

☍☍☍☍☍ see y'all @ da rally (in reference to the meme)

☐☐☐☐☐ where and when is this? oh oops thought you meant a real one

☼☼☼☼☼ hahaha

☍☍☍☍☍ xD

☼☼☼☼☼ structurally is the meme ok ? took the photo the other day, and just added the text.

☍☍☍☍☍ yes are u going to weigh in on the conversation tho lol

☼☼☼☼☼ nah not really

☍☍☍☍☍ meme fine

☼☼☼☼☼ I have so little to add

☍☍☍☍☍ well hm why make memes? why not write novel? do memes have staying power?

☐☐☐☐☐ it's a question of what timescale is important to you at any given time maybe

☍☍☍☍☍ oh absolutely - not trying to infer a hierarchy here, I just think there are different approaches for different problems

☐☐☐☐☐ sometimes I'll say something to someone so they'll remember it for tomorrow, sometimes I'll say something to someone and hope they'll remember forever lol mm I don't think I care about staying power that much

☐☐☐☐☐ memes have such a short lifetime, they're like cultural mayflies haha

☼☼☼☼☼ Yeah defs

☍☍☍☍☍ why tho lol

☼☼☼☼☼ Because the art itself can date while still inspiring change

☍☍☍☍☍ yeah so using it pragmatically like a single use tissue

☼☼☼☼☼ If you create something short lived, it (with the help of other artists producing similar work) is able to push art and society in a specific direction The butterfly effect I guess

☍☍☍☍☍ it's true that you have more effect in the current conversation

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ but that conversation draws intensively on a language formed by the ancients so the two are dependent on each other, a back and forth

☐☐☐☐☐ and that's dependent on their work's longevity?

☍☍☍☍☍ not following ur question

☐☐☐☐☐ not following your point haha hmm

☼☼☼☼☼ so you're suggesting a works longevity is crucial in that it helps reinforce and update the ancient language in which short term work of the future will be influenced by?

☐☐☐☐☐ mm also - what if of all the work you make, it's only a meme that survives the passage of time?

☍☍☍☍☍ basically... like you're just reiterating points that have been made more in depth in 'higher' brow culture - that's definitely how I feel when writing raps

☐☐☐☐☐ like Roman graffiti surviving on the walls or whatever

☍☍☍☍☍ did you a hear copy of the I Ching, the Chinese numerology classic more than a thousand years old, was found in the 70s and had a heap more sections and a different order? effectively completely changing the understanding of the I Ching gotta get those nice lead storage chambers ayyyyy ahahaha it was found buried in a coffin, obvs haha

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ a lot of Chinese philosophers only exist in so much as someone else described them

☼☼☼☼☼ But what does that changing of contexts of that piece actually mean for us? Is updated Ching from the coffin helping us in any way?

☍☍☍☍☍ I think for me finding the I Ching and looking over it is like a person in a thousand years finding a functional iPhone it gives great insight into human impulses regardless of time and offers a way of writing the past a new, which in turn presents a new future (thinking of the cowboy article you sent me) reconceptualizing the past IS the future look at 'Make America Great Again' or calls to restore the caliphate both are founded on histories that have more to do with our current state than the actual happenings of the past

☼☼☼☼☼ I do see where you're coming from I like the idea that it's important to preserve our work for understand the past better And I hope that someone in the future will have a clearer understanding of our time through your well preserved works But what fucking future is it

☍☍☍☍☍ haha but like looking back we see people been asking that for a veeery long time I get it seems on a new scale but we're on a new scale too

☼☼☼☼☼ It does seem that yes Also if we do survive and keep on teching on

☍☍☍☍☍ I'm for an integration of the human/natural binary where we properly acknowledge our mutual codependency, the earth and humanity that is

☼☼☼☼☼ Are we even going to be translatable? Is the functioning iPhone found by the future person going to even be able to be translated? Or will it be meaningless because everyone is already part of the grid

☍☍☍☍☍ where artificially effecting the climate for the benefit of 'nature' isn't seen as strange but completely akin to Aboriginal burn back practices

☐☐☐☐☐ i guess it's productive to hope that it will be translatable

☍☍☍☍☍ we've always interfered in the running of nature

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ ehhh idk we translated fucking hieroglyphics

☼☼☼☼☼ Or future tech can look into the past and someone is watching our lives as we type this now, constantly being understood through our context in a way we can't comprehend through our recording processes shrugs

☍☍☍☍☍ I mean yeah, imagine if the internet was even vaguely archived

☼☼☼☼☼ You probably have a better understanding of how the future will pan out than I do tho

☍☍☍☍☍ even if 0.1 % was kept, it would be a massive resource

☼☼☼☼☼ No sass intended there, I'm sincere

☍☍☍☍☍ lol idk I just try to see a bigger picture and it keeps me calm remember me old saying? we survived the plague and nukes lol

☼☼☼☼☼ I just don't see the issue with creating short term work, especially if it is preserved

☍☍☍☍☍ oh neither do I

☼☼☼☼☼ Like a meme may have more impact than a novel rn

☐☐☐☐☐ well it could be argued that we're yet to survive nukes but I see your point impact on various timescales

☼☼☼☼☼ I've heard the plague make be thinking of making a comeback too haha

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☍☍☍☍☍ oh duh peasantry is fully hip rn

☐☐☐☐☐ but like

☍☍☍☍☍ bring back the boils, they look great with my Balenciaga sneakers

☐☐☐☐☐ lol bubonic chic

☼☼☼☼☼ Pretty close to heroin chic tbh haha

☍☍☍☍☍ not jking that was tb

☐☐☐☐☐ but like, I don't find a huge amount of solace in the fact that we survived the plague

☍☍☍☍☍ "The Victorians romanticized the disease and the effects it caused in the gradual build to death. For decades, many beauty standards emulated or highlighted these effects. And as scientists gained greater understanding of the disease and how it was spread, the disease continued to keep its hold on fashion. and the severity of the corsets was known to harm the lungs in such a way that would increase the likelihood of transmission LOOOL

☐☐☐☐☐ mm Balenciaga look out idk it's a question of what capacity we survive in

☼☼☼☼☼ lollllll

☐☐☐☐☐ quite depressing to think about

☍☍☍☍☍ eating disorders have a pretense

☐☐☐☐☐ what if ecocide leaves a few insular eco fascist regimes who gradually diminish over centuries always engaged in pointless wars of attrition with one another lol

☍☍☍☍☍ I mean you could probably say the same thing of colonial regimes now

☐☐☐☐☐ just because we can survive, doesn't mean my outlook should b at all rosy :((

☍☍☍☍☍ point is its a big ol' world that has plenty of room for pain AND love any future pain you think is imminent probably already is happening, and nonetheless breakfast tasted good this morning

☼☼☼☼☼ 'The hipster middle class would dress with raggedy beards and large jackets and refuse to use deodorant, perhaps to reflect the look of people suffering from homelessness at the time. It is suspected that this made them less likely to be hired, and therefore more likely to become homeless themselves.' ☍☍☍☍☍ ahahaha

☐☐☐☐☐ mm that's true hahhh

☼☼☼☼☼ Planning on making this into a full essay. Might not be popular now, but I think it has staying power? Soz for shitposting haha

☍☍☍☍☍ I was talking with ☲☲☲☲☲ a while back, and something struck me - she said, "I never thought this age would have its own fleet of particular medical conditions." (or something like that lol, translated via my nerd brain)

☼☼☼☼☼ Yeah that didn't quite sound like her But that sentiment is great

☍☍☍☍☍ 'fleet'

☼☼☼☼☼ In that ofc there is, but also wow yeah ofc!

☐☐☐☐☐ mmm hahh these conversations should be recorded so we can all think about em without scrolling up endlessly

☼☼☼☼☼ I do like the idea of people reading these works in the future tho

☐☐☐☐☐ and also so that they can be preserved for 10,000+ years of course

☼☼☼☼☼ In the same way we read the letters sent between dead artists now

☐☐☐☐☐ mm very true

☍☍☍☍☍ mmm

☐☐☐☐☐ messenger is not a particularly stable storage medium and also is more vulnerable to third party scrutiny although the fact we're reading artists letters now means that medium is also pretty fucking vulnerable to scrutiny lol

☍☍☍☍☍ I fucking found the word! (sorry was searching for it so hard) Neurasthenia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurasthenia

☼☼☼☼☼ Americanitis lol

☍☍☍☍☍ uhh the page doesn't rly talk about this, but its like a condition of over-working effectively, and people would try and get prescribed the pills to treat it as a way of signalling they were a dedicated worker its total hokey

☐☐☐☐☐ wow yeah you mentioned this a while back

☼☼☼☼☼ oh I've heard a similar thing in Japan were workers will pretend to fall asleep at their desks to show how hard they're working No idea the trust behind it tho

☍☍☍☍☍ to this day, "In Japan, shinkei-suijaku is treated with Morita therapy involving mandatory rest and isolation, followed by progressively more difficult work, and a resumption of a previous social role. The diagnosis is sometimes used as a disguise for serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and mood disorders." a dignified mental illness uwu none of that lower class shit I'm a classy fuck with money, I don't get the same mental conditions as the poor lolol reminds me of now: I don't have shitty parents, I just have adhd (not to deligitimise all uses of adhd, just over diagnosed)

☼☼☼☼☼ mmmmm i feel u yes this has been a wild ride

☍☍☍☍☍ yes I’m leaving to get late lunch uwu have a good day in this cosmic spider web lololol

☼☼☼☼☼ :')

☍☍☍☍☍ Like the burning of this charcoal fire, our years too will soon expire Kobayashi Issa listening to Krista Tippet talk with Maria Popova, this particular phrase resonated with our conversation: we live in a world where disruption over-fetishised; we need cultural stewardship to help along new waves of disruption

☼☼☼☼☼ How would u define cultural stewardship in a practical sense?

☍☍☍☍☍ caring for the legacy of those past as a means of refreshing their insight for a new age a very straightforward example would b the importance of new translations, in this regard - as our understanding and depth of connection to Japanese society has deepened, so too have our translations dusting off the books so to speak in some sense I see that in our music too or reappropriating to a new context

☼☼☼☼☼ Well remasters are a time terry literal example Fuck

☍☍☍☍☍ time terry

☼☼☼☼☼ Pretty* not time terry lol

☼☼☼☼☼ lime berry yeah exactly

☼☼☼☼☼ Slime Jerry

☍☍☍☍☍ I mean rereleasing is an obvs example mhm but more abstract examples are how I’ve exported into both your brains Bridle/Steyerl/Haraway via conversation and art lolol I’m helping it move from one place to another same w Zappa lol

☐☐☐☐☐ also - looking after artist friends being generous I feel these are acts of pre-emptive cultural stewardship

☍☍☍☍☍ haha yeah definitely different time scales it could function on

☐☐☐☐☐ looking after and maintain communities

☍☍☍☍☍ hosting open mics lol helping teach ppl poetry lollll

☐☐☐☐☐ not allowing hate speech to creep into open mics lol

☼☼☼☼☼ Truuuuu Or anywhere for that matter

☐☐☐☐☐ not becoming so dusty that you actually have a detrimental impact on cultural progression

☍☍☍☍☍ I think religions only exist in so far as they have active practitioners

☐☐☐☐☐ mm

☼☼☼☼☼ Tru

☍☍☍☍☍ I think my sense is, in religion, this same argument plays out with orthodoxy versus mysticism Maintenance of buildings is in there too for religion People being assigned paid positions as the keepers and givers of religious knowledge oh yeah thinking a lot here of Shanzai, ☐☐☐☐☐, and the idea of an object as a lived practice

☐☐☐☐☐ when home I'm gonna do my best to archive this conversation mmm

☍☍☍☍☍ you’re going to steward our conversation bout stewardship ...

☐☐☐☐☐ this is all going in

☍☍☍☍☍ ...the tv where I am says “The comedian getting behind ‘Know Thy Nuts’” and there are big walnuts on the screen

☐☐☐☐☐ ???????

☍☍☍☍☍ “I didn’t realise chemotherapy would be such great comedic material!”

☐☐☐☐☐ ¿¿¿¿¿¿

☼☼☼☼☼ Huhhhh

☍☍☍☍☍ lol highly recommend https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/on-being-with-krista-tippett/id150892556?mt=2&i=1000429408054https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/on-being-with-krista-tippett/id150892556?mt=2&i=1000429408054

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