#Adam Shippey

[cultfaction]

Bloodline Killer arrives this April!

Directed by Ante Novakovic, Bloodline Killer is a terrifying horror-thriller that follows Moira Cole who endeavors to rebuild her shattered life after the murder of her family at the hands of her deranged and obsessed cousin. It stars Shawnee Smith, Taryn Manning, Drew Moerlein, James Gaudioso, Montanna Gillis, Kresh Novakovic, Adam Shippey, Anthony Gaudioso with Bruce Dern and Tyrese Gibson. s

[postcardsfromheapside]

What a crazy fucking thing that people are mad that VG doesn't make you the most important person in the world.

I do wonder how many of these people ever leave their fantasy world where they're desperate to be the hero, and do anything actionable in the real world. Away from keyboard, you aren't the main character.

There's a pretty good, if culturally limited, Great Courses series by Tom Shippey called "Heroes and Legends," whose first episode starts with Tolkien, and the unlikeliness of Bilbo and Frodo as some of the most popular heroes of all time. Even if you never listen to the rest of the series, that first episode is worth listening to for the insights into Tolkien, and because it delves into why hobbits were a new kind of hero, unexpected and yet somehow waited for. (I have a point, I promise)

Cultural norms about heroism had drastically changed in Tolkien's time. Two world wars, rapid industrialization, pandemic, and death on an unimaginable scale (among other issues) had turned people cynical, and the image of a traditional hero was no longer viable. The episode talks about how regular, ordinary people were being called to do impossible things, from serving in the trenches to average citizens on the homefront living with increasing effects of total war. It was a different kind of bravery, unsung, unrecognized, and often you screwed up your courage in the dark with little support from others. These people weren't prepared to go through these odds, they weren't trained to handle the kind of mechanization and sickness and depletion and death these wars leveled on them. And yet, they rose to the challenge. That's what these hobbits ultimately represented. Shippey uses lines from both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to exemplify the "cold courage," the "3 o'clock in the morning courage" Bilbo and Frodo must summon. The kind of courage to do deeds that ultimately won't be recognized by their peers when they come home, as veterans often are.

I've thought a lot about this with Rook. Rook is just "some guy". Yes, Varric picked them because they're good at lateral thinking and holding a team together. But they aren't "a chosen one." With the exception of the wardens, none of the factions Rook works with are "traditional heroes". And even by the time of VG, the wardens are still suffering the tarnish from Adamant, led by a First Warden who seems more politician than military commander. Many of the quests Rook goes on are tasks that earn them favor with a faction, but not necessarily with the 'head' of that faction - it's often something you do in private, unlauded except by one or two individuals who don't really have social or political standing. You're literally doing things because you're a nice person, who cares about people in the communities you're trying to achieve ties with. If you sink into the character of your Rook, these tasks aren't easy. It's not "easy" to chase down darkspawn as a non-warden in catacombs. It's not easy to chase down demons. It's definitely not easy to fight a giant blighted dragon no one will ever know you faced because it's in the crossroads, and who is going to know about all those Venatori you chase down dark alleys? You don't get public recognition for these things.

I think about Rook a lot because in the past 10-20 years, our world has also drastically shifted. I think about the factions and how except for one, they aren't specialized military forces, they're just people, and the one special force has been drastically, purposefully depleted. I think about how in the real world, despite everything that's happened, people are still being told to get up and go to work as if things haven't gone utterly mad. As if we didn't live through a pandemic where millions died, and we moved on in the name of capitalism. As if fascists aren't taking over (as they were in Tolkien's time, because it's all just a little bit of history repeating). As if technology isn't being used to police us.

Rook isn't "main character enough" because Rook is meant to be every one of us - someone capable of standing up as long as they keep on trying, with a whole team beside them. Because the point was that Rook couldn't save Thedas without everyone else. This wasn't about killing one archdemon, or sealing a breach. It was too big, it needed the whole team, it the factions. Just like it's going to require more than one person to save us from where we're headed IRL.

Heroism is shifting, because the world is shifting. We have to think of ourselves as parts of a larger team working for the common good, not the lone-wolf hero.

That was the whole point of foiling Rook against Solas.

[mediamixs]

Bloodline Killer: the slasher subgenre never dies

Bloodline Killer is an upcoming horror film directed by Ante Novakovic, set to be released in select theaters and on VOD starting on April 26th, 2024[1]. The movie follows Moira Cole, portrayed by Shawnee Smith, who is haunted by the memories of her loved ones being killed by her unhinged cousin, Lee Morris. Together with her two grown sons, they try to live a simple and quiet suburban life. However, the past comes back to haunt them every October as Moira's story was optioned into a successful film series. The film boasts a talented cast, including Taryn Manning, Drew Moerlein, James Gaudioso, Montanna Gillis, Kresh Novakovic, Adam Shippey, Anthony Gaudioso, Bruce Dern, and Tyrese Gibson[1]. The trailer showcases a maniac masked killer on the loose, with some solid production value, promising a thrilling and suspenseful horror experience for fans of the genre.

Ante Novakovic, the director, has previously worked on horror projects such as Hellraiser: Bloodline, which faced production challenges and was released in a director-disowned Alan Smithee states. However, with Bloodline Killer, Novakovic seems to have delivered a more cohesive and enthralling horror-thriller, free from the studio meddling and budget constraints that plagued his earlier work. The film's marketing materials, including the trailer and poster, have generated excitement among horror enthusiasts, who are eagerly awaiting the release of Bloodline Killer[. The movie's meta approach and the involvement of seasoned actors like Shawnee Smith and Tyrese Gibson add to the anticipation, making Bloodline Killer a highly anticipated horror release in 2024.

The plot of Bloodline Killer revolves around Moira Cole, portrayed by Shawnee Smith, whose life is shattered following the slaying of her loved ones by her unhinged cousin, Lee Morris. Moira, together with her two grown sons, tries to live a simple and quiet suburban life. However, the past comes back to haunt them every October as Moira's story was optioned into a successful film series. A maniac masked killer is on the loose, targeting those connected to Moira and her family.

[lgspears]

I nominated Julian Dawood, Dan Rockwell, Adam Shippey, Mikhail Mudrik, J.J. Dashnaw or Luke Karagias as the lead soldier in the Rainbow Six movie.

[danyx26]

Olá leitores!!

Então vamos de uma resenha sobre essa PRECIOSIDADE chamada OS GAROTOS CORVOS da Maggie Stiervfate

- Existem apenas duas razões para uma não vidente ver um espírito na véspera do Dia de São Marcos, Blue. Ou você é o verdadeiro amor dele ou você o matou.

A narrativa da Maggie é uma das melhores coisas que já li na vida! Ela ultrapassou a Tahereh Mafi na minha trindade de escritas a serem veneradas e está em segundo lugar no palanque da vitória na vida de escritora - só perde pra Laini Taylor porque cof, cof, ninguém consegue ganhar dela. O que é a escrita desta Maggie?

Eu não sei que magia ou macumba ela colocou no livro, mas sei que eu não consegui desgrudar dele a partir do momento em que comecei a lê-lo. É tudo tão... Real, tão palpável, os personagens saltam das folhas e criam vida ao seu redor conforme ela conta a sua história, e eu quero sentar num cantinho e chorar.

Ok, sobre os personagens.

A Blue é nossa protagonista, mas o pov em terceira pessoa não é sempre dela - o que eu adorei, porque dá uma amplitude aos acontecimentos muito interessante. A Blue é toda carismática e engraçadinha, pequena e meio enfezada, tem uma personalidade bastante marcante. Logo no começo do livro eu já me apaixonei por ela e por seus trejeitos; pela família dela e pela maneira com que elas convivem, inclusive..

Na casa azul da Rua Fox, 300, vivem as médiuns mais divertidas e adoráveis que eu já pensei encontrar em um livro. A mãe da Blue, Maura, é a mais carismática e marcante. Eu quero muito ver mais dela nos próximos livros, especialmente sobre o seu passado! A Calla, outra médiun, é bem mais arisca do que as outras, diferente do jeito meigo e medroso da Persephone. E tem a Neeve, que, bem... Não é uma médium que eu gostaria de consultar algum dia. Ela me deu arrepios do começo ao fim.

Quando o caminho da Blue se cruza com os garotos corvos, é aí que a história realmente começa. Porque são quatro garotos corvos, cada um mais apaixonante do que o outro, e você só vai querer abraçá-los do começo ao fim do livro e chorar de novo no cantinho escuro citado ali em cima.

Blue tinha duas regras: ficar longe dos garotos, porque eles trazem problemas, e ficar longe dos garotos corvos, porque eles são uns canalhas.

Começando pelo primeiro a quem somos apresentadas, está Gansey. Não vou citar o nome dele inteiro porque ele odeia - e é bem engraçado, então tem motivo pra ser odiado. Gansey é, o que podemos chamar, o "líder" do quarteto dos garotos corvos. Líder entre aspas porque não existe realmente uma liderança, mas uma anarquia de poderes entre os rapazes. Só que o Gansey é a cola que os une, o motivo pelo qual pessoas tão distintas continuam convivendo entre si.

O Gansey é a chave para a existência do grupo; e eu amo tanto ele! Ele é todo comentários engraçadinhos fora de hora e perspicácia, e um passado turbulento que acarretou nessa busca desenfreada que guia a história do livro. Ele é determinado de um jeito perturbado, marcante de um jeito apaixonante. Não dá pra ler os pontos de vista dele e não cair de amores pelo amor que ele sente pelos amigos, e nem dá pra não shippar ele com a Blue.

Gansey seguiu a passos largos para a igreja arruinada. Blue havia descoberto que era assim que ele chegava aos lugares - a passos largos. Caminhar era para pessoas comuns.

INCLUSIVE OS SHIPS DESSE LIVRO ME DEIXARAM M-A-L-U-C-A. Eu nunca sabia quem exatamente eu estava shippando, por isso shippei todo mundo com todo mundo.

O segundo personagem é Adam Parrish. ADAM PRECIOSO ADAM QUERIDO ADAM COITADINHO MEU BEBÊ!

Adam é o bolsista da grandiosa escola cara em que os garotos corvos estudam, e tudo de trágico acontece na vida dele longe dos amigos. A família é uma droga, seu pai é uma droga, ele não dorme porque trabalha muito e trabalha muito porque precisa. Ele tem um senso de orgulho muito forte, então conviver com os amigos muito ricos não faz exatamente bem pro seu ego - especialmente Gansey, que sempre inocentemente está tentando ajudá-lo e protegê-lo, coisa que o Adam não quer.

Eu AMEI como a Maggie trabalhou a personalidade dele; esse jeito de se desprender dos outros pra querer algo pra si mesmo que ele precisa conquistar com o próprio esforço. Ele não é rude recusando dinheiro e ajuda por querer, ele é rude porque ele precisa. E ELE É TÃO QUERIDO! O mais sensível dos quatro rapazes, Adam cresceu muito no decorrer das páginas, e o final dele foi grandioso. E eu tenho muito medo do que está por vir por causa disso.

Noah, querido Noah, que no começo passou meio despercebido por mim - quase um Rabicho no grupo dos marotos - mas que tinha uma história enorme e problemática guardada consigo. E QUE HISTÓRIA! Eu nunca, em mil anos, tinha pensado naquele plot twist, e quando ele aconteceu eu quase caí do sofá. As pistas estavam todas lá, desde o começo do livro, mas só quando é revelado você finalmente entende e aí MIND BLOW! ASJKFNASUOGBAUOGBUGBA. Noah amado, tão querido e coitado.

Os pobres são tristes porque são pobres, Adam refletiu certa vez, e, no fim das contas, os ricos são tristes porque são ricos. E Ronan havia dito: ei, eu sou rico e isso não me incomoda.

E RONAN LYNCH, SENHORAS E SENHORES! O bad boy medonho com trejeitos sinistros, mas que na verdade é um poor baby necessitado de muito amor. Ronan é o mais medonho dos quatro, por assim dizer, porque ele tem aparência de garoto malvado que não quer fazer nada da vida além de socar paredes pra mostrar como é fodão; só que se engana quem pensa que ele não é tão quebrado quando os amigos.

O passado do Ronan foi deixado em aberto nesse livro, mas eu tenho minhas suspeitas, especialmente a respeito de uma morte trágica que marcou a vida dele para sempre. Só pela convivência com o irmão e com as explosões que ele tem de vez em quando dá pra saber como foi traumático pra ele.

E não me peça para dizer qual deles é o meu favorito. NÃO TEM FAVORITO.

Eu não sei mais o que falar sobre esse livro que mal li e já favoritei pacas, mesmo. A história envolve muito de mitologia, algumas histórias sinistras, toda aquela busca pelas linhas ley e pelo que está escondido debaixo delas... É confuso de um jeito genial, especialmente quando as respostas começam a chegar até você.

[dwellordream]

“Norse society was not exactly polygamous, for monogamy was normal, but it was polygynous. Rich men and royalty had wives, subsidiary wives and concubines, sometimes, according to an 11th-century treatise by Adam of Bremen, ‘in unlimited number’. An unbalanced ‘socio-sexual economyʼ was probably made worse by the habit in warlike societies of rearing baby boys more carefully than girls, leading to female infanticide by neglect.

Skeleton studies in Sweden show that about 7 per cent of Viking men were malnourished as children, compared to 37 per cent of women. Elite monopolisation and differential survival rates must have created an underclass of what we would now call ‘involuntary celibates’, disaffected young men, angry, desperate and easy to recruit.

In one of several vignettes, Price imagines a younger son on the impoverished west coast of Norway, whose childhood sweetheart has a new brooch: a present from a boy who spent a successful summer raiding. What is young Orm or Gunnar going to do? Not only does he need money for the bride-price paid to her family, he needs a reputation: ‘The act of acquiring silver was as important as the silver itself.’

And if he went raiding he might in any case acquire a woman for free. DNA has shown that ‘a very large proportion – even the majority – of female settlers in Iceland were of Scottish or Irish heritage.’”

- Tom Shippey, “Did They Even Hang Bears?”, a review of Neil Price’s The Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

[randomnumbers751650]

I’ve been thinking of the comparisons between Tolkien’s legendarium and Nasuverse. A bit of spoilers for FGO.

I don’t really think anyone can ever top J. R. R. Tolkien in building a fictional universe. When you start looking down the rabbit hole of his legendarium, it goes deep. From constructing not only a language, but a family of them, Tolkien managed to create such a sublime fictional universe. Even though his focus is primarily British - his objective was to write an epic of the British people and it evolved to, essentially, build the great part of the foundation of fantasy literature.

It was the project of a lifetime and he couldn’t complete. It had so many influences, from the stories from Beowulf, Nibelung, Kalevala, obscure lingustic references (I read Tom Shippey’s book Tolkien: Author of the Century, and he analyzes a lot of them, and show how important it is to worldbuilding, like the difference between speech of kings and elves), to the trauma endured in the First World War. Even after his death, we haven’t seen everything, Christopher Tolkien didn’t finish organizing everything yet.

The thing is that I don’t think it’ll ever exist another human being that can combine both creativity and passion to create worldbuilding, almost to the point of obssession. Tolkien was a product of his time, but he still managed create stories that still resonate with people from the entire world (even in spite of this Anglo-Saxon focus of his work - I wish there were more efforst like Tolkien’s one to other cultures).

“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” This phrase was said by famous artists like Picasso (does it, though?), and it means to be aggressive when the issue is creativity and try to one-up previous artists (note that it doesn’t say “great artists plagiarize”). There are a lot of authors that borrow from Tolkien (the isekai bubble in anime uses the same pseudo-medieval D&D-inspired world, that also has influence from Tolkien), but the few that tried to do the same thing as him (in a lower intensity), but the ones that steal are few.

Among the ones that steal is Kinoko Nasu. Although I’m new to the Nasuverse, I’ve always knew who Saber and memes (”People die if they are killed”), but I never got into fandom until Fate/Grand Order. Although the gameplay is simple and intuitive, I really enjoyed the story. Sure, it’s a bit wonky in the beginning, but singularities like Camelot, Babylonia, and Temple of Solomon, besides Shimosa and Shinjuku made me wonder: this waifu-based gacha game shouldn’t have a story this good and yet it is that good - Temple of Solomon specially, with all the servants who fought against and for Guda join together to fight the demon pillars, Mash and Roman’s sacrifice, to punching Goetia in the face and the eucatastrophe that is Mash holding Guda‘s hand and escaping.

Thanks to a friend that is more well-versed in the Nasuverse and I think it shows how Nasu invested a lot of creativity and passion on it. While Tolkien had a focus on stories of epic times (what Nasu would call the Age of Gods), Nasu initially focused on urban fantasy (and I think it’s where his writing is more solid), to a complete world of magecraft, with its own rules and how they are in conflict with modern thought due to the concept of Mystery. But Nasuverse isn’t just about servants - what is a fundamental concept in one work, it might be a detail or not even mentioned in other (like Kara no Kyoukai).

The idea of Mystery in the Age of Gods is a really neat way to understand mythology, and it covers even the distant future like Notes. or attempts to meld magic and technology like in CCC. The rules are consistent (but quite bendable) and permeates Nasu’s work, even when they seem unfair, especially for the modern viewer who might think “why don’t they use magic to solve every problem” (the short answer is that popularization of magic would only leave to its extinction due to operating on Mystery).

And yet, the Nasuverse is held back by the amount of problems and editorial interferences. This is especially terrible in FGO because there is lots of evidence that the editors (Takeuchi) want to push for sexier designs (like Jack and her not pants, Raikou and her balloons, Boudica looking like a bad porno actress in the first ascension, and let’s not talk about Abby) just to selll to unsavory preferences. And this is present in early works, like why the twin maids exist in Tsukihime and the legendarily bad sex scenes of the VN. Also bad writing, such as from Agartha.

That made me thinking of another reason why we surely will never have another Tolkien: capitalism. Being closer to a Catholic traditionalist, Tolkien disdained capitalism (conservatives have a critique of capitalism, for example, Edmund Burke warned Adam Smith that he ignored the social costs of the industrial transformation, but Smith ignored him). Tolkien didn’t care about selling LotR merchandising, or writing characters to pander to certain people. It was a work of passion, not profit (so much that he only published a small part of his legendarium, that includes The Hobbit and LotR). But, today, capitalism is so pervasive that it’s nearly impossible to dedicate so much energy to this without thinking of merchandising and stuff.

The Nasuverse is a large and profitable franchise, but it makes me wonder what Nasu could make if he didn’t have such editorial issues (granted I heard he’s kind of a doormat and that is why there is so much of this pandering - I read that Nero was supposing to be a cruel dictator possessing the girl, but he liked so much the VA’s voice that he changed his mind and, although I hear she was good in CCC, in FGO she’s annoying and shilled and Septem was a waste of time), because I can see there’s a lot of dedication, “stealing” from Tolkien, in the sense of creating a unique world to tell stories of the triumphs and tragedies of mankind.

Still, both Tolkien and Nasu have lots of known and compelling works, and I applaud their dedication to worldbuilding, and I wish I could make a better analysis of the Nasuverse, because I find it fascinating.

[hollywoodeaqui]

Seth Cohen e Summer Roberts foi o casal de seriado que mais shippei na vida. E seus intérpretes, Adam Brody e Rachel Bilson, formaram o único casal que shippei na vida real até hoje. Eu amava tanto o seriado The O.C. que até inspirou a minha mudança pra Califórnia. Agora, o reencontro de Rachel e Adam na telinha, para a gravação do podcast “Welcome to the OC, Bitches”, mexeu tanto com a minha alma de fã que tive que gravar um relato sobre esse momento icônico no nosso podcast, Verdade seja Dita. Você também tá aí com o coração acelerado ? Corre no link na bio e vem ouvir meu surto sobre a primeira parte do bate-papo de Adam com Rachel e Melinda Clark (Julie Cooper) que também apresenta o podcast, sobre os bastidores do show e do episódio da primeira temporada, “The Strip”, quando a galera vai parar em Las Vegas. E não deixe de compartilhe o seu surto também! 🎧 #theoc #summerroberts #sethcohen #juliecooper #rachelbilson #adambrody #melindaclarke #welcometotheocbitches (at The OC) https://www.instagram.com/p/CWEGSU9vixj/?utm_medium=tumblr

[words-smith]

Books read 2020

Reading across many different genres. So much tempting stuff out here :-) Some of it not what I expected. Makes it even more exciting. In the actual order of reading:

Yuko Tsushima (2017) Territory of light. Penguin Books, London, 122pp.

Nikolai Gogol (2014) The Government Inspector & other works. Wordsworth Classics, Ware, xxxv + 552pp.

Han Kang (2018) The white book. Portobello Books, London, 161pp.

Jonas Jonasson (2016) Hitman Anders and the meaning of it all. 4th Estate, London, 370pp.

Francis Fukuyama (2012) The end of history and the last man. Penguin Books, London, xxiii + 418pp.

JK Rowling (2014) Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. Bloomsbury, London, 462pp.

Jean-Paul Sartre (2000) Nausea. Penguin Books, London, xx + 253pp.

Ole Schultz Larsen (2017) Håndbog til dansk. Systime, Aarhus, 356pp.

Mary Beard (2016) SPQR - a history of ancient Rome. Profile Books, London, 606pp.

John Williams (2003) Augustus. Vintage Books, London, xv + 317pp.

Tom Shippey (2005) The road to Middle-Earth. HarperCollinsPublishers, London, xxi + 474pp.

Paul Collier (2011) The plundered planet. Penguin Book, London, xv + 271pp.

Steven Pinker (2018) Enlightenment now. Viking, New York, xix + 556pp.

Piero Boitano (2020) A new sublime. Europa Editions, London, 268pp.

Elizabeth Strout (2019) Olive, again. Viking, London, 289pp.

Erich Fromm (1990) The sane society. Holt Paperbacks, New York, xiv + 370pp.

Éric Vuillard (2019) The order of the day. Picador, London, 129pp.

Edward O. Wilson (1998) Consilience. Abacus, London, 374pp.

Adam D. Kiš (2018) The development trap. Routledge, New York, xvii + 171pp.

Anthony Everitt (2013) The rise of Rome. Random House, New York, xxxii + 478pp.

Chris Scarre (1995) Historical atlas of ancient Rome. Penguin Books, London, 144pp.

Steven Radelet (2015) The great surge. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, xiv + 354pp.

Sulmaan Wasif Khan (2015) Muslim, trader, nomad, spy. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, xxiv + 189pp.

Keigo Higashino (2019) Newcomer. Abacus, London, 322pp.

Anton Chekhov (2018) The lady with the dog and other stories. Stories: Volume one. Riverrun, London, viii + 471pp.

George R.R. Martin (2011) A storm of swords. Part I: Steel and snow. HarperVoyager, London, 623pp.

Julius Caesar (2008) The Gallic war. Oxford University Press, Oxford, li + 260pp.

Alice Monroe (2015) Lives of girls and women. Vintage Books, London, 320pp. 

Petronius Arbiter (undated) The satyricon. Ægypan Press, Milon Keynes, 289pp.

Dorthe Nors (2018) Kort over Canada. Gyldendal, Copenhagen, 137pp.

Alan Lee (2005) The Lord of the Rings sketchbook. HarperCollinsPublishers, London, 192pp.

Douglas Murray (2020) The madness of crowds. Bloomsbury, London, 293pp.

Peter H Diamandis and Steven Kotler (2014) Abundance. Free Press, London, xiii + 412pp. 

Daniel J. Miller (2008) Drokpa - nomads of the Tibetan plateau and Himalaya. Vajra Publications, Kathmandu, 133pp.

Leslie S Klinger (ed) (2014) The new annotated H.P. Lovecraft. Liveright Publishing Corporation, London, lxx + 852pp.

Lawrence Durrell (2012) The black book. Faber and Faber, London, 244pp.

[onceedit]

esperando regininha sair do armáriors

ahhh não quero a regina se não for com a emma shippei swan queen e agora o Adam vai colocar regina sapatão com outra, não aceito u.u