#and he also quotes bob there . quite fascinating really

[bbqphantom]

yk that tom petty quote abt how george used to quote bob like scripture.? yeah

[atopvisenyashill]

that bit about joffrey is FASCINATING have you ever written about this in depth? I've always loved his character but I would never be able to like. Describe why exactly he is the way he is so I really appreciate your analysis of him loving BOTH parents and incorporating only their flaws - I always just assumed that he hates his dad and is annoyed by cersei (still loves her) but then the way we sexually humiliates and abuses sansa etc is so robert-coded like of course he emulates the bevavior of his father.

Also slightly off topic but i always forget that Joffrey is like canonically so good at all the proper princely things (thinking of that scene at Sansa and Tyrion's wedding when she's so upset that a monster like Joff could be so good at dancing) and - not to go on about GOT again - but I wish we had actually gotten to see that and him being charming etc. Huge props to the show for giving Joff the perfect wardrobe (the only thing they did right) but also f them for waiting all that potential

yes, they really said joff gets to have all the swag and then the moment he died they put cersei in that fuck ass bob and no one in the lannisters was allowed to serve again smh. and thank youuu i actually had to stop myself from rambling over him before haha, but i'll go into more detail here! so this was the comment from the other post-

joffrey is a kid just ruled by his first, most base instinct. his instincts, his core emotions, tell him to love and trust both robert and cersei, and imo he twists himself into a MONSTER to try to appeal to both of them. no one else matters - not his siblings, not his uncle, not his grandfather, not the realm. he needs to be the sort of vicious person they could both be proud of, he needs to be better than them both at violence, so he absorbs all of their faults and none of their virtues.

i definitely do see very often that people feel he only loves one or the other parent and while I do understand that reading, I don't think it's quite how Joffrey operates. I think he does love them both, and holds them both in high esteem. I do agree that he's annoyed by Cersei but that doesn't mean he doesn't value her opinion (as much as Joffrey puts value on anyone else's opinion, I mean).

Joffrey and Cersei

Joffrey relies on his mother more than almost any other male character we see in the series. We see him call for Cersei basically every time he's hurt, in trouble, or wanting to whine about something. Not only that, but you have everyone from Robert to Renly to Tywin himself saying that Joffrey is doted upon and inseparable from his mother. A few choice quotes:

"Fear is better than love, Mother says." Joffrey pointed at Sansa. "She fears me."

He takes Cersei's lessons to heart, however flawed they are. Her opinion matters to him, he wants her to see him as strong.

Nine cases out of ten seemed to bore him; those he allowed his council to handle, squirming restlessly while Lord Baelish, Grand Maester Pycelle, or Queen Cersei resolved the matter. When he did choose to make a ruling, though, not even his queen mother could sway him.

It's Cersei he listens to the most. We know that if a little King, even with his mother as Regent, doesn't want to deal with her, he can simply ignore her - that's what Jaehaerys does with Alyssa, after all. But Joffrey doesn't do this; he'll fight with her, he'll insult her, and he's not shy about doing it in public but he never disregards her out of hand.

Joffrey lurched to his feet. "I'm king! Kill him! Kill him now! I command it." He chopped down with his hand, a furious, angry gesture . . . and screeched in pain when his arm brushed against one of the sharp metal fangs that surrounded him. The bright crimson samite of his sleeve turned a darker shade of red as his blood soaked through it. "Mother!" he wailed.

His instinct, every time, is to turn to her for help. He loves her. He adores her. She's the only person around who tells him he's strong and smart and will be a good king. He leans on her for guidance, for comfort, he talks to her about fucking whores. He shares everything with her because he doesn't have a single friend. She models anger and violence for him constantly, she excuses his disturbing proclivities, so he molds himself to be the person she wants him to be, the king she wants him to be. People - including Tyrion and Tywin! - are always wondering why Cersei is blind to his cruelty, but the reality is she knew he was cruel and loved him for it.

Tommen did as he was bid. His meekness troubled her. A king had to be strong. Joffrey would have argued. He was never easy to cow.

For Cersei, cruelty is strength and in her eyes, Joffrey is as strong as they come. This isn't by accident; just like his constant cries for her are reinforced by her rushing to coddle him, his cruelty is reinforced by a mother who sees it as strength. It's almost like what Coldhands says to Bran - Joffrey is a monster, yes, but in Cersei's eyes, Joffrey is her monster.

Joffrey and Robert

Joffrey had never had a close friend of his own age, that she recalled. The poor boy was always alone. I had Jaime when I was a child . . . and Melara, until she fell into the well. Joff had been fond of the Hound, to be sure, but that was not friendship. He was looking for the father he never found in Robert.

From Cersei's point of view, I think she knows very well that Joffrey is searching for love, acceptance, and himself in Robert. She doesn't like it, but she seems to accept that it's natural for Joffrey to search for some sort of father figure, and doesn't seem to begrudge him that - imo, I think because she knows Robert is always going to reject Joffrey for his cruelty.

“Why would he [care]? Robert ignored him. He would have beat him if I’d allowed it. That brute you made me marry once hit the boy so hard he knocked out two of his baby teeth, over some mischief with a cat. I told him I’d kill him in his sleep if he ever did it again, and he never did, but sometimes he would say things…”

Whenever they interact, the few times they do, there's violence. People always take this as Cersei not allowing Robert to "teach" or "properly discipline" Joffrey but, well...does the above seem like helpful discipline? Knocking out your child because he freaked you out? Punishing extreme violence with more extreme violence? And it's not just Cersei that this moment sticks with, because Stannis brings it up as well-

"Joffrey . . . I remember once, this kitchen cat . . . the cooks were wont to feed her scraps and fish heads. One told the boy that she had kittens in her belly, thinking he might want one. Joffrey opened up the poor thing with a dagger to see if it were true. When he found the kittens, he brought them to show to his father. Robert hit the boy so hard I thought he'd killed him."

Since Cersei says Robert would "say things" and we see him threatening Cersei (the "or I'll honor you again" line), I don't think it's a stretch to say that Robert threatened to beat Joffrey nearly to death several times over.

And yet...Joffrey compliments his father, especially in comparison to his other relatives.

He wrenched free of her. "Why should I? Everyone knows it's true. My father won all the battles. He killed Prince Rhaegar and took the crown, while your father was hiding under Casterly Rock." The boy gave his grandfather a defiant look. "A strong king acts boldly, he doesn't just talk."

And Cersei believes this came from Robert-

"Father, I am sorry," Cersei said, when the door was shut. "Joff has always been willful, I did warn you . . ." "There is a long league's worth of difference between willful and stupid. 'A strong king acts boldly?' Who told him that?" "Not me, I promise you," said Cersei. "Most like it was something he heard Robert say . . ."

And of course, Jaime is the one who pieces together why Joffrey sent the catspaw-

“Yes, I hoped the boy would die. So did you. Even Robert thought that would have been for the best. ‘We kill our horses when they break a leg, and our dogs when they go blind, but we are too weak to give the same mercy to crippled children’ he told me. He was blind himself at the time, from drink.” Robert? Jaime had guarded the king long enough to know that Robert Baratheon said things in his cups that he would have denied angrily the next day. “Were you alone when Robert said this?” “You don’t think he said it to Ned Stark, I hope? Of course we were alone. Us and the children.” Cersei removed her hairnet and draped it over a bedpost, then shook out her golden curls. “Perhaps Myrcella sent this man with the dagger, do you think so?” It was meant as mockery, but she’d cut right to the heart of it, Jaime saw at once. “Not Myrcella. Joffrey.” Cersei frowned. “Joffrey had no love for Robb Stark, but the younger boy was nothing to him. He was only a child himself .” “A child hungry for a pat on the head from that sot you let him believe was his father.”

When you put it all together, you have a child who is ignored by his father unless he's being threatened with a beating, who is constantly calling him a monster, who watches his father harm and humiliate his mother day in and day out, who has no other paternal figure around but this violent, angry man who he is supposed to model himself off of, and a mother who encourages his cruelty because she believes it's the only way to protect herself, to protect her son. He's not just emulating his mother's cruelty, he's emulating Robert's violence specifically when he humilates Sansa at court, when he openly talks shit about Cersei - it's what he's seen modeled for him as kingly behavior!

The Abuse And Jaime Of It All

King Joffrey's face hardened. "My mother tells me that it isn't fitting that a king should strike his wife. Ser Meryn."

He knows Robert is abusing Cersei and he takes her dislike of it seriously even as he doesn't make the connection that she means he shouldn't be striking his wife period. Whether it's because Cersei directly told him (which could make sense; she's purposefully hiding it from Jaime but perhaps she confided in Joffrey) or because he witnessed it himself, he's aware of the abuse enough that he takes his mother's comments about not personally striking Sansa to heart.

"No," [Robert] thundered in a voice that drowned out all other speech. Sansa was shocked to see the king on his feet, red of face, reeling. He had a goblet of wine in one hand, and he was drunk as a man could be. "You do not tell me what to do, woman," he screamed at Queen Cersei. "I am king here, do you understand? I rule here, and if I say that I will fight tomorrow, I will fight!" Everyone was staring. Sansa saw Ser Barristan, and the king's brother Renly, and the short man who had talked to her so oddly and touched her hair, but no one made a move to interfere. The queen's face was a mask, so bloodless that it might have been sculpted from snow. She rose from the table, gathered her skirts around her, and stormed off in silence, servants trailing behind. Jaime Lannister put a hand on the king's shoulder, but the king shoved him away hard. Lannister stumbled and fell. The king guffawed. "The great knight. I can still knock you in the dirt. Remember that, Kingslayer." He slapped his chest with the jeweled goblet, splashing wine all over his satin tunic. "Give me my hammer and not a man in the realm can stand before me!" Jaime Lannister rose and brushed himself off. "As you say, Your Grace." His voice was stiff. Lord Renly came forward, smiling. "You've spilled your wine, Robert. Let me bring you a fresh goblet." Sansa started as Joffrey laid his hand on her arm. "It grows late," the prince said. He had a queer look on his face, as if he were not seeing her at all. "Do you need an escort back to the castle?"

I think it's pretty clear that Joffrey is dissociating here which also explains his very detached way of looking at Robert's abuse of Cersei. It freaks him out enough that he uses Sansa as an excuse to leave (giving her the Hound, then running off himself) but he doesn't show it. He's not even particularly upset during this scene, not throwing a tantrum or making whiny remarks like he does when he's usually upset. He only has a "queer look" - the stress of trying to reconcile his adoration of Robert and his love of Cersei just makes him fully shut down instead of confronting it.

Joffrey gave a petulant shrug. "Your brother defeated my uncle Jaime. My mother says it was treachery and deceit. She wept when she heard. Women are all weak, even her, though she pretends she isn't. She says we need to stay in King's Landing in case my other uncles attack, but I don't care. After my name day feast, I'm going to raise a host and kill your brother myself. That's what I'll give you, Lady Sansa. Your brother's head."

I think people often take his comments about how women are weak to mean he doesn't view his mother as a competent advisor. But you notice a pattern here - he gets shitty with her when it's about Jaime specifically.

"A great many people are sorry for that," Tyrion replied, "and before I am done, some may be a deal sorrier . . . yet I thank you for the sentiment. Joffrey, where might I find your mother?" "She's with my council," the king answered. "Your brother Jaime keeps losing battles."

"She's with my council" he says, because he sees no reason to not let Cersei run things without him, something Robert never lets her do. But "your brother Jaime" not "my uncle Jaime" which is a shift because he doesn't stop calling Renly or Stannis his uncles even after they rebel. He knows, he suspects, and what he resents is not Cersei fucking Jaime but Jaime fucking Cersei.

My read on this is that Joffrey sees his mother as weak for allowing herself to be seduced by Jaime, and sees Jaime as a lecherous seducer who is the cause of all his problems. If only Jaime hadn't seduced his mother, maybe his parents wouldn't hate each other. His claim wouldn't be under question. His mother should have just taken the abuse and bided her time instead of putting herself in danger and having bastards.

He loves his mother. He loves his father. And that's the human heart in conflict with itself that resides in Joffrey. Does he honor his mother, the only parent he has, or does he honor Robert, the patriarch he is supposed to emulate? If he has no other example of what strength looks like, is he even capable of figuring out a different path for himself?

[m1ssunderstanding]

Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 4.3

Oof! Got him!

“She loves you and he loves him and they love each other”. You know when you've got something to say but you don't want it to look like you really wanted to say it specifically so you throw it in between two other things? No? Just me and John?

I'm obsessed with John just heaping praise on Paul in this interview. Every song the interviewer brings up it's “best” “my favorite” “all Paul” “good piece of work” “somewhere I have the tape of him doing it” “damn good” “one of his masterpieces” See also: Paul’s a good lyricist, he just doesn't try because he's insecure. And: one of the most innovative bass players of all time.

John mixing up In My Life and If I Fell “although I don't know why I'm confusing them, they're nothing alike but they have the same–” The same what? Same target? Same muse? Hmm? “It's really about–it's not about Cyn.” He's barely hanging on to not saying it here, like, by a gossamer thread. 

John confessing that the consistent character flaw of Paul's which hurt him ((hurt. Not annoyed. Not angered. Hurt.)) was insensitivity. Not bossiness or lameness or sneakiness. Insensitivity. What John couldn't handle in the end about Paul was that he wasn't aware enough of John's tender feelings. 

He's also so cruel in this interview. And what you've got to pay attention to is the theme connecting the songs he's cruel about: Let It Be (let John go) and The Long and Winding Road (the long and pointless fight). 

The Japanese Monk comparison doesn't quite land for me because it implies that John purposely broke up the Beatles because he knew they were at a peak and he wanted them to stay gold. And I think that's what John would like the story to be. It makes him feel better inside. It makes him look incredibly wise and courageous. But it's clear – John even stated it himself more than once on record – that the breakup was not purposeful or calculated. It was a terrible accident that nobody wanted, least of all John. 

More quotes to live by when examining John's post breakup “ow!”

I find it fascinating that John thought of Paul's and Dylan's lyrics as very similar and says so twice in this documentary. But nobody else ever draws that comparison. In mainstream thought, Bob Dylan is one of the greatest lyricists of all time if not the greatest (it's me. I'm mainstream. Subterranean Homesick Blues my absolute beloved.) and Paul is the worst lyricist to ever get successful. And you know what? I think Paul gets punished for being physically pretty and financially savvy, and I think in the exact same way his music gets punished for being melodically pretty and commercially successful. 

John about Paul's inscrutable messages in his songs: if one knows the person, one knows what's coming down. John in I Know (I Know): and I know. What's coming down. 

I will always love how he says in the same breath . . . “I've compared it to a marriage a million times" and "Paul and I were together.” 

You really do gotta be like “Johns say the darndest things sometimes.” I mean that's what Paul did, right? Because genuinely most of the time he's a fucking sweetheart. After he's sat there defending Paul's insane mourning bus movie, the interviewer asks him to compare himself and Paul. And after saying there's never been a question about commerciality, he says this. 

Nobody think about Paul writing “One of These Days” just before John's death then “This One” a decade later. Don't do it. I do recommend. 

Free as a Bird is such a beautiful song. It's a gorgeous melody, and it's got such complex emotions. He's still mourning something that was lost, but he's hopeful. He's on his way home. 

You all know that long distance interview Paul did right before John died where they bring up some of the awful things John said recently about him (ignoring the millions of loving and admiring things). When Paul's voice cracks and he looks up at the ceiling and struggles for a minute and the lights go out, I have a theory that it's one of their kids being protective. She was messing with the lights before to be silly and then when the bad question comes she turns them off again as a sort of protective sabotage. 

What If though? What If that's true? 

Quote of all time!!! “The person I actually picked as my partner, who I recognized has talent and who I could get on with, was Paul.” He doesn't say ‘as my sidekick’ or ‘running mate’ or ‘captain’s mate’ or ‘second string’ or any of those things that traditional Beatles fans tend to push on them. Partner. 

Serious question, because I swing all over the place as to what I think actually happened between John and Paul physically and emotionally. If we agree that Real Love is about Paul (a baby and another on the way lalalalalala farm . . . Just call him on the phone) Then what about this lyric? “Was I just dreaming (a word of theirs and something they thought they shared) or was it only Yesterday (Paul's biggest song) I used to hold you in my arms? Is that to be taken literally? John used to hold Paul in his arms? i.e. frequent hugging and cuddling?

The heart monitor cuts so harshly into John singing “Grow Old With Me.” As we see beautiful images of John and all the people he's leaving behind. I'm dry heaving. This documentary is so much more painful this time around than the first. 

Anyway I'm glad we got coverage of all the “for Paul” songs. Which. Btw fuck you Sean and Peter. You proved absolutely nothing.

[midnightinwales]

@grapesnolives thank you for the link, I'll check it out during the weekend. I agree that their experimentation is always beautiful and fascinating to hear. They had singular sensitivity to the emotion – sound axis. And you can never be bored with it.

I've moved us to a new post, since our conversation is veering off the topic of the original post and I think we've hijacked enough of that already ;)

Unfortunately, I don't have the source for that quote about Robert, as I have been consuming a lot (and I mean A LOT) about LZ in the past few months, but in quite a chaotic manner and I haven't been taking notes. But If I come across it again, I'll send it to you. I was also surprised by it, but I guess it makes sense, since it was originally Jimmy's band and I believe that as time went by and Jimmy was losing his grip on reality more and more, Robert might have felt constricted a bit or started to develop a need for more independence. Nothing unusual in that, it happens in pretty much any band. He might have also been genuinely annoyed at the endless solos, quite like Bonzo, and JPJ probably too. I mean, to make a six and a half minutes long song into 45 minutes is both amazing and unnecessary lol. And Robert did have a bit of an imposter syndrome, still has, actually. He often spoke about them as 'three musicians and me'. 'I'm just a wedding singer who sang with musicians', and how his elaborate singing style developed as a method to stay in the song, cause the long musical intervals made him feel irrelevant. He definitely wanted to impress Jimmy and there was a lot of reverence for him as the worldly, knowledgeable, experienced musician who created his own band. But that began to disappear when Jimmy got heavily into heroin imo and definitely lost after 1977. Robert's priorities changed. His view of life changed. The love was still there, but Jimmy was no longer someone that Robert had to live up to, so to speak. Now he was someone to protect (and, in a way, someone to mourn). But the initial experiences formed Robert as a singer, set his standards and informed his view of musical expression.

I've also noticed that he makes fun of Bonzo (the diarrhea jokes will live with me forever, thanks Bob :/ ) and JPJ (and himself, occasionally), but not of Jimmy. IMO that's because he and Bonzo were 'bros', mates, and that's typical friendly behaviour in this kind of relation. JPJ was also a guy in the band and concert is entertainment, so it's only fair to make people laugh. It created a sense of dynamics, each band member had his quirks and image to play with. But with Jimmy he is only ever sweet and attentive. Not least because Jimmy Page can't take a joke imo. He's quite fragile and Robert knew it very, very well. But this doesn't read to me as reverential, but rather as caring. He knew not to make Jimmy the centre of attention that he might not see as entirely friendly. And his mysterious image had to be uphold too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but whenever Robert speaks to Jimmy his tone of voice slightly changes. It becomes softer and warmer. ‘is it alright, love?’ kind of thing. He definitely wanted to be in Jimmy’s good books and for more than one reason.

I’m not surprised you thought they were a duet, seeing the photos. I recall seeing photos of LZ throughout my life and they’ve always been focused on J and R. I didn’t know what the other band members looked like before I started listening to the band. I knew Bonzo’s name because of his tragic death, like I do many other musicians’ who met their ends way too early, and knew that he is recognised as one of the, if not the greatest rock drummer of all times. But that was about it. IMO, he is the greatest of them all and he’s the only one whose drumming makes me genuinely tear up. There is as much emotion in Bonzo’s drumming as there is in Robert’s singing. Astonishing.

If you’re asking how I got into the story of J and R, it was quite simple really. I remembered the photos I’ve mentioned (mostly the WLL mic in the hair singing) which have always looked very suggestive to me and had heard before that part of the magic of LZ was the interplay between the two, and so when I finally got into their music I started doing my research to see if my initial impression was correct. And found plenty of evidence to confirm it, some of it much more straightforward then expected. But if you’re asking how I got into LZ then I’d say it was time for them to come into my life. One night on YT they appeared on my list and the journey began. I knew some of their songs before (STH, WLL, Dazed, a couple of others) and I had quite an emotional experience listening to Stairway as a young teenager, but that was the extent of it. I firmly believe that music comes to us at the right time and there’s no point in forcing it. It will find you if it’s meant to. And it will be a journey you’ll never forget.

Have you always been interested in drumming or is it the first time when it has captured your attention so much? Have you been into LZ for a long time?

[knuckle]

sorry if this is random but the essay you mentioned about the gaiman's dub translation of princess mononoke sounds really fascinating! are there any particular issues that stuck out to you?

All right here's a summary of some of my sister @netossa's (she's not on tumblr these days rip) draft she had shared with me so i don't have all the points, but what's most egregious is this:

There are many moments of silence where Gaiman inexplicably adds lines in the English dub. He has characters (annoyingly) add lines like "we need to hurry" and "this place is magical" during moments of silence in the original Japanese - Miyazaki is a director who's spoken about the importance of rest/silence in his films (I can't remember the specific term/quote); my sister has talked to me about how this is also an intentional concept in Chinese films from directors like Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee therefore, adding in unnecessary dialogue disrupts the flow of the scene and is condescending to viewers.

One of the most significant is he has Ashitaka early on give a precise description of what the Deer God's powers and appearance as a “deer who sometimes has a human face.” It takes away from its mystery, as he doesn't trust the viewer to stay interested and fill in the gaps with their own imagination. You could say that this spoiled a lot of meticulously built tension for first time viewers who are waiting to finally see the god.

A few examples of translation differences: Ashitaka says “still your rage” in Japanese vs “leave our village alone” in English - changing the understanding / connection Ashitaka has with the forest and the understanding of the viewer that he’s accepted the Boar God’s rage. The “Deer Forest” is changed to “Forbidden Forest” in Japanese, and much more

The character I was talking about earlier was Jigo who was voiced by Billy Bob Thornton which influenced audience perception of his character with the southern accent making him seem both more sociable and less threatening. I believe they also changed his lines up quite a bit

[derl30]

ALTERED STATES REVIEW TIME!

OK, this tumblr is, today, a vehicle for me to review ALTERED STATES. And you (the one person who stumbled on this review two-hundred years from n- oh who am I kidding, when the aliens from A.I. who show up to thaw out Haley Joel Osment and the teddy bear who was the real hero of that movie find this) should be very excited about this. Because this movie is insane. And highly entertaining.

Yes, the movie poster looks like ass. If I told you this was a movie where William Hurt (not the William Hurt from that awful 90's Lost in Space remake, or the one who slept through an entire performance as Duke Leto in the Syfy miniseries of Dune. This is before the body snatchers got him) took ayahuasca and got in a isolation tank and it blew his mind so hard he started devolving into a neanderthal and creating dimensional portals and he couldn't stop because he was addicted to finding the truth of existence... Well you wouldn't get that from this poster, would you? So let's move on. Shall we?

The film opens in 1967 with William Hurt's character, psychopathologist Edward Jessup, already immersed in a sensory deprivation tank, whilst his colleague and “buddy” Bob Balaban (he's just Bob Balaban in everything I'm not giving you his character's name look it up yourself if it's bugging you so much) oversees.

Now, you may notice I put buddy in quotes. The reason for that is that Jessup is a self-obsessed ass who seemingly has no reason to be around other people unless he can expound to them one of his various monologues. Bob Balaban barely gets a word in edgewise throughout the entire film. Bob Balaban.

See, Jessup loves the sensory deprivation tank experience. Unsurprisingly, as it allows him to be completely alone with himself for hours.

Later, at perhaps the lamest party ever, a bunch of faculty are chilling out and listening to the Doors. Everyone we see is talking about Jessup. Why? Well, much as Jessup is obsessed with himself, everyone else seems to follow suit by being obsessed with him. One young woman, Emily, (Blair Brown) is introduced to him in this very shot below as he arrives at the party:

Notice how is framed in holy light? There is a closeup after, of him framed in blinding glowing light followed up with a zoom in on Emily's face, enraptured with this incredible dynamic man. So much so that the moment he tries to make a goddamn sandwich she starts grabbing his celery (get your mind out of the gutter) and flirting with him. Which for these two that means talking science, immediately. Talking more at each other than with each other. This is often the way with Paddy Chayefsky's scripts.

PAUSE

Paddy Chayefsky is doubtless one of the great American writers for the screen. He wrote Marty, The Hospital and Network (which is a fucking incredible piece of work). He got an Oscar for all three. He also wrote this movie (Altered States, remember? Good lord) and disowned it completely three weeks in to production. His scripts tend to have very intelligent, driven characters at the center, who monologue extensively at each other. These scripts are not attempting to sound naturalistic.

Ken Russell, however, directed the film. He, like Chayefsky, is top notch at what he does (Direct. I said he directed the film like a second ago, come on keep up). His films, like Women in Love, The Devils, (which was banned in several major countries upon release and has never been shown publicly in its full, uncut form (by the way it's a masterpiece)) the Who's Tommy, Gothic, and Lair of the White Worm are all fucking gonzo nuts. I mean like, when you gave this guy the reins, you were going to Overthetopsville and there will be no stops on this trip. And god bless! I love directors who GO for it!

You're getting the chance to make a movie. Stop hemming and hawing and hit me over the head with what you want to say! Film is a visual medium, USE IT!

I feel I might have made my feelings clear here. So, moving on...

Ken Russell and Paddy Chayefsky immediately started butting heads, right from the start. Chayefsky was a BIG deal, and he wanted control over the picture in a BIG way. Ken would listen to his suggestions on everything to lighting and set dressing, and politely tell him, “No.”, and continue being the director of the film. Chayefsky hated him pretty quickly.

He had much more control over films like The Hospital. Which, if you watch The Hospital, well, it shows. You've got great actors (George C. Scott, Dame Diana Rigg (Dame may be the greatest official title of all time)) saying great dialogue. But its just two very witty bitter people sort of expounding on topics and speaking at each other and suddenly admitting they are in love and discussing what drapes they will have to buy for their new home. It's utterly preposterous, and it doesn't work in the way Sidney Lumet got it to work in Network, by literally making one of the lead characters realize his life is turning into a ludicrous soap opera.

So of course Ken tried to humanize, naturalize, the dialogue sequences. And it works! The film feels more human than the Hospital or Network. Despite the fact that Jessup is literally becoming more and more inhuman throughout the film. One of the ways he does this is by having the character's eat, drink, and work on other things during the dialogue sequences. This is perfectly normal in film, it's called giving the actor “business” to do, during the scene. Chayefsky HATED this. “They are mumbling my precious dialogue! Chewing through it! Sucking it through a straw!” Sorry, Chayefsky buddy. It works for the picture. Chayefsky also felt the actors were too emotional with his dialogue. Right. See, they call that acting.

UNPAUSE

Which brings us back to the first meeting of Emily and Jessup at the party. They are eating during this important scene! I can just picture Chayefsky seeing this, and running to the studio brass to tattle and get Ken Russell fired (as he got Arthur Penn of Bonnie and Clyde fame fired before Ken Russell came on board).

Emily and Jessup are, true to Chayefsky form, extremely intelligent, driven people and hearing them discuss topics such as anthropology and schizophrenia is quite interesting. It's just that what is to come, film being a visual medium, will eclipse just about any dialogue, no matter how good, from our mind thingys.

The two give up on the science talk and go straight to banging on her couch. After, she asks what he was thinking about. His answer is priceless. “God. Jesus. Crucifixions.”

She smiles.

Bwahahaha! Oh Paddy Chayefsky, you sure know women.

He admits he used to have religious visions. She listens to him from the sweaty couch whilst he sits naked on the floor, and starts going on about his father's horrible death of cancer and his loss of faith. And he admits to her that he's a nut. Her response is to call him a fascinating bastard. I think Lucas may have taken notes for Padme and Anakin.

So naturally, they get married immediately.

But none of that matters because Jessup gets back in the sensory deprivation tank and has his first vision. A nightmare of his dying father and lost faith in christianity. It's pretty great, filled with foreboding hospital rooms, his father's face being covered in a burning Shroud of Turin, everything covered by horrible blood red clouds and then THIS FUCKING THING SHOWS UP AND ITS ALIVE AND WRIGGLING

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

excuse me...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The many-eyed goat is slaughtered over a gold bible and suddenly Jessups screwing Emily again and we enter a blood vessel looking thing and the vision ends and he never mentions this again. Oh. Okay,

Emily continues on about what a nut Jessup is as they make marriage plans. Her monologue:

“You're an unmitigated madman. You don't have to tell me how weird you are. I know how weird you are. I'm the girl in your bed the past two months. Even sex is a mystical experience for you. You carry on like a flagellant... Which can be very nice, but I sometimes wonder if it's me that's being made love to. I feel like I'm being harpooned by some raging monk in the act of receiving God. (Emphasis mine)

"And you are a Faust-freak Eddie! You'd sell your soul to find the great truth. Well, human life doesn't have great truths. We're born in doubt. We spend our lives persuading ourselves we're alive. And one way we do that is we love each other, like I love you. I can't imagine living without you. So let's get married, and if it turns out to be a disaster, it'll be a disaster.”

It's a disaster.

As in, by the next scene. It starts off happy enough looking, they have kids and people are smiling. And hey, wow it's seven years later! But, well, see, whoops, they are getting a divorce. Well, not they. See, he is divorcing her because he considers the seven years with her a complete waste.

She still loves him, desperately. He doesn't give a shit about her or the kids. He tells Bob Balaban this, straight up. And then starts bugging him about deprivation tanks and Hinchi Indians in South America who have sacred mushrooms that can really fuck you up.

It's at this point you would like for Jessup to be hit by a Mack truck. But the movie continues on. By the way, this is one of the kids he doesn't give a crap about:

That's right. Drew Barrymore's first role is a kid that William Hurt doesn't give a shit about. Something that William Hurt would make a career out of with narcoleptic performances in Lost in Space and Syfy's Dune. So, Emily takes the kids to Africa for her anthropology work while Jessup goes to South America to go deeper into his own creepy mind.

The Hinchi Indians agree to allow him to participate in the drug ritual. They enter their holy cave.

This shot is beautiful. At this point the film becomes increasingly gorgeous. Ken Russell has started to go into overdrive, ladies and gentlemen. Buckle. Your. Seatbelts.

The Indians grab Jessup's hand and cut him, freaking him out. They pour his blood into the drug mixture. They begin to drink. Then he takes a sip. The intensity of the film here has quadrupled. The vision begins, fireworks going off all around him. He sees cave paintings of humans and komodo dragons and this:

The proper life he left behind with Emily. He's convulsing, sweating. The Indians are all around, masked. Snakes. He's laughing in pain. Energy spills from the void. A snake under the parasol strikes and begins to strangle him. He and Emily march toward a nuclear explosion as energy pours from the cut on his hand, becoming a lizard. From within a sandstorm, Emily watches him, naked. Jessup looks at her, entranced, as the soothing sands cover them both, slowly.

It's a beautiful sequence. A perfect film sequence. I can't overstate how strong the vision sequences are from this point forward. Great visual effects work and the madman mind of Ken Russell create something unforgettable, with it's own pace, independent from the rest of the film.

Jessup awakens with a komodo dragon laying before him, ripped to pieces. The Indians and the others all claim he killed it in rage. Jessup remembers nothing, takes samples of the drug to reproduce it, and goes back home.

Back home, Jessup keeps doing as much of the drug as he can and having Bob Balaban record results. They can't up the dosage any more so Jessup hops back in to the self deprivation tank to create a more extreme experience.

In his next session, Jessup states he is having a vision of early man, hunting a deer and killing it. Suddenly he states he is one of them, killing the deer. He begins to grunt like an animal. The two pull him out. He's incredibly pale, blood seeping out of his mouth. He can't speak, and has difficulty breathing. He insists they do an X-ray. It shows that there is a vocalizing lump in the front part of his throat. Jessup claims that his body had begun to revert to a simian state. The medical doctor agrees, stating the throat X-rays looks like that of a gorilla.

Luckily his throat returns to normal. So Jessup finishes up his day by having over a student of his and sleeping with her.

Our hero, people!

At this point we hardly feel sorry for him as his body suddenly begins to twist and bulge in the middle of the night, shifting in and out of neanderthal shapes. It's a horrific sequence, disturbing as hell. You certainly didn't expect the film to shift into body horror.

Jessup feels normal after a while. but sees visions of lava explosions, the birthing of the Earth all around him. Not a good sign.

He goes to pick up Emily from the airport the next day. She asks how he is doing.

“Oh, fine.”

Yeah right.

Emily has been told what Jessup has been doing and is worried, which of course pisses off Jessup even more. The guy is obviously obsessed with reaching the truth and root of existence, much as Emily surmised earlier, and we see he has no fear of even losing his own soul, again true to her word. The only thing that allows us to give a shit about him at this point is that Emily cares for him and she's decent people, okay?

So back Jessup goes into the tank with his ayahuasca or whatever it is. Alone. The tank door opens from the inside.

The hand that pushes it open is covered in thick hair. He's devolved.

Ape-Jessup escapes the tank room and chases a janitor around the building. Again, this scene is fucking freaky as hell. We can't get a good look at this screaming animal that was Jessup.

The janitor gets a guard to help and chases after him into the boiler room, where we finally get a good look at him when he assaults the security guard and escapes.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ape-Jessup runs through the city at night, making his way to the zoo where he kills a antelope and eats it. The Ape-Jessup sequence goes on way too long, but is nonetheless unforgettable. The makeup is much more convincing than the above picture suggests, and whoever performed Ape-Jessup did an admirable job.

The cops find an unconscious Jessup in the zoo and bring him in. Emily picks him up and questions him. Jessup admits everything that he can remember. He also admits that he probably killed that security guard. And once again doesn't seem to give a shit. Prick. He calls it the most supremely satisfying time of his life.

Even Emily seems disgusted with him. But, she's also fascinated with what he's accomplished. As an anthropologist, his transformation fascinates her. And so, she agrees to help oversee his next session. Big mistake.

Before the big session Emily and Jessup romantically reconnect, and then into the climactic session we go!

Get your popcorn ready!

After a few hours in to the session, the video monitor shows Jessup begin to literally melt apart like goo, reverting to primordial ooze, the very beginning of existence. An attempt to open the isolation tank doors blasts everyone unconscious, as light and energy pour forth. Emily is the only one left. She sees Jessup's life energy pulse from within the tank.

Rain pours down around them. The pipes on the walls twist and turn like jelly. The ground is covered with a pool of swirling fog and energy. Emily advances toward the vortex of the tank.

In the emptiness of the beginning of everything, Emily seizes the energy before her and reconstitutes Jessup.

They take him home. While he sleeps, Emily rages over the fact that she loves such a insane bastard, and can't get over him. And, then, after Bob Balaban leaves, leaving Emily alone, Jessup wakes up.

He sweetly admits that the truth he learned was that there was no learnable truth, just unknowable horror, and all that's real is human experience. And he'll be a good boy from now on. Well too bad!

Because that horrible truth isn't done with him, and it's back to goo-Jessup! Emily tries to help him, grabbing him, but this in turn effects her, turning her into a shimmering lava form of herself. Both of them begin to self-destruct as Jessup, enraged, watching her in pain, struggles to retake his humanity, slamming himself into the wall, reforming himself through sheer will and physicality. He grabs her and brings her back, mirroring what she did for him during the final session. They embrace naked in the hallway. He finally admits, “I love you, Emily.”

Fade to credits.

Awww true love!

What can I say to sum up? Awesome 80's practical effects. Genius wacko go-for-it Ken Russell directing. Out of this world vision sequences. A awake and actually remarkable performance from William Hurt. An occasionally turgid but often fascinating script by the ever ornery Paddy Chayefsky. Whats not to like?

Well, the ending is a little rushed. The ape sequence goes on for a little too long and takes up perhaps too much of the films overall running time. The central love story is, well... a little hard to swallow, but hey, I guess there really is somebody out there for everyone. Even self-absorbed, deadbeat, cheating, sensory deprivation loving, ayahuasca dropping, Harvard teachers with a messiah complex!

And on that note, aliens from A.I. Artifical Intelligence, have a good day, and don't leave poor Teddy alone with no one to keep him company!

Sayonara!

[new-sandrafilter]

True Romance: Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet on reuniting for Little Women

They may be posing in an airy lower Manhattan studio, but Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan have a way of making you feel right at home. “I made a little playlist this morning,” Chalamet announces to the room. He syncs up his cell phone to the sound system, his boyish grin widening as Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” starts blaring. He returns to the camera, which snaps him and Ronan at a furious pace.

It’s their first joint cover shoot. He’s wearing a shimmery striped shirt with high-waist trousers; she’s rocking a shirtdress, fishnet stockings, and clear stilettos. He keeps cracking her up; she musses his hair with doting affection. During a break that follows, he wanders, gripping a paper bag stuffed with assorted bagels — from Tompkins Square Bagels, which Chalamet, a lifelong New Yorker, insists are the best in the city — and offering one to anyone in his path. He sings and dances — very Elio-in-the-town-square-like — to Bob Dylan’s “Tombstone Blues.” He creeps behind a distracted Ronan before spooking her with a yelp. “I didn’t even know you were there!” she exclaims, reddening from the fright but with a smile so lovingly at ease, you sense she’s used to the prank.

They’ve known each other, after all, for some time. About three years ago, Ronan, now 25, and Chalamet, 23, met filming Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, in which Ronan’s irrepressible heroine (briefly) romances Chalamet’s douchey amateur musician. They reunited with Gerwig last year, on the heels of Lady Bird’s Oscar-nominated success, for a bigger undertaking: a remake of the oft-remade Little Women (Dec. 25). Ronan and Chalamet slipped into the roles of tomboyish Jo March and buoyant Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, best friends who ultimately break each other’s hearts. Their courtship ranks among American culture’s oldest tales of unrequited love — made indelible by Katharine Hepburn and Douglass Montgomery, Winona Ryder and Christian Bale, and so many others — yet finds, in the hands of two of the most compelling actors of their generation, galvanizing new life.

That goes, in fact, for the whole of Gerwig’s Little Women. Her version certainly contains the snow-globe coziness of treasured adaptations past, but also carries a fizzy emotional authenticity and attention to detail. The film is remarkably lived-in, too: This take on Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel, which follows Jo and her three sisters pre– and post–American Civil War, feels plucked straight from the text in the best way, with siblings fighting like siblings, love and loss and hope and pain vividly experienced on screen.

Ronan and Chalamet’s charming big sister–little brother dynamic is not unlike the one that Jo and Laurie share in Little Women. Watch the actors play off one another, and the film’s tender realism clarifies itself: Their on-camera intimacy is just as palpable behind the scenes. Indeed, after shooting Lady Bird for a few weeks, the pair hung out regularly over the next year, making the awards-circuit rounds and scoring lead-acting Oscar nominations — Ronan for Lady Bird, Chalamet for Call Me by Your Name — before swiftly signing on to Little Women. In advance of filming in Concord, Mass. (the actual setting of the book), Gerwig and producer Amy Pascal gathered the large production’s cast and crew for rehearsals at a house just outside the town. For Ronan and Chalamet, the contrast between this and their early Lady Bird days was immense. “I felt very prideful… about how big it had gotten, how many people were there,” Chalamet recounts. “On Lady Bird it was, like, 25 people hanging out in a house!”

They fell back into each other’s rhythms instantly. “He keeps me on my toes — I’m never quite sure what he’s going to do next,” Ronan says. “That only progressed more and grew more. It helped that we do have a very natural rapport with each other…. These two characters physically need to be very comfortable with one another. They’re literally intertwined for half the film.” Chalamet adds: “In the least clichéd way possible, it really doesn’t feel like [I’m] acting sometimes [with her].”

Chalamet credits Gerwig, too, for establishing a playful, comfortable atmosphere. He thinks back to his first day of rehearsal: He reunited with Ronan. He introduced himself to Emma Watson (who plays the eldest March sister, Meg). He was guided into a third-floor conference room of a “random building” where, “all of a sudden, there was a full dance class going on.” He recalls fondly: “Everyone breaks down and becomes a little kid. This job is so trippy in that regard — you want to be serious, you want to be professional, and then it’s almost best when you’re able to be 12 years old. When it’s someone you’re actually friends with, it makes it easier.”

Ronan smirks, gearing up for a jab: “We’re not friends!” Delighted, Chalamet keeps the bit going. “We’re not friends,” he says, solemnly. For once, they’re not very convincing.

Greta Gerwig doesn’t remember a time before she knew Jo March. “[Little Women] was very much part of who I always was,” the writer-director, 36, says. “It was something my mother read to me when I was growing up. It’s been with me for a very long time.”

She joined Sony Pictures’ new Little Women adaptation when she was hired to write the script in 2016. Once Lady Bird bowed the next year, she emerged as a candidate to direct the film. “Greta had a very specific, energized, kind of punk-rock, Shakespearean take on this story,” Pascal says. “She came in and had a meeting with all of us and said, ‘I know this has been done before, but nobody can do it but me.’” She got the gig.

In her approach, Gerwig drew on her lifelong relationship with Little Women; beyond childhood, she discovered new, complex layers to the novel, and in turn to Alcott’s legacy. “As a girl, my heroine was Jo March, and as a grown lady, my heroine is Louisa May Alcott,” she says. It’s perhaps why Gerwig’s Little Women feels like the most adult — and modern — version of the story that’s reached the screen to date. The movie begins with the March sisters in adulthood — typically where the narrative’s second half begins — and unfolds like a memory play, shifting back and forth between that present-day frame and extended flashbacks to the childhood scenes etched in the American literary canon.

In that, Gerwig finds fascinating, fresh areas of exploration regarding women’s lives: the choices society forces them to make, the beauty and struggles of artistic pursuit, the consequences of rebellion. Jo’s journey as a writer anchors Gerwig’s direction; tempestuous Amy (Florence Pugh) gets more of a spotlight as she matures as a painter (and Laurie’s eventual wife); and Meg is realized with newfound nuance: “We felt it was important to show Meg juggling all her roles — a mother, a wife, a sister — whilst also celebrating her dreams, despite them being different to those of her sisters,” says Watson. But Gerwig doesn’t see herself as reinventing the wheel. “A lot of the lines in the film are taken right from the book,” she explains. “When Amy says, ‘I want to be great or nothing’ — she says that in the book! I don’t think we remember that, but she does say it.” Gerwig also loves one line spoken by the sisters’ mother, Marmee (Laura Dern), also revived in this version: “I’m angry almost every single day.”

Gerwig compiled a “bible” filled with cultural references: to Whistler tableaux of family life, to David Bowie–Jean Seberg hairdos that inspire the look of Jo’s mid-film cut, to Alcott family letters. “I wanted it to be footnote-able,” Gerwig says. “I wanted to point to it and say, ‘This is where this is from.’” She considers Alcott’s text sacred: “I wanted to treat the text as something that could be made fresh by great acting.”

Beyond those charged but less quoted Little Women lines are its famous ones — throw-pillow staples like Jo’s “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” that no adaptation is complete without. The actors rehearsed these “almost like a song,” pushing to move through them with a rapid musicality. “We [read] the book out loud,” says Dern. Gerwig expected the script’s words to be memorized precisely. “I knew I wanted them to get this cadence that felt sparkly and slightly irreverent,” she says. “I wanted to make them move at the speed of light.”

She poured the same love into iconic scenes, like Jo and Laurie’s ebullient dance that follows their first meeting. Here it goes on longer — and more vibrantly — than in any previous iteration. (Ronan says they filmed it at 3 a.m., to boot, adding, “We must have done it, like, 30 times.”) Then there’s the devastating moment when Laurie asks Jo to marry him and she rejects his proposal. Gerwig tasked the two actors to unleash here. “Emotions just bubble over,” Ronan says. “[Greta] just let us go with it, wherever it went, from take to take. What I loved about that scene is that every take would be different emotionally. It didn’t have the same trajectory.

“The two of us, it’s a relationship I have with no other director,” Ronan continues. “She makes me feel like I can try anything.”

As Ronan and Chalamet emerge from their photo-studio dressing area in impossibly chic new ensembles — she donning a form-fitting knit sweater, he a silky, ruffled top — their creative energy fills the space. They try out different poses, debating concepts and ideas with each other on the fly; at one point he wraps his arms around her waist, and she quips to no one in particular, “We’re expecting our first.” Camera snap.

They’re modeling a new brand of movie stardom — pursuing projects with a point of view, adamantly being themselves in the public eye, subverting gender norms. Their androgynous fashion performance here reflects their wardrobe shake-ups in Little Women: Gerwig and Oscar-winning costumer Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina) had the two actors swapping clothes throughout filming, to reinforce the masculine-feminine fluidity between Jo and Laurie. “They are two halves,” as Pascal puts it. “These are really bold characters that are really different than you’ve seen them before.”

And just as Gerwig expressed a need to direct Little Women, Ronan knew in her bones she needed to play Jo. She’d first encountered the story via the 1994 film when she was 11, and later read the book, feeling an immediate kinship with the young woman she’d come to portray. “When Louisa describes Jo, it felt like someone describing me physically: sort of gangly and stubborn and very straightforward, and went for what she wanted.” At an event for Lady Bird, she — in a very Jo kind of way — just “went at it” by approaching Gerwig. “I said, ‘So I want to be in Little Women, but only if I’m playing Jo.’” (Chalamet, for his part, was asked by Gerwig, “Hey, want to do another movie?” He responded: “Yes. Yes, please.”)

Over months of living in Concord with her castmates, Ronan discovered new depths within herself: “Jo’s ethos is ‘Everything everyone else is doing, I’m going to do the opposite.’ [I had] to try things that I’d never tried before. Be a bit messier with a performance.” Gerwig set up etiquette lessons for the cast; whatever the instructor said (“Don’t shake hands! Don’t gesticulate with your arms!”), Ronan made sure to ignore it. She speaks now of this as freeing, even transformative. “I felt like I had tapped into something I’d never gotten the opportunity to tap into before, or I just didn’t have the guts to tap into myself,” she says. “Finding that was just amazing.”

Shortly after wrapping Little Women, she filmed Wes Anderson’s next film, The French Dispatch — marking her third time costarring with Chalamet, who plays a central role. As for now? Ronan is taking a little break. “I’ll wait for the right thing to come along,” she says. “It’s lovely to be in a position at this moment where I can wait for the absolute right thing.” Same goes for Chalamet — he shot Netflix’s The King (out Oct. 11) right before Little Women and just completed production on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation. “It’s the first time in almost two years I’ve gotten a breath, so I’m savoring it.”

It’s been a long day. They’re back in comfy clothes; Ronan is taking a late lunch. It feels like both actors — as another whirlwind of acclaim and press and romance-shipping awaits — are at a kind of peace, exhausted but satisfyingly so. Little Women is the biggest movie either has done to date; more attention, as they inhabit such revered characters, is sure to follow. “I just haven’t thought about it that way,” Ronan admits. “Maybe because it’s just Greta — even though it’s on a much bigger scale, she wanted it to feel like Lady Bird.”

Ronan understands the timeless power of Little Women, of course: “It’s as important to tell Little Women right now as it would be at any point in our lifetime.” She points to this pop culture climate of “celebrating female friendships and sisterhood,” and continues, “It’s a story that’s full of love. That will always be relevant.”

She turns toward Chalamet, and you realize the love they brought to Alcott’s classic is what first blossomed between them on Lady Bird. “I love that in Lady Bird, you broke my heart,” she says to him softly. “In Little Women, I got to break your heart.” (Chalamet, ever the goofball, finds an obvious opening: “Yes, that’s true. Then I married your sister. Ha, ha, ha!”)

If this all sounds a little idyllic, well, neither actor — nor Gerwig, nor Pascal, nor the rest of the cast — can do much to convince you otherwise. Shifting back to Little Women’s timelessness, and reflecting on Ronan’s comments about it, Chalamet says, “I don’t know how to add to that.” Instead he turns back to his costar, his expression suddenly sincere, filled with gratitude. “But if I can add one little dose of information,” he says with a nervous laugh. “And not just because she’s sitting next to me.” He credits Ronan with bringing that “timeless energy.” He says “thank God” they were able to make the movie. “It’s so rare with Saoirse — I’m so f—ing grateful to get to work with her,” he says. “Whatever book I write for myself when I’m older, to look back on —” He stops himself. “Well, this is a bigger conversation.”

But Ronan, chuckling, doesn’t let him off the hook. “Will I have, like, a chapter?” And Chalamet laughs — another opening, another chance to act with his greatest scene partner, to see what journey of creation and discovery they’ll go on next. “A chapter of Saoirse,” he says.

At this rate, one chapter won’t suffice.

[cultofbeatles]

hello! i saw you mention in a post that you could give beatles book recommendations all day long, and i was wondering whether you'd share some? i've been wanting to read some more in-depth ones but i want to make sure it's accurate and generally well-done since there's so many places to start.

hey! I will list a few of the ones I like and enjoyed, and will give a brief summary of what it’s mainly about. 

The Beatles by Hunter Davies is literally a beginners 101 for the beatles. it’s amazing. I honestly wish it was the first beatles book I read bc it’s so easily written and less confusing than some of the others. the thing about this book is that it revolves more on the personal lives of each beatles instead of the music. so if you’re looking to understand more about their individual lives, then I say this is a good book to start with. but if you’re here for music thoughts then it might not be the best pick. honestly though, anything by hunter Davies is reliable.

The Beatles Lyrics by hunter Davies is the book for people wanting to learn about the music. it picks apart lyrics and give details/information before. davies does a good job on making things understandable. the thing is, if I can remember correctly, it doesn’t focus on all songs. just a few of the main songs. and it is mainly about the lyrics. so if you’re looking for a book about the process or instruments behind the songs, then this isn’t the greatest option. still a good read though, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz is a long ass book. and was the first beatles book I read. this book has so much information so much so that it can be quite boring at times lol. but it does make you feel like you’re living the moment with them. this is another book that focuses on the personal lives of the beatles, but it also takes about the songs as well. it’s a little bit harder of a read than hunter davies version (at least from my memory of it). also takes some time at the end to talk about their solo careers/deaths, which the hunter davies book doesn’t really do that.

Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years by Mark Lewisohn is a book that focuses on the first few years of the group. tbh I only read this book one time (mainly bc I knew everything it was stating from reading previous books lol), so my memory on it isn’t great. but I will list it bc others liked it and it’s reliable. 

Shout! The Beatles in their Generation by Philip Norman is a good book. there’s no direct input from any beatles, so it’s all just research and testimonies from other people around them at the time. still, it’s a good read and definitely fascinating. I love hearing the stories of other peoples who were surrounded by the beatles aswell. 

The Beatles Anthology by The Beatles is as reliable as it gets lmao. though it is a big ass book. like..a big ass motherfucking book. that is a long read. but it has so many details to it. and I bought the dvd set with it, so hearing the audio was a plus. it’s by the beatles themselves and it’s interesting to hear their thoughts on stuff. will take up all the space on your book shelf though lmao.

All the Songs: The Story behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin is amazing! I’m rereading it right now actually. it talks about every beatles song ever. even their covers. it lists the process it took in making it, the instruments used, how long it took to record it, etc. it’s a big book, but you hardly even realize it while reading bc it’s so cool. I love it so much. it also has little fun facts at the bottom which I think is super cute lol.

The John Lennon Letters by John Lennon, Hunter Davies is a book that’s more heartwarming than super super informational. I like it a lot. john has always fascinated me. basically it’s just a book complied of letters, photos, postcards, etc of all things from john. it goes into details about some. and if I’m recalling correctly it has some stories from other people in there as well. I like how at the beginning there’s some drawings and stuff from when he was a kid. super sweet.

Imagine John Yoko by Yoko Ono is a book I actually like. it basically only talks about the imagine album. which that’s the reason I like it since that’s my favorite john album. it has new pictures in it and stories from the people who contributed on it. nice quotes from john and just a sweet book for an amazing album. it is by yoko though, so if you don’t like her idk how reliable you’ll take it as.

john by Cynthia Lennon is another good book. it’s been a while since I’ve read it though. it’s basically john’s first wife talking about him. nothing really to do with the bealtes too much but still a good read if you want to learn more about john.

Photograph by Ringo Starr is one I’m listing bc it’s fun to have. it’s just a book of ringo’s photos that he’s taken over the time. it’s a heartwarming thing to look at.

I’m gonna be honest and admit that I haven’t read much about paul, ringo, or george (dont tell him pls, I know I’m a bad stan). it’s been a while since I read a book about a solo beatle. I mainly read books about them as a group. but when I first got into the Beatles, being the psychology major that I was, I wanted to learn more about John and how he acted. so that’s why I have read more books about him as a solo beatle than the others.

here’s just a few to start off with. honestly anything by hunter Davies, Mark Lewisohn, and rob sheffield is reliable in my opinion. I don’t really trust any of the books that focus on Lennon-mccartney just because from my experience they all seem a little biased. but I also haven’t read much of them, I just stick to 4/4 books. 

hope this helped some! if you give any of the books a read let me know! 

[laughingpinecone]

Yuletide letter!

I am laughingpineapple on AO3 

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (doubly so if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, outsider POV, UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played straight, sensory details, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night

Any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, IF, canon divergences, non-mundane AUs (space opera! high fantasy! new weird also), deep lore, unrequested characters popping up - please do go wild with the & combos!

Blanket crossover prompt with Untitled Goose Game: set that goose loose anywhere and ruin anyone’s day. Tariq and select Twin Peaks characters who are not Albert (Margaret, Laura...) may hope to tame and befriend the goose; anyone else better get wrecked. Capitalism may also get wrecked while Kentucky Route Zero characters popcorn.gif nearby

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, canon retellings, unrequested ships (I listed all the ships I like for each fandom. Outside of those, I’d prefer if other canon characters weren’t shipped, unless they’re like, canon engaged/married)

Dark Souls 1: Solaire of Astora

I’m only familiar with the first game! It’s probably relevant to mention that I think that linking the fire is kind of a dumbass move, Gwyn is a jerk, Kaathe has his own agenda and there’s no winning move in this world, or at least no obvious one. And amidst all this nonsense, Solaire just shines, pure of heart and dumb of ass like the best of ‘em. I love his kindness in this cruelest of worlds and I love the sad edge he’s got even earlier on when he admits to being seen as weird.

I would enjoy a bittersweet ending for him but I realize both of his endings are deeply entrenched in his themes so it’s hard to make him steer clear of either of those. If you can figure out how to make him not link the Flame or survive the ordeal, I’m all ears! I like a sense of purpose being the thing that can stave off hollowing, and I like characters helping other characters finding that sense of purpose within themselves. Focus on scenery always welcome, and if you want to make up a location, that’s great too!

I’d be super happy with a story set during Solaire’s time in Lordran that simply doesn’t mention his endings, anyway. Maybe he’s the one who helps someone else while his own tragedy keeps looming on the horizon. Striking up friendships in the face of a crapsack world! Meeting people through Lordran’s temporal/dimensional fuckery, where it’s possible to cross the path of warriors who have been gone for ages… could Solaire meet either or both Catarina knights (there’s so much great art about sun bro and onion bro but where’s the fic?), or do the grumpy grump&ray of sunshine routine with Logan, or meet Artorias or even Gwyn before he linked the Flame - or himself? What if he met Kaathe?

Ships: none really? Solaire/Chosen Undead but I don’t really like to read about customizable protagonists in fic so I’d rather not get fic featuring the CU. I’m all about the & character combos here.

Ghost Trick: Cabanela, Jowd

I love Cabanela being fierce and dazzling bright and determined and loyal to the very end, dancing to his own rhythm, so sure of himself and of his ideas that he doesn’t even need to prove to anyone that he’s right. Too sure of the wrong idea, once, and everything crashed and burned. And I love Jowd being the immovable object to Cabanela’s unstoppable force, a suicidal trainwreck of guilt with the gallows humor to show for it, and also incredibly smart (both jerks figured out Sissel’s powers better than Sissel did, that’s... something) and athletic and with an unsuspected talent for stealth.

I am very interested in various characters finding about the erased timeline, but not getting their memories back, and having to live with being told about what they did but never remembering it. Touch-starved Jowd in the new timeline is a surefire hit (or maybe Cabanela if he’s the one who came back and kept the memories of the old timeline). Touchy-feely Cabanela as kind of his baseline with the people he likes.  All what-ifs welcome:what if they managed an acceptable happy ending but didn’t reset the timeline, what if Alma’s ghost stuck around… I’m also wondering about either of them ending up undead via Temsik shard - how would they take these developments (I’m assuming better than Yomiel did but the bar is admittedly low), did Cabanela do it on purpose for whatever sensible-if-you-are-Cabanela reason, what does it change in their relationship, what are the practical pros and cons of the situation here. UFO adventures with Pigeon Man! Lynne teaming up with either of them against the other! Sissel death-averting action if either/both of them die or just regular cat action! Spy stuff! Daring rescues! My forever prompt of Jowd being the one who gets a chance to prove his loyalty to Cabanela for once. Dancing.

Please no Yomiel. Nothing against the guy I’m just getting an overdose of him through RPing.

Ships: Alma/Cabanela/Jowd and all sides thereof, but when it splits the canon couple I only like it when the missing spouse is dead or otherwise unavailable, hopefully with a reset on the horizon. If you want to go for a Cabanela&Alma or Cabanela/Alma who are strongly motivated by a dead or jailed Jowd, I’m good with him not actively appearing in the fic. Alma/Jowd & Cabanela is excellent in all scenarios. I’m good with explicitly non-romantic takes on Jowd&Cabs but please keep their bond strong, and please no conflicting ship for Cabanela. Lynne/Memry!

Kentucky Route Zero: Any (Lula Chamberlain, Joseph Wheattree, Donald kentuckyroutezero, Weaver Màrquez)

(if enough of us request it, will some Murphy corollary guarantee that Act V will come out between now and reveals just to mess with the Yuletide schedule? If it does, I’ll be playing it immediately and probably add a few thoughts and prompts here for kicks, at the end of this section, after a spoiler warning. Obviously feel free to stick to canon up to Un Pueblo De Nada)

I’m all for exploration of any of the game’s themes and for including any staples from adjacent genres - wanna go full-on American Gothic? Dip into surrealism? Take a leaf from Twin Peaks with tulpa / split narratives to explore the characters’ issues? I can’t think of any specific AUs for the disaster trio + disaster soloist here, but I generally love AUs so if you want to sidestep the inconvenience of an incomplete canon that way, be my guest! Or of course there’s Xanadu at the height of its glory, an infinite what-ifs generator. Was Weaver ever part of it, what was this digital Weaver up to? A Xanadu narrative would be great! A good fit for IF, too? I’d love to hear about any new spot along the Zero or the Echo river, or an expansion of some place that’s only mentioned by Will in HATATE or only gets a few paragraphs of text. Lula getting ideas for a new installation, or an article talking about her work? Donald listening to Static between stations somehow (Donald being constantly high as a kite as per this)? Joseph who went back to the surface finds himself near an entrance to the Zero somewhere? A collection of Weaver-isms? Feel free to bring in anyone else from any part of canon.

Ships: “Flipping through the pages, Conway is able to gather that it's a story about three characters: Joseph, Donald, and Lula. It's something like a tragic love triangle, but much more complex. Some kind of tangled, painfully concave love polygon.” 😬 that one, as a full triad, regrettably since they don’t seem too inclined to get reunited and stay that way. If you can nudge them, good. But I’m very open to non-romantic resolutions as well, going past their messy feelings to find each other as friends after so many years maybe. For Weaver, I’m interested in all her & relationships (seriously. Weaver & Cate. Weaver & EmilyBen&Bob. Weaver & Slow Moe Crow.) but nothing shippy. Conway/Lysette, Junebug/Johnny(/Shannon?).

The Last Remnant: David Nassau, Pagus

I’m very interested in post-game exploration, and getting a clearer feeling of any of the cities and assorted places that populate this fascinating world. I like the whole party with their characterization based on battle quotes, red bubble dialogues, and even their unique stat (‘authority’ is a natural fit for David but ‘romance’ tells me something new about Sibal!) Character interaction. Bit of worldbuilding. What’s another festival they celebrate? Do they erect something else instead of the Valeria Heart? Any fun discoveries down in Siebenbur? Where the hell IS Veyriel, anyway, do they go look for it and if so what do they find out? End of an age. Old bonds.

I ache for David who fought so valiantly as a warrior and as a politician only to be slapped in the face with the unexpected loss Emma first and then Rush, right as they were ready to claim their victory and as he would have to start coming to terms with the idea that maybe without the Gae Bolg he wouldn’t die young. At least his Generals are still with him - out of them, all of whom I adore, I picked Pagus because Qsiti are cool. And Pagus in particular is the coolest (”I know that fine qsiti... That large, reticent mouth, the laugh lines around the eyes...“ he’s FINE it’s CANON!). So I’d like to see how David bounces off Pagus in particular, what their bond is like, what he thinks of whatever aspect of Qsiti culture.

Ships: postcanon David/Rush, possibly with an emphasis on Rush’s nature as a remnant? I am also fond of Pagus/Sibal/Maddox, there are more prompts for them in my #letters tag!

Pyre: Volfred Sandalwood, Tariq The Lone Minstrel

Oh the burning found family feelings, the revolutionary passion, the tension between topside social constraints (moreso for liberated exiles, thrust into heroic roles after the revolution) and the kind of freedom allowed by the Downside! I love all the themes, the solemnity, the heart of this game. I’ve been waiting for a character like Tariq all my life, a minstrel who’s otherworldly soft and just a lil bit eldritch. Volfred as well, he just hits my perfect ratio of “noble intentions” to “scheming to a fault”. Like, the percentages in his planner are pointless for gameplay since the ending just depends on the number of Nightwings sent topside at the end - so it’s just there for his characterization, he’s the sort of person who assigns percentages to people, nbd. ...for a good cause! That said, I would die for anyone in that Blackwagon+Dalbert+Celeste, so if you want to write in someone else as well, please do! (otoh if you maybe want to dunk on Brighton or Manley, I don’t like bashing but canon levels of love-to-hate-them would be fun)

Thoughts about finding oneself at the end of an age, as everything crumbles down to form something new. The titan stars. History nerd Volfred, “aye sir, I was there” Tariq. Conversations with Dalbert. Or with Sandra? Any postcanon very welcome with any combination of endings as long as the revolution was peaceful. Please do lean into the xeno headcanons if you enjoy them! Even for gen, I like to read what it’s like to be something other than human and these two are very much not human in different and intriguing ways. Or, Volfred’s zodiac sign is Cancer and Cancer is ruled by the Moon, so there’s that. I also love how they both hold the other in the highest esteem, especially on Tariq’s part since he’s the immortal Herald of the Scribes and Volfred is, all in all, a history teacher, but listen to him and you’d think the roles were inverted. I love my nonviolent canon but could anything happen to either of them that may require a rescue, and/or some good old-fashioned h/c? What’s something that could make Tariq of all people lose it? How’s life 100 years on?

For a funnier mood, picture Volfred trying to figure out how to flirt with Tariq with percentages, planners and all. He could just ask him but no, it’s convoluted plan or bust. Or, conversely, Tariq’s increasingly direct hints that he’s interested, but they’re still ‘increasingly direct’ for Tariq standards, so, not at all, undetectable even by Volfred who can get pretty damningly indirect himself.

Ships: Volfred/Tariq, Volfred/Oralech, some form of Oralech/Volfred/Tariq (more of a Volfred-centric V but I would like to be convinced of the Oralech/Tariq side of things), Celeste/Jodariel, Hedwyn/Fikani and Pamitha/Bertrude.

Twin Peaks: Albert Rosenfield

Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. Transcendence. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. Twin Peaks is all about the mystery to me, the awe of mystery and unknowability and the human drive to look beyond and the risks of getting a peek, and about shared consciousness and trauma taking physical form and about the warmth of human connections in an uncaring world. Go wild with the ethereal whooshing!

I love Albert and he breaks my heart, a pacifist who ends his arc shooting his oldest remaining friend after life sucked all the passion and most of the idealism out of him. Is shooting Diane just to see Cooper come back, get her back and disappear with her again trauma enough to make him split? I’d be interested in reading about it, or any other take on his unwavering loyalty to Gordon which should maybe waver after Gordon’s admission that he’s lied to him for 25 years and the aforementioned unmitigated disaster of an ending. But I’m also very interested in his life apart from the disaster that is Blue Rose and his heartbreaking search for Cooper: did he keep in touch with Harry throughout the years, what did they talk about? Was he ever dragged along for a hike in the woods and did something weird happen there? We know he kept in touch with Diane, what did THEY talk about? Does he go on a journey of his own to find her after the ending? Does Tammy come along, do they see each other as friends other than mentor and protégé? What was Phil like as a co-boss back in the day? Did he get a small victory over Windom at some point (maybe even in the present day, given Kenneth Welsh’s recent wonderful interview where he’s adamant that Windom lives)? Does Laura ever visit him in some ghostly manner? He and Denise look like a great duo for a case and/or office shenanigans. We know from TFD that he’s a big jazz enthusiast, something about that? When does he cave in and just accept some aspects of Coop’s investigative method? Just set him loose on another unsuspecting character and I’ll be happy.

If Coop comes back (and I’d love for Coop to come back), I would like it if he came back on his own thanks to having sorted out his crap. After s3, I am not interested in stories about any other character saving Cooper. Albert’s got his wounds to lick dangit. And he’s got friends who can be by his side! ...I do love his dynamic with Coop so much, though. Sigh. I do miss that bastard. Anyway.

Ships: Albert/Coop/Harry and sides thereof, Tammy/Cynthia, Gordon/Phil, Diane/Constance, Lucy/Andy, Chet/Sam.

Canon-specific DNWs: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, clear explanations for canonical ambiguities, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s House by the Sea being the White Lodge, anything that 4 hours video says is the explanation of Twin Peaks

[popentertainmentmusic]

DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME (2019)

Featuring David Crosby, Jan Dance, James Raymond, Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Henry Diltz, Enrico Merlin, Stephen Barncard, Cameron Crowe, AJ Eaton and archival footage of Graham Nash, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Paul Shaffer and Glenn Frey.

Directed by AJ Eaton.

Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. 95 minutes. Rated R.

David Crosby is, and always has been, a very complicated guy. Equal parts charming and off-putting, smart and self-destructive, talented and overly aware of his talent, pithy and pointed, opinionated and thin-skinned, self-obsessed and self-loathing; he has fascinated people for decades and driven away many of the people he has worked closest with over his storied career.

A list of his past close associates who will not even talk to Crosby anymore includes Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Roger McGuinn and even Graham Nash, who would appear to be one of the friendliest, more open men in music. In fact, it took a lot to take the two men from chatting daily for over 45 years to having Nash yelling “Fuck you” into Crosby’s face – while onstage during a concert, no less.

When discussing his firing from the classic rock band The Byrds in another recent documentary on the Southern California music scene called Echo in the Canyon, Crosby acknowledged with a touch of regret, “I was an asshole.”

He is (and has been) an asshole, and yet he is a self-aware asshole. He acknowledges his many faults, but he hasn’t outgrown them. He has never learned not to poke the bear. He has strong opinions and refuses to hold them back. However, he has also always been a smart, well-spoken, rather charming asshole. (It’s not a coincidence that Crosby is a Twitter favorite for his irreverent opinions on music and current events.)

And he has never been afraid or unwilling to focus that cutting insight upon himself.

Which is a big part of the reason that David Crosby: Remember My Name is one of the most fascinating rock documentaries to come down the pike in quite some time. It’s much more elegiac and engaging than one may expect with such a potentially prickly subject.

Instead we meet an older man who has lived through some crazy times – and who has done some crazy things – and has come out on the other side. He has battled for decades against health and addiction problems. He’s sober now, more circumspect, and in the middle of a creative resurgence. Still, he remembers some of the many, many times that he gave in to his temptations.

“People ask me if I’ve got regrets,” Crosby said. “Yeah, I have huge regrets of the time I wasted being smashed…. I’m afraid. I’m afraid of dying. I’m real close. I don’t like it. I’d like to have more time. A lot more time.”

This kind of perceptive and personal insight comes from very thoughtful and well-researched interviews by director AJ Eaton and the film’s producer, rock critic-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe. They discuss all sorts of aspects of Crosby’s life; his childhood, time in The Byrds, Crosby Stills & Nash and Crosby Stills Nash & Young (Crosby insists here that the last two groups are very different as far as he is concerned), his trouble with addictions, politics and his anti-war stance, his love of sailing, the women in his life and his inability to commit to most, his relationships with his musical contemporaries (he seems to have particularly disliked Jim Morrison), performing at Woodstock, being sober, making music and touring as an aging man.

As Crosby points out, he is the only one of the members of Crosby Stills Nash & Young who never had a big solo hit. Also, it is rare that his songs were released as singles in the band. (His best known CSN songs were "Guinnevere," "Almost Cut My Hair," "Long Time Gone," "Delta" and “Wooden Ships,” a co-write with Stills and Jefferson Airplane/Starship member Paul Kantner. None of those were hits.) And yet, at this point he is as active in recording and making as memorable music as any of them.

But mostly, you get the feeling that Crosby’s greatest regret is losing some of his best friends.

The chasm is so wide that the filmmakers could only use archival footage of Graham Nash and Neil Young discussing their lives with Crosby – and there are no quotes at all from Stephen Stills. (In fact, Stills is barely even mentioned here, though he is shown in a good amount of the pictures and archival footage.) As four men who have meant so much in each other’s lives, it’s sad that the filmmakers could not get any new interviews with Crosby’s former bandmates. Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman of the Byrds, who also have their share of bad blood with Crosby, were willing to talk about him on the record here.

In fairness, Crosby takes most of the blame for the rifts. He knows he has a temper. He knows he does and says bad things. He doesn’t blame them for being angry at him. “All of the main guys that I made music with won’t even talk to me,” he tells producer Crowe, who first interviewed Crosby in 1974. “All of them. One of them hating my guts could be an accident. McGuinn, Nash, Neil and Stephen all really dislike me strongly.”

He seems to want to try to patch things up but does not know how. Graham Nash, in an interview with Paul Shaffer for Sirius XM which is excerpted here, seems to feel the same way, but worries it may be too late. Crosby Stills Nash & Young were four voices in perfect harmony, but four men who were eventually out of synch.

David Crosby has done a lot of good and a lot of bad in his life. No one is perfect, and he has been particularly imperfect. However, that is what makes Remember My Name so fascinating. David Crosby doesn’t lie, doesn’t deflect, and obviously is trying to be a better man. That makes this warts-and-all bio rather inspirational.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2019 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 2, 2019.

[koalas-koalas-everywhere]

Live-blogging The Hobbit

Since I said I’d talk about how much I love Bilbo.

Also, live-blogging might be a generous description. A report from the brim every few chapters, maybe.

Might be annoying to my current followers, but they’d do well to remember this is how I got most of them, even if the live-blogging was for a different fandom. 

Now, to start! The first two chapters!

An Unexpected Party

The very first page, with the description of Bag End, had me doing a lot of double takes, mostly because of things I already thought I knew because of, you know, osmosis, so it went a bit like:

 “the hobbit was fond of visitors” ????? Didn’t Bilbo use the One Ring specifically to avoid unwanted visitors? 

However big you thought Bag End was, you’ll have to guess again. The most generous illustration probably got the size wrong. It not only has multiple bedrooms (not enough for all of the dwarves, though), it has wardrobes (rooms dedicated to clothes), and kitchens, and dining rooms.

“most Bagginses were rich” Clearly the best use for their money would have been to redistribute it, but are you trying to tell me some of them weren’t and the rest just said it was none of their business?

The fact that the Bagginses are described as reliable/predictable and Bungo doesn’t get much personal description while Belladonna, of the Took clan, outstanding/odd, does get further insight into her place in her family and is described as both famous and remarkable? *kisses fingers like chef*

Like, up till now, the only description he personally gets is, like, “Bungo, that was Bilbo’s father, built the most luxurious hobbit-hole for her (and partly with her money)” and it’s still a description of Belladonna because the paragraph’s about her still, you can tell because, even though in the last sentence Bungo was the subject, Bilbo is still referred as “her” son.

Also fitting because Bilbo’s arc is about accepting his heritage from both parts of his family, and we’re about to get into how much of a Baggins he is, so extra emphasis into the Took side will be good for the next few chapters.

So, it says Gandalf last visited before the Old Took died, which was in S.R. 1320, when Bilbo was 30, a.k.a. 20 years before. While Gandalf is definitely remarkable enough, given the time lapse, I can forgive Bilbo for forgetting about his appearance. My reasons are that my own memory begins to get blurry about faces some five minutes after someone’s gone out of my sight.

“‘Good Morning!’ said Bilbo, and he meant it.” [to Gandalf]“‘All of them at once,” said Bilbo. “[...] If you have a pipe about you, sit down and have a fill of mine! [tobacco]’” and I’m going to skip a bit here, [to Dwalin] “‘I am just about to take tea; pray come and have some with me.’ A little stiff perhaps, but he meant it kindly.” Just... he’s so nice? Often in interpretations of the Shire and of Bilbo himself, when hobbits are nice it’s a matter of politeness for its own sake, as a ritual, but he’s so earnest? It’s really politeness as a kindness, as it should be. The only times this isn’t the case is when, after Gandalf reveals he’s looking for a fellow adventurer, when he just shit-talks adventures and looks at his mail hoping Gandalf will just go away instead of telling him himself... until he gets tired and does so. Then later when he gathers from Balin that a lot of people might be showing up and you can sense some reluctance in his decision to go without, and a focus on duty. And last as the night goes on and the dwarves keep being rude af. 

Also, I once saw someone wonder why Gandalf would mention Belladonna in the movie when he supposedly knew the Old Took, and someone said it was just to make the connection more direct, son->mother, instead of son->mother->grandfather. Well,

[Picture of my book, relevant quote: “To think that I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took’s son; as if I was selling buttons at the door!”. End description]

Read ‘em and weep.

A funny thing about the book is the narration. It’s supposed to be Bilbo’s account, just compiled by Tolkien, right? So, Bilbo’s descriptions, meaning how he is described, are noteworthy. Admittedly, I don’t read autobiographies, so I don’t know what’s a common way to describe yourself in third person, but this narrator is kinda... distant from Bilbo? In that you don’t get the sense he’s writing the story. He’s at once roasted relentlessly and praised, mocked and defended. All in all it’s an affectionate voice, although one that feels the need to go “listen, I know how this all looks and that you doubt him now (and honestly? same), but he’s a pretty cool guy, once you get to know him.”

“Bless me, life used to be quite inter-- I mean, you used to upset things badly in these parts once upon a time.” Lmao

“Very amusing for me, very good for you” - Gandalf about sending Bilbo to his death.

Bilbo, to Gandalf: “Come tomorrow!”

Bilbo, to himself: “what”

Himself, to Bilbo: “I also don’t want me to be doing what I’m doing.”

Strange dwarf (with a blue beard?): *basically pushes his way into Bilbo’s house*. Bilbo: ............... wanna eat?

“The poor little hobbit sat down in the hall and put his head in his hands, and wondered what had happened, and what was going to happen, and whether they would all stay to supper.” Hero. Those are appropriate priorities. Meanwhile, there’s people waiting for him to open the door lmao.

*banging at Bag End’s door with a stick instead of ringing the bell* 

Bilbo: who’s the fucking beast.

“Bilbo sat on a stool by the fireside, nibbling at a biscuit (his appetite was quite taken away), trying to look as if this was all perfectly ordinary and not in the least an adventure.” They [the Valar] can’t see you if you don’t move.

I like how “Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold” is about both the gold and treasure and the sheer history, represented by song. Yes, the lyrics are mostly about the treasure, but the book itself says it can barely be called a song without the music. The dwarves’ work is talked about without equating it with their craft, but more as a cultural activity that builds identity, again, like songs. They’re mentioned both in the context of being sung deep in the mountain, only for dwarves ears. This comes to a head later, when the last line says “to win our harps and gold from him!” From this, I’ve reached the conclusion that dwarves don’t just want the Mountain for the economic benefits, but because of the sense of cultural identity, represented by songs and harps, that they lost along with Erebor. I’m sure this isn’t surprising in general, or a new reading of dwarves in general, or even a new reading of the song in particular, but I just wanted to put it out there.

I like how immersed in, well, everything Bilbo has been up to now. I get this feeling of constant movement in the inside from him. Every smoke ring fascinates him, and every suggestion of adventure appalls him, and everything that happens is the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to him, not (just) because of his (sometimes, this doesn’t happen that much) exaggerated reactions, but the time he takes to tell us his feelings and thoughts about things. 

Also, him being snapped out of his adventurous daze by a sudden fear for his home (comfort), A+ Baggins/Took conflict.

“I want these dwarves to think I could fuck someone up, which is made all the easier by my desire to fuck them up”

“As soon as I saw your funny faces in the door-step, I had my doubts.” Bilbo that’s racist.

Gandalf is like that meme of the driver who’s threatening to turn the car around because his children are being rowdy, only instead he insists he will not turn the car around no matter how much they beg.

I don’t know if this is the I’ve Watched The Movie Where He Was A Main Character Syndrome talking, but I’m feeling much more compassionate towards Thotin this time around.

I noticed what I’d written the moment I finished the word, but this is too fucking hilarious to correct.

Bilbo: “uhh, five feet high is pretty noticeable for a door”

Tolkien: you’ll have to forgive him, he was born with dumb bitch disease. The buffoon. The absolute animal.

Also, “He loved maps, and in his hall, there hung a large one of the Country Round with all his favourite walks marked in it with red ink.” In this house we love one (1) nerd.

Thorin: *bitches*

Bilbo: Not in my house. *bitches harder*

Thorin: you fucking hayseed.

Bilbo: prob, bob?

Roast Mutton

I commend Bilbo for actually going - if I had to run for 15 minutes they’d still be waiting for me.

Did Gandalf bring Bilbo an actual bag or did he just decide pipe weed and handkerchiefs were the only thing he’d need for a five month minimum journey.

If he has time to complain about it, he also has time to sew himself some clothes out of the kerchiefs ig

“[Gandalf] had eaten most, talked most, and laughed most. But now he was simply not there at all!” Gandalf you ass.

“Dwarves can make fire almost anywhere out of almost anything” this has so much comedic potential.

I relate to Bilbo because I always catch on to the fact that I’m supposed to be lying way too late.

Kinda reminds me of that post about the fae who’ve learned how to tell the truth in a very specific way so it will be misunderstood being flabbergasted by someone who just comes up to them and lies.

Bilbo: *is caught lying*

Trolls: 

Bill said burrahobbit rights!

Dwarves:

Gotta hand it to Tolkien, though, Bilbo does have dumb bitch disease.

I love how Sting is supposed to be just as special as Orcrist and Glamdring, yet the narration makes such a small deal of it. It’s clear from the start it’s of the same make as them because, although it’s not mentioned along with them at first (which makes sense, since it’s sheath’s not as pretty, Thorin and Gandalf’s taking of the swords isn’t even separated from Bilbo’s by a stop, just a semicolon, yet it doesn’t get a second though.

I like how in the movie it’s all Gandalf: “Imladris” Bilbo: *delighted gasp* “Rivendell” while in the book it’s Gandalf: “Rivendell” Bilbo: “Where’s that?” Gandalf: “Don’t interrupt!”

So that’s that! Don’t know if I should stick to doing it like this, every two or so chapters, or every chapter as soon as I finish, or try to do my impressions as I go and then publish them when I’m done, because this actually took me longer than I thought it would.

[compartmentalisinghmpf]

Oh yeah, hey! I finally reviewed the latest Laundry book!

Just in time before the next one comes out, lol. Here it is:

The Delirium Brief (TDB in the following) was greeted in many quarters as a return to form after the slight slump of the last few books. Ungenerous souls might say that this is largely due to fans being a tad inflexible when it comes to swapping POV characters, and thus being happy to finally be back with familiar old Bob. Which is true, as far as it goes, but not the whole story. (Personally, I happen to think the Bob-narrated Rhesus Chart formed part of the slump already... I would like to add that it really was only a slight slump.) TDB is probably my second-favourite installment of the series after The Fuller Memorandum, and that has a lot to do with the way it leaves me with a lasting, urgent sense of dread, just like that earlier volume did. It also has something to do with the way TDB tells the story of a shocking fall from grace… also, somewhat, like that earlier volume (arguably. Bob really didn‘t so much fall as was shoved). Last but not least, like volume three, this installment succeeds in lifting the Laundry series onto an entirely different playing field. Since volume three, it has been obvious that eventually we would have to enter the field of politics -- and now we‘re finally there. Plotwise, it‘s a proper rollercoaster ride from start to finish. After Leeds, secrecy is no longer an option, and the book opens with Bob being interviewed on national television… and things really spin out of control fast, after that. We have been in the beginning stages of Case Nightmare Green for a while now, but Stross doesn‘t try to top the fireworks of the previous book, for now. Nevertheless, the events of TDB feel even more momentous: the Laundry crosses a Rubicon, and the extended quoting, at a certain point, from a certain infamous work from history should make us think very hard indeed about whether we still want to cheer them on, now. TDB, I think, represents the culmination of a project that Stross has been pursuing, sneakily, for quite some time: to make us root for protagonists and an organisation who, via their dedication to an Undeniably Just Cause, slowly turn into something that in any other context we would readily identify as "the bad guys". The larger story of the Laundry is now fundamentally a story about complicity. All the while we still can‘t help but root for our heroes. The reader thus becomes complicit, too. This is a wonderfully complex place to leave things for a while. As for Bob: Bob‘s presence as a narrator at this stage is indeed essential to the success of the book, because throughout the series, it is through Bob‘s developing identity as a sometimes conflicted, sometimes distancing-himself-by-snark, but, ultimately, always loyal operative that we‘ve experienced the Laundry‘s sense of its purpose, necessities, and (shifting) moral baselines. We`ve experienced the conditions of, and slide towards complicity through Bob -- and now we get to see the result. It‘s been a fascinating journey. Bob, signifcantly, makes none of the most crucial decisions in the book -- not actively. The most important ones are made entirely without his knowledge, or even forced on him by magic, without so much as asking his consent. (Not that the Laundry was ever big on consent.) It‘s an interesting choice to give your protagonist/narrator this little agency, especially in a book in which such momentous things happen. Bob‘s role in the Laundry and his self-image – the latter of which, much earlier, still bore traces of the old "rebellious hacker" archetype, although that‘s always been more pose than reality – are beginning to converge. He is beginning to think of himself as a tool/weapon to be wielded by the Laundry, and no longer seems to question what the Laundry does, nor its methods. This, of course, is one way in which complicity with large-scale evil happens. I‘ve said elsewhere that I think Bob is not necessarily an interesting character in his own right, but that I find him deeply fascinating as a reasonably ordinary character reacting to, and being changed by an utterly extraordinary situation. In TDB, this continues to be true, only more so. In tems of how he relates to the larger political and supernatural situation, his private and professional loyalties and sense of duty, his still-stinging conscience and his growing reservoir of guilt, not to mention his very unusual… abilities and ontological situation – and perhaps even, if it ever sees a resurgence, the remnants of that slight rebellious streak in his self-image - Bob is currently quite possibly the most interesting character in the series (or at least the one in the most psychologically interesting situation). – Very closely followed by Mo, of course, though at the moment it‘s a bit hard to say where Mo is, in terms of character, as the end of the book shakes things up in that regard, all the way into the sphere of the Unknowable. I know the next book will feature other characters, and that‘s fine, I‘m sure I‘ll enjoy it, too. I do hope, though, that we get to keep Bob and Mo as recurring POV characters, as well, in later books - because I really can‘t wait to see what choices they‘ll make in post-TDB-Britain – and I want to see those choices from the inside as well as the outside. 

[piffeller]

MYSPACE 7EVER

When is it acceptable, if ever, to disobey the law?

It is acceptable to disobey the law when the law disobeys itself.

What makes you feel most empowered?

Respecting myself in every way in every situation makes me feel most empowered. This includes standing up for what I believe in, being self-aware at all times to the best of my abilities, being humble enough to recognize my flaws, always having my back, always being realistic with myself, etc. I won’t take any undeserved shit!

Do you believe in heaven and hell?

I don’t know if I believe in heaven and hell. I don’t think anyone knows if they exist. I don’t waste my time on the subject, honestly. Religion is fascinating to me but I can’t partake in it myself. It’s too similar to mental illness and we live in a post-truth society.

What’s the thing you most want to achieve before you die?

The thing I most want to achieve before I die is finding permanent happiness. Believe me, I’m on my way.

What makes you most angry about your country?

The systematic racism, broken education system, lack of universal healthcare, corrupt government, prison-industrial complex, prioritization of capitalism over lives, its entire history. That’s enough for now.

What was the worst encounter you had with a police officer?

The worst encounter I’ve had with a police officer was at the two Ferguson riots I went to. I guess there wasn’t one cop in particular who was bad persay but rather the whole lot of them were behaving like militarized animals.

Tell me about your first kiss.

I was 18 (yes, 18) at a nightclub in Barcelona. A young Italian man named Francesco and I were dancing together on a raised platform and he kissed me. It wasn’t bad, now that I think about it. It definitely wasn’t the worst kiss I’ve ever had. Immediately after the kiss he wanted to go somewhere else to talk. I might’ve had my first kiss only moments before but I wasn’t an idiot. No thank you, Francesco. That was enough excitement for me. I’ll just keep dancing.

Who thinks you’re beautiful when you wake up in the morning?

Everbody.

How are you, really?

I’m good! I feel resolved and whole. I feel wise and calm. I feel graceful.

Why are you worth knowing?

I’m worth knowing because I will show you to you. The only question after that is can you handle you? This is similar to the Bob Marley quote about ganja in which he states, “when you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.” I used to think this revelation-giving ability was a solely feminine power, that all women are capable of this act and that’s why women make such graceful and successful leaders and why men go through a metamorphosis or an enlightenment when a woman enters their life. However, I think the only women who have this capability are those who have revealed themselves to themselves first, if that makes sense. You have to look into the mirror for a very long time before you can hold it to another. I truly am my name.

What do you daydream about?

I daydream about the future quite a lot. I imagine all the places I want to travel to, mostly. I used to do this with a sense of sadness. I used to do this while holding the belief that I would never get to actually go to these places I daydreamed about. But more often than not, I end up traveling to these places in reality. It really goes to show how powerful my thoughts can be. So now when I daydream I do it with a belief that they won’t always be surreal thoughts.

How do you like to relax?

Well, if I’m alone, I really enjoy hanging out by myself. I like to go to cafes, on long walks, chill, to a restaurant with a good book as my companion, write, or edit/take photos. Baths and blunts are always relaxing. I also really enjoy cooking for myself. If I’m not alone then I like to relax by cooking for others, watching movies, and, my favorite, receiving nightly massages from my partner.

What is your favorite book/song/movie? Why?

My favorite book is The Martian Chronicles because it opened my mind to all of the possibilities within myself, the world, and the universe. I certainly don’t have a favorite song. I don’t think I even have a top 3, 5, 10, 20, 100, etc. I love so many different genres of music. My favorite song is every song I like. The same almost goes for my favorite movie as well. I could definitely compile a top 100 favorite movies of mine list though. But for now, a few of my favorite movies are Inglourious Basterds (because I love Tarantino and WW2 history), Boondock Saints (because I love violent movies), Snatch (because it’s bloody brilliant—I love me a Guy Ritchie movie), Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (such a great story arc, epic, odyssey. And the revenge? So very sweet), Interstellar (because it cuts me to the core every time), Moonlight (because it sweeps me off my feet every time), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (because I LOVE Spain, Spain Spanish, and it makes me question everything I know about love), Midsommar (because it ruined my life), Amelie (because it’s the essence of quirk), Death Proof (because it’s the most badass movie I’ve ever seen), Inside Man (because it’s a perfect movie from beginning to end), The Graduate (because it’s extremely nostalgic), Kung Fu Hustle (because it’s unexpectedly brilliant), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (because it destroys me), and, finally, Rush Hour 2 (because it’s the greatest movie ever).

What adjectives do you feel describe your style?

Eclectic, unpredictable, drag, comfortable, uncomfortable, new, old, monotone, colorful, yin, yang.

What sorts of things make you laugh?

I swear that everything makes me laugh. I am always laughing and life always gives me something to laugh about.

Do you have any pet peeves?

Oh yes, haha. Get ready. Pet peeves: when someone says “I apologize” but doesn’t say “I’m sorry”, when I’m trying to cook and someone decides now is a good time to wash the dishes/take up space/use the sink (this is a whole one-woman symphony-GET OUT OF MY WAY!), when people call women “girls” (so cringe, especially when women perpetuate this themselves), when people call women “princesses” (equally as cringe-I am a queen, not a helpless, weak, immature damsel in distress who needs saving), bad grammar (even though, yes, I know that linguistic purity isn’t very sexy these days but I disagree immensely and even though, yes, I have shit grammar sometimes), bad spelling, bad writing, when men DM me with comments about my physical appearance (ew), when people don’t have common sense. The end. I swear I am actually unbothered most of the time though haha.

What are some of the items on your bucket list?

Some items on my bucket list are to see the northern lights, to go to North Korea, to go to the DMZ, to go to Antartica, to learn how to ride a motorcycle, to go to carnaval in Brazil, to bungee jump in Queenstown, to go skiing/snowboarding and enjoy it, to go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, to hike through the Amazon, to surf successfully, to mud wrestle, to milk a cow, to go on a helicopter tour of Kauai, to cage dive with great white sharks with my best friend, to see a blue whale, to write at least one book, to watch fireworks from an airplane, to try ayahuasca, to try acid, and a million other things :).

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one thing, what would it be and why?

If I were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one thing it would be a razor-sharp machete because I could use it to crack open coconuts, cook, hunt, whack weeds, kill, dig, carve, etc. It’s a great survival tool.

What three words describe you?

“Particular, impassioned, prudent” (this is according to my partner as I got lazy).

Describe the relationship you have with your closest friend.

My best friend’s name is Katie. She is my biggest inspiration. I love her so much and have never known a love like ours. She is so wise and has such a great energy. We share everything and give each other advice all the time. We have been there for each other through everything for the past ten years. We love so many of the same things. We are like family. My favorite thing to do with Katie is to just be around her and talk and smoke weed together. We are alwayssss laughing at life, each other, everything. We support each other constantly. But she will never bullshit me and I will never bullshit her. We are always straight up with each other and have no problem calling the other (or ourselves) out on something. It’s all love. It’s all family. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her. She is my idol.

What’s your favorite scent?

Currently, my favorite scent is fresh lavender rubbed between my fingers.

Describe your body without using any negative adjectives.

My body is sculpted artwork with graceful lines and curves like a rose. My body will make believers of skeptics, homebodies of seamen, angels of demons.

Describe your aesthetic.

My aesthetic is gaudy minimalism.

Are you insecure?

No, I’m not insecure but I do have symptoms of insecurity sometimes. I really think I have BDD occasionally. I also am a big over thinker and overthinking things is usually a symptom of insecurity.

Have you ever broken someone’s heart?

Apparently. I have no regrets and I’ve never looked back. One person’s “broken heart” is another person’s “finding happiness”. I say that about when i’ve had my heart broken as well. I understand that sometimes my flaws are too much for someone to handle. Does that mean I deserve the worst that’s been done to me? Absolutely not but thus is life. I’m thankful for the lessons. I’ve learned what’s best for me and I love that and I’ll never prioritize someone else’s heart over my own. Fuck that.

Is this year the best year of your life?

It is, actually!! I know a lot of people have struggled in a lot of ways in 2020. I know that for some people, 2020 has been the worst year of their lives even. I am not one of those people. I guess I’m supposed to feel some kind of guilt about that but I don’t. I can empathize and sympathize with others and easily understand how 2020 has been shit for most and still know that it’s truly been the best year of my life. I got to spend months of paradise in New Zealand, months of paradise in South Africa, months of paradise in St. Louis living with my best friend, and months of paradise in the UK and the EU with my partner. So many things have been resolved this year. I followed my heart like never before. I have grown SO much, I’ve displayed personally unprecedented amounts of grace, wisdom, and empathy. I grew closer with my family. I became more focused on what I want out of life and what my ultimate life goals are. I’ve met lots of new people and made lots of new friends around the world. I have mastered the art of letting go with a clean break and not looking back; I know what’s best for me. There were many times of heartache and strife. A whole year can’t be perfect. But I grew from those times of pain. I didn’t remain in that pain. And I do my best to not revisit that trauma anymore. I’ve laughed more this year than ever before. I’ve been more creative than I’ve been in years. I’ve been writing more, drawing more, taking more photos. It’s been fantastic, honestly. BIG THINGS COMING 2021, let me tell youuuuu!

Which element best represents you?

Well, I’m an eARth SiGn so I’ve always seen myself as of the earth. But earth is stagnant, it can be cold and hard, it only moves from extreme chaos. I don’t really feel that way about myself. My partner pointed out to me a while ago that he’s apparently always seen me as water. And I feel like that’s so true. I’m extremely adaptable, I’m always traveling, I’m refreshing, I change, I grow, I’m powerful, I’m everlasting. I am super grounded like the earth and I’m not super wavy with my emotions like water. But what I do have is FLLLOOWWWW.

What is the strangest thing you have eaten?

The strangest thing I’ve eaten is whale sashimi in the Japanese whaling town of Katsuura. I ate raw whale cheek, tongue, heart, and throat. It was fucked. I’d probably eat it again though. I really love eating raw meat and fish, it’s so carnal.

Have you ever met someone famous?

Yes, I’ve met several famous people: Michele Trachtenberg (absolute bitch haha), Jay Pharaoh, Rhymefest (a little out of touch but doing his best), Vanessa Bayer, Chris Jericho, Tito Ortiz (so, so sweet), Bill Hader, Andy Samberg (asshole haha), Fred Armisen (so cool), Bobby Moynihan (angel!), Seth Meyers, Danny Brown, Aziz Ansari, Donald Glover, Kenan Thompson (violently high haha), MGMT (dream…absolute dream), SIX60 (iconic...definitely gave them career advice over drinks, they couldn’t have been cooler), Rena Owen (ICONIC), Will Forte, Jason Sudaikus, Kurt Warner (we had a staring contest in a CVS in NYC…does that count as “meeting”? haha), Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, Vanessa Carlton (bitch!), Chuck Berry (indescribable experience), Giancarlo Esposito (surprisingly brilliant), and more, I’m sure, but can’t remember.

Do you keep a diary or journal?

Not a traditional diary or journal, no, but I use my tumblr and travel instagram (and sometimes personal one) to record my thoughts and feelings.

What is your star sign?

My star sign is Capricorn <3 a real chiller.

Describe yourself using one word.

Epiphany.

What’s the most exotic place you’ve ever gotten intimate?

The most exotic place I’ve ever gotten intimate was on a sand dune in the Sahara desert. It was nighttime and we put on a show for the billions of stars watching us.

Where did your name come from? What does it mean?

My name is Epiphany. It means “a moment of sudden realization”. It is also a biblical reference of the revelation of god as jesus incarnate. It is also a Catholic holiday celebrated on January 6. It’s also Lisa Bonet’s character’s name in the movie “Angel Heart”. My father got the name from that movie. I absolutely love my name. I used to hate it and wanted a normal name (Maria was my favorite because of West Side Story). But I’ve grown to love my name and really attach to its meaning. I enjoy watching adults stumble with it and being intimidated when I confront them with its correct pronunciation. The only downside to my name is the way men react when they hear it. They think I am their Epiphany/epiphany. Maybe I could be but I don’t have the time to reveal every man to himself. I live for me.

Think about your house growing up. What was it like?

My childhood home is a very old brick house in North St. Louis City, Missouri, USA. It was built in the 1800s and later was reduced to rubble after the white flight of St. Louis City. My father bought the house very cheap and spent years rebuilding it. It didn’t even have a roof when he first purchased the house. My father amazes me. He’s filled the home with beautiful antique furniture and old St. Louis artifacts. My childhood home is like a history museum: St. Louis history and Civil Rights history. The floors are old and wooden. The ceilings are very high. The walls are plaster. It’s heated with very old radiators that I would have to bleed every year. It’s cooled with a network of box fans. Like my name, I hated this house when I was a kid. I wanted to live in a normal house in a normal neighborhood. But as I’ve matured, I’ve grown to love that house and that neighborhood. They’re part of me and I love me.

Did you travel as a child? What were some of your favorite places to visit?

I traveled quite a lot as a child. My parents used to pull me out of school to fly to San Francisco to see my uncle or to go with my dad on business trips (Seattle, Kansas City, Branson). I have several vivid memories of doing homework on airplanes. My family also took lots of road trips. We drove from Missouri to Florida, Missouri to NYC, Missouri to New England then Canada then Michigan, Missouri to Colorado, to California, etc. It was awesome! We never traveled internationally (except Canada) when I was a child but we went to many states in America and it definitely ignited a desire in me to keep traveling. It’s how I was raised and was never not part of my lifestyle so it was only natural for me to continue traveling throughout my life. My favorite place to visit as a child was my dad’s friend’s house in Redwood City, California. It was there that I first listened to The Beatles. I spent so much time there and in San Francisco when I was a kid. It was really my second home. Oh, also as a child at the age of 17, I traveled to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Monumental.

What was high school like for you?

High school was honestly whack as fuck haha. I never fit in anywhere: not racially, not economically, not religiously, not culturally, not nothing. And the good friends I did make in high school turned out to be trash later on and we are no longer friends :). I had a way better time in middle school. But I am happy for all my past experiences. They make me who I am and I love me! haha.

Who taught you how to drive?

My brother and my mother taught me how to drive. My mother is a very careful driver who follows every law. My brother drives like a lunatic! He would fly around the hood through yellow lights blast music, not wear his seatbelt, etc. I loved learning to drive from him but it proved to be a diabolic thing once I took my driver’s test. I was 16 when I took it and passed with the lowest score you can get without failing. Such a funny experience! That lady was sick of my shit. But I have always been an excellent driver and I love driving so much. Thanks to my mom, I’ve been able to master driving in quiet places. Thanks to my brother, I’ve been able to master driving around the hood and in big cities.

What was your first job?

My first job was at Crown Candy Kitchen, a local 1950s-style soda fountain/malt shop in North St. Louis City. I was 14, a server, and got paid cash. Crown is an institution not only in St. Louis but also in that neighborhood. It’s an absolute honor to have worked there. And having “so much” pocket money in 8th grade was boss haha.

Do you believe in a power greater than humanity?

I believe nature is a power greater than humanity.

Do you think that human ethics are learned or natural?

Unfortunately, I think that human ethics must be learned. Unfortunately, human ethics are rarely taught or practiced on a large scale. If it were up to me, an ethics course would be required at every stage of formal schooling.

Does truth exist without evidence?

We live in a post-truth society, playboy.

Is one lifetime enough time?

One lifetime is absolutely not enough and hopefully there isn’t just the one. However, if there is just this lifetime, then I will do everything I possibly can.

What is your favorite topic to talk about?

My favorite topic to talk about is murder/murderers/serial killers.

Put your music on shuffle and write the first ten songs that play.

“Spoonful” by Etta James

“Bodak Yellow” by Cardi B

“I Like That” by Janelle Monae

“High For This” by The Weeknd

“Photoshoot” by Gucci Mane

“Darkness of Greed” by Rage Against the Machine

“Interlude 6” by Lauryn Hill

“Turning (Flume Remix)” by Collarbones

“Quiet Houses” by Fleet Foxes

“Dip Raar” by Diplo ft. Blissey & Ramiks

[aeq123]

Titanic

The titanic was a very popular film that managed to hold an all-time box office gross record for more than a decade after its release which isn’t very common. The reviews given to this film are overall positive with a rating of 4.8 stars. There has been mentions of the film being breath-taking and a film that doesn’t come along very often. I personally really enjoyed this film and it has been in my top favourite films for a while. There is always something happening In the film which keeps the viewer interested and wanting to know what happens next. During the filming of titanic there was a person on set who was living in 1912 when the titanic actually sunk meaning that the accuracy could be improved from a first-person account. There were some incidents that happened on the set of titanic as well which included Kate Winslet getting pneumonia as she didn’t want to wear a wet suit while filming. The quote I’ll never let go jack is one of the main famous quotes of the film and makes its appearance towards the end when jack is on the brink of death, I feel that because of the scenario that makes it more memorable. Leonardo DiCaprio stated in the ‘film 90996’ interview that making the film was very tiring as it was unlike anything he had ever done before he had also stated that the director was rightly demanding and wanted things a specific way. After the film release there were many rumours or people being sceptical about Kate and Leo’s relationship being romantic in any sort of way due to the chemistry they had shown throughout the film. However, Kate quickly debunked the rumour by stating that her and Leo were only young when filming and remained just friends.

Back To The Future

The film back to the future has been labelled one of the most successful franchises of universals history and the highest grossing film of 1985. The film has been added into the national film registry having been named culturally, historically and aesthetically significant. The film has a wide variety of merchandise and even theme park ride named after it. The film has managed to score a very high 4.9 stars out of 5 which clearly portrays just how good people find the film many have described the film as perfect and a true classic. Although this film has a high rating, I personally didn’t particularly enjoy this film mostly due to the fact that I don’t enjoy that type of film as I can’t really get into it , however, I can see why people like this film so much and the way its produced is very good. The film portrays many predictions for the year that we are currently in (2020) which makes it so fascinating as it shows how peoples view of the future changes so much and gives us an idea of new creations etc. shockingly the back to the future script was rejected over 40 times as people thought time travel movies didn’t make as much money as others or that it was better suited for Disney. This shows just how quickly something can go from nothing to one of the biggest hits. The film even managed to capture the attention of royalty as Princess Diana attended the London premiere of back to the future II in 1985. In an interview done by Ryan Gilbey Bob Gale stated that they actually made a cast change 6 weeks into making the film the switch was from Eric Stoltz to Michael J Fox as Eric wasn’t giving off humour enough during the filming.

The Fly

The fly has been given a rating of 4.5 stars which is fairly good although it doesn’t top the first two films however although its 4.5 stars the reviews are still really good some of these reviews include people mentioning how well made the film was and how good the visual effects were. Another also states that’s it was one of the best films that Jeff Goldblum has made. In my opinion this film was okay however I didn’t really enjoy it much as I couldn’t get into it even though I’m a big fan of horror films and anything scary, however this film was also really gruesome which surprised me quite a bit. Another factor may have been when the film was made (1986) and the progress of special effects weren’t as great as todays films however I do feel that this may have been considered terrifying for its time which understandably makes the reviews make sense.

[rabbiteclair]

A little too long to paste as a single passage, but it'd be interesting to hear your thoughts about designing the kappa squad in Gensokyo Channel One!

This is a pretty long answer, so I’m putting it behind a cut.

Touko and Rumi changed a lot over various drafts, but ended up kinda circling back around close to their original concepts. Here are my earliest surviving notes on them:

Orie [Touko]

Kappa, is ultimately just out to prove she's smarter than everybodyelse.

Very much wants to milk every penny she can get out of this situation, but also sees it as a way of keeping score.

A bit of a bully to her followers, and it only gets worse when she's angry.

Vengeful, and a little sadistic. Would probably kill her own mom for a five cent profit.

More of an opportunist than a grand planner—this whole thing is pretty much getting winged. Still, she's pretty crafty.

Talks like a corrupt Texan sheriff from a 70s movie involving lots of semis.

Rumi

Is the most recently-banished, and the only one who was banished because of negligence, not malice. The kappa have offered to let her return to society if she repays the ridiculous amount of money that she owes in damages.

Has a neverending supply of peppermints on her, and eats them whenever she's anxious or concentrating.

Has a robot arm from the explosion. It's really shoddy-looking, because she sucks at engineering by kappa standards, but it has a zillion weird attachments. Fascinated (and mostly great at) chemistry, though.

Overall bad at things, because she's clumsy, easily-distracted, lazy, air-headed, and all-around childish.

Other Kappa

Orie's followers. Mostly lured in by the promise of profit, and justa little afraid of her. By the time they realize that she's notexactly a great person to work for, it's too late.

Pretty standard kappa—smart, socially awkward, a bit shy.

Orisa – The tailor. Mumbles, speaks in short sentences, leaves off unnecessary words sometimes in more of a 'rough guy' sort of way than a 'Chaika' one. Dresses kinda boyishly with TEN BILLION POCKETS for sewing supplies. Doesn't care about much except making Maeri happy.

Maeri – Good with maps, tactics. Probably the one who figured out how to pull off the bombing. Neurotic, rambly, distracted.

Ririsa – Fighty. Grumpy. A bit deadpan. Short temper and impatient.

Originally, Rumi was a chemist, who was making actual bombs to blow up houses. This had a few issues--first, outright bombing things didn’t fit too well with the feel of Gensokyo to me, and second, the whole arc with the kappa attacking Suzunaan was something like them raiding a chemistry shop instead, which didn’t quite have the same impact.

... Touko was named ‘Orie’ from day one until about two days before I started posting the story. The placeholder name was a dumb joke entirely for myself, because I used to RP a character by that name who was approximately the opposite of Touko in every way.

When the chemistry angle didn’t provide enough conflict, the next idea was for Rumi to discover the TV station earlier, and feed them tips about the kappa attacks ahead of time to soothe her conscience. The problem with that was that it was pretty hard to come up with a reason for her to not just tell them everything from the start, which’d make this a much shorter story.

Next, for a very short time, Rumi was the tailor and Orisa was the bomb-maker. I don’t think I got very far with that draft? I’d forgotten it even existed until just now.

Next, I made Rumi a very minor ocean goddess who’d gotten stuck in Gensokyo instead. She was starved for faith, so the whole kappa plan was based around them staging opportunities for her to make a big show of flooding houses while they looted them, thus helping get her some faith. I still really like this angle, but I couldn’t make it work to my satisfaction. It hinged on Rumi being in the dark for most of the story, which didn’t make a very satisfying arc. The kappa were also using her as a scapegoat, which didn’t leave them with much reason to not just shoot Rumi after the big flooding.

Goddess Rumi had a rather longer full name:

Rumiwas dreaming.“Rumi-teru-tama-no-kami!”Evenremembered centuries or millennia afterward, the man's voice wasbooming, seeming to echo even over the open sea. “We bring youofferings!”He stood at the head of a small boat, barelymore than a log that had been hollowed out. Two men rowed, andsitting between them was a bucket, as tall as their seated forms, andoverflowing with rice.Two dozen more log boats followedbehind them, hanging back at a safe distance.“Ourpeople are hungry, beautiful goddess. Our traps lie empty. Webring you offerings to begyour aid!We bring you offerings so that you might onceagain be pleased with the people of Village-on-the-Rock!”Theboat drifted to a stop, only bobbing slightly on the currents. Thetwo rowers carefully rose to standing, hefting the bucket of rice outand gently setting it in the water. It just barely floated, and theygave it a shove, pushing it away from the boat. The rice was almost athird of a koku, enough to feed an adult for four months. It was nosmall sacrifice for such a modest village. It was enough to merit thepersonal attentions of even a goddess.

After that, Rumi came back around to her final version, which is fairly similar to the original, apart from her abilities. The only real thing that changed was that, for a couple of drafts, the first chapter showed Touko recruiting Rumi at her riverside shack. There are some fun bits in there, but it’s a bit too long to really quote here.

The other kappa... didn’t change much across drafts, really.

Maeri and Orisa went from being kind of jerkish to slightly amoral people in a bad situation. They also got progressively gayer with every draft, because I found their whole relationship really fun to write. ... honestly, the final draft could probably use to lose a few examples of that, since they come off as almost obsessively protective of each other to me, but hey.

Ririsa was always a violent weirdo. The only real change with her is that she was originally completely irredeemable, and got killed in the final fight at the TV station. Really, for about half a draft, I was looking for ways to write her out, because she’s the least interesting by far. She doesn’t get much of an arc, and her personality is kinda straightforward. In retrospect, I probably should’ve done so, but oh well.

[imogenbennettblogsdp]

Transmedia storytelling - session 6

again as said in previous blog (week 5) I am virtual learning from my home, which as in that blog I felt not as productive as I would have in a class room but under the circumstances I find I accomplished and learnt quite a bit. Also the working in Pjs is a plus...

Web 2.0 is something we have touched on before, in the first sessions which is important as Web 2.0 has become something everyone is very familiar with (even if they don't know what the word means) and that Social Media, with social media its very much broadened to a active audience, we are contanstly looking, creating and thinking about what we are seeing which can be pretty much anything. take my edit instagram account for example, I am constantly seeking new techniques by others (almost collaborating by sharing editing styles with people and I am making ‘User Generated Content’. Also Web 2.0 offers audience participation ‘Participatory culture’, for example the Comment section. this allows the viewer to give feedback, praise and even abuse (even though that's not what its particularly meant for) This gives the viewer a feel of incorporation towards the creator (or photo, video, information- if on wiki).

*Referring to the voice over presentation video* the way marketing use ‘User Generated Content’ is very interesting and it has changed the ways we receive ads and how marketers approach sponsoring etc, I wanted to look more into it/ provide evidence to this and with two popular examples being - Youtube and Game ads.  when you watch a video on youtube by a content creator what do you usually get:

Ads. 

Youtube (a popular Web 2.0 website) is a Queen Bee hive for Ads... swarming. compared to old visual Ads being Ads on tv in the commercial break or flyers, these ads can be incorporated in the video, being at the beginning of the ad like the 1st picture above, or in collaboration with the creator of the video. I found this very intriguing and interesting, Im quite fascinated by idea of marketing and this little investigation (even tho I'm pretty familiar by being a YouTube veteran) so perhaps in future I can explore it more.

As I am watching the ‘Harry Jenkins film’ I now feel more supported in what I have said previously in the Blog, Mostly where I mention my instagram account, he says “what were seeing in the digital age people are taking media into their hands... and innovating and experimenting” with that media which Is exactly what I am doing, I am taking content and mixing it up making it into my own.

‘Conversion Culture” Having different platforms to see it (say youtube, insta and TikTok) which is shaped by us rather than corporations, we have control. we can all collaborate and mix information together (on say wiki) which leads to much more complex ‘than what someone in a board room can come up with on their own’. I also found this interesting and very off topic to the video but I realised that a very Recent and Popular example can  be how the Convid-19 information is spread out, TikTok a very content creator based app which mostly is used by younger generations and if you go on it now you'll see a lot of information on how to stay safe and social distance during this pandemic which is very interesting... Could it be argued that kids are paying more attention because they see this entering ‘their world’? not just seeing it on the news (which they might not watch as heavily as the app). 

interesting as It creates more of a world for the viewer

Talking on the Transmedia topic of having multiple platforms I was shown the Blair witch project website. This fascinated me and reminded me of my personal experience With this, ‘Ingrid goes west’ a film near and dear to my heart, which is mostly based on instagram (and how it effects us) #LIFE. I was reminded of this film as the creators also made Ingrid's and Taylor’s (the influencer in the film) instagram account real which is quite fun and I enjoyed looking into it and felt like she semi excited in a way, provided more of a world outside of the film.

Taylors instagram* I found this so clever and funny, with the captions down to the T. also something to note that loads of fans are allowed to interact with Taylor like Ingrid did, Commenting quotes (especially “Damn girl that looks yummy as fuck!” which is a popular comment you'll see). Its clever if you ask me. I myself have to admit to commenting that quote as- well. (but I'm being involved!) 

Watching the ‘Transmedia storytelling’ video with a cinderella adaptation. watching this had made me think. about A- what story I want to create/adapt. and B- how it links so well to todays generation. And yet again watching this reminded me of something I have seen that is off similar structure. An Ad for the social media app ‘Own it” created by BBC. showing how little connections through sharing can lead to bigger things. (this made helped me understand the Transmedia storytelling video more as I know its all about the connections between things and seeing it visually really helped.)Im not looking forward to doing this task though, storyboarding and mind maps are not my friend and I don't enjoy them, (I may have mentioned this before) but I like to freestyle it and see where it takes me instead of planing and expecting etc. Also Im not a fan of Lucid Charts, I find it hard to use and complicated to what it is which I know is unproductive as I should be using a variety of sites to improve my skills but you can't help but hating something... Lucid chart is my kryptonite.  

For my Transmedia story I decided to do it based off of Joker (2019), I chose this as it has a major event in it which I felt I could use events for, also I really like the film so why not.

I started to think about what I would focus the story around and it was hard to pin-point a certain one, I did pick joker killing the 3 men on the subway (Spoiler!) as that is essentially in my opinion what cracked him into becoming the ‘Joker’. *Refer to the story map in google docs*. Being honest I didn't enjoy it as much as I though I did, I found it quite confusing for what I had to do for a while (so like what directions do I go in? what characters do I use?). Something I also didn't like which is strange is that I didn't like making all the social media accounts... strange because I usually make tons in my own time (I have 6+ personal instagram accounts :/) 

I did start using the software ‘Zeebob’ but I found it quite (this will make me sound snobbish but,) cheap. I just felt it limited me and to what I could create and just didn't seem realistic, 

so I made two on here but ditched it and went for the real thing... making actual accounts for the posts. Guess which is which... the 1st one is zee bob and second is an actual account I made. The upside of making the actual accounts is having the freedom and more ability to do more things (like on twitter I can retweet stuff that I feel the character would and who they follow which adds personality to the account. 

Of course the downside of making actual accounts is that I couldn't fake the likes or followers which takes away the realism to the accounts. 

Out of all the accounts and social media’s I created, surprisingly the @GothamNews was my favourite, probably because i spent the most thought on this; creating the logo (on Canva) .. and finding the cool retweets like the van which I thought was like striking gold to add to the realism.

I did make a mistake that i knew occur from using the same account and changing it (E,G, I made a twitter account and kept changing the name,pictures, retweets etc)... Notice that Arthur’s and GothamNews background photo is the same... well I just noticed that too and its why I need to pay attention to it. so tiny lesson to myself for future and if I was going to do this for real I would create separate accounts and spend more time to trying to find the fitting photos for each character and why? it makes more sense for the news account to have trash as (in the film) Trash was the relevant topic, but joker not so much - he doesn't strike me and the recycling type.

While making the accounts I tried to add as much passive detail as I could... adding the subtle detail, like (as I mentioned) who they follow, retweet, like, what's in their bio, what's their background photo etc. referring a little to one of the earlier sessions in visual design (semiotics 'Denotation and Connotation'). 

(especially Jokers) I paid attention to the way joker writes, to my knowledge he isn't very educated so his writing is very childlike and he writes how he hears (eg  when we see him write ‘hope my life makes more cents etc) it so that was a nice detail I added. 

here are some notes I made for when I was thinking about the map:

- plan event - riot

- bruce Waynes dad saying “stop trash/ campaign

- joker “maybe my life would make more cents if I was dead” 

- Marty “tonights show will be interesting “ 

- jokers video going on air

overall I think I will take the idea of broadening the ‘World’ I create (with film) by creating different platforms. I found this lesson a lot harder than I would of found it in class due to my focus being lost and feeling like im not putting 100% into it unfortunately. 

And who knows maybe ill get loads of followers on one of the accounts and become famous.