#and subsequent versions can be produced i think?

[777-wailerchive]

Dear Nobody’s Daughter, to Live Through This, you scrape off your Celebrity Skin; you know full well that you’re Pretty On The Inside...

HOW TO GET INTO HOLE?

• st. onan guide: I.

Aimed at @saintfrancis-ofassisi and whomever wants to get into Hole...

HOLE is an American nineties’s kinderwhore band with a turbulent line-up and pure chaotic gold for music yet overshadowed by the controversial image of the lead singer and frontwoman of the band, Courtney Love. A staple in the grunge scene, the critically acclaimed sophomore record Live Through This of 1994 marked a peak in Hole’s career although the band was gaining audience for their 1991 debut: Pretty On The Inside. Celebrity Skin, the 1998 album, proved Hole’s peak which was rightly concluded by 2010’s Nobody’s Daughter thus finishing the legacy of Hole.

DO TRY Hole if you are into: Jack Off Jill, Bratmobile, Nirvana, Babes In Toyland, L7, Veruca Salt, Mommy Long Legs, Bikini Kill, Lunachicks, et cetera. Or, if you’d like to try something dolly and chaotic with an edge of feminism and aggression. I promise, listening to Hole makes you feel like a doll.

DO NOT TRY Hole if you’re a filthy misogynist who can’t stand the fact that the wife of a popular artist does in fact make good music on her own.

Yes, Courtney Love is a cunt, but she makes good music. Seperate the artist from the art.

If you’re still present here, welcome! Now, moving onto the actual guide...

FIRSTLY, I think to decode this, we’d have to learn about the albums individually. Of course, I’m going to leave my recommendation for listening, but to best suit yourself, you can find your own way around with the descriptions I give for each of these albums...

“ PRETTY ON THE INSIDE ”

Slut-kiss girl... PRETTY ON THE INSIDE of 1991 is about beauty, which is the life as a sex-worker about Courtney Love’s time as a sex-worker. It includes Courtney Love on vocals and rhythm guitar, Eric Erlandson on lead guitar, Jill Emery on bass, Caroline Rue on drums, produced by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Don Fleming of Gumball.

tracklist. TEENAGE WHORE, BABYDOLL, GARBADGE MAN, SASSY, GOOD SISTER—BAD SISTER, MRS. JONES, BERRY, LOADED, STARBELLY, PRETTY ON THE INSIDE, CLOUDS.

IF YOU WANT... angry, chaotic, messy and sloppily mixed music that is very heady and makes you feel like a doll, listen to this album first.

Blending elements of punk rock, the album features distorted and alternating guitar compositions, screaming vocals from Love, and “sloppy punk ethics”, a style which the band would later distance themselves from, opting for a less abrasive sound on subsequent releases. Love’s lyrics on the album are often presented in an abstract narrative form, and describe disparate scenes of graphic violence, death, and female sexuality. The record was dedicated to Rob Ritter of the Los Angeles punk rock acts the Bags and The Gun Club. [< source, wikipedia.

If you want a more refined yet more depressed version of this album, migrate to Live Through This after; if you want a more refined and self-assured, slightly sarcastic but honest record after this listen, go to Celebrity Skin.

FUN FACT: the song BABYDOLL is allegedly inspired by Madonna.

“ LIVE THROUGH THIS ”

Miss Worlds... LIVE THROUGH THIS of 1994 is about the changes that come with marriage and motherhood, themes mainly being motherhood, body image, depression, child abuse and elitism. It includes Courtney Love on vocals and rhythm guitar, Eric Erlandson on lead guitar, Kristen Pfaff on bass, Patty Schemel on drums, produced by Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade.

tracklist. VIOLET, MISS WORLD, PLUMP, ASKING FOR IT, JENNIFER’S BODY, DOLL PARTS, CREDIT IN A STRAIGHT WORLD, SOFTER, SOFTEST, SHE WALKS ON ME, I THINK THAT I WOULD DIE, GUTLESS, ROCK STAR.

IF YOU WANT... a tragic and softly edgy listen with a harsh sensibility and pure womanly depression scrawled all over, listen to this album first.

Live Through This marked a departure from the band’s noise rock roots toward a more alternative rock format. Love had sought a more mellow sound for Live Through This. The resulting music was starkly less aggressive than the band's former work, blending more structured melodies and smoother arrangements with heavy guitar riffs. Consequently, this featured a mixture of songwriting techniques, including use of power chords as well as arpeggios, and occasional use of keyboards. [< source, wikipedia.

If you want a tougher, rawer, more journal-entry music than this, migrate to Pretty On The Inside; if you want a more refined and self-assured, slightly sarcastic but honest record after this listen, go to Celebrity Skin.

FUN FACT: Courtney Love’s late husband Kurt Cobain does backing vocals on ASKING FOR IT.

“ CELEBRITY SKIN ”

Petals... CELEBRITY SKIN of 1998 is about the lost people, the more opulent Los Angeles and Californian culture, about the promises and agonies of Southern California; it was aimed to divulge greatly from the grunge sound of before. It includes Courtney Love on vocals and rhythm guitar, Eric Erlandson on lead guitar, Melissa Auf der Maur on bass, Patty Schemel on drums, produced by Michael Beinhorn.

tracklist. CELEBRITY SKIN, AWFUL, HIT SO HARD, MALIBU, REASONS TO BE BEAUTIFUL, DYING, USE ONCE & DESTROY, NORTHERN STAR, BOYS ON THE RADIO, HEAVEN TONIGHT, PLAYING YOUR SONGS, PETALS.

IF YOU WANT... a rock-fueled pop sound with many lyrics that are references and have layered meanings, a comforting almost listen, listen to this album first.

The band sought to use Los Angeles and the state of California as a unifying theme and began writing what they conceived as a “California album” in 1997. Unlike Hole's previous releases, the final songs on Celebrity Skin featured instrumental contributions from several musicians outside the band, primarily Billy Corgan, who co-wrote the musical arrangements on five songs. Auf der Maur's former bandmate Jordon Zadorozny, as well as Go-Go's guitarist Charlotte Caffey, also contributed to the composition of one track. Frontwoman Courtney Love, who wrote all of the lyrics, named the album and its title track after a poem she had written that was influenced by T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. Motifs of water and drowning are also prominent throughout the album, as well as recurring themes of angels, Heaven and stars. [< source, wikipedia.

If you want a tougher, rawer, more journal-entry music than this, migrate to Pretty On The Inside; if you want a grungier yet more depressed version of this album, migrate to Live Through This after.

FUN FACT: Love clarified that she had derived the album name from a short-lived band in Los Angeles named Celebrity Skin, as well as a bootleg pornographic magazine featuring nude candid photos of celebrities.

“ NOBODY’S DAUGHTER ”

Dirty Girls... NOBODY’S DAUGHTER of 2010 is about the time of rehabilitation that Courtney Love went through after a long cocaine addiction and legal troubles following that, written in rehabilitation; about feeling lost, confused. It was supposed to be a solo album of Love’s, but was made to be Hole’s last album after their 2002 dissolution. It includes Courtney Love on vocals and rhythm guitar, Micko Larkin on lead guitar, Shawn Dailey on bass, Stu Fisher on drums, produced by Michael Beinhorn, Micko Larkin, and Linda Perry.

tracklist. NOBODY’S DAUGHTER, SKINNY LITTLE BITCH, HONEY, PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY, SAMANTHA, SOMEONE ELSE’S BED, FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, LETTER TO GOD, LOSER DUST, HOW DIRTY GIRLS GET CLEAN, NEVER GO HUNGRY.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM VERY FIRSTLY, but, IF YOU WANT... a polished and the most mainstream-sounding of the four albums, sad, confused, lost record written during rehabilitation, this is your key.

Before the album’s release, former Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson publicly disputed Love’s use of the Hole name, claiming it violated a previous agreement between the two, which Love contested. On its release, Nobody’s Daughter received generally mixed reviews from music critics, with some praising its instrumentation and lyrics, while others criticized it for its folk rock elements as well as production issues and Love’s vocals. Despite this, Love said in 2010 that she considered it the best record she had made. [< source, wikipedia.

If you want a tougher, rawer, more journal-entry music than this, migrate to Pretty On The Inside; if you want a grungier yet more depressed version of this album, migrate to Live Through This after; if you want a similar but more scattered listen, to Celebrity Skin.

FUN FACT: The painting on the cover is of Marie Antoinette and the tracklist page has the edited background of a painting of Anne Boleyn.

MY RECOMMENDED PATHWAYS...

Lastly...

HOLE is a kinderwhore band, which is minutely distinct from riot grrrl. And, Courtney Love has a lot of beef with, to be honest, mostly everyone. So, yeah... For example, Babes In Toyland, a band often mentioned in the same vein as Hole, has their frontwoman, Kat Bjelland, in hatred with Love. I do not recommend looking up to these people as people, but please do try their music.

Die, cry, adore Hole.

FUN FACT: My favourite Hole album is Pretty On The Inside!

Dear Nobody’s Daughter, to Live Through This, you scrape off your Celebrity Skin; you know full well that you’re Pretty On The Inside...

DID YOU GET INTO HOLE?

[itscontinental]

VILE: WET again, appologies, no scannner, no more. A clear transcription of text can be found at the bottom, beneath the the paragraph of exhausting excuse and exposition below; If it is not apparent already: we are quite embarrassed with all the VILE. This is the only piece of the VILE series that was ever subject to change. As progenitor to the series, our rule of ceaseless movement was merely applied on a whim to the first iteration of "WET" and we did not follow it with intentional adherence. So the two subsequent versions pictured here are technically the first official additions to the "VILE" series as they were the first to be produced without a moments pause whatsoever. This being said, these were only an exercise at the time, we did not know that we would experience a continuous compulsion to pump these pieces of shit out one after another. We still find it funny to reference them as a series considering they are some of the worst things we have ever written, but there are so many, and in sharing them with you, we are forced to read them ourselves for once and thus access all the introspective bullshit that people claim can be gleaned within strict, unwavering, stream-of-consciousness writing. As we were getting wet, getting violent and vile, the "series" was yet to exist we don't like its existence. It just is as we are just yours Even our most vile parts especially the VILE:

For visual clarity, we will transcribe the text below. We will fill in gaps of missing letters and correct some spelling errors severe enough to make a word unclear. other than this, no edits will be made.

VILE: WET (Small/duplication) everything about this city is wet, the arid summer made up in sweat; it is deafening:dumb I cannot hear over the water fountains and sweat and the ponds that they made there full of viscous liquid making me sick making me violent and vile. and when i dream i am hanged and exsanguinated (THIRD) and being left and turning and being salting and turning to jerky and as i awake i am wet, releasing wet into wet and bathing in all that wet lest the wet become putrid, walking in my soggy shoes and glistening in oil-- polished as a doorknob: Confessions of a Shoe-in; I am so fucking wet. VILE: WET (extension)

remaining there you there with him in his robes sink into the eb and flow of the sink and this city is soaked everything in the city wet, the arid summer made up in sweat; it is deafening--dumb: i cannot hear over the water fountains and the fountains making mechanincal and the ponds they installed there full of viscous liquid making sick making me violent and vile and when i sleep i dream of insanguination, being hanged and insanguinated, being left and turning, salted and turning to jerky and i awake and am sweating through the bedsheets and it stings and i hope its sweat because it stings and itches and expires sooner so sooner than jerky would by many although i do not know if it spoils when the meat is wet, my meat is wet in the middle and the out place, perspiring from the outplace and the outside where the wet falls and reminds you that the clouds are mist and that you cannot grasp or walk on or touch or grasp like lumps of of cotton but rather would soak you and will and does upon my forehead from out and out and inside burning wet and boiling like the sacrament like i once beleived in jesus christ and ive been soaking and sick and baptised and so sick, sad i think maybe but soaking all the time since he told me we no longer have anything in common but i can keep the water the sacrament whatever id like, my share, and it is wet and i am wet releasing wet into the steam heat of this vast and vile machine and bathing in all the piping and wet lest the sweat become rancid, putrid in the city wet and walking in my soggy shoes and glistening in oil, polished as a doorknob: confessions of a shoe-in showing signs and everyone cold and soaking and and cold and mostly showing regret shewn portraits damaged in the moisture of my storage in the attic where it rises and settled to douse my portrait and anoint it anointed forever in the eyes you no longer have anything to talk about nor in common save the rain, the sun&sweat and see you and see you and coughing black that only may be blood and beginning to forget. Other "VILE" pages linked below: IN LOVE

DRY

DARK

BRIGHT There are more many more somewhere in THE STACK we will post them as they present themselves although, they are not entirely In tact

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@professorlehnsherr-almashy @the-blue-fairie @themousefromfantasyland @thealmightyemprex @meadow-mellow @mask131 @princesssarisa

"WHILE I THINK IT'S FAIR TO ASSUME THAT MOST MODERN AUDIENCES ASSOCIATE THIS STORY WITH THEMES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PROGRESSIVE SOCIETAL CHANGE, THIS IS MORE A PRODUCT OF POP CULTURE ADAPTATIONS THAN OF THE BOOK ITSELF. 

(...)

THE NOVEL CONCERNS ITSELF VERY LITTLE WITH THE PLIGHT OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS AND HAS A MUCH DARKER, MORE CYNICAL TAKE ON SOCIETY AND HUMANITY AT LARGE.

(...)

ESMERALDA IS REUNITED WITH HER BIRTH MOTHER, WHO WAS ALSO A WAIFISH, TRAGIC, DRIVEN MAD BY HAVING LOST HER BABY. RIGHT BEFORE BOTH CHARACTERS DIE HORRIBLY. IN FACT, EVERYBODY DIES HORRIBLY EXCEPT FOR PHOEBUS, AND A NOT-SO-SUBTLE STAND IN CHARACTER FOR VICTOR HUGO, PIERRE GRINGOIRE, WHO WAS CUT FROM THE DISNEY MOVIE. HE IS A POET AND AT THE END OF THE NOVEL WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE TO SAVE THE LIFE OF ESMERALDA OR THE GOAT, BUT NOT BOTH, HE SAVES THE GOAT. YEAH, THE GOAT LIVES, AND YES THE GOAT WAS CREATED BY VICTOR HUGO. NOT DISNEY. THE MAIN PLOT THAT TAKES UP MOST ADAPTATIONS THAT WE KNOW IS THE BACKGROUND NOISE TO HUGO'S MAIN POINT, WHICH CAN BE SUMMED UP WITH THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT: "OUR READERS MUST EXCUSE US IF WE STOP A MOMENT TO INVESTIGATE THE ENIGMATIC WORDS OF THE ARCHDEACON … THIS WILL KILL THAT. THE BOOK WILL KILL THE EDIFICE."

VICTOR HUGO'S BOOK WAS MAINLY CONCERNED WITH HOW THE PRINTED PRESS, AND SUBSEQUENTLY MASS LITERACY, WOULD KILL WHAT HE PERCEIVED AS THE ORIGINAL COMMON LANGUAGE: ARCHITECTURE. SO THE THEMES WE, THE MODERN AUDIENCE, HAVE COME TO ASSOCIATE WITH THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, WHETHER EVERYONE LIVES AT THE END OR NOT, THESE WERE NOT THEMES THAT WERE NECESSARILY PRESENT IN THE ORIGINAL NOVEL. THE ORIGINAL NOVEL IS NOT TERRIBLY CONCERNED WITH THE PLIGHT OF THE MARGINALIZED OR THE ABUSED. VICTOR HUGO WAS SO UNCONCERNED WITH THE MAIN MELODRAMA WE KNOW, THAT WHEN THE ORIGINAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR FREDERIC SHOBERL SWITCHED THE TITLE FROM NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS TO THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, ESSENTIALLY BECAUSE IT SOUNDED, I DON'T KNOW, MORE TANTALIZING TO ENGLISH-SPEAKING AUDIENCES, HUGO WAS NOTORIOUSLY PISSED OFF.SO THERE'S AN INTERESTING IRONY IN A BOOK THAT SAYS: "THIS WILL KILL THAT. THE BOOK WILL KILL THE EDIFICE",  ITS ORIGINAL MEANING AND INTENT WILL GET KILLED OFF BY... VISUAL MASS MEDIA.

(...)

IN 1939, HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER PANDRO S. BERMAN DEMANDED AN EXACT REMAKE OF THE LON CHANEY FILM, WILLIAM DIETERLE, ALREADY A SUCCESSFUL DIRECTOR IN HIS OWN RIGHT BEFORE FLEEING NAZI GERMANY, DELIVERED ON THIS FOR BERMAN. CHARLES LAUGHTON STARRED, DELIVERING A TRULY MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE AS QUASIMODO. AND AT LAUGHTON'S OWN BEHEST, THEY BROUGHT IN RELATIVE NEWCOMER MAUREEN O'HARA TO STAR AS ESMERALDA, WHO IN THIS VERSION IS NOT A STOLEN WHITE BABY, BUT ACTUALLY ROMANI.

SO, I'M NOT SURE WHERE THIS FALLS IN THE WHITEWASHING CONVERSATION, BUT THERE YOU GO … AND IT IS THIS VERSION MORE THAN ANY OTHER, INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL NOVEL, THAT DISNEY BORROWS FROM THE MOST. THERE IS ALSO A VERY SHARP HUMANIST LEAN INTO THE CONCEPT OF JUSTICE IN REGARD TO PEOPLE VERSUS BUILDINGS IN HISTORY. ESMERALDA IN THIS VERSION ISN'T JUST SOME INNOCENT HOTTIE WHO WANDERS IN THE MISFORTUNE BY PURE BAD LUCK. SHE LITERALLY BREAKS INTO THE CITY OF PARIS, WHERE THE ROMANI HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY BANNED FROM, TO PLEAD WITH THE KING OF FRANCE TO LET HER PEOPLE LIVE FREELY.

IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE RARE VERSIONS WHERE THE ROMANI ARE NOT DEMONIZED IN SOME WAY, SHAPE OR FORM ( STILL LOOKING AT YOU, DISNEY).

THE MOVIE IS CONSTANTLY REMINDING US THAT THE LIVES OF INNOCENT, PERSECUTED PEOPLE ARE AT STAKE.

THE ESMERALDA-QUASIMODO-FROLLO MELODRAMA THAT EVERYONE LOVES IS STILL IN THERE, SURE, BUT THERE IS AN ACTIVE UNDERCURRENT IN THIS MOVIE THAT TIES IN WITH BIGGER STRUGGLES THAT ISN'T JUST AN OLD BUILDING THAT HAS WEATHERED TIME.

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME WAS THE ONLY FILM THAT WAS SCREENED IN CANNES THAT YEAR, A FILM FESTIVAL WHICH WAS ITSELF CREATED IN OPPOSITION TO THE FASCIST PRESENCE AT THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL. SO, THAT A MOVIE THAT FEATURES THE ROMANI AS A PERSECUTED UNDERCLASS WHILE HITLER WAS GEARING UP TO SLAUGHTER HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF THEM, AT A FESTIVAL THAT WAS CREATED TO OPPOSE NAZISM, THERE'S SOMETHING INCREDIBLY POWERFUL IN THAT. SOMETHING THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HUGO'S ORIGINAL INTENT. SO WITH THE SUCCESS OF THIS MOVIE, AND IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS, WE GAINED THE "JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED" THEME, WHICH PLAYS VERY HEAVILY INTO THE DISNEY VERSION. SO IN A LOT OF WAYS, THIS ADAPTATION IS CERTAINLY THE MOST COHESIVE. AND IT IS TELLING THAT MANY FUTURE ADAPTATIONS TRY TO MIMIC THE ANTI-FASCIST THEMING. WHILE AT THE SAME TIME NOT ALWAYS GRASPING IT.

RIGHT OFF THE BAT, IT'S FALLACIOUS TO LOOK AT DISNEY'S THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME AS AN ADAPTATION OF THE ORIGINAL NOVEL, BECAUSE THAT READ IGNORES A WHOLE CENTURY AND A HALF OF FILMMAKERS RECONTEXTUALIZING THE STORY FOR EACH NEW GENERATION.

AGAIN, THE IDEA FOR THE DISNEY MOVIE DIDN'T COME FROM THE ORIGINAL NOVEL, BUT FROM A PICTURE BOOK ADAPTATION OF IT. AND EVEN IF THE ORIGINAL NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS WAS AS CLOSE TO PERFECTION AS THE EARLY NOVEL COULD GET, FILM IS JUST A DIFFERENT MEDIUM. IT'S A COMMON FALLACY THAT ADAPTATIONAL CHANGES HAPPEN BECAUSE GREEDY FILMMAKERS WANT TO BASTARDIZE AND WATER DOWN A BELOVED CREATION TO GET AS MANY BUTTS-IN-SEATS AS POSSIBLE. AND WELL, THAT IS SOMETIMES TRUE … BUT JUST AS OFTEN AS CHANGING THE STORY TO FIT A VISUALLY TEMPORALLY LOCKED MEDIUM. YES, SOMETIMES ADAPTATIONS ARE CHEAP CASH-INS …

BUT IT IS JUST INACCURATE TO ASSUME THAT ALL HOLLYWOOD ADAPTATIONS ARE, WHEN THERE ARE OFTEN TEAMS OF ARTISTS THAT CARE DEEPLY ABOUT MAKING THE BEST PRODUCT POSSIBLE, WHICH USUALLY MEANS CHANGING SOME STUFF. BUT MORE TO THE POINT, ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT THE DISNEY MOVIE CHANGES THE ENDING IN A BIG WAY, AND THAT'S THE ASPECT THAT PEOPLE TEND TO FOCUS ON, WHAT DID IT REALLY CHANGE? RATHER, THE REAL QUESTION IS, WHAT VERSIONS DID DISNEY PULL FROM? BECAUSE THE REAL ORIGINALITY IS IN THE AESTHETICS, THE MUSIC, THE VISUALS. NOT SO MUCH THE STORY.

THAT FROLLO IS NO LONGER A PRIEST COMES FROM HUGO HIMSELF IN LA ESMERALDA. SAME WITH PHOEBUS BEING A GOOD GUY AND NOT EVERYBODY DYING. AND THAT THEME OF JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED, WELL, WE CAN THANK CHARLES LAUGHTON AND A GERMAN FILMMAKER FLEEING THE NAZIS FOR THAT.

(...)

THERE'S ALWAYS A DESIRE TO TELL AND RETELL POPULAR STORIES. THIS IS HOW WE SHARE AND CREATE CULTURE. IN SOME WAYS THIS IS THE REASON WHY CULTURE EVEN EXISTS SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND, NOT JUST THAT STORY SOMETIMES CHANGE, BUT WHY. CHANGES TO NARRATIVES OVER TIME ARE INEVITABLE AND IN THE CASE OF NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS, IT'S BECAUSE SOMETIMES PROBLEMS ACTUALLY DO GET ADDRESSED. HISTORICAL PRESERVATION WASN'T REALLY A THING IN THE 1830S, ESPECIALLY IN FRANCE. BUT NOW IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE A FRANCE WHERE HISTORICAL PRESERVATION ISN'T A HUGE PRIORITY, AND A LOT OF THAT IS THANKS TO VICTOR HUGO. 

WE CAN'T STEP INTO THE REALITY WHERE HUGO NEVER EXISTED, SO WE WILL NEVER KNOW. BUT IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT IF NOT FOR THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL MIGHT NOT EVEN BE THERE TODAY, OR AT LEAST IT WOULD STILL BE PRETTY BUSTED. BUT WE LIVE IN A WORLD NOW, IN EUROPE ANYWAY, WHERE HUGO'S PRIMARY CONCERN WAS SOLVED. SO IF THIS STORY IS GOING TO STICK AROUND, IT NEEDS A NEW CONCERN. A MORE HUMANIST ONE. HUGO'S WRITING CHANGED PRIORITIES AS THE PRIORITIES OF THE TIME HE WAS LIVING IN CHANGED. AND I THINK THAT SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE IS NO BETTER ILLUSTRATED THAN IN HUGO'S OTHER GREAT WORK, LES MISERABLES. WHICH TAKES A WILDLY DIFFERENT ATTITUDE ON THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE. LES MIS'S THEME IS THAT INDIVIDUAL LIVES, THOUGH CRUSHED BY AN UNJUST SYSTEM, DO MATTER, AND THE CHOICES OF INDIVIDUALS DO AFFECT HISTORY. JUST LOOK AT THE KINDLY BISHOP WHO DIDN'T TURN IN JEAN VALJEAN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NOVEL, AND GAVE HIM A SECOND CHANCE. AND HOW JOHN VALJEAN USES THAT SECOND CHANCE TO BETTER THE LIVES OF OTHERS.

THIS IS A PRIMARY THEME OF LES MIS: HUMAN GOODNESS OVERCOMING UNJUST SYSTEMS SO NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS GETS THIS SORT OF MAKEOVER WHERE IT'S SORT OF MAKING THE SAME POINT AS LES MIS. JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED.

TRUE MONSTROUSNESS IS NOT A REFLECTION OF HOW SOCIETY SEES YOU OR WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE. AND INHUMANLY STRONG PROTAGONISTS. HUGO IS A BIG FAN OF THOSE. 

IF YOU WANT TO DECRY THE DISNEY MOVIE FOR THE CHANGES THEY MADE TO MAKE IT KID-FRIENDLY, WELL, THAT'S FINE. BUT IF ONE CALLS OUT THE HAPPY ENDING BECAUSE IT BLUNTS THE ORIGINAL MISANTHROPIC TONE OF THE NOVEL, BUT DOESN'T CALL OUT THE ANTI-INEQUALITY OR SOCIAL JUSTICE ASPECTS … 

WELL, IT'S NOT ONLY MISSING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES, BUT IT'S ALSO A RATHER SHALLOW READING AND OMITS BASICALLY ALL OF THE CONTEXT IN HISTORY.

AND YEAH, PART OF THAT IS JUST DISNEY BEING DISNEY, BUT PART OF THAT IS WHAT WE NEED NOW. LIKE HUGO MAKING A POINT ABOUT THE HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE BUILDING WAS WHAT WE NEEDED IN THE 1830S. QUASIMODO HAS GONE FROM PITIABLE WRETCH AND TOOL OF THE SYSTEM TO A MOVIE MONSTER, AND THEN BACK TO PITIABLE RETCH BUT NICER THIS TIME, AND THEN ALL THE WAY TO HERO OF HIS OWN STORY. IT'S ALSO NOTEWORTHY HOW REALLY THE DISNEY VERSION IS THE ONLY VERSION THAT EXPLORES HOW ABUSIVE AND WEIRD QUASIMODO'S RELATIONSHIP WITH FROLLO IS, AND HAS HIM OVERCOMING IT. AND IT REALLY IS REMARKABLE THAT DISNEY HAD A PROTAGONIST WITH A LEGIT PHYSICAL DEFORMITY. AND I DON'T MEAN LIKE BEASTLY DEFORMITY. BUT IN A LOT OF WAYS, DISNEY'S HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME. IT'S STILL A HOT MESS. YET IT'S STILL A CUT ABOVE WHAT PEOPLE GIVE IT CREDIT FOR AND I THINK IT WOULD BE MORE APPRECIATED IF IT CAME OUT TODAY. BECAUSE WE NEED STORIES LIKE THIS TODAY. FASCI ABUSIVE FROLLO, JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED, THE FOCUS ON HOW SOME MEN REALLY DO LOATHE THE OBJECTS OF THEIR DESIRE, THE WHOLESALE DEMONIZATION OF ETHNIC GROUPS.

MAYBE THIS MOVIE WASN'T REALLY APPRECIATED IN ITS TIME BECAUSE IT DIDN'T RESONATE AS MUCH IN 1996. BUT IT DOES RESONATE MORE IN 2017. SO IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT IN A WHILE, GIVE IT A WATCH. AND WATCH IT IN DOLBY 5.1 HD IF YOU CAN. ENJOY THE SWEEPING VISTAS, THE REVOLUTIONARY CGI, ALAN MENKEN'S BEST SCORE FOR A DISNEY MOVIE - THAT'S RIGHT, I SAID IT, DON'T AT ME - AND CONSIDER THAT HOKEY THOUGH IT MAY BE AT POINTS, LIKE HUGO'S MESSAGE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE 1830S, THIS MIGHT BE WHAT WE NEED IN OUR TIME. MOST OF IT."

(LINDSAY ELLIS: THE CASE FOR DISNEY'S THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME)

[mrs-stans]

Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong Say Their Trump Movie Is a Tragedy, Not a Mockery

The “Apprentice” stars and the director Ali Abbasi say their film is a “humanistic” treatment of the former president and his mentor, Roy Cohn.

By Kyle Buchanan

It’s natural to feel nervous before presenting your movie at a major film festival. But in late August, when the director Ali Abbasi boarded a flight to the Telluride Film Festival, he wasn’t even sure if his new movie “The Apprentice” — a fictionalized look at the Machiavellian bond between the young Donald J. Trump (Sebastian Stan) and the lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) — would be permitted to play there at all.

“It was really crazy what happened, and I spared Jeremy and Sebastian some of it, but it is a demoralizing feeling,” Abbasi admitted during a recent video call with his two stars. The former president had been threatening legal action against “The Apprentice” since its May debut at the Cannes Film Festival, which chilled distributor interest in the movie for months and made it a controversial prospect for any subsequent festival willing to show it.

“If a movie comes out and people think it’s bad or it’s flawed, you can deal with that,” Abbasi said. “But when it goes into a safe box indefinitely, that was heavy.”

In the end, Trump failed to follow through on his threats, Telluride played the movie without incident and “The Apprentice” ultimately found a distributor in Briarcliff Entertainment, which will release the film on Friday. Still, Strong was perturbed by how many major studios were unwilling to take on the film and potentially incur the presidential candidate’s wrath.

“You think that things could be banned in North Korea or Russia or certain places, but you don’t think that will ever happen here,” Strong said. “It’s a real dark harbinger that it even nearly happened.”

Written by Gabriel Sherman, “The Apprentice” begins with Trump in his 20s as he toils under his real-estate magnate father and aspires to become a momentous figure in his own right. Still, Trump’s ambition exceeds his ability until he meets the savvy Cohn, who takes the young man under his wing and imparts ruthless rules for success that will eventually launch Trump onto the highest stage imaginable.

“The Apprentice” could be an awards-season player for Stan, best known as the Marvel super-soldier Bucky Barnes, and for Strong, the Emmy-winning “Succession” actor who recently took home a Tony for “An Enemy of the People.” But will the politically charged fervor around the movie help or hurt their bids?

“Here’s the crazy thing: I don’t think this movie is controversial,” Abbasi said. “It’s retelling information that is freely and readily available everywhere, and it’s fact-checked and triple-checked. So my big question is, what is the problem?”

Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.

At the beginning of the film, Sebastian, you play Trump as much more soft-spoken and abashed than we’re used to seeing him.

SEBASTIAN STAN Go rewatch Netflix’s [docuseries] “An American Dream,” look at all the early footage of him standing in front of a committee with a giant yellow ’70s tie and trying to find the right words to express himself. Watch him in the courtroom when he’s with Roy waiting to get the tax abatement: You’re seeing a starry-eyed kid who’s doing his best to keep his chin up and feign confidence. We need to stop talking about him like he’s a being from outer space. He’s been made on this planet like the rest of us.

ALI ABBASI There is a version of this you can read as the becoming of a monster. There’s also another version, which is this human tragedy: Were there other possibilities for these people if their whole world was not reduced to winning and taking?

JEREMY STRONG I 100 percent see it as a human tragedy, the way that I saw “Succession” as a tragedy of late-stage capitalism. With that show, we were at a party at Adam McKay’s house [he was a producer on “Succession”] the night of the election in 2016, and we had our first table read [the next] morning. Then Trump was elected, and that changed the whole container of the show and the way it spoke to the country. There’s an idea I think about a lot that applies to both of those things, something that Jung said: “Where love is absent, power fills the vacuum.”

What’s exciting about this movie is that it touches the third rail of all of these things, which not a lot of work frankly does these days. The world is on fire, and it feels like a lot of our business veers more and more toward laundry-folding content and things that are relatively safe.

Some people, sight unseen, have accused the film of “humanizing” Trump. What’s your response to that?

STRONG It’s a humanistic interrogation and investigation of these people. Ali is not making “The Great Dictator” — it’s not a farce, it’s not a cartoon. We’re trying to hold a mirror up to this world and these individuals and try to understand how we got here.

“I don’t think this movie is controversial,” the director Ali Abbasi said. “It’s retelling information that is freely and readily available everywhere.”

ABBASI I think it’s a dangerous thing to start thinking, “Oh, you humanize someone too much.” Why would that ever be a problem?

With independent films, there’s always a risk that the work will never be widely seen. This is an unusual case where a high-profile indie was in danger of never being seen at all.

ABBASI During the summer when people were saying there’s a chance this is not going to be shown, I was angry. I thought, “Oh, they’re going to rip me off, they’re going to sell it and not give me money.” I could not believe it, honestly, and I kept asking different people, “How is this possible?” I come from Iran and I’m used to dictators and authoritarian governments, but I always thought whatever fault there is with American society, freedom of speech is not one of the problems.

STRONG We live in such a binary time. There’s such black-and-white thinking and a real failure to contain complexities or dualities, and I think that’s part of what has gotten us into trouble societally.

Though the movie is coming out just weeks before the presidential election, it’s been in development for years.

ABBASI We tried to make the movie many times and it fell through. I remember the time after Jan. 6, it was like looking at a stock market crash the day after: Everyone was like, “No thank you, no thank you.” Finally, when Jeremy came on board, you could actually start to see the movie in its whole.

STRONG At no point was the intention to release this in the middle of an election. This wasn’t purpose-built for that. There was never a plan to make this a political act or a hand grenade to be dropped in the middle of the election. It is, I think, incredibly fortuitous timing that it can come out at a moment where it has the potential to illuminate something about the inner workings of this man, but it stands alone as a film.

Sebastian, what did your friends and family say when you told them you were playing Trump?

STAN Pretty sure my mom said, “At least you get to shave.” But I asked a lot of people about it, actually. A C.E.O. of a studio told me not to do it because I was going to alienate half the country, and a casting director who I respect very much said, “We don’t need another Trump movie, you’re never going to get any applause for it.” And then there were other people saying, “Are you going to be worried about your safety?” But for some reason every time somebody said, “Don’t do it,” it made me want to do it more.

“We need to stop talking about him like he’s a being from outer space” Stan said of Trump. “He’s been made on this planet like the rest of us.”

Cohn takes on Trump as his protégé, but the movie hints that there’s a sexual undercurrent to the older man’s interest, too.

ABBASI If you look at who was Roy’s type, it was young, tall, blond guys. I mean, Donald Trump was basically his type. Now, does it mean that was the reason they met and developed a relationship? Not solely, not necessarily. Jeremy’s going to shoot me down now, but it felt like he was someone who was turned on by the idea of impossible love a little bit, and Donald, in a way, was an impossible love.

“We’re trying to hold a mirror up to this world and these individuals and try to understand how we got here,” said Strong, left.

STRONG I don’t disagree with Ali on that, although I was interested in exploring what I felt was a rather chaste, platonic form of love that exists between men, which is friendship. But what did he see in him? Roy cultivated influence. It allowed him to feel elevated above the crowd, and he saw something in Donald that mirrored himself. There’s also that idea that when a student is ready, a teacher appears. They just happen to meet in this moment in time where he [Cohn] could sort of be Iago and blow poison into his ear.

Ali, when the film debuted at Cannes and Trump threatened to file a lawsuit, you said, “Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people. They don’t talk about his success rate, though.” You appeared unbothered, but how did you really feel?

ABBASI I learned a lesson when I did “Holy Spider,” my last movie. I knew that it was going to be controversial and sit badly with the Iranian government, then a teaser came out and the speaker of the Parliament said he thinks it is blasphemy. You realize that you are dealing with forces that are so much bigger than you as a human being or as an artist, but what can I do? Am I going to take the next flight, go and talk to the speaker of the Parliament and say, “No, I’m not blasphemous”?

In that way, we are sort of riding on the back of the dragon whether we like it or not. The other part is, I think a lot of what is happening right now is a knee-jerk reaction of people who have not watched the movie yet. For me, this conversation becomes real when the movie comes out, when people actually have seen it, when Mr. Trump has seen it. I would be super interested to know what he thinks either way. He might learn something. I’m not saying it in a condescending way, but he might.

Though the timing of this release is fraught, what are the good things about it coming out so close to the election?

ABBASI For me, this would be as relevant in December or next January as it is now. In that way, I don’t think we need the election to make us relevant, but am I not excited about us being in an interaction with the back of the dragon? I would lie to you if I wasn’t.

STRONG It’s mandatory viewing for any sentient beings right now who care about what’s happening in this country, and I think it offers vital insight, which could move the needle in a real way. In this moment where we’re surrounded by rhetoric of hate and divisiveness, I think art has a place and film has a place.

STAN I worry that people are desperate for answers and for guidance. They want to be told how to feel, they want to be told what’s right and what’s wrong. This whole discomfort with the film only reflects why it’s important: It isn’t just what you’re learning about Trump, it’s also what you’re learning about yourself from Trump.

I worry that we’re not going deeper anymore with how we approach things. We’re just reading Wikipedia pages. If that’s what you’re going to do, then you’ll just float among the rest of the ghosts of Christmas past. But the rest of us, at least, are going to try and get to the bottom of some things.

[fabdante]

Have you ever considered Kat finding & meeting other witches either pre/mid/post canon? I included this idea in my version of the reboot once upon a time (where I made witches & subsequently kat half demons) and I was thinking about it for my sequel idea with her training people in witchcraft in her & Dante's revival of the order (that includes protection instead of just surveillance)

Also have you seen the last witch hunter back from 2015 because I had a fetus of a softcore plagiarizing au of that for the reboot and as much as i like the idea of kat having a witchy shop too i like the idea of a witch-only bar that could give Dante a non destructive outlet (despite his lack of a service industry disposition imo)

Yes and no!

My take on the magic system in the reboot has always been that anyone can do it, essentially, you just have to learn it. I based it off the idea that the magic is largely just manipulating the body of Limbo into doing what you want. And I say body because I write Limbo functioning more like a body then a place. Like the lower demons it summons are essentially antibodies it creates to attack Dante, as it senses he is an intruding foreign body. That kind of thing.

So if we look at Limbo as a body, that means you can manipulate it if you create the correct mixtures of pheromones and stuff. And this is essentially what Kat's spells are, manipulating those pheromones and Limbos weak spots to get a response.

I don't know if in at least the Swan Songverse that I base most of my reboot fanon on that she's ever really met other witches outside of the Order. But within the Order she has a whole department under her which studies this phenomena and are essentially fellow witches and psychics that work alongside her! So they're all in active collaboration all the time, and Kat is training them alongside herself as her knowledge grows in magic use.

Now, even with the fall of Limbo, I think there's a lot Kat can do with her spells and stuff. Like with Limbo merged with the real world, there's still the lesser demons around that can be manipulated in this way and I have to wonder how Limbo mixed and mashed with the real world, as it can't just...have been wiped out or something. I imagine mixing with the world like that leaves it ripe for new ways to manipulate it, possibly even stronger ways then before because the connection is now more direct then between dimensions like she had been working before.

And stronger, more practiced witches might have figured out ways to harness the abilities of demons and such through spells utilizing them. Like I have to wonder if there's ways to use something like...idk the twins blood to create spells to speed up healing, for example. Like if in my read at least the magic system of the reboot is all about utilizing spells to manipulate things into producing a favored outcome, there has to be a way to do that on a more direct, intentional, and intense scale once the middle man (the veil between Limbo and the real world) is out of the picture. Much to ponder.

This all brings me to your second thought! Because I have never seen that movie but I have always LOVED the idea of post game Kat opening a witch shop attached to Devil May Cry (they share front and back of the same building in my mind asdfghjk and then Kat and Dante live in apartments above.) I'd even named it, the Third Eye, asdfghjk and after establishing the Third Eye I think it'd introduce Kat to a LOT of the local, more established, witches in a way she's never done before. Which could open up a lot of learning back and forth between things Kat's developed but also things these other witches have.

so, long story short, yes and no asdfghjk I do think she had a hand in training a lot of witches that worked under her in the Order. And I think in the post game she would meet a lot of witches in the local community. But I don't think before or during the events of the game she really was exposed to this wider local witch community outside of what was in the Order, at least in my fanon of things.

[sunshinemoonrx]

Read: Chretien de Troyes

As I've talked about before I'm finally venturing into ~Arthurian romance proper~, so I've been reading the more-or-less first big writer of those, and my god man can you stop getting sidetracked to gush about your oshi Gawain for like. five seconds. (yes we will TALK about his epic yaoi duel)

Since he doesn't have a Welsh origin I've not actually encountered Lancelot before but he's so funny here, I'm kind of obsessed with him. what a ditz. however I will restrain myself to talking about the stories in order:

Erec & Enide

Right from this first story, it turned out I was right in my estimation in that other post: this anachronistic exaggeration of high medieval feudalism works much better for me when it's not skewing a vague effort at depicting Romano-British history, and is instead producing a fascinating sea of bottle-world castles, forests, towns, fairs and bizarre creatures for our hero to wander and adventure through, in which everywhere works by its own strange rules and what's over the next hill might as well be (and often is) a foreign country.

It helps that I enjoyed this story a lot more than Geraint, the 'Mabinogion romance' based on it (and unlike the other Mabinogion romances, probably the influence goes mostly or entirely in that direction). There, he just comes off as some guy being a huge dick to his wife for the flimsiest of both possible reasons. Here, they both come off as being on some completely absurd courtly honour nonsense that's decently entertaining, especially since we're already primed for that kind of behaviour by the whole "as you know when we hunt the white stag the king has to bestow a kiss on the fairest lady in the court and they are all ready to stab each other to be nominated" episode.

Speaking of which, okay. can I say something weird. romance in this setting is all focused around courtly yearning, right? admiration of beauty, a glance, a blush, deigning to show favour, that in itself is effectively making love, yes?

okay so what the hell is THIS

In a world of gazing, yearning, courting...the queen?? the king?? all the knights?? this is like the courtly-love version of public-use kink. this is insane. to say nothing of this later:

yeah??? girls??? (okay a quick search of this site reveals I am not the only person to have noticed this. good for them)

Cligés

You'd think that this being about Byzantine characters I'd be all over it, and I certainly enjoyed it okay, but for some reason I find it hard to remember what the hell happens in it, especially the first half about Alexander. (checks) oh yeah it's Guinevere gently guiding two idiots into confessing.

What I do find interesting about this one is Chretien's changing attitudes towards Tristan and Iseult. In Erec, he references having written about them, and there's certainly an undercurrent that he's kind of over it--he keeps comparing his heroes favourably to them--but it's still at least on the surface in a laudatory way. Erec was even braver than noble Tristan!! But either due to his own attitudes hardening or as a response to audience reaction, by Cligés he's having his leads say "dear, we must do our illicit affair properly, or people will start to say we're just like that HARLOT Tristan! Can you imagine ANYTHING worse??" Like, all right, I get it.

Yvain

Now this makes an interesting read, having already read the Mabinogion's Owain, which--unlike with Geraint vs Erec--I think I enjoy both equally. Owain is much stronger in the first half. It's much clearer that the realm of the fountain is Otherworldly, and much clearer on the basic logistics of Owain getting stuck between the gates and Luned subsequently hiding him than Yvain is. That, and the opening with Cai going "come onnnn tell me a storyyyyy it's storytime and I want a STORYYYY" is just hilarious.

But Yvain shines in the second half; it makes much more deliberate use of the lion, and while Owain reasserting its subject's place in pseudohistory as Owain mab Urien, prince of Rheged, is interesting, it's all a bit of a rushed conclusion, while Yvain has a lot of really cool stuff, like, of course...

Gawain And Yvain's Epic Battle of Love and Hate. Okay BOYS

Chretien loves Gawain so much, it's so funny. Always calling him "my lord", always saying "well he could've solved the problem but he was busy that day so our hero will have to do it". Especially with his later reputation as Guy Who Does His Best But Is Distinctly Flawed. Which is interesting! Because that kind of degradation has already happened to Cai, who as established I like a whole lot.

So I kind of thought the "downgraded to mr fucks up constantly" Kay in these stories would make me sad and miss my special boy, but whoops, I remembered that I actually love the "guy who causes all the problems" character type! So he continues to be my fave! Tee hee

(There does also seem to be a hardening of Chretien's attitudes over time here too--in Erec Kay is overly brusque and gets knocked out, but he's genuinely trying to be helpful to someone he sees in need. By Yvain, every time he says anything someone, including the narrator, is just like "my guy can you stop being so RUDE")

Anyway, this story takes place at the same time as Lancelot, which it was indeed written alongside, so Gawain being absent for much of Yvain is because he's off doing the plot of Lancelot. Which is about to become very funny.

Lancelot

WHY DID NO-ONE TELL ME LANCELOT WAS A BIMBO

"do you mean himbo" no. that is a distinct kind of stupid. this man spent an entire encounter just zoned out, no thoughts, head empty, while this knight yells at him "HEY. STOP. I HAVE TO GUARD THIS RIVER. I WILL FIGHT YOU IF YOU COME IN THE RIVER. ARE YOU LISTENING. STOP. HELLO?" and he just trots on in completely oblivious, just not listening at all until the knight goes OK FINE and knocks him off his horse into the river

Lancelot: what the FUCK where am I who are you Knight: I challenged you like three times dude Lancelot: I was THINKING ABOUT STUFF (reaches up and executes a perfect wrestling hold and almost pulls his leg out of his socket)

like. I. the bit where they're trapped between two gates and he just chuckles like Heh...this must be some kind of mystical illusion. Don't worry lads, I'll get us out of this (dramatically reveals he was raised by a fairy and she gave him a magic ring that dispels illusions) (it turns out this is not an illusion and they're just trapped between two real gates) ok nvm

I can't just recount the whole plot but. cutting a guy's head off because a pretty girl told him to. the queen calling out to him mid-fight so he'll see her and be fuelled by the power of Love but failing to consider she's behind him so he spends the next part of the fight backhanding the shit out of this guy while facing the other way so he can look at her. this AIRHEAD

To go back to what I said about Gawain, it's absolutely hilarious that Yvain says he was busy on a noble quest with Lancelot so couldn't help out with all that, and then in Lancelot that amounts to the two of them split up to enter the enemy kingdom by two roads and each has to cross a river, and then Gawain...vanishes from the story. For weeks. And they finally go back and look for him and he is floating face-down in the river. Failed to cross it I guess?? They literally fish him out with sticks...

Anyway. I think it's interesting Lancelot escapes a tower with a pickaxe near the end, because this is a reworking of the older, mostly-lost story of Gwenhwyfar's abduction by Melwas, right, and a depiction of that, the Modena archivolt, shows one of the defenders as an unarmoured man with a pickaxe. Interesting piece of the puzzle!

Perceval

It's interesting that this is unfinished when it's already way long for one of Chretien's romances...and also that this is the one that so captivated the medieval audience's imagination. They couldn't get enough of it. So many continuations, attempts to finish it, reworkings, retellings...I mean, that is the essence of the 'Grail' idea, right, the endless quest for transcendental mystery and perfection. It inherently resists completion.

For the record, I don't even know how to compare this to Peredur. It is notable that that story changes the framing of his mom's advice--making it kind of weird advice to begin with that you could still interpret charitably, but the naive Peredur follows the letter and not the spirit; while in Perceval it's perfectly sensible advice but he just wasn't listening so he follows a half-garbled version of it. And if, as Killings & Widger's edition argues, the castle Perceval comes to rule is meant to be a kingdom of the dead, played down or partially-understood in its transmission from a lost Welsh or Breton source, you'd expect Peredur to add that back in like Owain with its Otherworldly fountain-realm, but it extremely doesn't.

It is incredibly funny that, once again, the reason we never finish Perceval's story is because Chretien couldn't resist taking a 3,000 line detour about Gawain's adventures in Everyone Hates You Land.

Special shoutout to this girl who starts following him around with a like. Knight humiliation kink???

She gets way hornier than this about but I can't be bothered to explain the context for most of it, except that we do need to talk about this section:

Because we have come FULL CIRCLE to that stuff I said about Enide near the start! Like, this is genuinely interesting to me--in Chretien's first romance we have all this charged delighted Attention on the lady being raised up to splendour and beauty, and in his last we have all this charged delighted Attention on the knight being broken down into shame and humiliation. There's something here.

Gawain spends most of this subplot with people mysteriously accusing him of various increasingly absurd crimes and riding around trying to clear his name so it's also very funny when this one guy is like "it's you! The motherfucker who made me eat dog food for a month!" and he's like. Oh I did do that one lol

Anyway, Perceval has some interesting gender, to me,

I dunno, this line just really stuck in my head.

I will say for one of these romances, not having the ending is way more consequential than for a lot of stories. Chretien loves to set up a bunch of mysterious characters and situations (very reminiscent of an RPG character running around picking up and resolving a bunch of different sidequests in random order) and then connect and explain them all at once at the end to produce a cohesive conclusion. So not having the ending means so much is left unexplained and mysterious! Hell, the Grail (and the accompanying lance) here isn't even explained, the Jesus backstory comes in from later writers; it's holy in some way, but who knows. Is it an adaptation of the severed head from Peredur, or the other way around? Who knows! And that exact ambiguity is presumably part of why the Grail story stuck in the popular imagination from the 12th century through to today.

Perceval goes questing, questing on, ever on...

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I feel like this conversation is a bit played out, but I’m curious: do you think JK’s banking on winning a Grammy and potentially getting out of his military service? I’ve tried to take their words for what they are and I know everyone’s said that they’re all going to the military, will be back in 2025, yadda yadda, whatever. I can’t understand why, if that’s the case, they’re banking so much on his solo career if he’s just going to disappear from the scene (physically) for almost 2 years. Do you get what I mean?

My thoughts are that they are actually hoping for a Grammy and subsequent deferment of mandatory service, but then again, nobody knows so I guess we’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out.

As this is only speculation and might as well not happen, let me bring my own contribution. I don't think this is about Jungkook and I'll explain why.

If you look at this entire issue from the perspective of the artist/idol, you'll realize soon that you're stuck, that you can't explain why he's doing this or that. But looking at it as a business deal will shine another light on it.

Yes, Jungkook is leaving to do his military service soon and everything he said up until now points to that so why are they investing so much into making him a "global pop star"? Because Hybe and Hybe America need to show that they can do that. That their strategy is one that works for future business. Why do you think they tried it first on the most versatile of the BTS members, the one that can do any song because he has the voice needed for that? This wouldn't have worked with Taehyung or Jimin. God, I'm so happy it didn't work with Jimin because it would have been horrible to see all that unfoulding. Besides, they had projects on their own and without making any contribution to the song writing, Tae's album was still something that matched his personality, it was him with the help of MHJ.

With Jungkook, the situation is different. I wouldn't know the details, but when they announced their hiatus, it looked like everyone was set on releasing an album, including JK. And then, most likely, life happened. Because you can't plan your state of mind. And when you're under a contract, you do need to listen to other people. I know army always uses the shares in Hybe argument, but the value allocated for the members is insignificant on a larger scale. Yes, they are rich and they can do what they want and sleep on a wlive, but I don't think for one second the company would have let Jungkook do nothing and be a couch potato.

So they found this opportunity. You also have to keep in mind that Hybe paid a lot of money for Scooter's company and then what happened to him? Most of his artists left? So where is this big opportunity for collaboration and projects and all that?

This is just business. That's it. They chose the idol capable of being a blank slate and stuck the concept of global pop star on him. Because that's what it is which is incredibly funny (not). Usually that accolade comes after some time, when the results can be seen over a prolonged period of time, but in this case, that was the starting point. As much as Bang wants to get rid of the k in kpop, they're still using a kpop strategy, that of making an album based on a concept or creating a specific image for an idol.

And now they are pushing it hard. They are investing a ton of money into this in a way that makes them look desperate and I think that in the industry at large, people see it. Not the fans because they either choose to turn a blind eye or their mind doesn't go that far. There are voices which have said a thing or two lately among army, but it's an insignificant minority. The company can rely on the fandom to buy all those 284836521 versions and remixes and they will eat it up. And voila, look at how Hybe produced a global pop star in less than half a year. Quick, open the catalog for some songs that sound mediocre enough for a top 40, make the singer record them asap, fast, done in less than one week. Quickly come up with some generic argument of how this is just to show the artist's vocal range (good job PR for that one, jesus) and then also openly admit that it was made for a Western market, aka US cause the world stops there.

Jungkook had the possibility to show more personality of his own when he was with a group of six other people than with his solo album, which is so ironic. But that is because it is not his album. He's merely a vessel through which Bang and Scooter can show investors that they can invent a global pop star and fast while their pockets grow bigger and bigger.

[gerardpilled]

right so, extremely wet-eyed and sad version of billionaire eduardo saverin =/= rpf since he doesn't actually exist -> the subsequent fic about him getting folded in half by fellow billionaire mark zuckerberg =/= rpf. if we're following the polar bear monster model of connection to reality.

this makes me think about when fandom constructs these fictionalized archetypes of real life people independent of unfortunate method actors and plucky screenwriters. meaning, do you think sad wet jilted frank iero is on a different level of this connection to reality/rpf ethics spectrum on account of essentially being a fandom tulpa, as opposed to first being fictionalized by a biopic?

i just think it's interesting how the relative ethics of these narratives change based on who they are being told by and in what way. bc i'd agree that tsn fic about the characters isn't rpf, but about the actors it is

LMFAO the polar bear model 😭😭😭

but okay yes I’m with you when it comes to your second point. For a while I settled any hatred of rpf with the idea that all that rpf is written based off of what are basically fictionalized versions of real people. No one who is writing rpf knows Frank Iero personally, so the stuff they’re writing about him is based completely on interviews or internet posts. Those things do not accurately reflect who Frank Iero is as a real person in his real world relationships. Doesn’t matter how “real” and “authentic” you think he’s being in an interview, he’s being a highly filtered version of himself for the cameras! If rpf existed in a vacuum I would say that by that logic it can’t be harmful, but people have access to it that don’t think like that. If you publish rpf, an impressionable teen (or adult lmfao) can read it and think it’s basically real. It also doesn’t really solve the issue about producing porn about people who did not welcome that behavior.

personally I think it’s very situational based. I think that actors and other celebrities have full right to ask fans to not produce porn of their likeness and I think fans should learn how to honor that 🤷 personally I know I would not even be able to enjoy fic if I knew the people involved were uncomfortable with it

[weirdestbooks]

Secrecy and Deception Chapter 44

Removing the Missiles  (Wattpad | Ao3)

Table of Contents | Prev | Next

Event: Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

Location: Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America

Date: December 8, 1987

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was another big step in putting an end to the arms race. Banning all ground-launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of 1000-1500 kilometers or 500-1000 kilometers, the agreement once again blocked off an entire group of nuclear weapons from production.

"Thank God. It seems like things are getting…better, and this will hopefully keep things moving in a positive direction," Mabel muttered.

America and Soviet Union had both been quick to sign it, eager to get the whole deal over with.

Both the treaty and the arms race.

Their leaders wanted to keep talking, so Soviet Union and America were now trapped outside the room, waiting awkwardly for the day to be over.

Eventually, Soviet Union broke the silence.

"It'll be good for our economies to have a reason not to continuously produce weapons and allow ourselves to focus on pursuits that better benefit our countries, don't you think?" Soviet Union asked. America shrugged.

"I'm not the one with an economic crisis. Maybe you should consider pulling out of Afghanistan. It's turning into your version of Vietnam," America replied, his tone even.

"America, you've cut us out of the conversation," Caleb called, their tone both joking and annoyed. America tried not to let his own annoyance show on his face. He couldn't exactly change the conversation to English now, and he could fill Caleb in later.

It wasn't his fault he was a polyglot, and they all had memory gaps sometimes.

Caleb could be fine with it now.

"Secretary Gorbachev wants to withdraw us. But things like that take time,"Soviet Union replied.

"All good things come with time. Speaking of withdrawing, when are you going to withdraw from the Baltic nations? Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia's children are eager for the day when their services are no longer needed, and if we are heading for a time of peace…" America trailed off, purposely letting the question hang in the air.

Soviet Union's new leader had implemented a lot of reforms that were changing things within the Soviet Union. America could only hope it would end up benefiting those who were trapped under his command as well.

Anger flashed across Soviet Union's face before he sighed and adopted a tone as if he were scolding a small child.

"I am not withdrawing from a part of my own nation,"Soviet Union said.

"That's funny. I seem to remember them joining through after an invasion and subsequently sending out calls for help," America said, crossing his arms, locking Soviet Union's face in an even look. "Not to mention there have been no personifications changes since they were invaded."

"They are happy to be a part of my country. Just because there are people who disagree does not mean that they are not grateful. You can delude yourself into thinking they are, but the calls were the result of politicians who hated me. They know now that I was trying to help them," Soviet Union said. America shook his head.

Soviet Union could claim to hate empires all he wanted.

America knew that kind of language, those kinds of excuses.

"Oh, is he being an imperialist?" Caleb asked.

"If you can't tell, Caleb is bored and wants drama," Conch Republic said, sounding amused, "I don't think he understands treaties are supposed to be drama-free."

"Conch, I am much older than you and have seen my fair share of treaties. Let me be the first to tell you that they are not drama-free," Caleb answered.

"They'll get their independence eventually," America said, switching back to English as the conversation moved to more contested grounds, "Much of the world doesn't recognize your hold. The status we're in won't last forever."

"You cannot be sure of that. They're not some…some colony. They're a vital part of my country, a part of my family. They cannot be taken away as if they don't matter,"Soviet Union said. America shrugged.

"I've seen a lot of people get their independence after being incorporated into a country. Ireland, for one. He backs me on this for a reason," America said, keeping his tone calm. Soviet Union let out a small hum, and didn't answer.

"Someone doesn't like being proven wrong," Caleb said. Electing to annoy the others, as they were being annoying, and Soviet was the last person America wanted to find out about them

"Well, if you want to turn to more positive topics that won't turn this treaty signing into us causing a mess of things, how are those reforms of yours going?" America asked, deciding that he didn't want to get in trouble in case the disagreement turned into an argument.

That wasn't something they needed right now, especially with a treaty as important as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on the line.

"They're going well. It's not weakening us," Soviet Union said, seemingly adding on the second part as an afterthought, as if he had to prove to America that he was not being weakened by the reforms.

"I wasn't asking for that reason. Things are meant to be peaceful…well more peaceful now," America said. Soviet Union looked unamused, and much to Soviet Union's luck, the door opened seconds later, revealing their two leaders, having finished up whatever they needed to discuss.

"Have a good evening," Soviet Union said, quickly taking advantage of the opportunity to leave.

"I can't tell what's worse. You two arguing and threatening to destroy the whole world in the process, or you two trying to make small-talk," Caleb snarked. America sighed, nodding at the president before returning to his home in the Land In Between.

"Better to have awkward small-talk than more wars," America began. "The arms race is ending. Or will end. So we should work to be on friendlier terms. We don't have to get along, but if we're going to end this… competition, then we need to learn to get along. We've done it before, so it's not impossible."

"Just unlikely," Conch Republic commented. America rolled his eyes.

"Shut up."

[ellezetsubo]

long time no post but hi ~ ill be doing @/maoisarap's enstars yume ask game (◍ ´꒳` ◍) i figured i should share more about hiiriika here too~

*will go back and forth between using hiiro and riika and hiiro and me!

questions under the cut!

1) is your f/o you ship with also the one you produce in game? if they are not the one you produce, why?

hiiro is my kami-oshi! hes the one i fell in love with the most. my first oshi was mika, but then gradually shifted to hiiro upon reading the main story.

2) we all know that the ensemble stars!! cast are all about being chaotic, so who's the more chaotic one between your f/o and yourself?

theyre both just as chaotic 😭 hiiro and riika go with each other's flow and sometimes that can lead to them being a bit too silly for aira's liking.

3) if you're in a romantic relationship with your f/o, or a qpp/qpr, do you think your f/o's unit members would accept your relationship status?

i think that both alkaloid and starry planet (riika's group) would be supportive of them! of course there's initial opposition to it because of the rules as an idol (aira, uta, yozora) but they eventually come around to it after seeing how much hiiro and riika loved each other..

4) what type of occupation are you and your f/o? are you idol x idol? idol x producer? producer x producer? or something else?

idol x idol! riika is an idol under the all-girl group, starry planet, whos agency is starmaker productions! they debuted a little while before alkaloid!

5) can you describe you and your f/o's relationship with 3 ensemble stars!! song titles? there's a little challenge!

SAKE OF LOVE - ALKALOID & Crazy:B

Across the Universe - ALKALOID

Setsuna Drops - TearS

6) do you prefer canon or fanon version of your f/o?

my hiiro is a hiiro untouched by the mistakes of happy elements' writing ♡

7) who confessed first between you and your f/o? how did they do it? was it by song?

they confessed at the same time! they realized their feelings for each other after performing together for a valentines event, and subsequently confessed a month after on white day.

8) was your f/o also your first liked character in the franchise? if so, what made them reel you in? if not, who was?

hiiro's personality and passion really spoke to me. seeing him go through what he did in the main story, as well as his development throughout alkaloid's story made me fall in love with him over and over again.

9) how did you figure out that this f/o of yours in particular is "the one"?

hiiro-kun is the only boy who can make me cry as bad as i did for his feature scout 2 banner. ever since then i realized how important hiiro was to me and have been gachikoimaxxing ever since ♥️

10) favourite voice line belonging to your f/o?

in yume specific, definitely his lines about holding hands together to keep warm. but as a character.. i love his line towards rinne in the last part of the music main story;

“That's why—I'll smile, Nii-san! Instead of destroying this place, I'll sing, dance and smile!”

11) do you have any merch of your f/o? (proper/fanmade/re-used/etcetera) if not, what is your dream merchandise piece to have of them?

i have oh so much. but my dream merchandise for now is hiiro's bear nui and acrylic stands..

12) do you like how your f/o sounds with the voice they're given? what about their singing voice?

I yume 3 cv: gakuto kajiwara characters all because of hiiro.

13) speaking of f/o's voice, do you know of the voice actor behind your f/o? have you seen or played any other franchises your f/o's voice actor has been in?

I yume 3 cv: gakuto kajiwara characters all because of hiiro.

14) if isekai was real in our world, would you want to go to the enstarsverse just to be with your f/o?

ABSOLUTELY!

15) favourite thing to do with your f/o?

more than anything, i love singing with hiiro. hearing our voices together makes me so happy~

16) do you and/or your f/o have any fears about your relationship status?

riika initially had fears about two idols dating but eventually grew out of it in favor of loving hiiro even more. (during starry planet's climax event riika gets a 💥💥💥 scare at a handshake event bc of her relationship w hiiro but she eventually grows past her fears again)

17) is there any quirks you and/or your f/o has picked up from one another?

they both say umu! a lot!

18) does your f/o get embarrassed if you sing any of their songs? or do they join in?

not at all! riika love singing with hiiro, especially with songs they both love~

19) have you ever stolen any outfit/do wish to steal any outfit belonging to your f/o? is it an exclusive outfit? unit-shared? or other?

riika loves wearing hiiro's alkaloid uniform! sometimes they swap gloves for fun, especially since they complete eachother's. (riika has palm open gloves, hiiro has fingerless gloves)

20) is your and your f/o's relationship status talk of ensemble square? how much gossip goes around about you both?

a fair amount mostly because they're so affectionate towards eachother, even in public.. though they often just brush it off as being friends..

21) do you count your f/o's centre song as a song dedicated to yourself? if not, how come?

50/50! i like to think that vermilion is partially dedicated to riika, especially the chorus—but i think that its also more representative of alkaloid and their development. i much rather think across the universe and setsuna drops to be hiiriika's song! (ESPECIALLY SETSUNA DROPS)

22) is your relationship a secret or an open one, due to some restricted rules that could exist in the enstarsverse?

they try—key word; TRY to keep things under wraps within ES, even using their last names instead to refer to each other when at work, but people can tell how madly in love they are with each other if they look hard enough. the fans have speculations, but both of them just do their best to ignore them and deflect them..

23) who's more likely to be affectionate in front of other idols/the fans, between you and your f/o?

hiiro definitely has to do more fanservice because of his popularity, which kind of makes riika jealous (though she understands and doesn't hold a grudge often for it)

THOUGH she does ask hiiro to wash his hands before hugging her because "I don't want to be held with the touch of another woman!"

24) do you count any other character as your "number one supporter" of your relationship with your f/o?

aira is definitely their number 1 wingman.. mostly out of obligation because he sees them too often and cares about them both too much 😭♥️

25) if you and/or your f/o can't say "i love you" for particular reasons (being in public/etcetera), is there any other way you express that saying? (eye contact/smiling at each other/etcetera)

whenever they can't publicly say "i love you", they always smile and just call out eachother's names before wishing them luck for a performance / words of encouragement.

26) what is one word you'd associate with your f/o? what's one word your f/o would associate with you?

♠️ - “Hiiro-kun is like the sun.”

☄️ - “Riika is like the stars.”

27) who gets more jealous in the relationship? is there any particular reason as to why?

riika definitely 😭 she's the more emotional one between them, so she's definitely protective of hiiro to some extent. she hates feeling jealous though since she knows it's not that serious

28) who's the tall one, and who's the short one between you both? or are you both the same height?

riika is SHORT. shes shorter than hiiro.

29) is there any similarities between you and your f/o?)

both of them are very determined and passionate about their goals! they both tend to isolate when they're sad though, but they're both easily encouraged to push forward when with their friends. they're both a bit of an airheaded couple too..

30) what's your favourite card of your f/o? choose one card for all different stars statuses (1-5)

honorable mentions are:

- Sake of Love / Matrix Hiiro

- Present / Anniversary Hiiro

- Yoru ni Kakeru Hiiro

31) do you share a dorm room with your f/o? if so, what's it like? if not, how come?

riikas dorm is on a different wing of starmony forms for the girl idols because would be CRUCIFIED but she does visit hiiros dorm every so often.

32) if you went on tour with your f/o, would you both be the chaotic type (shouting, making a mess, etcetera) or the calm type (sleeping in the seats, listening to music, watching out the windows together, etcetera) on the tour bus?

riika and hiiro would probably be sleeping and napping together amidst the chaos..

33) do you have any nicknames for each other? if so, what are they? if not, how come?

♠️ ⤷ ☄️ - Riika

☄️ ⤷ ♠️ - Hiiro-kun

they don't like using nicknames much, they'd rather call each other by their names.

34) what troupe would you say fits you and your f/o best? can be as cliché or the opposite, as you want to be!

probably brought together by fate? or something about being similar idk man i dont know tropes as well as i used to 🧓

35) has your f/o got any seasonal cards/outfits, if so, do you like the card or outfit? if not, what's your dream seasonal card/outfit for your f/o? (halloween/easter/etcetera)

im forever in love with easter hiiro.. but halloween hiiro is so cool too.. < can't pick

36) who's more of the busier one between you both?

hiiro definitely! hes got more jobs than riika and a lot more fans and eyes on him.

37) what's an ordinary day between you both like? is it full of chaos, or are you as calm as ever?

mostly consists of sitting around, cuddling, going out to places together and having fun before coming home to cuddle and kiss more.

38) how did you and your f/o meet?

hiiro and riika met as kouhai and senpai! riika was one of the first people to meet hiiro when he came to ES, and subsequently helped him and alkaloid a bit. she slowly but surely became friends with hiiro, and soon even more..

39) do you think your f/o's fans would accept your relationship status?

probably not. but does riika care? not really.. to her, hiiro is all hers.. and hiiro wouldn't have it any other way.

40) what is your favourite thing about your f/o? what's your f/o's favourite thing about you?

☄️ - riika loves how unrelenting and determined hiiro is to accomplish something and fulfill his goals. it makes her remember to never give up.

♠️ - hiiro loves how passionate and hopeful riika is in pursuit of her dreams and ambitions. it reminds him that he has a dream he wants to make come true, too.

[jellyfemmedyke]

i like how Judith Butler view gender through the lens of power. In Gender Trouble, They jump right out into it and start with how both sex and gender are socially constructed, and how gender did not come from sex, but sex came about to reinforce gender. They use Faulcault's idea of productive or disciplinary power, which is in what he calls "discourse" Which I think is funny, but it's people not government, This is a link to the thing I read that breaks down a few of these Ideas

Foucault points out that juridical systems of power produce the subjects they subsequently come to represent.’ Juridical notions of power appear to regulate political life in purely negative terms—that is, through the limitation, prohibition, regulation, control and even “protection” of individuals related to that political structure through the contingent and retractable operation of choice. I had to read the journal to get this, but Judith here is specifically talking about what the Juridical, the law defines as a woman, and how it can use "protection" even as a measure of control, and in the Foucault lens, the productive power, it is enforced by other people. This is stuff like how woman enforce womanhood and femininity on each other,

But the subjects regulated by such structures are, by virtue of being subjected to them, formed, defined, and reproduced in accordance with the requirements of those structures. The subject or "woman" is subjected to these exclusionary definitions of what a woman is, based on the law

. If this analysis is right, then the juridical formation of language and politics that represents women as “the subject” of feminism is itself a discursive formation and effect of a given version of representational politics. And the feminist subject turns out to be discursively constituted by the very political system that is supposed to facilitate its emancipation

Centering "Woman" the goverment idea of woman, as the subject of feminism, it's not going to fix anything, because it is discursively constituted, in other words, feminism is centering the exclusionary Juridical idea of what a woman is and reinforcing it. this is only the first few pages but I'm starting to understand what the misunderstanding is all about

[yupuffin]

I think it was on a different platform, but I recall reading sometime in the past few days about how ChatGPT inquiries not only use many times more resources than search engine inquiries, but the nature of the responses often leads to the user making multiple subsequent inquiries to arrive at a conclusion similar to one they would otherwise be able to find with a single search engine inquiry.

And just today I made the mental connection to this one moment recently when Cat Dad was asking ChatGPT (or some other generative AI) a question related to cooking -- which already made me cringe inwardly as someone working in food service, because for questions where food safety is involved you absolutely should not be consulting a source known to produce inaccurate information, but I digress -- which went something like

Cat Dad verbally asking the question

AI answering the question, also verbally

Cat Dad asking AI to provide the answer in writing

AI giving some response suggesting it did something other than that and didn't know what exactly to provide in writing

Cat Dad reminding the AI about the earlier question about cooking

AI answering the question again

Cat Dad once again asking for the answer in writing

AI finally providing a written version of the answer or something idk

-- That alone is already four separate AI inquiries! Which, on top of sounding very frustrating, like trying to talk to someone who's not properly paying attention to what you're saying, just feels to me like a phenomenal waste of energy -- on Cat Dad's part as well as regarding the electricity and water required to power the AI... Like I'm having so much trouble comprehending why the cat parents would default to "asking an AI" for an answer to literally any question due to it supposedly being easier when a) it is objectively so much harder, and b) researching and/or working out the answer yourself builds skills that you can reuse later to answer similar questions with significantly less effort

[alfiereot]

The expectations of the sequel to your favourite game of all time

January 31st marked the release of the highly expected sequel of Citizen Sleeper, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. I’ve been quietly, but surely, playing through the game. As I am writing this, I have just finished the main story thread, and now, I’m already planning my subsequent playthroughs with the other classes. It is absolutely superb, demonstrating once again Gareth Damian Martin’s masterful control over the narrative and character writing, with incredible art and soundtrack as well.

I already remarked that the first entry is one of my favourite games of all time and the question if it will dethrone the first one has come up a couple of times. This made me think about the nature of sequels, on how our expectations weigh on the new games. Video games fall into a difficult category in which they are expected not to just continue and/or iterate on the story they last told, they are expected to be greater in every single quality that defined their greatness.

The internet has been guilty of leveraging unreasonable expectations on sequels, and it feels this is happening on the regular. It happens even if the sequel is deemed as masterful by reviewers and the community. One example is the The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, whose detractors constantly point to the fact that it is not a complete departure from Breath of the Kingdom. The game has received universal praise for its emergent gameplay, and most likely will influence triple AAA design for the foreseeable future. Just like Breath of the Wild did before it.

This is not to say that outrageous expectations have only come up recently, but the boom of influencer-media feels like it has amplified this phenomenon. Entire channels dedicated to rumours on the Nintendo Switch 2 created an expectation that the console would be the most revolutionary piece of technology of all time, and this minority was not happy with the fact that it was just a hardware refresh.

This level of anticipation is fascinating to me, as I can see how the train of thought is built and have been guilty with engaging with it in the past. With worsening working conditions for developers, I believe it is unreasonable to think that every single sequel should be “bigger and better”, but there is a tingling sensation in my brain which is enticed by the thought. However, I realise now that I don’t exactly know what “bigger and better” means to me. I will be looking over three games to investigate this, looking through and remembering my anticipation of them to see how my biases affected my end thoughts on these games.

Citizen Sleeper 2

Citizen Sleeper 2 doesn’t depart greatly from its predecessor. The dice mechanic is largely intact, and the presentation is similar. Its major departure comes in the form of the Crew System, in which we recruit allies across our journey through The Belt, getting closer to them and helping them with their personal missions. My grand expectations have largely been met, as my only real complain on the first game was the absence of lasting interpersonal relationships. In the original Citizen Sleeper, once you were done with their story quests, those who you called companions were not to be met again. With the Crew System, you still get to regularly see them, and they chime in with small but meaningful commentary when they accompany you through the main story thread.

I cannot imagine more to be asked for a sequel to Citizen Sleeper, and it is difficult to gage if my high expectations have influenced my perception of the game. Nowadays I’m more conscious on how I perceive media and relate to the working conditions on how its produce. Even if I wished that Gareth Damien Martin and their team delivered the most outstanding version of their sequel, I honestly believe it would have not been too different than what it was presented in Citizen Sleeper 2.  

Were my thoughts on “bigger and better” when it came to Citizen Sleeper 2 just more Citizen Sleeper? I believe it is plainly so. Having played the first game based on a recommendation from Tripple Click, I was able to have an unadulterated experience of the game, and my scope of what I wanted for the future was within the limits of what the game had presented to me. To this date, I have little experience with CRPGs, so maybe it is also the fact that I don’t really know the bounds of the genre. How would this thesis hold on a genre where I’m more of a seasoned player, like the third-person action-adventure?

God of War: Ragnarök

Back when I played God of War (2018) I recognized the faults the game had right away. Its story was really simple; however, it was the journey of seeing Kratos and Atreus understand each other which made it excellent. The combat was impressive despite limited enemy variety, and I value RPGs that change character cosmetics with new loot, even if number-goes-up mentality has become a sore-eye for me in the last couple of years. The game entered my list of favourite games of all time, and I thought it would remain so even after the announcement of Ragnarök.

From the marketing, it was obvious the sequel has heading towards more impactful show pieces, that the dreams many fans had of Kratos challenging another pantheon were becoming true. But Ragnarök surprised me in ways I did not expect it to. It respected the time I had with Kratos and Atreus on the last game, and the quiet moments between them were the most memorable ones. Couple it with [SPOILERS] the inclusion of Freya as a second companion, the surprising depth in which they handled Thor’s storyline, and Sindri and Brook being front and centre to the main quest [/SPOILERS], the game’s story gave me a complete package. The combat was bigger and better, the loot mechanics were downsized and every side-quest felt reflective of the story threads we had at any given time. Ragnarök became bigger and better when I didn’t expect it to, and it gave it rise for it to become a game I enjoyed more than the original.

My expectations were already high to begin with, and the end-product became “bigger and better” in ways that are, technically, measurable. But there are those disappointed with how Ragnarök turn out. Culture war notwithstanding, the game challenged people who wanted the game to be solely focused on Kratos, a war story like those on the original trilogy. I realised my expectations of the game were shaped by my personal enjoyment of the first one, which was largely the connection between Atreus and Kratos. When the game released and was designed (in my opinion) with this specific thought in mind, it was able to meet the criterion I had formulated by my own volition.

I believe this and Citizen Sleeper example speaks to the notion on my perception on “bigger and better” when it works unpolluted by the internet discourse. I distanced myself from the discussion on how Ragnarök would pan out to avoid spoilers and was able to be surprised with both games in a way which made me appreciate the improvements they had achieved over their predecessors.  

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided had probably the loftiest expectation I had ever had on a game. Released back in 2016, I got a chance to play it first in 2019. I expected it to be the payoff of what was my favourite game of all time, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I had heard that the game had a dwindling ending, but the shots of Prague and the gameplay trailers were enough for me to create an imaginary version of the game which, in the end, disappointed me so.

Looking back, I regret the fact my imagination had run wild in spite of the limited reception I had already heard about the game. Mankind Divided is far from a bad game. In fact, it is probably one of the sequels which retains most of the identify from prequel to sequel. However, my rose-tinted glasses for the first game hurt my perception of it.

I needed Mankind Divided to be greater and better. It is quite difficult to remember if I had any concise idea of what I wanted it to be. The game expanded on the augmentation system, the forking choices for both stealth and combat felt expanded and my most grievous complaint was within the story. Jensen felt alone without rivals to back him up (I appreciate Alex, but they are not as constantly present as Pritchard), but now I see how it works in terms of the story Eidos-Montreal wanted to tell within this game, specially considering they had a sequel planned.

This time, the same modus operandi repeated like in Citizen Sleeper 2 and GOW Ragnarök, were I had limited exposure to any news relating to the game, and I ended up disappointed with my first playthrough of Mankind Divided. My definition of “bigger and better” back when I played it is missing, but the fact the aspect that I enjoyed the most in Human Revolution, the carefully crafted story and worldbuilding, felt lessen in the sequel, probably affected my whole wide perception of the game.

It seems anticlimactic to point out that, when I talk about my own personal view of “bigger and better”, I believe I defer for the sequel to maintain the highest level of quality in my favourite aspect of their prequel. GOW Ragnarök accomplished this when I didn’t expect it to, and Mankind Divided fumbled when I didn’t want it to. My limited view of CRPGs has probably shielded me from any technical faults of CS2: Starward Vector, but it is safe to say that everything I loved in the first game is present in this one. I don’t know how other people define their “bigger and better”, but I do think it is an interesting introspection on how we deal with new entries in our favourite franchises.

Stay well and peace. Also, play Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, is outright fantastic.  

[industrial-horror]

“How are people still falling for this?”

You’d expect reasonable adults to move past their beliefs in ridiculous things like bigfoot, flat Earth, and the AMPTP negotiating in good faith. But the easiest person to fool is yourself, and plenty of us have been taken in by our own ever so slightly twitchy muscles.

This Week's Moment of Science… Ouija Boards & The Ideomotor Effect

Centuries before Hasbro marketed it as a toy, spirit boards of all sorts were used to commune with the dead. The versions most of us have seen this century typically display all the letters of the Latin alphabet and the numbers 0-9 along with the words ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ and an irreverent little ‘goodbye’ to let you know the afterlife is fed up with your shit. The spirit-board-pointer-thingy is called a planchette, French for ‘little plank.’

There are a few rumors about how it came by the modern name ‘Ouija.’ It seems the most likely story is that the group looking to patent and sell the toy in the late 1800s decided to ask the board to breathe life into its name. With hands upon the planchette, it spelled out, “ouija.” Well they just had to know what that meant. Cheeky board that it was, Ouija answered “good luck.”

It was marketed as an Egyptian spirit board with a name meaning ‘good luck.’ Eventually, that story changed to it being a combination of the French and German words for “yes.”

The cool thing about asking a Ouija board which boy in school likes you? Those tricksy spirits from the next realm are gonna tell you it’s the boy you’re thinking of. Which might be the scientific explanation for how this mundane board at the center of so many junior high sleepovers got its name.

So the legend goes, the person who suggested compelling the board to talk was wearing a locket with a picture of someone named ‘Ouida’ in it. Accounts vary on if the name was written in the locket as Ouida, Ouija, or even written at all. But it calls into question the idea that the name was perfectly random when it was already on the mind and, curiously, the fingertips.

(Allegedly or whatever, because everyone’s got a story to sell and maybe it was the French and German thing).

So, the ideomotor effect.

Humans are giant fuck-up machines and even when we’re not scheming up some shit on purpose, our minds and bodies are getting into shenanigans without us. Somewhat literally meaning 'a motion from an idea,' we make these minuscule movements unconsciously. Even if it’s not on purpose, this kind of motion can be motivated by our thoughts, for better or worse. Tell yourself not to move all you want, but put that ‘little plank’ underneath your hands? The back of your mind may have secrets to spill.

Everyone at the table thinks they’re definitely the only one not moving it, and everyone is almost certainly moving it. Scientists and modern skeptics alike have gone to great lengths to show that this isn’t the work of ghosts or humans who play coy with their handiwork when the board comes to life; it’s just our minds doing the talking- er, spelling for us.

This effect on a Ouija board if someone is taking the results for what they are– a reflection of their own desires– is perfectly harmless entertainment. But if you have a tendency to get spooked into believing in these things and subsequently paying money to a psychic based on some bullshit a planchette spelled out on a toy made by the same company that produces Lite Brite, Jenga, and My Little fucking Pony? Maybe board game based communication with dearly departed Uncle Greg isn’t for you.

That said, there are other fields in which the ideomotor effect is employed that harm practically everyone involved. But we’ll talk about facilitated communication another day.

This has been your Moment of Science, just saying… I didn’t move it. No, I didn’t. I seriously didn’t you guys.

[twistedtummies2]

Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - Number 6

Welcome to Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I am counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios! To introduce today’s entry, I have only this to say: “Most Everyone’s Mad Here.” Number 6 is…Alice in Wonderland.

This is the other film, alongside “The Great Mouse Detective,” where I feel – if you know me well – it’s high placement will not remotely be surprising. Whereas, if you don’t know me well, it will likely be VERY surprising. Honestly, I can settle why “Alice” is so high on my list with a single sentence: Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” stories are my favorite books, and I personally think the Disney version is the best movie treatment of the books, as well as one of my personal favorites. That’s really all I NEED to say. But you came here to hear me ramble, I think. Possibly. Maybe. So I guess I have to. :P The history of Walt Disney and “Alice” is actually pretty fascinating on its own, leaving the movie alone: this, alongside “Peter Pan,” was one of the first movies Walt wanted to make, and was actually considered for his first feature film, and then his second, way back in the 1930s. Ultimately, Walt went with “Snow White” for his first film, but he never gave up on “Alice.” It’s pretty clear that Walt loved the story, because even before the Disney film ever got put into development, he’d used Wonderland as the basis for several of his earlier works. There were the famous “Alice Comedies” he produced during the silent era, which were not so much directly based on the books so much as just inspired by them, but are still worth noting. Later there was one of the best Mickey Mouse cartoons ever made, in most people’s minds, “Thru the Mirror,” where Mickey goes through the Looking-Glass, dances with the Queen of Hearts, duels the King, and has to deal with a multitude of animated objects. Initial treatments of the “Alice” story were much darker and more surreal than the final product; most notable was a treatment of the film by artist David Hall, which has sort of become legendary amongst Carrollians and fans of Disney trivia and lost media alike. However, it wasn’t until artist Mary Blair came onto the project – and after World War II drew to a close – that Disney finally felt confident in making the movie. Interestingly, when the film finally came out in 1951, it was something of a disappointment: critical reactions were lukewarm, at best, and it underperformed at the box office. However, over the years – with subsequent re-releases and exposure through various forms of merchandising and rides at the parks – the film gained a bigger and grander following. Nowadays, “Alice” isn’t exactly considered a great Disney classic, but it’s definitely not considered a failure.

In fact, in some ways, one could argue it’s one of the single most influential Disney movies of all time. It was certainly influential on later renditions of the story: coming from somebody whose obsession with the Carroll classics is well known, I can say with certain fact that the Disney film is actually far more responsible for the public perception and love of Alice today than perhaps ANY other version of the stories, including the books. (The only other possible contender is the video game “American McGee’s Alice” and its sequel, “Alice: Madness Returns.” Incidentally, RIP “Alice: Asylum.” May flights of EA idiots sing thee to thy rest.) A lot of things in this film that weren’t in the books now seem to just be accepted as common knowledge: for example, the Cheshire Cat in the books was an ordinary orange or gray tabby cat. The popular purple-and-pink design you’ll find riffed on in some fashion throughout so many interpretations was ENTIRELY the invention of Disney; it never existed before them, to my knowledge. Similarly, characters and story elements that are in the books but WEREN’T in the Disney film tend to be forgotten, even if they’ve been used and reused in tons and tons of other adaptations: there are plenty of versions of the Duchess and the Gryphon out there, but since neither of them are in the 1951 movie (nor the 2010 feature made by Tim Burton, for that matter), most people forget they even exist.

Even beyond other versions of Alice, however, the film has had a huge impact on pop culture, and even Disney itself, than most other films in the canon. Heck, at Disneyland, right now, there are no less than four rides that all reference “Alice in Wonderland.” Four! And that’s not even counting any other shows or attractions, or even any of the other rides at other parks. Nor is it counting video games, nor the numerous other Alice reimaginings that have come out and in some way been influenced by the 1951 picture JUST from Disney’s vaults alone, nor the ABUNDANCE of merchandise – both official and fanmade – based on this one movie. It isn’t a film that has the depth of plot, character, and thematics as something like “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Lion King,” nor is it as historically important as movies like “Snow White,” but I think “Alice” makes up for it by just being fun. It’s a fun, weird, psychedelic ride through the wilds of the imagination, and really, that’s always been what “Alice” SHOULD be, at the end of the day. Really, given my love of the story, in general, the REAL question should be not why “Alice in Wonderland” ranks so highly for me…but why isn’t it even higher? All I can say is, perhaps the films that do rank above it will offer some explanation… The Top 5 are upon us! The countdown continues tomorrow with my 5th Favorite Disney Movie! HINT: It’s the Only Modern Movie on The Countdown.

[hologramcowboy]

The whole branding and social media thing is too confusing for me. If I am trying to be cast for a very much negative character - ie a pedophile or a psychopath - I need to refrain myself from posting good stuff in my personal sm and try to portray myself as a potential evil to make investors believe in me? 😶

I don’t know anything about Hollywood, but I have seen the most goofy person of the industry playing a devilishly psycho and rapist and giving a great hit in my country’s film industry. I have repeatedly seen a man maintaining absolutely normal family man image in social media and subsequently doing romantic hero, villain, tough police officer, comedy, drama or thriller all efficiently. That makes me think social media and PR image is for public, and not for insiders of industry- they have different team to play out that. I mean, if I maintain an image of romantic hero publicly and get cast in such roles only, won't I get typecast? And most importantly what is my credibility and efficiency as an actor if I cannot break myself over and over again and deliver all kind of roles?

Anon, at the beginning of your career and up until you reach top tier you will be typecast. In fact, the only way to get into the industry and work steadily is to typecast yourself based on your essence and then target buyers that need that character type. E.g. let's say you match the superhero vibe, that means your buyers are those who produce those types of shows/movies.

As you career advances and you rich top tiers, let's say you get promoted from recurring to series lead, as your brand becomes established now you have more leeway. You have the option of rebranding your materials to aim for your new desired tier. But, even then, you must be careful to stay faithful to your essence or you risk alienating your fanbase. By essence I don't mean past characters you've played. I mean what makes you YOU. If you are goofy then the way you play a lawyer is very different from how a serious, dark, moody man would and that's perfect. You are you. If your uniqueness centers on being able to be lighthearted and playful because that is who you are at the core then you will play different character in those main notes and you will be credible playing them.

Trying to be everything to everyone ensures failure. The only actors who can pull off a wide range are transformative actors like Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron, Jared Leto, for example, they can fully transform into a character due to intense studies, prep and using behavioral psychology. Unless you are at a tier where you are Tom Cruise famous, you will have to have a defined brand and character types that match your target goals. Once you reach the offer level of your career (meaning you get offered roles directly because you are an established, trustworthy professional and your name resonates in the industry), you get to have way more creative control but, cautiously, because as I've mentioned earlier, if something works, don't ruin it. Don't try to be something you are not. It will always backfire.

No actor is expected to deliver all kinds of roles, they are expected to realistically live the circumstances they get hired for and those will always be in line with their essence. Know who you are. Because who you are does not change. The character type might change, you might get called in as a doctor but your job is to deliver that role along with your uniqueness so your version of a doctor will match your essence and not be a general idea of what a doctor is like or a copy of what some actor actor is doing.

What you say you've seen is impossible. Most likely, the actor you are referring to is from a country where american actor branding does not apply OR you are missing the common thread in all of his roles and how it ties into his essence.

An actor's brand is his essence and under the umbrella of that brand are character types he can play, as I explained earlier. His look, physique and essence are well suited for certain characters so he gets cast as those. It has nothing to do with his family man image, unless that's his main type. All actors may post something about their family but how you do it needs to be inline with your brand or you dilute your image.

I'm really curious about this goofy actor who played a rapist. Which country was this and what is the name of that actor, most importantly, what is his look?

As for an actor social media, it is always, always, always geared at his buyers and goals unless said actor is clueless about his own industry. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that what actor present online is who they are in real life. They are maintaining an image and it is for PR purposes that they make certain posts. It is a part of their job. Their actual private profiles( if they have any because not all do) are not something you will ever be privvy to. An actor is a product and any smart actor knows this and carefully curates their online image.