#as opposed to a blank slate that people can project onto

[doggendoodle]

yeah, there's an increased reverence for canon nowadays. i've never been able to trace its roots but i'd 100% wager a lot of it comes from the misapplication of social justice to fandom, both in holding fanworks to the same standards as Professional Creators With Budgets and in acting as if fanworks have the same effect on society as said Professional Creators With Budgets

and then on top of that, the mid-2010s post-Dashcon era freakout that the internet had, where the first generation to be raised on the modern internet hit their teens and thus their "everything i liked as a child is cringe" phase, which a lot of people never really grew out of

and so because of that, tons of the less mainstream parts of fandom became "weird", and thus "cringe", and the teenaged internet couldn't be seen as "cringe"! sometimes things got mislabelled "problematic" by people who meant well but were misguided, sometimes people did it on purpose because they liked making people feel bad and it made it harder to retort

so on one hand, being invested enough in a show or game or book to ship characters that didn't have obvious chemistry became weird to do. god help you if you're invested in a ship you know would never happen but think would be fun to see. and not even god could help you if you shipped characters from different works

and on the other hand, shipping something "problematic" became seen as an endorsement of doing whatever problematic element it featured in real life. hence the numerous works that explicitly call themselves "enemies to lovers" but don't have the villain do anything bad because then it's harder to make the ship "unproblematic"

this is directly tied to the rise of irony poisoning, by the way. people deliberately putting little to no effort into creative works or "ironically" enjoying fan works with weird elements, because if you actually put work into it people might think - gasp! - you enjoy being in the fandom! and if someone does make something in earnest and it isn't polished to hell and back, there's none of that 2010 DeviantArt love and enjoyment, only detached irony and cruelty

and what this all means, i think, is that shipping strictly "canon" ships, or what the shipper thinks is going to be canon... is a defense mechanism. oh, i'm not cringe or overly invested in the show because obviously i'm going to be right about it. or, if i only ship characters the show already ships i won't get harassed by people who think i want the weird thing to happen

and to be clear: it is not a bad thing to ship canon ships! it is not a bad thing to ship something because you hope it will be canon. the issue is, i believe, tied to an increasing weight being placed on the intent of creators, on seeing their stated vision as the "correct" vision. and thus deriving one's own vision is seen as disrespect

"how can you ship [x] when [y] is clearly going to be canon" is such a completely nonsensical question to me that i often forget that this is genuinely how some people do fandom

[ratgrinders]

(this is kipperlillyforpresident) Hi. This is an insane thing to ask a person, but also I believe you are the best scholar for the job, so I will ask anyway: if Kipperlilly played Persona 5, do you think she would ship ShuAke?

Points in favor: homosexuality, the fact that it isn't canon would probably appeal to her brand of problems

Points against: She might hate Akira to begin with because of seeing his specialness as Unfair (why does this attic trash get to be the wildcard, huh?!?!), potential for her to want to self-ship with Akechi?

I'm unsure on this matter. I yield the floor to you.

Tumblr user kipperlilyforpresident, it is an honor 🙏

(wow this got longer and more rambly than i thought WHOOPS lol)

Before I answer I wanna go on a brief tangent and just say how SIMILAR Akechi and Kipperlily are. Legitimately, during that meeting at the food trucks where Brennan described Kipperlily as having a "polished steel ball of a personality", my first thought was to Akechi's detective prince persona and just how METICULOUS he is at presenting this perfect, pristine version of himself. They're both filled with violent, uncontrollable rage at the perceived unfairness of the world, they're both slightly murderous (it's okay I forgive them though), they're both extreme overachievers who nonetheless struggle with connections and making friends. Literally the main difference is just that (as I've seen you mention in tags) Akechi's rage all stems from his deadbeat father and the injustices he faced as a result while Kipperlily very explicitly DOESN'T have a tragic backstory. If these two met they would either be best friends or want to kill each other.

So going off of that, I just wanna say that I am both a kipperbees and shuake shipper, and the things that appeal to me about both ships are VERY similar. In kipperbees, like shuake, you got two people who at first seem diametrically opposed and irreconcilable; one side of the ship filled with extreme rage and jealousy at the other party but who is unwilling to admit that their rage stems from a very genuine place of wanting what the other person has, being unwilling to admit just how interesting they find the other person (it goes against their meticulous plans, it's counter to everything they believe) so they instead mislabel the feeling as hatred. The preppy, uptight overachiever who cares so much, and the person who seems to get it all (friends, success) without caring at all.

Going back to your original question, I think Kipperlily would latch on to Akechi hard if she ever played the game, both as a sort of self-insert fantasy ("he's like me but with the tragedy and cosmic importance I desperately crave") and spite (because this interesting character is still cast aside as an NPC in the grand crusade of the Phantom Thieves, he deserves justice and not death).

I think maybe at first she'd ship shuake as a sort of self-ship by proxy, believing (not that I agree) that the protagonist is a blank slate for you to project yourself onto. But I think ultimately she'd be unable to articulate just what about the ship is so appealing to her, because by subconsciously putting herself in Akechi's shoes, now she can imagine this scenario where someone understands her fully and still accepts her, someone who appeals to her competitive nature, someone who is opposed to her wrongdoing and thus subconsciously validates the internal strife she has over her own actions, but who will come back for her anyway because I think she, too, subconsciously wants to be saved from what she's been doing.

[dingodad]

how would quadrants work on beforus as opposed to alternia?

i dont have a singular solid answer to this because i think ultimately Beforus was left a blank slate that the reader can and will project different ideologies onto - many see it as equally malevolent to Alternia, i see it as innately benevolent - but i guess i have 2 ideas to add to the conversation.

1) that despite their differing purposes, Beforus just like Alternia operates as a well-oiled machine where every individual has their own position and purpose. so despite its distinctly less authoritarian bent, it makes sense that Beforus' quadrants would have a similarly utilitarian nature to Alternia's

and 2) Scratch didn't make anything on Alternia from whole cloth; everything on Beforus was in some way bent into a shape that better suit him. so no matter how different the quadrants might be on each planet, there should remain a kernel that is easily recognisable to us. (in much the same way matespritship is the "closest parallel" to what we call human love, or how what jack noir and the queen have going on is "a dead ringer" for kismesissitude. the general rule seems to be that the existence of these relationships are universal truths, even if the way they are used on Alternia may be peculiar to that situation).

so in that sense it's easy to see how moirallegience probably remained pretty similar across the scratch. the romantic ideal of moirallegience people tend to think of today, where trolls from different positions in the hemospectrum are able to directly benefit each other (i.e. a calming influence from a lower blood in exchange for physical protection from a higher), is even pretty similar to the existing social structure on Beforus as we understand it - though you could also argue that makes it somewhat redundant. (I guess this also depends on how much one chooses to buy into the idea of highbloods as naturally tending toward violence.)

kismesissitude is obviously a bit harder to imagine. while it's never been totally clear in what way Alternians benefit from the institution of kismesissitude, other than that it is somehow necessary for their form of reproduction (and it's not even totally clear this form of reproduction is the same on Beforus), we do have a pretty full picture of the caliginous quadrant's more cosmic purpose. it transforms the deeply mythical battle between protagonist and antagonist, hero and villain, green cherub and red cherub, into an intimately interpersonal relationship; it is storytelling-as-romance. it shares this systematic nature with moirallegience, so i certainly think it's something Beforans would be interested in as a practice. but how that practice realises itself, again, largely depends on what you see Beforus as like more broadly. do Beforans use kismesissitude in its most literal form, as a way of stamping down evil? (I have argued in the past that Beforus was probably a lot like the world of classic comic books, so this one is a fun possibility to me.) or maybe, in the absence of the kind of overt evils that define Alternia, Beforans use it to elevate lesser conflicts into a kind of performance?

a third factor to take into account could also be that what we know of Beforus largely comes as call-and-response to reader reactions to Alternia and its cast of characters. so in the same vein as my cutesy moirallegience suggestion above, maybe the Beforan version of the black quadrants is literally just the cutesy fanfic kismesissitude where an auspistice gets called in whenever it starts to look like it's going too far. (auspisticism is an interesting one to take into account because its entire existence on Alternia is predicated on the fact that kismeses love to cheat on each other. is pitch infidelity even an issue on Beforus on a remotely similar scale? again, this is a huge "depends" which might drastically alter how you approach this whole topic).

but that's my two cents :)

[omensgate]

nightcar

i Uhm didnt realize this was for that ask game

for THIS ask game. i assume. if not just take the damn car...

Sexuality Headcanon: see below Gender Headcanon: none gender left slugcat. this is true for like all of the slugcats, at most i have pronouns (they/it in this case) and like. for modern/anthro aus presentation (androgynous/fluid in this case) headcanons but i prefer to keep everything genderless A ship I have with said character: you know me .. error 404 truther. i like to headcanon sofanthiel and nightcat are the same character but that both are fractued across time and reality and so interact with each other like different people often. i like the philosophical implications of theoretically being the same individual while having lived totally different lives and occupying different spaces in the current moment thus meaning for all intents and purposes you are as different or as similar as any other two unhaunted individuals. sofanthiel as batshit insane and nightcat as reasonable is also a very fun dynamic. i am not opposed to nightcat/monk (cute!), nightcat/artificer (inexplicably endearing to me), or nightcat/saint (but i prefer that sofanthiel is there as well) A BROTP I have with said character: survivor and monk and nightcat i bet are good friends. gourmand too !! i love the migration cutscene <3 A NOTP I have with said character: i dont ... detest anything so this isnt a NO!!!!! situation, just a .. this is on the bottom of my hierarchy of acceptance but .. i am neutral at best to survivor/nightcat, i find .. my perception poisoned by popular media (not to make any statement on said media; its fine! just not my thing) A random headcanon: ive drawn it starry before but i like to imagine it only looks like that when healthy and active, otherwise it can turn its lights off and be normal black perhaps if it ever needed to hide or something General Opinion over said character: I REALLY REALLY REALLY like nightcat, obviously, adjacent to my love for sofanthiel. nightcats not on my list of favs in my pinned only because i consider it in the same bracket as sofanthiel and obviously i love sofanthiel. im REALLY obsessed with the narrative ive formed of the character in my head, the trope is my absolute favorite to indulge in. being trapped in a game and knowing it, living menial and traumatic lives again and again until it evens out into some normalcy... my most favorite blank slate ive projected onto and warped horrifically <3

[wikifuck]

Alejandro Ortega (he/him)

Overview

His true age is unknown but it is over a hundred, maybe two. Idk I haven't narrowed down what timescale this world works yet and I don't feel like lying to you or trying to talk around it. For the sake of a reference point, he was an adult by the time of the USian civil war (the first one, not the one brewing in 2024)

Alejandro, or Ali, is from my fantasy romance Puppylove.

He is charming and friendly but also knows how to be snarky and funny. He doesn't talk about himself much, instead preferring to learn everything about the people around him. This makes him appear mysterious, though he himself thinks he is completely normal. He is one of those people who like to make you feel heard and understood.

He follows laws and social rules to the letter, not necessarily the spirits. He likes staying low profile in conflicts but isn't completely opposed to playing dirty if that's needed. What matters to him the most is that his friends think he is good, not necessarily if he himself feels good about his actions. This means he may go against his own morals to appease others sometimes.

He was born in Spain but migrated to the states after being turned into a vampire.

Like this character? Read his story here! :)

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Genre :: Fantasy, Soft Romance

Mention of death

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Basic Information

Nicknames

❛ Ali ❜

Pronounced closer to "alley"

The humans in his life like to call him by this name affectionately. He has no feelings on the matter.

☯

Name

❛ Alejandro Ortega ❜

Ortega isn't his original family name. After he died he took the last name of his vampire mentor/father, Gore Ortega.

❛ Panadero ❜

It means 'baker' in Spanish, as he was the son of a baker. This name is one of the few things he remembers from his life before death, and if he is very honest with himself, he might even be remembering it wrong.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Birthday

He doesn't know

People haven't always felt the need to track the exact day and year a baby was born. He has a hunch it was around May, making him a Taurus, but even the decade is hazy in his memory.

☯

Age

~200

Since he died around the age of 20, his looks and brain chemistry have been stopped permanently at that age. He is as wise as anyone his age (though he is young for a vampire) but this is something he is self-aware of and mildly insecure about.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Gender

Cis male

☯

Sexuality

Gay

☯

Pronouns

He/him

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Personality

Overall Personality

I won't lie, Ali starts out as a rather passive character. This is a remnant of his origins as a blank slate for me to project onto. Over time he has acquired personality, but I'm still figuring out what gets him going. As I write this I'm realising that the first book mostly happens at him, and that is something I will be working on in future instalments.

Adventurous: Ali enjoys travel. He can't stay in one place for a long time, though this is speaking from the perspective of a vampire. He has friends all over the country and the world and so never lacks an excuse to get up and run off.

Luddite: Though he isn't very vocal about it, Ali judges others for relying on tech. Anything that isn't necessary is trash to him, especially if the designer lacked the common decency to make it appealing to look at!

Charismatic: Ali can get along with anyone. He is a social chameleon, being able to fit in anywhere. This is a blessing and a curse, since he can befriend people easily, but lacks a strong sense of identity. He is especially fast to befriend women, as his soft looks and equally pleasant demeanour make people feel safe and unintimidated.

Family-oriented: Though he has some commitment issues, a contradiction in his nature is this: he yearns for connection and safety through having a robust safety net. His worst fears are all related to losing friends and the influence that they bring, and so he spends a lot of time with the upkeep of his social network. He is very much an extrovert.

Natural cook: Ali loves cooking, it has been his preferred art form since childhood. Sadly, after becoming a vampire he lost his ability to taste his own creation, but it hasn't stopped him. He has become great at interpreting the reactions of others to his food, and even if he can't smell or taste anything, he can instantly know if he used too little or too much spice.

Mysterious: Ali struggles to speak what doesn't need to be spoken - or what he thinks doesn't need to be spoken. Since he likes to blend in socially, he is always sucking in influences from others, and this can get tricky when it comes to toxic ways to express oneself. Or rather, not express oneself. There is nothing wrong with preferring to talk about others more than yourself, but if it crosses over to never expressing your worries, or that expressing causing a lot of anxiety, it should probably be looked at. His father is bad at talking about his feelings, and even though Ali was an adult when he met Gore, he has spent a lot of time around the man and so has inherited his bad coping mechanisms. If one could get them to speak of their feelings between each other, that would constitute a miracle.

Ali has learned one thing from spending so much time around the rich and powerful: Never ever speak your true thoughts around them. At first, Ali isn't great at advocating for change. He knows things are wrong and would prefer to wait until things boil over. It takes him finding affirmation of his feelings for him to start acting on his thoughts.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Love Language

Since he likes to cook, a passive perk of being his friend is that he will cook for you a lot, but this isn't necessarily how he shows affection. He enjoys physical touch, and quality time is his close 2nd favourite.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Brain

Trauma, plenty of it. I mean, he is old and a member of a minority.

Oh, and plenty of daddy issues.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Habits

Other characters remark at times that he tends to gravitate toward befriending women over anyone else. This isn't a good or bad thing, just an observation that he may later ponder about himself.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Coping strategy

Silence and conformity: though he thinks he is good at it, coping isn't one of his strong suits. He tolerates better than copes. And he is also just as bad at telling when others need to change their unhealthy ways. A bit of a "live and let die" thing he has going on mutually between his friends.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Fears

Losing social connections and security through those connections.

Most of the time this is a passive worry. As a sociable extrovert, he orients his life around people and usually doesn't have to worry about losing friends.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Flaws

Insecurity: Ali knows that his father's treatment of him is wrong, but since he has never had anyone agree on that, he has largely let it slide. Fetcher is the first person to give him hope that he isn't just being a sensitive little snowflake for nothing.

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Appearance

Overall Appearance

(can you tell I used Sims 3 to make this?)

Cute, sound face and milky white eyes. By the end of Puppylove he has facial burn scars. (not pictured, I can't figure out how to draw)

He has short hair with an accent of pink mixed in that he is rather proud of. (not pictured)

He is 167cm tall, in fairly good shape for someone of his age, heh, and way stronger than he looks.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Beast form

All vampires can turn into a bat, older vampires into a swarm. However, this is not the same as shifting, though I have not figured out the exact difference. To shifters, it is a life state, while to vampires it is a mere vehicle.

Ali is a young vampire, so he can only turn into a single bat. He uses this form to travel long distances fast and to hide in little holes to sleep the day away.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Tattoo's

None, because he is too classy and old-fashioned for that. Over time his views may change on this.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Piercings

During the 60's he acquired ear piercings. His collection is minimal, currently just a pair of small gold rings. Having his ears pierced was an act of rebellion, but he has since grown to enjoy the way it makes him look, though he still takes them off for formal events and when meeting older vampires. He claims this is out of respect, it really isn't. He doesn't respect those people at all.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Clothing Styles

He enjoys a good pattern. His wardrobe is minimal since he lives out of his suitcase, so he wears simple and easy-to-style clothes.

His favourite colour is green.

Would he wear a dress?

Never.

Does he wear makeup?

No.

Everyday style

A green flannel shirt and jeans.

Cold weather

I don't even know if he feels cold yet. He wears some warm-looking clothes in a minimal style to not look out of place.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Species

Vampire

He is a vampire of human origin, hence he is a pretty basic bitch. Burns in the sun, undead, drinks blood, super strength. He has no sense of smell or taste. If he were to eat something other than blood it would pass through like fiber in humans.

There are more complicated Shofter vampires who retain their shifter form. The good side of this is that if theyhave thick fur, these guys can go into the sun for a little bit. Ali's vampire mentor/father is one, a borzoi.

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Culture

High class, aristocratic, white, colonialist, passively racist and sexist etc. Think of real life but with an extra Victorian flare.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Religion

None

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Language

English is his second language, his mother tongue being Spanish. He speaks both in an old-timey style, not because he doesn't know how to modern slang, but because he is stubborn and likes feeling fancy. His understanding of modern things is actually very high level.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Setting

Though distinct from Earth in many ways, the planet Puppylove takes place in is based on/inspired by it. Things like countries and languages are roughly the same, though not exactly. The time period is not yet clear but it's roughly speaking contemporary.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Location

He was born in Spain a long time ago, was raised there until he was 20 and then he met Gore, his mentor. Gore offered that in exchange for Ali coming with him, his family would be uplifted from the small-time merchants they were into a wealthy family. This is how he ended up in the US.

He doesn't have a permanent residence, though he owns many properties. He travels a lot and has gifted most of them to friends and families he patronizes. As immortals, vampires sometimes befriend families and check on them every lifetime or so. This is called patronizing.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Occupation

Full-time pest on society: landlord and business owner. He is rather hands-off with his money ventures and only pokes his head in occasionally or when things are going wrong.

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Relationships

Familial relationships

Gore Ortega, adoptive father

These two barely get along. Recently, as in 80 years ago, Ali got sick of his father's shit and decided to venture out on his own. Before this, he acted as the man's henchman and was treated for a long time more like a pet than a real human being. Is that because the guy is racist or because he is just a shit father? Yes.

His biological family is long dead and he remembers very little about them.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Friends

Tilly Mazie

Supporting character in Puppylove. An energetic teenager who got wrapped in supernatural and family drama. Tilly has known Ali for only a month, yet she already feels like he is family. While the feeling isn't mutual, Ali appreciats her and though he had to leave town in a hurry, he will be sure to check up on her in a timeframe that a witch would find appropriate.

He has numerous friends and acquaintances whom he keeps close contact with.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Partners

Chewy Fetcher Bree, boyfriend

Brand new boyfriend and the man he fell in love with in less than a month, the weirdo. Fetcher is something refreshingly new in Ali's life: someone to affirm he isn't crazy. Fetcher is supportive toward him and he is in turn to Fetcher. They haven't discussed their relationship yet, and Fetehr is under the impression they are open, while Ali isn't quite sure what to do.

ஓ๑♥๑ஓ

Enemies

None

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[sixty-silver-wishes]

So I need to talk about my "Caligari" interpretations in a long-form ADHD ramble

If you've seen my blog, you're probably aware I am Completely Normal about the 1920 film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." And this is one of those films that has been analyzed to hell and back, so if you're a dork like me, you've probably heard these interpretations in some form or another before. But I really want to talk about the angle in which I see it, and I hope I can bring something new to the table here. Again, this is just my own interpretation, and if you interpret it differently, that's completely fine! I'd be curious to hear your comments though; I love discussing this film. So the first thing about this film I want to point out is that to me, the main theme is trauma. (This will obviously be discussed at length in this post, so CW for themes of this and abuse, including in the psychological and sexual sense.) There's certainly something to be said in the parallels between the specific traumas of the postwar era and the plotline and characters, but I want to specifically talk about this theme from a psychological perspective, as opposed to a historical one. (If you're interested in some other analyses that go more in depth when it comes to the aftermath of WWI, I can recommend those in "The many faces of Weimar cinema: Rediscovering Germany's filmic legacy," edited by Christian Rogowski.)

So, one thing I noticed is especially prominent is the theme of projection. Francis, of course, is mentally insane, and casts his fellow inmates at the asylum in various roles in the story of the film. At the most obvious level, he is projecting his own psychological pain onto these other people, assigning them various roles that, outside his mind, they do not play, at least in the same way he envisions them. Like in his mind, Jane seems to show some attraction to Francis, but denies him, believing herself to be a queen unable to reciprocate his feelings. "Caligari" is the asylum director both inside and outside of Francis' mind, although outside of it, his intentions are left to interpretation, as opposed to being clearly malevolent. And like in Francis' mind, "Cesare" does not seem to possess any agency, but is decidedly less of a threat.

What's really interesting about the character of Cesare is that projection and trauma seem to take on multiple layers with him. Francis sees this "blank slate" character holding the flowers at the end as a threat, and within his mind, Cesare takes on a dual role of both an aggressor and a victim, both by the plot and by the way he's filmed. This can draw interpretive parallels in how some people who have experienced trauma may see themselves; both self-loathing and self-pity are common responses to surviving a traumatic event, particularly abuse (which Cesare is clearly implied to have undergone; Caligari's journals imply non-consensual experimentation to bring him to a state in which he is able to "commit acts abhorrent to him". Plus he literally keeps him in a box). When we find out that Caligari's goal of controlling him is to "become Caligari," it becomes clear that he is projecting his own desires onto Cesare, going as far as to rename him in order to suit his own desires and completely erase whatever identity he may have had. We never get to know "Cesare's" original name, adding to the idea that this character only exists to be a vessel for whatever Caligari (and by extension, Francis) needs him to be.

From another interpretive angle, we see an abusive homosocial relationship bordering on eroticism between him and Caligari, who, in addition to violating his body and mind by controlling him without his consent, frequently touches him while he's asleep, and feeds him in an unconscious state. He completely transforms him in order to suit his own desires, despite the fact that, according to his own journals, murder would be "abhorrent" to Cesare in a waking state. This method of complete control and obsession with "becoming Caligari" highlights an interesting aspect that can be interpreted from Caligari's character, which is insecurity, which he may deflect through dominance over others, whatever form it may take.

There's much to be said about the character of Caligari and insecurity, and surprisingly, I don't think I've seen this interpretation analyzed too often. When we first see him, Caligari is ridiculed by the town clerk, whom he later sends Cesare to kill. He maintains a degree of authority as the asylum director, wielding power over people who aren't in the mental capacity to oppose him (Cesare included). The idea of "becoming Caligari" may very well appeal to someone insecure with violent tendencies, as in this position, he has the power to kill anyone he wants, albeit indirectly, and through the use of controlling someone else. (Side note- I haven't been able to find if this was intentional or not, but with his hat on, Krauss' Caligari is pretty much exactly as tall as Veidt's Cesare. If it was intentional, this was a brilliant costume design choice, as it implies how desperate he is for complete control, to the point of pettiness.)

While much has been said about Caligari and authority, and what Francis' mental state implies on the matter, it should be said that the asylum director doesn't know what's going on in Francis' head, even when he says he knows how to "cure" him. This might also imply that even if he is a benevolent authority figure he's still at best incompetent when it comes to "curing" Francis, which I believe contradicts the interpretation that the film is pro-authority through use of the frame story.

Speaking of authority, many of the central characters are in paradoxical positions in which they simultaneously possess and lack it. While Francis imagines himself to be a rebel against authority (the director/Caligari), in his mind, he has the police and Jane's father on his side. Jane, meanwhile, imagines herself to be in a position of authority as a queen, but cannot "follow the path of her heart," and is in a primarily passive position in Francis' mind. Caligari must show deference to the town clerk, but even he is subject, ironically, to Cesare's ability to play that role. If he doesn't have a "Cesare," he can't "become Caligari," and therefore is dependent on him.

So, I haven't talked about Alan yet. What's interesting about Alan (if you don't watch the sinful dumpster fire that is the 2005 version) is that despite being the catalyst to the story and of extreme importance to Francis, we don't see him in the asylum at all. Some people interpret Alan as someone from Francis' past, even possibly someone he killed (leading Francis to the asylum in the first place), but I think Alan's innocence, death, and role as the catalyst of the story may lead him to be interpreted as a manifestation of Francis' own innocence before a traumatic event. Alan's questioning when he's going to die is often regarded as rather odd, but considering how traumatic events can sometimes be associated with flashbulb memories, Alan receiving a specific time of how long he has to live may line up with the concept of the specific details of this trauma being burned into Francis' mind. It's also interesting that Caligari/Cesare specifically target both Alan and Jane, the two people Francis cares about. However, in the asylum, it's revealed that Francis' close relationships with both Alan and Jane are not present; Jane, while perhaps confessing her love, rejects him, and Alan is nowhere to be seen.

The last thing I want to bring this tangent to is whatever was going on in the kidnapping scene. There's a lot of interpretations here too because it's not exactly clear what's going on here, but I have a few takes on it. So, the main interpretation I keep seeing is that Cesare doesn't kill Jane because he's romantically and/or sexually attracted to her, which opens up plenty of consequential interpretations assuming that's the case, particularly about him exerting sexual violence. To be honest, that interpretation doesn't sit right with me, considering how, as I said earlier, he himself seems to undergo something akin to sexual abuse, if not literally so. There can, of course, be interpretations of how the cycle of abuse may lead victims to perpetrate abuse themselves, and that Cesare himself was projecting his own trauma in this scene onto someone else who was as vulnerable as he was, but I think this scene can be interpreted in a number of different ways that don’t necessarily lead to this conclusion. For one, his refusal to kill Jane is the only time we see Cesare exhibit any form of free will or defiance. However, kidnapping her may not have been a conscious choice, as he startles when she wakes up; he may have had a moment approaching lucidity and was thrown back into a conditioned state. Either way, the most intriguing thing about this scene is that it demonstrated that, at least in Francis' mind, Cesare is capable of conscious thought and the ability to defy orders (as well as a basic understanding of mortality). This adds a degree of dimension to this otherwise extremely static character, signifying that, in the world of Francis' delusion, he could hypothetically recover from whatever state Caligari brought him into. I also feel that interpreting his refusal to kill as a conscious decision, rather than a biological impulse of attraction (that, granted, not all of us feel), allows for the potential of him to be an actual character with an identity, rather than just a vessel, is simply more intriguing, as it implies he would be capable of conscious thought and therefore character development. (I may also be projecting my dislike of the trope where sexual attraction makes one “human” as an asexual person, but I digress.) Furthermore, I also fond it interesting to interpret him as acting out of empathy; both he and Jane are primarily placed in passive roles, but are also punished by the narrative for attempting autonomy. Jane goes to investigate her father’s disappearance and take an active role in the story, which leads to her getting kidnapped, and Cesare is able to defy orders to the point of refusing to kill, but this results in him getting hunted down by a mob and collapsing- if not dead (Caligari doesn’t even check for a pulse when his body is brought in!), then unconscious, possibly from overexhaustion.

So, those are (most of) my thoughts. I have a lot more, but this post is long enough as it is. I'd be interested to hear your own!

[nachobsns]

i hope my input is allowed as someone who did buy into this until very recently (i fortunately woke up and am trying to be more Normal About Jews, thank god) but that’s exactly what it is. you really don’t think through it critically, it’s just what everyone you look up to is saying, so now it’s what you say, too, because these are Good People and Adults, so they must know what they’re talking about (of course, they are also receiving manipulated and inaccurate information, but you don’t think about this- you take their credibility for granted). any opposing evidence is secondary and can either be discarded as “zionist propaganda” or molded to fit the narrative you’re selling. because the thing is, you’ve already made up your mind, and you are constantly reinforced by everyone around you, so it doesn’t *matter* what anyone else says to refute you. they’re just genocidal liars, anyway, and you don’t know them like you know the people selling the narrative to *you,* so why should you trust them?? of course there’s a great amount of ingrained cultural antisemitism involved in this whole movement, but i think it’s also a symptom of the wider trend towards moral puritanism that’s taken the online left by storm in the past few years. people preach nuance, but they crave an easy black-and-white situation where they can prove their Inherent Goodness by Sticking It To The Man, and this conflict is the perfect blank slate for white liberal westerners, many of whom couldn’t even point out gaza on a map last year, to project their savior fantasies onto and absolve themselves of generational american guilt. paradoxically, i also wonder how many of these people don’t *truly* believe everything they scream about— there’s a mutual unspoken understanding in these spaces that Nuance Is Not Allowed, and anyone who tries to acknowledge a shred of complexity around the topic is shunned and verbally keel-hauled (i mean, i know i’m preaching to the choir here, but the level of vitriol directed at jews for simply existing online is something that i and most of the goyishe propal “activists” have never experienced, so many of them see cowardice as “safer” than the consequences for speaking out). i know when i was with them, i was never fully on-board with endorsing hamas, but i would still reblog “glory to the resistance” and “oppressed people have the right to violence” bullshit, simply because it was easier than explaining why i wasn’t. in short, basically everything weemie said— it’s cult mentality, full stop, and any attempts at critical thinking are met with outrage and accusations of “impurity”.

I am making this in good faith and I genuinely want an answer, ideally from someone who believe this.

With the current information we have, why do people insist Israel is committing a genocide?

South Africa is trying to extend the deadline to find evidence of genocide to present in their court case against Israel. Israel also makes efforts to minimize civilian casualties like warning before they attack and try to get as many people to evacuate as they can before they move to an area.

Under international law, hamas occupying hospitals and schools means that they are no longer protected areas and in those places, any civilian casualties caused by reasonable force are attributed to hamas and therefore don't count towards evidence of genocide.

Death toll doesn't automatically equal genocide as there has to be intent for it to count as one.

We can all agree that Israel has committed war crimes and even if they didn't, what is happening is utterly terrible.

So why insist on it being a genocide instead of a terrible war? Why can't it be a massive tragedy without it being called a genocide?

And I know I'll get certain comments from other jews so I'll make it explicitly clear, I'm not talking about antisemites who call it a genocide because they want a socially acceptable excuse to hate jews, I'm talking about people who are not antisemitic and call it a genocide

[britishassistant]

I have 0 idea what Night Raven collage is and what series its from and every time I see the names Ace and Deuce I think Spade Pirates not anyone else and it makes me very confused, so explain... please. I'm tried of not understanding the stuff your writing about, because I want to read more of your stuff... mostly about Mayu but I'm willing to branch out if I understand what the frick is going on.

Night Raven College + Ace and Deuce are part of the Twisted Wonderland fandom!

Disney’s Twisted Wonderland is a Japanese mobile game with rhythm-based gameplay! It has a gacha system to collect and train characters not unlike Fate and Obey Me! Shall we Date? if you’re familiar with either of those! If not, don’t worry because that’s not essential to the enjoyment of the story!

All elements of the story are highly inspired by classical animated Disney villains and movies, with the main influences drawn from Alice in Wonderland, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Snow White, Hercules, and Sleeping Beauty.

Most characters are based off the villains from these stories in some way, even if they’re henchmen or minor characters— Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade are based off of (also referred to as “twisted from”) the card soldiers who paint the roses red in Alice in Wonderland. On the other hand, the characters in the coffins up there, known as the dorm heads, are all based off of the main villains from each of those movies—except for Kalim on the far left. He’s based on the Sultan in Aladdin rather than Jafar for story purposes.

The story is basically as follows: the gender-neutral main character (who’s default name is Yuu or “you”) wakes up in a coffin to a monster cat trying to steal their clothes so he can attend magic school. This leads the main character to discover that they are in this magic school, Night Raven College, in another world, Twisted Wonderland, despite having no magic themselves and now can’t get home to our world. Twisted Wonderland is also odd because our Disney movies appear to be local folklore and legends there, but with a twist— the characters we think of as villains in the above seven movies are revered for being great or heroic beings, to the point where Night Raven College was founded in their name and the students try to emulate their qualities.

The headmaster dumps the main character in an abandoned haunted building on campus, and through a series of shenanigans, discovers that Yuu is really, really good at getting the wizards of this magic school to listen to them and follow their orders. This makes the wizards much more likely to win battles against far more powerful magical opponents than they would otherwise, such as those suffering from Overblot. Overblot is what happens when a wizard uses too much magic too quickly or gets too stressed with no outlet— the waste from magic use/negative feelings becomes an ink-like substance that transforms them into a monster, and they can only be saved by beating them up before that waste consumes them entirely.

The headmaster allows Yuu and their monster cat known as Grim to stay on as one student while he searches for a way to send Yuu home, because Grim has the magic while Yuu has the opposable thumbs. Yuu is given the title of “Prefect” or “Supervisor” because they’re supposed to make sure Grim doesn’t get into too much trouble at school.

From there the story is a series of formulaic episodes based around each of the seven movies: there will be a problem in/because of one of the dorms, Yuu will begin having semi-prophetic dreams about the movie the dorm is based on while trying to fix said problem, the key figure causing the problem who is based on the villain from that movie will have a breakdown and overblot, Yuu directs people to beat them up and save the day by giving them a Naruto-style “be a good guy now” speech. However, the writing and dialogue keep every episode fresh and make it easy to get genuinely invested in the characters and the story each time!

Because “Yuu” is intended to be a blank slate for the player to project onto, there are lots of different readings and versions of the character running around! My version is basically what I think would happen if Yuu themselves were a lot more concerned about how they got to this school and why everyone is turning into super powerful monsters that they can barely survive facing because they have no magic, with a lot of investment in figuring out how to stop the latter so they don’t die to their classmates. I tend to base their character off of traits seen in villainess otome manga and manhwa like Destruction Flag Otome and Beware the Villainess which are my guilty pleasures and which I feel fits the whole “villain” element of the Twisted Wonderland story.

If you’re interested, ShelBB has a translation of the game up on youtube to watch! Thank you for taking an interest and wanting to come along on this journey with me, despite following me for other stuff!!

[bexical]

April ‘21

Okay, monthly updates. I can do this.

I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month! I mentioned last time that I wanted to do a rewite of Soul, and I decided to try to focus on that this month. I hear that finishing projects (as opposed to 1: getting distracted by side projects and 2: forever striving for ‘perfect’ as opposed to actually 'completed’) is an important skill to practice and develop, and I figured this was a good way to do so.

Of course, a little more than a week in and I don’t think I’m doing quite what I set out to do. I did work on it for a bit and make some good progress, but then I got distracted and returned to Fireflower for a bit (I’ve got a fun fight scene I’m working on - first fight scene I’ve actually sat down and written since I started taking MMA classes. The emotions in one particular scene in Raya and the Last Dragon have been perfect inspiration also). Then I picked up a draft of a poem I’d started some time ago - and while working on a stanza for that, I conceived a whole new poem. So much for practicing focus and finishing projects :P

That’s not entirely true though. I did actually finish that second poem (or a…sixish-th draft of it?) - if I’m feeling courageous, I’ll post that soon.

What else is new…

I’ve discovered how much I love writing on pen and paper, especially outside in the sunlight. It’s tricky - my body does a shit job at staying warm when I’m not moving so I get very cold sitting there, and when I’m out I don’t have wifi to stream music beyond what I’ve downloaded onto my phone - but it really is such a nice feeling. It’s not just that I’m more free of distraction (though that certainly helps) - there’s also the way scribbling the words feels that is… different, somehow from typing. (I don’t know the word to describe the difference. For some reason, my brain has descended upon the word 'vistruously’, which is of course not a real word. the word was VISCERALLY. figured it out the next day =P)

I’ve also been playing Disco Elysium - i.e. I played it with a friend, then decided to purchase it myself and play through it again in French to practice the language. It’s actually really great for practicing a language, since you can switch the text between two languages instantly, allowing you to compare the text easily. (Unfortunately, it doesn’t have Japanese, which I’d also love to practice with Disco Elysium. Alas.) One fun aspect is how the characters aren’t the most clean-mouthed, which means I get to see how people curse in French: I’ve learned the equivalent of 'fuck’, which is 'putain’ (transliterates to 'whore’) and sadly does not seem to partake in expletive infixation to the same extent as 'fuck’, if at all. The favorite French thing I’ve learned though is probably the translation of “Have you found anyone to be sweet to?”, which is “Avez-vous trouvé chaussure à votre pied?”, which in turn transliterates to “Have you found a shoe for your foot?”

Beyond the use it provides in language learning, I of course have thoughts about the game that I’ll hopefully write up and post here soon. One thought in particular is that it’s a really interesting way to tell a story. To briefly describe the game: it’s an RPG, playing a specific character (as opposed to a fairly generic blank slate). Your skills are customizable but are still personalized to the character: the best example is probably Inland Empire, a skill that reveals the inner workings of the character’s imaginations and fears. I really like how the skills interact with each other: while they are all a part of you, they’re separate parts of you and they argue with each other fairly often. Obviously, since they disagree on occasion, they can also be wrong on occasion: a fun lesson the game reminds you of is that succeeding a skill check does not always mean success in a more conventional sense.

So, in a return to the first topic of this post: I’ve thoroughly failed at not getting distracted with new projects by deciding I’d like to write my own game with similar concepts. Tentatively titled Dreamscape Fantasia (so while the game design may be a ripoff of DiscoE, the name is clearly a ripoff of Planescape Torment, a D&D game considered to be the spiritual predecessor to DiscoE =P), the game would focus on the exploration of the main character. DiscoE does of course explore the main character (that’s the whole point of personalizing the skill system to this character, after all), but DreamscapeF would do so more explicitly: as the title suggests, it would take place in the dreams of the main character, with events being far more abstract and with little to no extrinsic storyline.

I’ll likely develop it a bit then leave it alone for a while - I want to get the basics down while the idea’s fresh with inspiration from DiscoE, but then I want to focus on existing projects (hi Fireflower, I haven’t forgotten you). There’s also the question of feasibility… I’d ideally want to hire people for the art/music to fully deliver on the concept, which is of course technically doable - it just (significantly) ups the difficulty on a number of levels.

Nevertheless, it’s a fun project I’ve got going in my head. And that’s all for now - pce out til next time!

[deniigi]

I have a writing question; how do you consistently keep a storyline? I get too caught up in details or dialogue and then research, and I start losing interest/disliking what I've come up with because I've got too much detail but no plot to follow. If you have any ideas on how to combat this I would appreciate it!

another writing question!

There are two immediate ways to go about this to my eyes:

1. Stop writing and scrap the piece. Start over with a blank slate and give it another shot, this time with a bit of a looser eye towards things. (Your set up might not be working or you might be veering off topic or into too much detail here, so give yourself another go with less harsh boundaries this time!)

2. Stop researching and start doing.

I know in our current world, it can be really tempting to want to know everything about something before writing about it, but that isn’t always necessary for you or your audience.

As authors, our job isn’t necessarily to represent reality as it is, but more of what reality feels like in a particular moment/situation.

Having an idea about how something might actually feel as opposed to all its mechanics sometimes helps me get back on track when I start losing interest, so like, if I’m writing a scene about someone taking a walk or having a drink or something, I’ll go out and take a walk or have a special drink and, in that moment, really try to pick apart what I’m feeling so that I can then think about how my character works through that situation later when I write it.

(Is this mindfulness? I feel like this is some kind of mindfulness. If it’s mindfulness that is allegedly just good for your brain generally, so maybe do it anyways??)

Anyways that kind of thing makes things fun because you then know for sure what you’re writing about!

The other thing I would say here is to try writing about something you already know really well! For example, I wrote about Peter going through grad school because I myself have been through grad school and boy howdy did we do some weird/fun shit that I think people would laugh at.

I’m sure you have something that you know a whole lot about. Maybe having your characters do that would be a really fun and interesting thing for you to write about since you already have a good knowledge base of it and so won’t have to spend all your creative time googling/researching minute details. (I also love when people do this because it results in super interesting, super original work where you can really see the author’s personality and experience. I love that! I know some folks might not, but I would much rather read about someone projecting their off-the-wall interest with hand-dyed yarn or whatever onto a character than using the same, well-worn tropes over and over)

Setting yourself up with a far more simple plot that you expect might also help by giving you more creative room to play around in. So like, your plot can be something as ‘so-and-so learns to cook and gets mad along the way.’

That might help you relax a bit and enjoy more of the filling in of the scenes while you write so it doesn’t feel so much like a slog.

I dunno if any of that helps you anon, but I’d give maybe one or two of those things a try?

Best of luck!

[sibyl-of-space]

Finished a binge re-play of Ocarina of Time (3D) for the first time in a very, very long time. Long-winded thoughts below.

Disclaimer: I played the original n64 version (red blood Ganondorf and all) ad NAUSEUM as a kid. It was by far in my top 3 most-played video games, and if you all know me you know that I don’t play a lot of video games, I play the same few over and over and over and become obsessed with them. As such, OoT is not new to me. I also played the 3D version once before, but it was over the course of several years when I was in college and that was a no-lens-of-truth run for the heck of it. I have not touched either since though, so this is the freshest eyes I’ve had on the game since I was probably about 6-7 years old seeing it for the first time. Do keep in mind though that I already knew virtually all the easter eggs and secrets and story and progression and had a vague recollection of the vast majority of dungeon concepts/puzzles before going in, because this game was my entire world for many formative years.

This game has really excellent dungeons. I ranked them below because I was inspired by my friend ML’s ranking (in fact a desire to rank them myself is what caused me to binge replay this in the first place), but honestly I found all of them engaging. My least favorite was ice cavern but even ice cavern has a really cool atmosphere and an interesting concept, it’s just a bit tedious and bottle management gameplay is not particularly fun to me.

1. Spirit Temple - unlike Shadow which uses invisible walls as a mechanic to trick you, Spirit subverts every single mechanic and puzzle you've encountered so far to really throw you. It's extremely clever. The ambience and overall design is also just excellent.

2. Forest Temple - gameplay wise it is fine but as the first adult temple it REALLY sets the scale and tone for the latter portion of your adventure; the vibe in this temple is just so fucking cool. The sacred forest meadow honestly does come off as sacred, ancient, and haunted but in an ethereal way as opposed to a spooky way. Ooh, I love it.

3. Ganon's Tower - the concept is excellent and the execution is solid, the medallion portion is interesting but the gauntlet up to Ganondorf with increasingly loud organ music and hallways filled with bats and just cool fights and great atmosphere makes this one of the sickest final dungeons I can think of. I was starting to be like "eh maybe the medallion rooms are a bit underwhelming" and then I got hit with the fakeout room in Light that just won me over with how cheeky it was. All the medallion rooms felt a bit like Spirit temple with how they played with expectations, which (ironically?) made the spirit portion actually the least good.

4. Gerudo Fortress - I'm counting mini dungeons and the whole espionage thing is just SO much fun. Break into a thieves’ hideout, jump across rooftops and shoot people with your bow to sneak past them?? WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE?????

5. Water Temple - okay I gotta say this replay really sold me on water temple. It's a cool concept and a fantastic atmosphere, and 3DS quality of life changes (boot swap ease of access + very clearly visually marked water level change rooms) made me actually thoroughly enjoy playing it. Also Dark Link is rightfully hailed as one of the coolest, if not the coolest, miniboss(es) in the game, so extra points there.

6. Bottom of the Well - Shadow's invisible wall mechanic is much more interesting when you can't see through them and everything is a potential trap. Falling down to the basement does get frustrating but that room where you light torches to open coffins and a FLOATING GIBDO EMERGES makes up for it, holy crap. Shadow Temple is underwhelming because Bottom of the Well already did what it tries to do but better.

7. Dodongo's Cavern - hey man I like blowing up dinosaurs this dungeon is just solid 0 complaints

8. Fire Temple - Fire Temple is also solid I just a) am so used to the original music that this version feels empty and lacking atmosphere by comparison, and b) find the above temples cooler. Shout out to dragon whack-a-mole boss fight though.

9. Shadow Temple - this suffers from being the only temple I really had completely memorized (I think my weenie friends* must have made me beat it for them as kids) so playing it this time was really just going through the motions; it didn’t get the chance to win me over because I remembered all of it and nothing particularly stuck out to me as being super clever. The boat ride, however, is sick as hell.

(*disclaimer: I was also a weenie. Shadow Temple scared the absolute pants off of me. But I clearly played it enough times that the entire thing was etched into my memory regardless, so.)

10. Deku Tree - does its job as tutorial dungeon, nice atmosphere, thats about all there is to say.

11. Jabu-Jabu's Belly - redeeming feature is using Ruto as a projectile. Throwing her at the ceiling switches will never not be hilarious. Honestly not a bad dungeon, merely gross and I like the other ones better.

12. Ice Cavern - I used to dread Ice Cavern; this time around I just found it tedious. The atmosphere is successful - it really feels cold and chilling - but not appealing enough to make up for it being dull and kind of annoying. Has the potential to be really cool if the blue fire were used in a more interesting way than “fill your bottles and dump them elsewhere.”

BUT, I feel it would be a complete disservice to my younger self and my younger self’s reasons for playing this game so much, if I focus completely on dungeons and disproportionately on gameplay in a review. Because while gameplay is a huge reason I kept going back to it (hard to want to go back to a game if it isn't fun to play), that’s not what made me love it so much, and a replay has given me fresher eyes to enjoy everything else it has to offer.

Ocarina of Time creates a world and a story that I deeply cared about, and revisiting as an adult, I find if anything I have more take-aways than I did previously. I have always really enjoyed coming-of-age narratives when done well, and this is a coming-of-age narrative done REMARKABLY well. You see dumb bratty kids doing dumb bratty kid things and then see the mature people they’ve grown into 7 years later; the game does not make the mistake of projecting a personality onto a voiceless protagonist, but it does imply a narrative arc for him (and you) regardless just through how strong and cool and awesome you get by the end and all the rad shit you’ve accomplished over the course of the game. It manages to very, very successfully make its story about other characters who DO have personalities, but also make you as the blank slate mc cool guy hero very much have a part in that story that feels very earned and satisfying.

Link doesn’t have a personality. You can project whatever the hell you want onto him or nothing at all. Ocarina of Time makes that *work*, because it doesn’t try to frame him as either ~adult in a child’s body~ or ~child in adult’s body~, it just lets you experience the literal growth from a kid who has to jump to reach ledges and has to thwack things twice with a slingshot and tiny sword, to an adult who can LAUNCH MASSIVE PILLARS INTO THE AIR and one-shot previously difficult enemies, and interpret that however you will. I think the most powerful example of this is going back in time again after doing several adult temples, and entering the bottom of the well, where you see enemies you’ve previously only encountered as an adult, and feel confident that you can tackle them as a child, too.

I really love these kinds of narratives. Where the growth of the main character is purely in the sense of you as the player becoming more adept and stronger, and the context of the story makes that mean something, but the game doesn’t try and pretend the avatar itself has a 3-dimensional personality.

I also think the balance between narrative and gameplay is excellent once it hits its groove. The beginning is very hand-holdy (Navi taught me how to open a door after I had already opened a door elsewhere because she’s scripted to do it at a specific door even though you can technically get to a later one first. lol), and I very firmly believe that with Saria’s Song as a device that lets you seek advice when you want to, it is completely unnecessary to have Navi yell at you what she thinks you should be doing. That said, the game doesn’t stop you from doing whatever the hell you want, and the number and depth of dungeons makes exploring and killing stuff by FAR the meat of the game, over the story. There is a suggested dungeon order, but you have some freedom if you’d rather do them a bit out of order, and there is a LOT of fun side stuff you can do and get rewarded for.

Most of that side stuff is an excellent way to highlight the humor in this game. If you beat Malon’s horse race record she mails a literal fucking cow to your house. Your house in Kokiri Forest. You just show up and there is a fucking cow in your house. That is the funniest thing that has ever happened in a game in the history of forever, sorry. You can race the running man, and all of the other sidequests in the game make you think there is a beatable goal you’ll be rewarded for, and the fucker just goes “lol good try but I beat you by one second. :)” You can blow up the Gossip Stones and they turn into rocketships and launch into space. After you beat the game, and have a really poignant moment with Princess Zelda where she sends you back in time, there is a completely out of nowhere dance party featuring the entire cast in celebration. The game does not try to explain this. It just gives you a dance party, and after such a bittersweet finale and such a fun and engaging game, a no-context dance party is exactly what it needs. A line o Gerudo doing the can-can? Thank you, yes please.

There is SO much that this game does not feel any need to justify in-game, that it simply puts in there because it is fun or cool or both, and I appreciate that so much. There are easter eggs out the butt (still haven’t bothered catching the Hylian Loach and I have still NEVER found the sinking lure despite following every guide in existence). Most of the temples imply some sort of greater history that is not even the slightest bit touched on. It has a very cohesive “core” game that has a start-to-finish suggested progression and a matching narrative, and it has absolute mountains of random shit outside of that it in no way pretends to justify. It explains just enough to give it ground to stand on, but no more, leaving you with more questions than answers. That ambiguity drove me nuts as a kid, but now, I think it’s also why I kept coming back. I wanted answers the game wouldn’t give me so I felt compelled to try and find them myself.

Ocarina of Time’s ending is incredible in ways I am just now able to appreciate. First of all, Zelda is like “I’m gonna send you back in time now” and pulls up the Ocarina and instead of playing the Song of Time which everything in the game implies she should, she plays Zelda’s Lullaby and hesitates just enough on the last note as you are sent back in the past - oof, that’s a good moment. The entire game you’re told about how the Kokiri can’t survive outside of the forest and suddenly they’re at Lon Lon Ranch having a dance party. You walk away from the Master Sword and seal it back in the temple, but nonsensically are then able to meet Zelda in her garden as if nothing had happened, meaning she sent you back so far it erased not just the adult timeline but also everything you accomplished as a child too? So many questions, but the fact that it does not even bother to answer them and just leaves you with such an open-ended image of you and Zelda as kids, calling back to that very early moment after the first dungeon in the game, and you can interpret for yourself what exactly that means.

I’m getting rambly (HAHA as if I’m ever not) so I should wrap this up shortly. Ocarina of Time’s ending is why I am so vehemently opposed to the concept of a ~Zelda Timeline~. The ending is nonsensical if you try to apply concrete logic to it. This game proposes ideas and makes me feel a certain way about them and the ending succeeds in providing just enough closure to make me satisfied and just enough open-ness that makes me want to keep coming back to it to experience it again. It’s not an open-and-shut piece of history of a fake world, it’s a really remarkable journey thats ambiguity is what allows it to feel so very magical.

Ooh boy I can’t wait to replay MM again, but that is a game I’ve never stopped playing, so it’ll be anything but fresh. It hits different right after completing OoT, though. The only way to follow up on a story like Ocarina of Time is to be even MORE batshit, ambiguous, and loose with your definition of how time works.

[willthecleric]

*sees people saying Will deserves better than Mike* Mike and Will are basically soulmates. Mike is at his utter best around Will. Just because he was an ass in S3 doesn't mean he's scum (cause god forbid teenagers act like teenagers, especially teens dealing with the shit Mike does)

Thank you! That pisses me off so much. Let’s see them deal with the shit Mike has and on top of that deal with being gay during the AIDS crisis. 🙄 Mike is the most traumatized character after Will and El. He’s dealing with a lot of trauma and on top of that, he is terrified that everyone he loves will abandon him if they find out he is gay (yes, by S4 I think Mike will be 100% sure he is gay - he is oblivious but not an idiot). Worst of all he isn’t allowing himself to think Will is gay (Mike does NOT think Will is gay. Will (understandably) thought Mike was being homophobic, but Mike was using INTERNALIZED homophobia and spewing comp het stuff) and in his mind if Will found out how he felt, Will would be disgusted and abandon him.

Mike and Will are soulmates and will always love each other. That DnD exchange says it all. Will told Mike he will ALWAYS love him and Mike was really happy BECAUSE HE RECIPROCATES. Mike loves Will a lot more than he loves El. I think a lot of the problem is that people greatly exaggerate how much Mike loves her. Mike cares about her in the sense that he is an empathetic person... but he also: used her as a beard, kept her hidden away and didn’t want her developing as a person (he wanted her as a blank slate to project Will onto), was angry when she got a new look (which made it even harder to fake attraction when he had already been struggling), referred to her as a THING not a person (her importance to him is more as a way to be comp het as opposed to valuing her as a person), and lied to her REPEATEDLY. Something he never apologized for... because he wasn’t planning to stop doing it. And in the cabin Mike was completely faking it. He was playing the concerned love interest - something that the Duffers were trying to get people to see. Isn’t it funny how Mike never expressed fear about her losing energy through her powers at any point in S1 or S3? He talked like it in the cabin, but he never behaved in a way that showed it. He also doesn’t trust her AT ALL. How can you love someone you don’t trust??? You can’t. It doesn’t happen.

I think if you actually look at the way Mike treats Will and El, you will see that Mike loves Will A LOT more than he loves El. Watch the ending again. Where was El when Mike was breaking? Nowhere in his thoughts. His thoughts were focused on WILL and WILL ALONE. Because Mike loves Will way more than he loves El. I’m not saying this to be a bitch, I’m just so tired of people saying nonsense like they are comparable or Mike loves El more when they are repeatedly telling us otherwise.

Mike 100% deserves Will. And WILL AGREES. Will being with anyone else would be settling because he wants MIKE.

[comradeocean]

the most recent episode of Roswell New Mexico was a lot, but I'm mainly stuck on -

Could Roswell New Mexico be the first mainstream depiction of crypto space Muslims onscreen since Children of Dune in 2003 and Pitch Black in 2000??? (are there any others I'm missing?)

An outright declaration still seems unlikely given the way Carina Adly Mackenzie characterizes how the experience of being Muslim in the US inspired the writer’s room - "The alien stuff is a metaphor for Islamophobia, and we cast our aliens as white because they look like the sort of Republican ideal. Like, they look safe, which is how I felt, so it's about passing as this safe thing. People talk about you like you're the enemy when you're sitting right there because they don't know who you really are, and so because of that, we've got three Muslim writers in our writer's room to sort of take everyone's experience and try to convert it to our sort of alien metaphor in the most sensitive way possible." [source]

And the shows uses a hodge-podge of mixed metaphors about assimilation/invasion/refugees/justice so that it can be a leftish blank slate onto which the casual viewer is able to project any number of political messages.

But with this last episode leaning heavily into the moral bankruptcy of the US government (namechecking both Guantanamo and war crimes overseas as comparisons; American-designed weapons of mass destruction; the culpability of people "just following orders") maybe the writers do intend to more explicitly ground the story on the world historical Islamophobia unleashed by the neverending War on Terror after 9/11.

The reveal of Noah (played by Karan Oberoi, Brampton represent!) as the evil fourth alien last week seemed self-defeating for those efforts after all that press about race-as-allegory casting. I mean, on the face of it, it's a basic "evil alien = brown man, good aliens = white" equation. but maybe there's something else there too?  

- ok it's just a CW show

- and much of the media landscape these days is "discovered tumblr intersectional feminism last week" because there's a market for it

- I mean holy shit do not underestimate the extent to which entertainment is delivery mechanism for advertising + ideology. the culture industry cannabalizes all!!!

- so writers can throw in a few memes a few phrases and call it a day. no more thought required

assuming all that and nothing counts for anything, really, in our 2019 hellworld --

The way Noah conceptualizes his actions and how that is narrated to us is distinctly unlike how (Islamic) terrorism is usually represented. (I think. I don't watch much tv and definitely not shows like Homeland or Quantico so please correct me if I'm wrong)

In the moral universe of the show, Noah is definitely evil. In fact, with the consistent emphasis on the importance of bodily autonomy and consent (cool post about it), his actions constitute the most evil and fundamental violation imaginable. (so much so that one of the implications of the conversation between Liz and Isobel seemed to be that even Rosa's murder pales next to what Isobel experienced. which is... whatever)

yet this episode also contextualizes his evilness as desperate (evil) actions premised on survival under the duress of violence from the US government and an innately unequal access to opportunity because of differing material circumstances. (shitty peasant pod and all that) (these premises are also positioned to be possibly false, and certainly morally unjustifiable)

to be even more on the nose, the writing is careful to characterize what Noah did to Isobel as a kind of grooming. sound a bit familiar? any real world evil incarnate analogues come to mind?

(not to mention the other plotline of the episode is directly juxtaposing this with a genocidal American government/military operation)

Carina Adly Mackenzie has repeated tweeted about how sick she is of Muslim terrorist characters on tv. however clumsily and I don't know if she can pull it off, she seems to be honestly trying to write an emotionally resonant story that not only allegorizes Islamophobia but also the conditions that give rise to phenomenon like ISIS without relying on the tropes of The Muslim Terrorist.

can she be successful? so far she seems to have gone out of her way to make the "good" aliens intent on assimilation and ignoring their otherness as unsympathetic as possible. Isobel is a 100% love-to-hate character, and at the moment the overwhelming fandom opinion (on tumblr anyway) seems to be on Michael's side of the Michael vs Max showdown, after coming off the high of a devastating Malex/Michael finding his mother knockout combo.

in other words, if Carina Adly Mackenzie is actually intentionally using the catnip of an otherworldly true!love! slash ship to emotionally manipulate viewers into a political/moral stance of opposing the extrajudicial murder of those deemed to be beyond evil enemies of civilization... which our real world politics translate to Muslims...

One (1) Respect

or rather 0.5 Respect because an unintended consequence might be that those who are alienated by the way some Malex fans have made fandom toxic for everyone else are more likely to double down on defending Max, his reasoning, and his actions oops

a lot is riding on how things turn out in the season finale next week. the plot twist I want is for Noah to live another day, and, in an act of restorative justice rarely seen on network tv, redeemed in future seasons. unlikely and laughable but imma hold on to the fantasy that tvland can save us all

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Is To Your Eternity's Immortal Being Good Or Evil?

  Last season’s To Your Eternity was no doubt a gut-wrenching and philosophical journey. With Season 2 announced for next fall, there’s much to speculate on following the finale and how the rest of Yoshitoki Ōima’s manga will be adapted. To Your Eternity’s premise is simple: an immortal entity named Fushi attains new “forms” after acquiring “stimulation,” or life experience by interacting with people, animals, and objects. Despite its fantasy setting, To Your Eternity is seriously grounded in the realities of being human. As a non-human protagonist, Fushi isn’t tied to any strict notion of good and evil — so how “bad” can Fushi reasonably be in a story intended to frame him as a hero?

  A blank slate is meant to be imprinted on, not pass judgment. Fushi’s original form, a white orb, resembles a philosopher’s stone. From the moment we meet Fushi, it’s heavily implied who or what he will become is ambiguous. Fushi is a tabula rasa, a blank slate quite literally shaped by random encounters. His only instinct is to survive, complicating any assumptions about protagonists being virtuous for simply using their powers “for good” if it all really boils down to nature versus nurture.

  Beyond Good and Evil

    Living forever isn’t so great for Fushi, especially when word begins to spread of his immortality. Like the question “can an immortal person be good or bad,” the answer depends on the time and place. Which, if you live forever, is of little consequence long-term. Ironically, Fushi’s creator already knows this.

  A hooded man named The Beholder watches over Fushi and narrates To Your Eternity. Although Fushi is The Beholder's creation, he doesn’t interfere with Fushi’s mission to learn how to “become” human. Fushi’s first form — a wolf named Joan — is the companion to a white-haired boy living in the arctic. We don’t know The Beholder's intentions, nor do we know Fushi’s. This is the beginning of Fushi’s immortal dilemma: when he acquires a new form, he only acquires the body, not personality or memories. Joan’s usefulness to Fushi is only possible because of a pre-existing relationship Fushi had nothing to do with. If anything, Fushi is an opportunist, not a hero.

    Yet, when the boy dies, Fushi adopts his form. This dead boy becomes the primary vessel for Fushi. His strange power can only be triggered by learning empathy and love from a very human-centric perspective. Without forming attachment and traveling to meet new people, Fushi would’ve stayed a rock forever. As a human, it’s easier as an audience to project onto Fushi and assume we’ll predict what he will do. But that’s the problem. Fushi looks human, but has to learn the basics just like an infant. At first, the contrast between his naive appearance and animal-like behavior makes him feel uncanny and alienating. Who could possibly like this kid?

  Ironically, for March and Gugu this juxtaposition is exactly the kind of childish personality that attracts them. March adopts Fushi and becomes his “mother” in a symbiotic relationship, just as Gugu adopts Fushi as his “little brother” who needs to be educated. These aren’t standard social dynamics, but those around March and Gugu adjust to Fushi’s presence regardless. In the case of older characters such as Pioran and Parona, Fushi is appreciated as an anomaly who mustn’t be influenced by the wrong people. Even when he’s treated like a pet, Fushi’s framed as something to protect with good faith rather than a supernatural threat. He’s “one of us” now, so that must be good.

  We Live In A Society

    To Your Eternity’s episodic plot drops Fushi into a wide range of circumstances, allowing the social drama where Fushi is repeatedly “found” by someone and danger ensues. Unfortunately, Fushi’s immortality preemptively causes the untimely deaths of his companions. Whether directly or indirectly because of his powers, Fushi is constantly unintentionally attracting danger for what he is rather than what he does. His response isn’t clearly “good” or “bad” either — Fushi lives as a nomad, accepting that loss is unavoidable. In other words, To Your Eternity constantly reminds us you can’t always do the “right” thing even when you want to.

  Reiji Kawashima’s powerful performance as Fushi emphasizes Fushi’s struggle to fit in. The barrier to acquiring new companions is language … and culture naturally follows. To Your Eternity showcases many civilizations, but the conflict of each arc stays the same: two opposing groups have a difference they cannot settle. Again, Fushi doesn’t have much of a choice but to pick sides, whether it be in Janada, Yanome, or Takunaha. As idyllic as somewhere might be, it can’t last forever, something not even Fushi’s immortality can prevent.

    Tragically, Fushi is an entity that thrives off the death of loved ones. As Fushi grows, his powers develop capriciously like a bizarre puberty. But unlike a human adolescent, Fushi’s more like a complicated network of fungi constantly decomposing something. He isn’t made of human stuff, but truly wishes he was for the sake of no one dying. No matter what he does, he is what he is.

  Take for example the Nokkers, a parasitic group of organisms hunting Fushi and friends. The Nokkers bear a striking resemblance to a hivemind functionally identical to Fushi, sans the need to develop a “bond” in exchange for being able to steal forms. The Nokkers and Fushi are more alike than different. Although the Nokkers are obviously framed as enemies, who is to say they don’t also exist to keep immortal entities like Fushi “in check,” or prevent “power creep” in this ecosystem? If Fushi exists for a reason, why not these “bad” immortal entities as well?

  To Fushi, the Nokkers are “bad” because they kill. He believes this because, living as a human, he learns to value life over death. Even if he’s anything but human, Fushi’s nurtured by his companions to value life, being the exact antithesis to the Nokkers. For what it’s worth, that’s character development Fushi’s initial form would be incapable of.

  Changes Over Time

    When Fushi and Tonari part ways from Janada, Tonari explicitly says what this narrative’s been suggesting all along: Fushi must choose to live even when those closest to him might always die. Although this isn’t the first time someone points out the correlation between befriending Fushi and death, the guilt catches up to Fushi when he doubts whether or not to reunite with Pioran. Fushi’s immortality isn’t a question of his moral ambiguity, but something far more relatable: the horrifying epiphany of so, what are you going to do now? when life unexpectedly changes.

  The most human thing Fushi accomplishes is accepting that yes, this does suck, while never resorting to violence or dying because of trauma. The question of “is it a gift or a curse?” can essentially be applied to someone who has ever been ostracized for their anomalies. To Your Eternity openly embraces this interpretation by depicting Gugu’s journey to self-acceptance and Tonari’s insistence on freedom from Janada. Fushi is drawn toward black sheep: March, Pioran, and even Oniguma are all misunderstood in one way or another. His companions are all marked as outcasts, ironically making it easier for them to find solidarity with Fushi, the non-human.

  For better or worse, Fushi is who he is because of chance, just like everyone else living in a world where the difference between right and wrong isn’t always clear. Even at its bleakest, To Your Eternity insists that accepting life — even with its risks — is worth any consequence.

      Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more. Rest in peace, Gugu.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Blake Planty

[sailorrrvenus]

Is it Wrong to Photograph ‘Light’ in Street Photography?

There is an observation about stand up comedians that once they reach a certain level of fame their material becomes less about “grounded” observations and criticisms and instead becoming more about airplane food and hotel rooms.

Their lives are changed by their fame, they adjust their view, and therefore their jokes to the issues that now present themselves — the travel experiences from their tour — are perhaps less relatable than the original work which brought them their fame in the first place.

I think there are a few areas of photography that this analogy could be used to explore, but the one that hits closest to home for my own work is the way that some street photographers, myself included, have been photographing “light” instead of working towards “actual” street photographs.

When I say “photographing light,” what I mean is that the main interest in the image is the specific “light architecture” as opposed to a certain moment involving interacting “alive” elements. Composition for this style is based around exposing for deep shadows and bright highlights, and any living element is often more representative than unique-character based.

When first learning photography many of us learn that light is the most important thing and take this at face value, leading to searching for light as a subject in and of itself rather than using it to inform a more overarching scene.

For example, I would say that this photograph is a light-architecture shot rather than a street photograph:

Even though there is a human element there is nothing about the image that shows the human condition, without reading a lot into it. In a photograph like this, the human element is more for scale and atmosphere, and as a blank slate for the audience to project onto, rather than being any kind of specific emotional observation or energy charged scene in which something is actually happening. 

I think there are a few reasons that light-architecture has become prevalent, and I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. There can be a beautiful aesthetic to these images, and I don’t think they’re invalid artistically. However, I don’t really classify them personally as street photography.

Although the definition of street photography is constantly shifting, I think it is important to maintain a certain level of criteria and to create new terms to refer to new niches that come into existence. By being specific about the genre we are shooting, we can play more with the ideas from those specific genres and have a good understanding of what each approach offers rather than diluting our understanding by referring to images produced with a vastly different approach, style, and final result as being the same thing.

A common metaphor for different approaches to shooting street photography is that you can be a hunter or a fisherman.

Light architecture images invariably fall into the “fisherman” approach. You work until you find the correct background, with interesting patterns or qualities of light, and then wait for interaction between that light and your character/characters.

“Hunting” in street photography is a more spontaneous approach, which involves fast reactions to circumstances and action occurring around the photographer. In my experience hunting is more difficult to master, but more rewarding with every keeper.

Light-architecture photography is a very prevalent style in New Wave street photography circles, which tend to emphasize atmosphere and mood and protect the anonymity of their subjects through obscuring and silhouetting them, to use them as “figures” rather than people. As street photography increases in general popularity, it has begun to share an aspect with landscape photography, becoming more “location” based rather than focused on fleeting moments.

Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be very easily influenced by the echo chamber of Instagram, leading to many similar shots from the same location. Once a “location” is known, anyone can shoot it and create roughly the same image. A true “moment” however is much harder to replicate or stage, and makes for a more engaging image both in the creation and as an audience enjoying something more unique.

I’ve recently begun to try and force myself away from light architecture, and more towards hunting in street photography. However, I will not avoid these images entirely — my approach to these light-architecture images is now to incorporate them into my projects as B-roll and filler, to break up my “true” street and journalistic work. In the language of cinema, I treat my light-architecture images as establishing shots and tell my actual stories in the mid-range photos and close-ups.

One of my favorite photographers, Fan Ho, has a fantastic balance in his body of work between street photography, posed photography, and light architecture.

When viewed together they really convey a mood and atmosphere, but also focus in on smaller stories with more character and detail. Instagram is now very good for presenting a series of images as a photo-essay, and I’ll be working on collecting a few images together to publish them as such.

Working on images with balanced exposures is also something I’m really going to be focusing on. Film is really helping to move me away from a high contrast exposure, and by balancing the light in the scene I am really able to concentrate on the activity above all else.

Despite this effort to move my work away from this style, I acknowledge that these light architecture examples served me well for learning about exposure and composition. It is good to be aware of what this style (among others) can offer me so that using it is an active choice rather than accepting the circumstances of the light.

About the author: Simon King is a London based photographer and photojournalist, currently working on a number of long-term documentary and street photography projects. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can follow his work on Instagram and you can read more of his thoughts on photography day-to-day over on his personal blog. Simon also teaches a short course in Street Photography at UAL, which can be read about here.

source https://petapixel.com/2019/04/01/is-it-wrong-to-photograph-light-in-street-photography/

[pauldeckerus]

Is it Wrong to Photograph ‘Light’ in Street Photography?

There is an observation about stand up comedians that once they reach a certain level of fame their material becomes less about “grounded” observations and criticisms and instead becoming more about airplane food and hotel rooms.

Their lives are changed by their fame, they adjust their view, and therefore their jokes to the issues that now present themselves — the travel experiences from their tour — are perhaps less relatable than the original work which brought them their fame in the first place.

I think there are a few areas of photography that this analogy could be used to explore, but the one that hits closest to home for my own work is the way that some street photographers, myself included, have been photographing “light” instead of working towards “actual” street photographs.

When I say “photographing light,” what I mean is that the main interest in the image is the specific “light architecture” as opposed to a certain moment involving interacting “alive” elements. Composition for this style is based around exposing for deep shadows and bright highlights, and any living element is often more representative than unique-character based.

When first learning photography many of us learn that light is the most important thing and take this at face value, leading to searching for light as a subject in and of itself rather than using it to inform a more overarching scene.

For example, I would say that this photograph is a light-architecture shot rather than a street photograph:

Even though there is a human element there is nothing about the image that shows the human condition, without reading a lot into it. In a photograph like this, the human element is more for scale and atmosphere, and as a blank slate for the audience to project onto, rather than being any kind of specific emotional observation or energy charged scene in which something is actually happening. 

I think there are a few reasons that light-architecture has become prevalent, and I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. There can be a beautiful aesthetic to these images, and I don’t think they’re invalid artistically. However, I don’t really classify them personally as street photography.

Although the definition of street photography is constantly shifting, I think it is important to maintain a certain level of criteria and to create new terms to refer to new niches that come into existence. By being specific about the genre we are shooting, we can play more with the ideas from those specific genres and have a good understanding of what each approach offers rather than diluting our understanding by referring to images produced with a vastly different approach, style, and final result as being the same thing.

A common metaphor for different approaches to shooting street photography is that you can be a hunter or a fisherman.

Light architecture images invariably fall into the “fisherman” approach. You work until you find the correct background, with interesting patterns or qualities of light, and then wait for interaction between that light and your character/characters.

“Hunting” in street photography is a more spontaneous approach, which involves fast reactions to circumstances and action occurring around the photographer. In my experience hunting is more difficult to master, but more rewarding with every keeper.

Light-architecture photography is a very prevalent style in New Wave street photography circles, which tend to emphasize atmosphere and mood and protect the anonymity of their subjects through obscuring and silhouetting them, to use them as “figures” rather than people. As street photography increases in general popularity, it has begun to share an aspect with landscape photography, becoming more “location” based rather than focused on fleeting moments.

Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be very easily influenced by the echo chamber of Instagram, leading to many similar shots from the same location. Once a “location” is known, anyone can shoot it and create roughly the same image. A true “moment” however is much harder to replicate or stage, and makes for a more engaging image both in the creation and as an audience enjoying something more unique.

I’ve recently begun to try and force myself away from light architecture, and more towards hunting in street photography. However, I will not avoid these images entirely — my approach to these light-architecture images is now to incorporate them into my projects as B-roll and filler, to break up my “true” street and journalistic work. In the language of cinema, I treat my light-architecture images as establishing shots and tell my actual stories in the mid-range photos and close-ups.

One of my favorite photographers, Fan Ho, has a fantastic balance in his body of work between street photography, posed photography, and light architecture.

When viewed together they really convey a mood and atmosphere, but also focus in on smaller stories with more character and detail. Instagram is now very good for presenting a series of images as a photo-essay, and I’ll be working on collecting a few images together to publish them as such.

Working on images with balanced exposures is also something I’m really going to be focusing on. Film is really helping to move me away from a high contrast exposure, and by balancing the light in the scene I am really able to concentrate on the activity above all else.

Despite this effort to move my work away from this style, I acknowledge that these light architecture examples served me well for learning about exposure and composition. It is good to be aware of what this style (among others) can offer me so that using it is an active choice rather than accepting the circumstances of the light.

About the author: Simon King is a London based photographer and photojournalist, currently working on a number of long-term documentary and street photography projects. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can follow his work on Instagram and you can read more of his thoughts on photography day-to-day over on his personal blog. Simon also teaches a short course in Street Photography at UAL, which can be read about here.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2019/04/01/is-it-wrong-to-photograph-light-in-street-photography/