#been kind of dead due to studies and work so i haven't been able to play through the update much but SAPPHICS WON IN THIS UPDATE!!!

[bouquetstatue]

id like to think that saraswati and deviya are wriggling in their shared grave at seeing amala and amrit together

[hyenahunt]

Obbligato: The Punishment of Kaname Tojo - 5

Writer: Akira

Season: Spring

Characters: Kaname

Proofreading: Remi (JP) & honeyspades (ENG)

Translation: Peace

Kaname: They'll have to pry this position out of my cold, dead hands.

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Time: An hour later

Location: Outside Reimei Academy

Kaname: ... Hello, big brother?

Uh huh. So you saw my latest show? Thanks for watching.

Heehee. Yes, it's all thanks to you.

By following your instructions to the word, doing all that you've said to do during my performances, my work has been flawless.

I'm not lacking whatsoever as Reimei Academy's Top Idol.

And thanks to my good reputation, I've been offered job after job!

Kaname: Ah, yes... I've been doing as you instructed, of course. I’ve passed off work I can’t get to towards the other Special Students.

They're ever so grateful to me for it. I'm praised, flattered, and adored by them now...

... Even though beforehand, after I'd fallen from their ranks due to that taboo mistake I'd made, they'd done nothing but ridicule me.

They treated me as if I wasn't a human anymore, either ignoring my existence or only acknowledging me to insult me.

Kaname: And now they've flipped back the other way, like it all never happened — but they're too late. I won't ever, ever forget the humiliation I faced at their hands.

Honestly, I don't even want to get into their good graces by giving them the jobs I can't fulfill— it feels like I'm trying to butter them up.

They should all burn in Hell.

They should feel the same pain as their victims did, and then die.

Kaname: ... Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm perfect, after all. I don't show any sign of those sentiments to them, of course. I simply do exactly as you tell me to.

Honestly, I do! Don't you trust me, brother?

Heehee. We didn't know of one another for the longest time, so we haven't been able to bond the way other brothers normally do...

In fact... we might not ever be able to bond, rely on, or even love one another the way a true family should.

But you know, I do want to love you. As your younger brother, I want to love you as my older brother.

Kaname: For as long as I can remember, I've always lived on my own.

When I was young, my mother passed away…

Then I tried to survive within a facility with a miserable environment — with only the dreams my mother entrusted to me, and the lessons she taught me held close to my heart.

In that disgusting facility, I and the other children were exploited for all we were worth —

I worked half to death trying to save up money from jobs I picked up, just so I could run away from that prison.

I wasn't even given a proper education there. No, it wasn't a place someone could grow up well and learn what they needed to know.

It was Hell, where we did all that we could just to survive.

So I studied. I studied, I worked hard, I did everything I could—

And in the end, all my efforts were rewarded: I became an idol, just as I'd always dreamed!

Kaname: As a Special Student of Reimei Academy, I was finally able to walk such a glorious path.

I really was happy. Truly overjoyed. My life couldn't have gotten better.

And then... because of a stupid slip of the tongue, I fell from the summit into the ranks of the Non-Special Students — I couldn't stand it.

Kaname: My blood, sweat, and tears went into climbing out of Hell, only to fall right back to the bottom of it—

But thanks to you, I was able to escape once again.

That's why I don't wanna make the same mistake I did before and fall back in.

This time, I'll do everything perfectly. I won't make a single mistake.

Kaname: They'll have to pry this position out of my cold, dead hands.

I'll fulfill the dreams of my poor mother, who died far too young, and... that'll be how I repay her for giving birth to me, for raising me until she couldn't anymore.

My mother is dead. There's no Heaven or Hell — or any kind of afterlife at all, is there? No matter what happens to me, she won't be able to feel a single thing.

But... It was my love for her that kept me going through those hellish times.

Kaname: Uh huh! My mother is a God to me. I can't switch my doctrine from her words, and I can't abandon my faith now.

It's what I've built my life on. The very backbone of my existence — they're everything to me.

You think it's ridiculous, don't you, brother?

You're strong, and it seems as if you're fine living on your own. You gave up what I desperately wanted for so long, so easily—

And nevertheless you live on, put together as can be.

Ah, I don't resent you or anything, though. I really am impressed.

I could never do what you did, or live how you do.

I'd collapse far too easily without emotional support. I know that, because I've lived in such cruel circumstances.

I absolutely had to have something I could hold on to, or else I couldn’t have kept on living.

Maybe it was because I was selfish, or inconsiderate— something like that, but everyone around me gave me the cold shoulder.

The only person who I'd ever felt love from was my mother. That's why I've placed my faith in her, why I've clung so tightly to her.

She had always been my support. But now, I have you too — someone else I can call family, so I feel a little more stable.

Kaname: Heehee... I really am thankful I met you, brother.

This must be a reward for all my hard work. No, it's certainly because God realized he'd trampled on me far too much and decided to apologize in this way.

God doesn't exist? You would think so, wouldn't you?

You might understand once you've found yourself at rock bottom.

The panic to cling on to something warm, as if you’d freeze to death.

Right. Okay. Instead of chattering endlessly, I should do what I'm supposed to. I'll do as you ask.

Hey, so... Will I really find happiness if I do that?

Kaname: (... Ahaha, he hung up. I wonder if my clinginess disgusted him.)

(He really does seem to hate idleness and inefficiency. Maybe he's annoyed by my affection and dependence on him...)

Kaname: (But... I really do need something to cling to just to survive.)

(I'm sorry, brother.)

[ ☆ ]

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[callophelia-ailingamnemonic]

Genshin AU ideas that have been living in my head but currently don't have enough sustenance for me to consider writing stories for

Fatui Fledgling AU

This AU idea is based on a fic I read "Strings Attached" by VeePASTA (Viewer discretion to all who plan to read it, it's NSFW)

Similar to what happens in the story (minus all the sex cuz I ain't about that life), in this AU, instead of the Fledgling dying (Idk if I want to call him Tori or Hinadori yet), he survives when Kabukimono and Dottore cross paths and Kabuki decides to essentially sell himself to Dottore for the price of the Fledgling's survival.

To pull that feat off, Dottore replaces the Fledgling's infected organs with artificial innards made after studying Kabuki, essentially turning the Fledgling into a long-living cyborg puppet. As per his and Kabuki's agreement, Dottore lets the Fledgling go after a few experiments, but the Fledgling decides to remain as Dottore's assistant to stay close to Kabuki.

For the next 500 years, Kabuki remains Dottore's favourite experiment and prisoner and never becomes a harbinger, and while I don't think the Fledgling would ever become a harbinger himself, I do like to imagine that he grows up with a cold disposition that slightly resembles canon balladeer's if you take away the god-complex.

Although he's Dottore's assistant, if given the chance, he wouldn't hesitate to brutally murder the man (for reasonable reasons) and bust himself and Kabuki out of there. I like to imagine that this determination allows the Fledgling to receive a vision (probably an Electro based on an explanation interpretation I saw in a video) and that his skills would have something to do with dolls :))

I just think it would be super interesting to see the Fledgling in a similar role to canon Balladeer and how that would change the story :uu

I'm still contemplating if the Fledgling should be successful in his goal of saving Kabuki, or if I should kill Kabuki off for character development.

Collei runs away from the Fatui with Kunikuzushi's decapitated head AU

This AU's inspired by two fics: "I'll get you home" by jammincat and "Two Flowers to Trick the Children" by zephyrai

Long story short, in this AU, Scaramouche/Kunikuzushi/Whatever else he's named lol helps Collei escape the Fatui. I haven't decided yet if he's still a harbinger in the AU and just got close to Collei the same way he does in TFTTTC, or if he's just a fellow test subject who just knows more due to how long he's been with the Fatui.

Either way, he helps her escape but then Dottore effing shows up and effing d e c a p i t a t e s Scara to which Collei grabs his head due to "Not my best/closest/only friend!" emotions and runs away, somehow successfully escaping Dottore).

In this AU, I imagine Scara working a lot like the gems from Houseki no Kuni where he kind of goes unconscious when he loses too many pieces of himself (or, y'know, loses his head) but is perfectly fine after you put the pieces back together, but as far as anyone in Mondstadt was concerned, Collei is essentially carrying around a dead person's head lol

Tho I do also imagine that maybe Scara's head is still able to have thoughts and that somehow, Collei is able to telepathically read those thoughts. So not only was she the traumatized kid who carried around her dead friend's head, but she was the traumatized kid who was so traumatized that as far as the Mondstatders were aware, she would talk to her dead friend's head and treat it like it's not a decapitated limb.

Maybe whenever Scara's head is around electro crystals, he's able to communicate using an Ouiji board or something, so now people don't think she's crazy anymore when they see him "talk" but they do freak out because "IS THAT GHOSTLY ACTIVITY???"

I just think it would be interesting to see an AU where Collei has Scara's decapitated head around. I'd enjoy seeing a segment where the traveller needs info on Dottore and Cyno's like: "I know a guy, who knows a gal, who knows another guy who could help you out" and they just expect to see another forest ranger when SURPRISE MOTHERFUDGER- it's a decapitated head!

Either way, in this AU, I can imagine that one of the conditions Nahida makes in her deal with Dottore is for him to return Scara's body. Now, although his body is not conscious, Dottore can still use it for some experiments, so he's not to keen on accepting the deal until an audible crack can be heard from the gnosis' in Nahida's grasp lol.

Fatui Fledgling and CRAFTFWKDH mashup AU

I ended up having another thought: "What if I mashed up these two AU ideas together?"

The fledgling is Dottore's assistant who smuggles things from the outside for his big brother: books, treats, small toys, and supplies to make stuffed dolls, and Kabuki, who sympathizes with the young girl in the cell next to his, reads his books to her, gives her his treats and toys, makes her a doll, and eventually convinces the Fledgling to aid him to help Collei escape.

Just like in the CRAFTFWKDH AU, this doesn't go too well and Kabuki gets his head and arm decapitated, to which the Fledgling snags his head, Collei grabs his arm, and Dottore retrieves the rest of his body.

I don't know what the two's relationship in this AU should be like yet, but I imagine that initially, Collei hates the Fledgling and the Fledgling doesn't really care about her, but as the only members of the "Kabukimono's Younger Siblings" club, they probably learn to tolerate each other after his decapitation... kinda like real siblings lol.

After that ordeal tho, I'd imagine that the Fledgling probably just drops Collei off at Mondstadt and goes off to do other things I don't know yet (probably not go back to the Fatui, unless he plans on retrieving the rest of Kabuki's body on his own or smth). The two are still able to communicate thanks to the body parts they retrieved from Kabuki's dismemberment.

I don't really have much else for this AU, but the Fledgling would probably also show up in the Sumeru arc.

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

We Met Within This Screen (chapt. 4)

[Donnie x fem reader]

sfw, chapt. 3, pt. 4 here

Sighing, you set your phone face-down after sending your last text to Bo. What an abrupt end to something that had been so good. You were confused, a little taken aback and honestly sad. You'd thought the two of you were getting along well. Bo was smart, well-spoken, funny, and all around, a really nice person. He listened to your venting and seemed like he had a response to everything. Always, he had some random fact to hit you with whether it was about biology, chemistry, astronomy, language—you weren't sure where he got all his knowledge from. He'd never mentioned school, if he went. He didn't mention a lot about himself, actually. 

People come and go, someone had once told you. You guessed that he was one of those passersby, as much as you wanted it to be more. 

More?

When had you started thinking that? More what? 

You were tempted to pick your phone back up, to check and see if there were any new messages. Not that you could expect much; Bo had been so curt about his exit from your friendship that it was left at his last text, "Again, I'm sorry." You wanted to say something, but what was there to say? It was his decision. A sudden, uncharacteristic, and frankly odd decision, but still, his. Thinking back on it, you tried to remember any instance you might have crossed a line, or maybe said something you shouldn't have. That's what made you open up the messages again, scrolling up and up and looking for anything weird, but finding nothing of the sort. It had all been normal up until when you texted him about the clamor you'd heard outside your apartment building. And then it went flat—he didn't even respond to it, just said his apology and his goodbye before going offline.

You wanted to take your mind off it with a game, but as you looked through your list and saw the one you and him had played together, you knew it was near ruined for you. It just wasn't the same to play alone or with your acquaintances. An otherwise boring game made fun by one particular person, but now it was barely what it used to be.

Unfortunate. 

The next morning might have felt more normal if it weren't for the fact that everyone was pretending like it was. For the sake of secrecy from their father. As far as Donnie knew, Splinter still didn't know anything was or had been going on, and he intended to keep it that way, too. He wanted to tell his father, he did, but all he saw coming of that was reprimanding, or at the very least an awkward discussion, and possibly, time in the Hashi. He was already feeling the aftermath of his actions; he didn't need any more. Especially as he checked the messaging app one last time, only to find it empty, aside from her goodbye. 

Donnie stood at the kitchen counter, mask off and groggy as usual, scrounging for something to eat. Maybe a cup of coffee (if they had any), which he was looking for when Mikey bounced in. Normally, his brothers would avoid him when he was in one of his "moods". He hadn't a passionate temper like Raph but a slow-brewing one, the kind that festers until it's alleviated or boils over. Cold quiet was his thing. 

But Donnie knew why he was here. So did Mikey. He had that familiar glint of mischief in his eye. 

There was no coffee, so he settled for some kind of pastry they'd found while looking through the dumpsters. Really, the item was fine—only the packaging and appearance was defective. It was a wonder just how much food grocers wasted over arbitrary reasons, but regardless, he was happy to oblige his secret sweet tooth. 

From the corner of his eye he could see Mikey waiting eagerly for him to turn around and regard him. To listen to whatever he was about to talk his ear off with. Their youngest brother was more often than not bright-eyed in the morning, something Donnie's morning fog could not always entertain. He picked at his food at the counter for a moment, mind wandering back to his night and subsequently,  the unresolved feelings. Dreadfully unresolved, he groaned inside. And they probably would continue to be, as after sleeping on what had happened the previous night, thinking about her, he realized something that made his face flush. Oh, no. 

He froze in his place, suddenly very awake. He looked over his shoulder and found Mikey was distracted rummaging through the food for his own breakfast, and with a faint cringe, tried to sneak out of the kitchen undetected. No way would he admit to Mikey's words on the rooftop that night, the ones that made him flinch with embarrassment. The same ones that bounced around his head despite all attempts to stuff it down. "You like her, bro." 

Things involving him could never be simple, could they?

Abandoning his plate, Donnie began tip-toeing out of the room right behind Mikey. His foot hit the leg of a chair and caused a creak—he winced. As he thought, Mikey looked back, "Why are you sneaking around? You didn't finish your breakfast. Can't go on patrol on an empty stomach, dude." 

Before Donnie could even answer, he continued in a whisper, "Plus—"

"Whatever it is, Mikey, not now," he cut his brother off, "last night was the end of it, alright? You need to let it go." It sounded harsher than he would have preferred, but he felt the need to drill it into Mikey's skull that it was over, that it was just something he'd have to deal with. There were a lot of things they dealt with despite not liking it. With time, he'd forget—more accurately, be able to ignore— and maybe he could find the same enjoyment in his brothers once again. That sort of friendship.  But at the moment, it was ruined for him—he got a taste of something more and it was taken away what felt like second later. 

Mikey's face fell. Donnie couldn't stand that, seeing him upset over something he'd said. He had a bit of a soft spot for their youngest, no doubt. Just wasn't always obvious. 

"Aren't you afraid you'll regret it?" he asked, voice soft. 

Fear was a strong word, but of course Donnie was anxious. It was the thing holding him back from being able to simply compartmentalize everything, to put it in a box and on the metaphorical "deal with this later because it's uncomfortable right now" shelf. Or to deal with it at all, as ignoring his problems with studying and unrelated research and experimentation wasn't exactly prime management. He knew that. 

After a while of thought, Donnie was able to give him an answer. "Well…I mean, how could I not be?" he inquired in return before leaning out of the doorway to scan the lair. Everyone was either in their room, the dojo, or there, in the kitchen. Mikey has always made him feel most comfortable, and he was sure that was the case for the other three, just that they had other ways of showing it. He was certainly easy to talk to; if Donnie weren't so careful of his mouth and what came out of it, he could probably spew way more to him than he liked. Mikey could come through sometimes, though, which prompted him to keep going, "It was a big thing for me. We've been disconnected from everything else for so long that it was just...exciting, to get a look into what it's like. Being 'regular', you know?" 

Mikey sat down on one of the bar stools, feet idly shuffling against the floor as he folded his arms and rested on them. "You didn't hear it from me, but I'm a little jealous," he said playfully, but Donnie was aware that it was the case. "Maybe I'm pushing you to go after her because I'm trying to live vic–vicrous–v–…" 

Donnie smiled, he couldn't help it. "'Vicariously'?" he suggested. 

"Yeah! That," Mikey beamed, nodding. "You get what I mean." 

"I understand." 

The conversation died off soon after as Donnie decided to get breakfast over with and do whatever needed to be done before they left for patrol that night, darkness falling earlier due to the upcoming winter. It wasn't too cold for them to be out yet, though, so that still meant a chilly patrol in the Autumn breeze. He hated the cold. 

As Donnie was making himself busy at a circuit board in his lab, he heard the beads in the doorway shift, and to his surprise, Splinter came shuffling in. 

"Sensei?" 

He put down his soldering iron, spinning around in his chair. "Something the matter?" 

Splinter ran his fingers along a shelf on the wall as he wandered by, careful to not disturb any of the items lining it. Beakers, recently-repaired electronic parts, projects put on pause, things that would loathe to be broken. 

"There is always something," Splinter replied enigmatically, "I would not be here if that weren't true. Would you agree?"

 I'm compromised!

Donnie had a strong but hidden dislike for vague speaking, even if he did it himself sometimes. When spoken to you it's much more bothersome. 

Splinter waited for his answer, looking at him expectantly. "Donatello?" 

"Yeah, um…yes, I would—I would agree. I suppose. So...what is it again?" Damn his stutter, he couldn't get away with anything, hardly. He was only able to stifle it just enough. 

Picking a random pipette on the desk next to Donnie, Splinter studied the green liquid close for a second before his nose twitched, and he put it back down. "You have been very busy lately, it seems. What is it that you work on all day in here? Or are you playing games?" 

Donnie's heart thumped. His hand found that particular spot on his neck and began to scratch, and Splinter looked at him dead in the eye. He should have known; there was no hiding anything from their father, he was too good. Stupidly, infuriatingly perceptive. Donnie caught himself scratching that spot and slid his hand away, he hadn't even noticed he was picking at it again. He knows, Mikey told him, I probably look like a guilty idiot right now, I'm—

"I haven't been playing games," Donnie blurted out. 

Quizzically, Splinter gestured at the computer screen on the other wall, which had the menu of the game he'd opened up just earlier. Reminiscing over it even though it had been only a couple of days since he and his friend had last played together, but he stared at the screen as if it had been years. It made him realize how easily he'd gotten attached to that. Well, to her. He was on the fence about whether he wanted to try playing again or not and left it on.

Oh, you have to be kidding. I'm a fool in a man's shoes. 

Donnie laughed uncomfortably, "You caught me, Sensei," he said, "I guess I have been playing games more often lately." 

It was honest enough, right? 

Splinter hummed and cupped his hands behind his back. "I see."

Straightening out, Donnie dipped his head a little. "I'll...lay off on them. Sorry for lying. I've just been really distracted recently." 

"Liars never prosper, my son. Take care of yourself." 

He then left. 

So he didn't know. Donnie still couldn't say it with any degree of confidence, because Splinter would trip them up here and there, but it was assurance enough to know that if Splinter was aware of what had gone on between the four brothers and his new—rather, former—human friend, he would have confronted Donnie about it. Or all of them, considering it was now a secret they were all in on actively hiding. And on top of that, Raph and Leo didn't know Mikey was conspiring. Layers and layers, he sighed. 

With Splinter gone, he let out a breath of relief. Too close. Much. But, swiftly evaded. A chuckle left him, not of humor, but more because he was actually feeling a little confident. Just a little. They were really hiding something from Splinter; it was reason enough to pat himself on the back, nothing got past Splinter. Except for him.

Briefly, he thought of Mikey's outlandish idea as he spun back around in his chair. "Mikey, you are crazy," he mumbled to himself as he took his soldering iron, resuming his work from before. "But..."

Chapter 5

[21secondsofchristoph]

Here is a full translation of the interview with the FAZ:

Mr Waltz, statistically you're a rarity. Only five percent of all actors in Los Angeles manage to get enough jobs to get accepted into the SAG. And out of that group, only about five percent earn enough to make a living out of their art.

Becoming an actor is like becoming a father: really easy. Being and staying an actor is much harder.

We're meeting today, because you're not playing the villain for once, but some kind of action-hero in James Cameron's Manga movie "Alita: Battle Angel"

As a futuristic doctor you revive a cyborg from Mars, so you're basically working on the interface of human and machine

Haha, you could put it like that! I like that!

When the story was published as a comic in 1990 it was considered Science-fiction. Today, people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos actually work on brain implants and dream of colonies on Mars. Have you dealt with such things as preperation?

I don't take Elon Musk seriously. His behavior strikes me as ridiculous and you can't forget that he has a commercial interest in the topic's sensation. I've already watched moon landing's and flights into space as a child. Is it really necessary to introduce billionaires into space tourism? Well, we will see what happens. I am interested in new technologies but it's difficult to seperate them from journalism of sensation, even if it's dressed seriously.

In time, a lot of things might be possible that I can't even imagine right now. But there is another question: the question of necessity.

The market economy drives our world into an orgy of uselessness. It damages our planet and our lives on it. Who wants to live on Mars? That we will all be unemployed and the environment destroyed is in no relation to any use.

Can one stop the progress if it's useless?

Not as long as someone benefits from it.

What about the desire for disruption?

Disrupting something is an easy action, replacing it with something useful is not.

I'm always ready to disrupt something if there is a useful counterproposal. Not necessarily until then.

A lot of things are turned upside down in film industry. Netflix not only revolutionized the concept of television, it also produces exciting movies. And Youtube even has its own celebrities among the new generation.

Over the past few months I've watched some movies which hadn't been produced without Netlflix. For example the winner of the Venice Film Festival "Roma". Movies like that wouldn't run longer than 3 weeks in theaters. Through the premiers and prices it now receives the attention it deserves. And after that it's on Netflix. As superficial as I can see that, it's not the worst thing.

In contrast to that, I don't have a hard time with not watching Youtube. It's probably a cultural matter and depends on how we want to shape our lives. Of course it's also a generational matter. But why is that? Just because someone is younger, it doesn't mean they are predestined for entertainment through videoclips.

You have 4 children. You have to be familiar with this world. Where do you see the difference to your generation?

In school we were always confronted with things we didn't like, but which we couldn't dispose of.

That's where the wonderful word "Bildung" comes from, which doesn't exist in English. Education refers to an information value. "Bildung" goes further than education through its cultural formation. When I was in school I also didn't understand why I had to study Latin. But not wanting to learn Latin would have never occured to me. Just because no one speaks it anymore and learning it seemed uncomfortable.

And did you like it?

It created connections within a language, trained precise phrasing, as well as logic and discipline. It's certainly more challenging to learn an abstract language than watching a funny Youtube video.

About for or five years ago you warned Facebook might be a breeding ground for the fast growth of terror organisations. Are you surprised that it also seems to threaten western democracies now?

Not at all. History has taught us that medium and structure can be more dangerous than the message, because it's easier to handle the problematic movement than the well oiled machine that keeps it going. Especially when algorithms control the dynamics in the networks, those networks can become independent.

Some hope that societies might improve through a "Wutbürger"-culture and a crazy government.

At best, all of that just has entertainment value.

So maybe not anyone should always add their opinions?

If you don't have anything clever to say you should shut your mouth. But actually it's the other way around. Apart from this choir of stupidity being really annoying, people who haven't developed the resistance and sensors might fall for the noise. Whoever shouts the loudest ends up being heard.

You are known for keeping your private life private. How does that match marketing's and fan's expectations?

Fame is an unsolved problem, not only for me.

You either remain an anonymous observer without a bigger platform to present your realizations. That is an unfortunate paradox because the people who get the chance to move in public have to deal with growing fame while they also distance themselves from the influences and experiences of real life.

Studies have shown that introverts would handle most jobs better. But they tend to get cast out by the loudmouths.

I can imagine that. Self- and foreign perception are a tricky thing. I can remember the first Loveparades in Berlin which I saw on TV. I always avoided the event myself. In the interviews, people were saying things like: "We celebrate our individuality!" And there were one million people that all looked the same. The music was a monotonous bum-bum-bum and I always tried to spot a moment of individuality.

You've been living in the centre of individuality for a while now. Do you still consider the United States of America governable?

Maybe not as a federation. The question I'm interested in is whether the USA as a federation are still worthy of governance. California alone is the fifth largest economy in the world.

In an interview from 2003 you talked about posing, about film makers who eroticise themselves and about how to stand yourself

Oh God, I remember.

Are you currently able to stand yourself?

Sometimes. But it's not easy.

At that time you weren't a Hollywood star and you made yourself very clear in interviews.

"Schindler's list" is mendacious because Spielberg might have thought "that type of movie still lacks from my collection of movies about dinosaurs and UFOs

Or that Roberto Benigni's "Life is Beautiful" is "crap" because it communicates that it's alright to laugh about concentration camps. "when it's a tender laugh"

Do you still dare to say such things now that you constantly meet other Hollywood stars?

In Germany, yes. In America, no.

Do you believe it's better to become famous later in life? And does aging feel better when you're at least famous while you're aging?

Hopefully both, right? As a young man you often experience the world through tunnel vision, because you impatiently want to experience everything, even though you can't sort a lot of things right. If the attention hits you at that point in life, you get in danger of stirring towards a dead end where you don't develop well.

Do you believe you became more careful and more lenient over the years and success?

You're becoming more careful and more lenient. I never thought of that before. I thought: Now I suddenly step back a little. You become more lenient when you connect yourself to it. In a strict German way you could call it cowardice, because you gain another point of view, the insight. And apart from the experience and the success it might be due to the abrasion of the testosterone-related edges.