#he transcends bad quality videos

[onewomancitadel]

On my earlier point about DA (no spoilers), I have this extremely evil characteristic which is that I judge all media to essentially the same rubric of writing quality, despite the fact how prioritised it is varies widely medium to medium. It is laughably unfair to expect video games, for instance, to clear that sort of bar, but I guess in that case it's why Solavellan - more specifically how the relationship is recontextualised through Trespasser, and through the experience of play, especially as a romance not everybody has ever even played - so thoroughly surprised me. In that case, I think where video games get a leg up is 1. tapping into that fairytale magic so easily, and 2. the player interactivity. I'm not about to give you a lecture about ludonarrative dissonance, don't worry. I'm not silly.

Maybe point 1. is because one of my earliest memories is my dad playing Yoshi's Island, ha.

I think this is a similar problem with watching films - I'm much less cultured than I'd like to be, especially compared to film buffs - where the angle I tend to be hardest on is, again, the writing, and it's generally make or break for me. Even when all other elements manage to transcend that problem, I'm just not emotionally invested if the foundations are not there. This is also why I spent so long invested in a show made with Halo: the style and delivery matters so much less to me than the writing, and RVB used to be very funny. I'm using the most ridiculous example of this, of course; RVB, tonally, is already a very silly show, so it's not like the machinima nature of it is incongruent in any way (if anything the melodrama of S9-10 is too much for me).

Point 2. above is also why Solas is such a compelling character to me because - like the spirit/demon theory - he's a radically different character based on how you interact with him. I think his worst critics have something valuable to say as much as his most compassionate audience and I don't think you'd get nearly the same effect if everybody loved him. He's the most reviled figure of Dalish myth; you'd actually like to inspire a little revilement.

Something I mentioned offhandedly and didn't really elaborate upon as well is that to me basic writing competency is essentially the equivalent of a well-honed artisan making their craft, an upholsterer or a potter or whathaveyou, where it takes years of experiences to get it over the line on the first go. Either the thing is or isn't upholstered properly (it's hard to do) or the pot is or isn't fired (less a good example because kilns are cantankerous). The first example that came to mind, actually, is that it's kind of like a pass at Oxford undergrad: the pass itself is the mark of excellence.

This is why I don't like the people who say mean things about all the "bad" fanfic on AO3 or indeed even I need to stay my own hand in criticising the majority of what gets published (though you'd really hope the publishing industry would be more meritocratic, as an aside). It is extremely difficult to clear that line of competency; I am very in favour of democratic expression of art; so much of what you write and work at is in the hopes of one day clearing that mark. Very few people take writing seriously as a craft which needs to be developed as finely and instinctively as an artisan would.

Real artistic, transcendental excellence is kind of another question altogether, and that's where - in my view - it gets much more subjective, and I think the cultural canon really decides it post hoc, much later after the fact. It's a very personal question for my own tastes as well, because I think what reads as excellence to me is often informed by radical individuality, who is willing to go out there and take risks, that is, write stories where the villain and the hero have a lot of sex.

[connorchen-saddog8]

Week 2 - Studio, references and consolidation

Identifying the key aesthetics that influence my visage of god and some references from robyn. I was particularly drawn to Paul McCarthy's CSSC Fredric Remington Charles Bronson

I adore the tactile and grotesque qualities of the sculpture. Dripping silicon? Mechanical forms mixed with gooey fluid substances. The title too, referencing charles bronson as a notable figure... I don't know much about that guy, I've only ever watched that movie where tom hardy gets his peewee out but i twink it means something...

Some more references, as well as a sharing activity where we talked about our ideas. Tom and I's work kind of fall similarly to each other, maybe because we talk to each other about our works so much and think about similar references which i think is a cool result of personal life impact on the art we make. Yeah. WHatever.

Some thoughts on the idea of a game format and maybe the inherent sillyness of having god as a npc. Thinking about the final form of the project...

Specially interested in Robyn's reference, Monty Python's Life of Brian. I am told it has a childish interpretation of god, and just generally of monty python as a whole.

Also realising a connecting through-line in my work, the idea of the manmade. Religion as a man made construct. puppets and props as works of artifice built to bend perceptions of reality. sets in child's plays occupying a suspension of disbelief because we all know these painted cardboard props are not real. the visage of god being man made - especially personally? Like, pretty much every religion has a god, or a figure of creation, and these representations differ from religion to religion. Special effects are manmade effects to construct / enhance / bend reality.

Some experiments I want to do, especially (I'll talk about this more later) focused on video and collage. I want to construct the visage of god in its materially universal form, of anatomy and goo and fabric and technology through a kind of digital collage that i experimented with when making my zine. (which can be read here)

Something like that! ^

Finally, I talked to David about my idea. The main concerns I had going in were just debating over which form the final project should take. Whether I should go all in on the video aspect in terms of visuals and dialogue, a video game spoof like project or a physical puppet sculpture performance kinda thing. We settled on going for the full digital techno-psychedlic video, with focus on dialogue and maybe small references to the video game influences? I aint coding an actual visual novel... I think this approach is better because I would have more time focusing on the bad tech visual effect meat grinder machine which I'm pretty confident in producing in, rather than building the actual puppet which is, kind of impossible. Also thinking of time. I think i will lose the aesthetic influences of puppetry and child's play but, eh.

Some lovely sentences David used:

"trash video effect meat grinder transcendence. Shove it through the digital prism. The beach boy's psychedelic utopia. "

He also gave me some references that I might go through in a different post.

[daxwritesstories]

College AU Part 16: It's Almost Halloween

Content warning: drug use

Scene 1: It's Almost Halloween

(Scene title by Panic at the Disco)

INT. Cyra & Celia's dorm - Evening

Celia, Cyra, Halo, and Vir are all in the dorm together, helping each other get into their costumes. Cyra is helping Halo put on her angel wings and Vir is helping Celia with her makeup.

Halo is dressed as an angel, Vir is wearing a witch costume, Celia is wearing a mouse costume (which consists of mouse ears, paws, and a cute outfit), and Cyra is dressed as a demon.

VIR: So, who else is carpooling with us?

CYRA: Connor and Devin. And possibly Tony if he doesn't want to drive himself there.

HALO: Who's Devin?

CYRA: Connor's roommate. The guy who tried to hit on all of you at the library.

Vir snickers.

HALO: Oh, right. Did he ever end up calling you?

CYRA: Nope. Had to go right to his dorm to meet him.

CELIA: We gotta go directly to the source.

Cyra points at Celia.

CYRA: To transcend the new world order.

CELIA: That's why they're trying to keep us out of it.

VIR: The fuck are you two saying?

CYRA: It's just from a stupid video. Don't worry about it.

Celia giggles. Cyra finishes rigging Halo's wings and takes a step back so that Halo can test them out.

CYRA: How do they feel?

HALO: I think I'll be able to walk in them. Can't promise that I won't smack anyone in the face though.

CYRA: Well, if people are smart they'll give you space.

There is a knock at the door, distracting all the girls. Cyra rushes over to answer it.

When she opens the door, Connor and Devin are standing there in their costumes. Devin is wearing chaps with just underwear under them, a cowboy hat, and a harness and handkerchief. Connor is also wearing a harness, along with a collar and large dog ears. The costume is complete with black pants and a bushy tail.

Cyra smiles widely when she sees the boys' costumes.

CYRA: Wow! Now this is what I'm talking about!

Devin sighs and shakes his head.

CYRA: Okay, so you're a cowboy.

Cyra points at Devin and he nods.

CYRA: I can tell Connor dressed you.

DEVIN (sarcastically): Hm I wonder what gave that away.

Cyra giggles and points at Connor.

CYRA: And you're... a dog?

CONNOR: I'm a wolf.

CYRA (sarcastically): Ah, my bad. The harness must have thrown me off.

CONNOR: I ain't no pup. I hunt pups.

CYRA: Ooooo! Well, if we're lucky we're gonna see at least one pup tonight.

VIR: Who?

CYRA: This kid named Leon. I may have tried to plant the costume idea in his head. We'll see if it worked.

Cyra gestures to the boys who are still in the hallway.

CYRA: Come on in. We're all dressed.

Connor and Devin come into the room and Vir and Halo woo at them.

DEVIN: Hey, I thought you were a lesbian.

VIR: I can still objectify men.

Cyra laughs and pats Devin on the back.

CELIA: Hey Connor, do wolves hunt mice?

VIR: Wolves will hunt any prey animal no matter how small.

CONNOR: Oooo are you a mouse, Celia?

Celia goes quiet and makes puppy-eyes at Connor.

CYRA: Yes she is. And Celia's always a prey animal even when she doesn't have a costume on.

Connor laughs and bares his teeth, revealing that he's wearing high-quality, glue-on fangs. He quickly runs his finger across them before running to pounce on Celia.

Celia screams and giggles as she's pushed down onto her back on the bed. Vir, who is sitting right next to Celia, leans out of the way and watches the pair.

Connor pretends to bite Celia and she giggles and kicks her legs in excitement.

Cyra checks her phone and holds her hand up, bouncing a little.

CYRA: Okay, is everyone ready to go? The limo's gonna be here in ten minutes.

DEVIN: We're taking a limo there?!

CYRA: Of course! We need to make a grand entrance since it's my party.

DEVIN: You don't think that's a bit much?

CYRA: It won't be the fanciest vehicle there, trust me.

There is another knock at the door. Cyra hops over to it.

When she opens the door, Tony is there. He's wearing a feminine belly dancer outfit.

CYRA: Tony!

Cyra throws herself onto him, wrapping her arms and legs around him. Tony laughs and walks her into the room before setting her down.

Connor climbs off of Celia and walks over to Tony. They bro-hug, roughly patting each other on the back. Connor keeps one arm around Tony's shoulder and turns to address the room. He points at Tony and speaks in a fake British accent.

CONNOR: This is me bruva!

Tony snickers.

HALO: Wait, are you actually brothers?

TONY: We're half-brothers.

CONNOR: We got the same mom. Tony's the reason I moved to America.

CYRA: I hate to interrupt, but is everyone ready? We need to go wait for the limo.

VIR: I'm ready.

CELIA: Me too.

CONNOR: Alright, alright, let's go.

Scene 2: Dead Man's Party

(Scene title by Oingo Boingo)

INT. Bar - Night

Sky, Laura, Celia, and Bella are all sitting at a table together. Sky is wearing a torn schoolgirl costume, complete with a prop knife. Laura is dressed as a fairy and Bella is dressed as a French maid.

Cyra walks up to the table, swaying to the music.

CYRA: Would any of you beautiful ladies like to dance?

The girls at the table all laugh.

LAURA: I'll dance if Sky comes with me!

Laura smiles at Sky, who shies away.

SKY: Ehhh... I haven't even finished my drink yet.

Laura giggles and rubs Sky's back.

LAURA: Okay, I'll wait for you.

CELIA: I'm also not drunk enough yet.

Cyra giggles and holds her hand out towards Bella.

CYRA: Bella?

Bella glances down at Cyra's hand.

BELLA: Mm...

Before Bella can answer, someone shouts Cyra's name.

PRINCE: Yo Cyra!

Cyra turns around and smiles when she sees Prince, Jayce, and Leon walking up to her. Prince is wearing a skeleton bodysuit and face paint, Jayce has bunny ears on his head, and Leon is dressed as a dalmatian.

CYRA: Ayy you made it!

PRINCE: Of course we did. Never miss a Cyra Drake party.

CYRA: Yes! It says that in the bible, actually.

JAYCE: Let's partayyy!

CYRA: Why, hello, little bunny boy.

Jayce pouts and pulls his bunny ears down towards his face.

JAYCE: Don't call me that... This was Prince's idea.

Cyra winks at Prince and the pair high-five each other. Bella suddenly gets out of her seat and walks away without saying a word. Everyone looks at her.

LEON: Is she okay?

Celia stands up.

CELIA: I'll go check on her.

CYRA: Don't worry about it, puppy.

LEON: U-uh–

Prince laughs and pats Leon's head.

PRINCE: Puppy!

Leon blushes and Prince leans closer to Cyra.

PRINCE: Why do I feel like you gave him that costume idea?

Cyra brings a finger to her lips.

CYRA: Shhh!

Cyra and Prince laugh. Once she catches her breath again, Cyra glances past her friends.

We see Ace and Zayn walk into the bar together. Cyra gasps and excitedly brings her hands to her mouth.

PRINCE: What?

Prince, Jayce, and Leon all look in the direction Cyra is looking.

CYRA: I'll be right back.

Cyra hurries over to greet Ace and Zayn.

CYRA: You made it!

ACE: We made it...

ZAYN: Hi Cyra.

CYRA: Hi Zayn. Thanks for coming.

ACE: Where's your costume?

CYRA (sarcastically): Ha ha.

Cyra looks Ace up and down. He's wearing a bloody nurse outfit, complete with thigh-high stockings and a syringe prop. Zayn, on the other hand, is wearing a gladiator costume.

CYRA: You make a sexy nurse.

ACE: Thank you.

CYRA: Is there an aphrodisiac in that syringe?

ACE (flatly): It's heroin.

Cyra laughs, caught off guard by the joke.

CYRA: You're so funny!

Ace tilts his head coyly.

ACE: Am I, now?

Ace's gaze begins to wander as he tries to see who else is at the party. Everything seems fine until he notices Axel and Phoenix standing near the bar in the back. Ace scowls.

ACE: What's he doing here?

Cyra turns around to look in the direction that Ace is looking.

CYRA: Who?

Ace takes a few steps towards Phoenix.

ACE: Excuse me...

Zayn moves to follow Ace, but Ace holds his hand up to stop him.

ACE: Please stay with Cyra, babe.

Zayn stops and takes a step back.

As Ace walks away, Cyra raises an eyebrow at Zayn.

CYRA: "Babe"?

Zayn puts his hands up defensively.

ZAYN: He just started calling me that out of the blue.

Cyra gives Zayn a skeptical look.

Scene 3: The Visitation of the Ghost

(Scene title by The Brobecks)

INT. Bar - Night

We cut to where Axel and Phoenix are. Ace slowly walks up to them.

PHOENIX: Well, if it isn't Ace Diamond!

ACE: Why the fuck are you here?

PHOENIX: Cyra invited me and Axel.

ACE: Cyra invited you?

PHOENIX: Yes! She's very friendly. I had only just met her when she handed me an invitation.

ACE (mumbling): More like "crazy".

Ace leans on the bar next to Phoenix and waves at the bartender. She walks over and waits for his order.

ACE: One beer and a hard lemonade, please.

The bartender nods and starts preparing the drinks. Ace puts his debit card in the machine while he waits.

PHOENIX: Axel says you've been bugging him.

ACE: Axel can speak for himself.

Ace looks past Phoenix, directly at Axel.

AXEL: It doesn't matter. I'm fine.

The bartender hands Ace his drinks and checks the debit machine.

PHOENIX: Hey, we're all friends here. Right? Let's just calm down.

ACE: I don't want to be associated with you.

PHOENIX: Then why are you talking to me?

ACE: I came over here to get drinks, and to tell you not to show your face around here again.

PHOENIX: I'll go wherever I want.

Ace shrugs.

ACE: Fine. Don't blame me if you get jumped.

Ace walks away.

Scene 4: Haunted

(Scene title by Laura Les)

INT. Bar bathroom - Night

Bella is leaning against the wall while Celia talks to her. We can't hear what they are saying, but Bella keeps shaking her head.

Prince walks into the bathroom and looks around. When they spot Bella, they immediately walk over to her.

PRINCE: Can we talk?

BELLA: I don't wanna talk.

PRINCE: I know you don't but we have to talk about this at some point. Aren't you getting tired of avoiding me?

Bella sighs and looks down at the floor.

BELLA: You already apologized to me...

Prince and Celia glance at each other.

CELIA: Just because they apologized to you doesn't mean you're not still mad at them.

PRINCE: Exactly.

BELLA: I'm not mad at you though. It wasn't your fault.

PRINCE: But you're obviously still upset. You almost never talk to me even though we're roommates.

BELLA: Well... I thought I was over it. Actually, I had almost completely stopped thinking about it until I found out that you were my roommate.

PRINCE: And now you're thinking about it all over again.

BELLA: Yeah.

CELIA: It's not good to pretend you're fine when you're not.

PRINCE: Yeah. It's not gonna get any better if you keep denying that you're upset about it.

Bella sighs again.

PRINCE: Look, I know how much it hurts. Cyra did the same thing to me and Jayce.

BELLA: I know, I know. Jayce got his karma...

PRINCE: It wasn't karma. Sometimes people just do bad things. And people who don't deserve to get hurt end up getting hurt in the process.

Bella stares at Prince, unconvinced.

PRINCE: I'm not asking you to get over it. I'm asking you to be honest with me.

BELLA: Okay, fine. I guess I still kind of blame you for what happened. And I'm upset that you and Jayce are still as close as you are. It makes me jealous.

CELIA: There you go.

BELLA: I know that you're still close because you both dated Cyra afterward. So I don't feel like I can be mad at you for that.

CELIA: You don't need permission to be mad.

PRINCE: No, you don't.

BELLA: But I don't wanna be mad at you! I wanna get along with you so that college doesn't suck for the both of us.

PRINCE: I wanna get along with you too.

BELLA: So then, what do we do?

PRINCE: Let's hang out.

BELLA: Like... now?

PRINCE: Sure. Or we could schedule something else that's not a loud party.

Bella smiles.

BELLA: Okay. Let's try that.

PRINCE: Can I hug you?

CELIA: Hug it out! Hug it out!

Bella nods and Prince gently wraps their arms around her.

CELIA: Awwww!

Scene 5: Rave In The Grave

(Scene title by AronChupa)

INT. Bar - Night

It's well into the party and lots of people are dancing. Cyra and Vir are dancing together. Celia, Prince, Leon, Bella, and Devin are all in a circle. Laura and Sky are dancing together too.

We see a closer shot of Cyra and Vir. Cyra has her hands on Vir's hips as the older girl sways them back and forth. Vir stretches her arms up in the air as Cyra lowers herself to the floor, winding her hips all the way down. Once she hits the floor, Cyra bounces a couple of times, sticking her arm out behind her.

Cyra walks her hands back up Vir's body as she slowly stands up again. Vir licks her lips and beckons Cyra with her finger.

Vir slightly bends one of her knees and Cyra steps in close, hovering over her thigh. As if rehearsed (and it probably was), the girls wind their hips in sync, bending their knees.

Without even looking, Vir nods past Cyra.

VIR: Music prof's staring at us.

Cyra glances behind her. We see Roman, dressed as a pirate, sitting at a table by himself. He watches Cyra and Vir. Cyra looks at Vir again.

CYRA: Let him. It's because we look so hot together.

Vir laughs and spins around. She slowly bends forward, pressing her ass against Cyra's hips. Cyra places her hand between Vir's shoulder blades, pretending to push her down.

We cut to Roman at his table. Erik approaches him with his arm around a random girl. Erik is dressed like a demon, similar to Cyra. The girl with him is wearing a sexy clown costume.

ERIK: Hi Roman. I should've known Cyra was going to invite you.

Roman laughs.

ROMAN: She seems to think that we're friends. What's your name, sweetheart?

The clown girl spells out "Misty" in sign language.

ERIK: Misty. She can't speak.

ROMAN: That your real name?

Misty makes a pouty, annoyed face.

ERIK: Don't listen to him.

Misty wraps her arms around Erik's waist.

ERIK: Anyway, I came to ask if you had a plug. I'd ask Cyra but she looks kinda busy.

ROMAN: I can't be giving my students drugs.

Erik sighs.

ERIK: You should probably stop making eyes at my singer. People are starting to notice.

Roman rolls his eyes in annoyance.

ROMAN: Okay fine. I'm not giving you my plug but I can give you some coke.

Roman stands up and Erik looks at Misty. She nods enthusiastically.

Roman leads the way and Erik and Misty follow him.

Scene 6: Voodoo Doll

(Scene title by 5 Seconds of Summer)

INT. Bar - Night

Laura and Connor are dancing together.

CONNOR: I think you might be the best dancer here.

LAURA: I hope so! I'm a dance major.

CONNOR: Well, it shows.

Connor's gaze wanders. He sees Sky standing on the side of the dance floor, watching Laura. Connor nods in her direction.

CONNOR: Are you dating that chick in the schoolgirl costume?

Laura looks in the direction Connor nodded in and notices Sky there. She stops dancing for a moment.

LAURA: Um... I'm not really sure where we stand, to be honest.

Connor stops dancing too.

CONNOR: Why? Did something happen?

LAURA: No. She's just really shy so it's kind of hard to tell if she really likes me or not.

Connor glances around for a moment, thinking.

LAURA: What?

Connor doesn't say anything. Instead, he walks past Laura, in Sky's direction.

LAURA: Hey! Where are you going?

Panicked, Laura hurries after Connor.

Sky looks up when Connor approaches her.

CONNOR: Hey, teacher's pet. I like your costume.

Sky giggles.

SKY: Thanks.

Laura quickly joins the conversation.

LAURA: What are you doing?

CONNOR: I'm just talking to her. What's your name, cutie?

Laura immediately looks jealous.

SKY: Sky.

CONNOR: Pretty name! I'm Connor. I think we met in the library.

Sky nods.

SKY: Yeah. I remember.

CONNOR: Good! I'm glad. So, can I ask you a personal question, Sky?

SKY: Sure.

CONNOR: Laura, here, wants to know how you feel about her.

LAURA: Hey! You don't have to answer that, Sky.

SKY: What do you mean?

CONNOR: She wants to know if you think of her as more than a friend.

LAURA: Okay, that's enough. She gets it.

SKY: Of course I do.

Laura's demeanor completely changes to shock.

LAURA: What? You do?

Connor smiles as he watches the girls talk.

SKY: Well... yeah. I thought it was obvious. I mean, we've slept together...

LAURA: Well, that doesn't necessarily mean–

SKY: Do you not like me like that?

LAURA: No, no! I'm really into you, Sky. I want to be more than friends.

Sky smiles.

SKY: You do? For real?

Laura relaxes a bit and smiles too.

LAURA: For real.

CONNOR: I'm gonna go get another drink. You two have fun.

Connor pats Laura on the shoulder as he walks away. Laura gives him a thankful smile.

Scene 7: The (After) Life of the Party

(Scene title by Fall Out Boy)

INT. Bar - Night

Arabella, Leon, and Rhett are sitting at a table together. Arabella is dressed as a vampire and Rhett is dressed as a demon. His costume is similar to Cyra's.

ARABELLA: So, basically, even if the person gave explicit, written consent and they're still alive and well afterward, it's still considered cannibalism and you can still go to jail. There isn't any law that says cannibalism requires murder or that it requires the victim to be dead.

Leon and Rhett stare blankly at Arabella and then nervously glance at each other.

ARABELLA: What?

LEON: Are you gonna try to eat us?

ARABELLA: No, I'm not a cannibal, I just like to know facts that most people wouldn't know. And besides, it's Halloween. You have to get scared at some point tonight.

Rhett smiles.

RHETT: That sounds like something a cannibal would say.

Arabella smiles back.

ARABELLA: Wanna find out?

Arabella suddenly jerks forward and pretends to bite the air. Leon flinches and Rhett just laughs.

Everyone looks over when Cyra suddenly runs up to their table.

CYRA: Come dance with me, Rhett!

RHETT: I don't dance.

CYRA: Come on! We coordinated our costumes and you won't even dance with me?

RHETT: Go find Erik.

CYRA: He's too busy making out with a clown girl.

ARABELLA: Hot.

Cyra looks at Arabella.

CYRA: Do you wanna dance?

ARABELLA: Nope.

CYRA: What the fuck?

Arabella shrugs.

ARABELLA: You know I have a bad back.

CYRA: What about you, Leon?

LEON: Um... I don't really know how to dance.

CYRA: I'll teach you.

Leon looks apprehensive.

LEON: Eh...

CYRA: Ugh! You guys are boring.

ARABELLA: Cyra, look.

Arabella nods towards a different table and everyone turns their heads to look. Laura and Sky are at the table. Sky is sitting on the edge of it and Laura standing in front of her, making out with her.

CYRA: Well damn.

ARABELLA: Finally.

LEON: Finally?

ARABELLA: They've been flirting with each other since the school year started.

LEON: Ohhh.

ARABELLA: God, I love lesbians.

RHETT: Same.

Leon laughs. Cyra just keeps staring at Sky and Laura.

CONNOR: Hey, Cyra!

Cyra snaps out of her daze and whips her head around as Connor approaches the table.

CONNOR: Whatcha doing?

CYRA: None of these hoes will dance with me.

CONNOR: I'll dance with you, mami.

Cyra smiles and puts on an exaggerated, flirty voice.

CYRA: You will?

Connor smiles back and nods in Laura and Sky's direction.

CONNOR: My dance partner left.

CYRA: Ohhh, I see. Okay, let's go.

Cyra and Connor link arms and walk away.

ARABELLA: Don't get too crazy!

RHETT: Oh, they will.

Arabella laughs.

Scene 8: Dance With The Devil

(Scene title by Breaking Benjamin)

INT. Bar - Night

Ace and Zayn are standing near the dance floor, watching everyone dance.

ZAYN: Having fun?

ACE: Yes. But only because you're here.

Zayn smiles and wraps an arm around Ace. He squeezes him close. Ace nods towards the dance floor.

ACE: What do you think of her?

We cut to a shot of Cyra on the dance floor. She's dancing with Connor, grinding against him. We cut back to Zayn and Ace.

ZAYN: I don't know, I kinda like her.

Ace laughs.

ZAYN: Don't you?

ACE: She's alright, I guess.

ZAYN: She bought you a Benz.

Ace shrugs.

ACE: I never asked her to do that. Honestly I think she gets off on buying me things. Wouldn't be the first time I've met someone like that.

Zayn laughs.

ACE: Also, when I asked if you like her, I meant in a sexual way.

Zayn looks at Cyra again.

ZAYN: Yeah.

ACE: Let's go dance with her then.

ZAYN: You sure?

Ace nods.

ACE: I want cunt tonight.

Zayn snickers and Ace smirks at him. Ace then flips his hair over his shoulder and struts towards the dance floor. Zayn follows him.

When the pair get on the floor, they start casually dancing together, warming up. Cyra immediately starts eyeing them. She looks jealous.

Pleased with her reaction, Ace looks at Zayn and nods in Cyra's direction. Zayn smiles and jogs over to where Cyra is.

Cyra looks confused and surprised when Zayn grabs her wrist, pulling her away from Connor. Connor puts his hands up in a "what" motion. Ignoring him, Zayn leads Cyra over to Ace.

When she's within reach, Ace grabs Cyra's other arm and pulls her so she's right behind him. Cyra catches on right away. She dances against his body, feeling him up with her hands. Zayn does the same, trapping Ace between himself and Cyra.

ZAYN: You two look good together.

Ace giggles and Cyra smiles at Zayn over his shoulder.

ACE: You think so?

Zayn nods. Ace grabs Zayn's hands and slides them past his hips and onto Cyra's, forcing the three of them even closer together.

We cut to Roman walking back into the bar, presumably from a smoke break. Vir and Drew are standing not too far from the door, chatting. We can see Erik and Misty making out against a wall in the background.

DREW: Hey, Roman. Do you know that couple over there?

Drew nods toward the dance floor. Roman stops and looks at the dance floor, not sure who he's referring to.

VIR: The couple with Cyra.

ROMAN: Uh... yeah. Well, I know the guy in the nurse outfit.

Vir's eyes widen.

VIR: That's a guy?

Roman laughs.

ROMAN: Yeah, that's most people's reaction. His name's Ace Diamond. We've known each other for years.

DREW: Thought you said Cyra wasn't going after anyone? They seem, uh, like they know each other pretty well.

ROMAN: Well, last time I saw them together they were fighting. I guess they're not fighting anymore.

Roman raises an eyebrow at Drew and Vir.

ROMAN: Why do you ask?

VIR: She hasn't mentioned either of those guys to us before. Or any of our friends. At least, not that I can remember.

DREW: Yeah...

Roman laughs again.

ROMAN: That's hilarious.

Drew and Vir both look confused.

We cut back to Ace, Cyra, and Zayn. Ace turns around to face Cyra, who seems a little intimidated by how close they are.

ACE: You're coming back to our dorm after this.

Cyra's jaw drops. She smiles excitedly and looks like she's about to say something. Ace quickly cuts her off though.

ACE: Shush. Don't make me change my mind. I like you a lot more when you're not talking.

Cyra shuts her mouth and smiles. She then places both her hands over her mouth, staring up at Ace.

ACE: There you go.

Zayn leans over Ace's shoulder.

ZAYN: What are you two talking about?

Instead of answering, Ace places his hand on Zayn's cheek and pulls him into a kiss. Cyra slides her hands down Ace's body.

[inapat17]

Auteurizing the amateurs (1/4): Pierre de Montvallon

Amateur films are presented most of the time as testimonial footage. They are being used more and more in professional documentaries as illustrative footage with a vintage look. Super 8 sells, and is gaining visibility. The films that were once forgotten in caves or attics now are seeing the light of day, and even the light of the silver screen. 

But I think there is more in amateur cinema than simply ordinary people documenting their lives. Sure, home movies contain mostly images of smiling children and seaside vacations, and are technically limited: often no sound, shaky shots, poor editing skills. Nevertheless, they shouldn't hinder our ability to take these images seriously. Like any film-makers, amateurs make meaningful visual and sonic choices.

Their limited equipment and the conventions of the genre can limit the expressive qualities of the films. You can characterize amateur footage through certain conventions, such as still frames with family picture compositions: for a few seconds a family looking straight into the lens (minus the person behind the camera). Despite the general awkwardness of this shot, it is a staple of the home movie canon.

The technical inadequacies of the cinematographers are very touching. A glimpse of a thumb in a graduation ceremony video or a flash of light when the camera is switched on by mistake are endearing details. But there are real gems hidden in amateur film archives that shine by themselves. Filmmakers that go further than the stereotypical home movie. Some of them even directed fiction. Today, let’s talk about eccentric nobleman turned amateur filmmaker Pierre de Montvallon.

Pierre de Montvallon, better known as PIEM, is an amateur filmmaker from rural France. He went to art school, and drew political cartoons in French newspapers such as Le Figaro or La Croix. He started out by filming his wife and children. His charming home movies and vacation films showcase his framing abilities, with impactful shots. He uses 16 mm color film.

From Cap Nord été 64

But his fiction shorts are what separates him from other amateur filmmakers. He is recognised by his peers, winning amateur filmmaker awards such as the grand prize of the French amateur filmmakers club congress. We could study his filmography as an author. First of all he has clear inspirations. He admires Pierre Etaix and Jacques Tati and shares their caustic sense of humor. Like them, he enjoys slapstick and clowns, underlined by his sense of composition acquired from drawing cartoons. He can even be quite macabre, with the character of an indecisive suicidal in his short film Sursum Corda. Like any author, he has recurring themes. He dwells on religion and faith, for instance in Fibre Religieuse where a group of mobsters abruptly decide to repent.

His films are deeply personal. It peaks in Cinémalgie, where he confesses his frustrations with his own clumsiness as a director. This absurd metafilm underlines the defects of amateur filmmaking, like bad image/sound synchronization or blurry images, thus transcending them. If you can, please give it a chance, and enter Piem’s world.

[maximura]

[myrmica]

(answering this here to keep my art blog clean! also this got a little long because offering me a window to infodump is a dangerous game)

SHORT ANSWER: i think it’s a lot of fun for what it is! what it is being "extremely badly written” which is par for the course considering uh... its aphmau. it's nowhere near as bad as mystreet (it's hard to be worse than mystreet)

LONG ANSWER:

this is a hell of a question. I have a lot of honest thoughts on minecraft diaries, which is funny considering i didn't even watch aphmau as a kid! no joke, i sat down last year and started watching aphmau for the first time and i would like to ask myself one thing: WHO DOES THAT?

my thesis is basically that mcd is bad but i like it anyway. mcd has a lot of things i like about it! the format of season 2 is really good, it hits this sweet spot between how rough season 1 is and how overproduced season 3 is and i find it way more enjoyable than aphmau’s later stuff. even though i didn’t watch aphmau specifically as a kid the style of her early videos still evokes that feeling of early mcyt nostalgia in me.

i also loveee how well mcd demonstrates this sorta unique quality mcrp has where the medium shifts as the story goes on. it goes from modded lets play, to completely scripted, to mystreet style voice acting.

it’s hard to fault the quality of the writing too heavily when you know how insane the production schedule was. aside from the catgirl racism.. no excuses for the catgirl racism. or the normal racism. or the fact that her writing somehow got WORSE over time. maybe i’m being too nice to aphmau? i hate aphmau.

as far as narrative/characters go, minecraft diaries has a lot of elements that make really good jumping off points to expand upon (because they’re so underutilized) and that’s what's interesting about it to me. i LOVE the shadow knights conceptually, i think there's so much to explore with them, + with shad as a villain, but aphmau never really does it justice. back when my mcd phase was at it’s peak i wrote like 50k words fleshing out zenix as a character + his relationship with garroth + the shadow knights as a concept. i came VERY CLOSE to doing a whole season 3 rewrite but i’m not that crazy.

my favorite part of mcd is hands down the characters + character dynamics. or rather what those things Could Have Been if they were written well, like you have the whole love triangle thing which against all odds i think is interesting in theory.

laurance's character arc needed to be about letting go of aphmau. he and garroth have this similar "i would die or go to hell or suffer forever if it meant you'd be happy/safe" thing going on with aphmau.

a relationship between aphmau and either of them has this element where they're her guards first and foremost. its almost at a point where she transcends being a friend to them and becomes a symbol despite them being some of the only people who know her for who she is and not as lady irene. they would do things for her she could not do for them in return because she has responsibilities to so many people that it's inherently unbalanced. laurance and garroth also doesn't work out because garroth is too obsessed with selflessness, he just doubles down on the We Only Exist To Protect Her mentality. enter: vylad. also lest we forget zoey, aphmau’s poor forgotten housewife. and the whole thing ties into what guards and lords even ARE on a cultural level and what that role means which is interesting to me.

and all of this could have been something! but it wasn't, aphmau spent too much screentime on werewolves and now we’re here.

side note it’s hilarious to me that laurance had cat ears in all of these scenes ^ the nuances of falling in love with a guy you know nothing about while imprisoned in the nether because he promises he's going to help and then he disappears and you're stuck there for 15 years and when you meet again the first thing he does is apologize for leaving you there. and he’s a catboy.

as far as an overarching plot goes mcd is fucking nothing. with such highlights as “oh no we have to stop the big mean monarchy! to solve this problem i'm going to instate the big nice monarchy instead”

in conclusion: “mcd sucks and i hate it” says the guy who just wrote all of this shit talking about mcd. heres my favorite part of that zenix fic i never posted anywhere

[45paperplates]

About Olivia Rodrigo

It is a sign of a deep lack of self-esteem in our American monoculture that when Olivia Rodrigo so recently became the biggest pop musician of the moment most writers tasked to interpret said phenomenon were by default so cynical about the music they live to represent to the world that they seemed totally unaware of the most obvious explanation, one so obvious that it's almost childishly democratic: that she is simply the most naturally compelling new artist working in pop today.

Instead, they have cited elements of the music that are actually quite detrimental to its quality. Most pop-punk was weak, whiny, and obnoxiously self-involved when it was popular, and the fact that one of Olivia’s songs (“good 4 u”) sounds an awful lot like the good stuff (“Misery Business”) is indeed a sign of creative bankruptcy. That the album often sounds so much like Lorde, Taylor Swift, or Billie Eilish is only evidence of the pop machine’s greed-driven need for familiarity and the moments where these influences are truly overwhelming are the album’s least original and most incongruous. The truly teenage moments, despite their popularity with millennials and real teenagers alike, are out of touch and uninspired. I am a thirty-two year old man who also cannot parallel park, but I will never be able to relate to this kind of quirkiness in song if the singer is a rich teenager who claims in interviews that she pays for valet parking in order to avoid it.

Her relationship with Taylor Swift, whose influence is indeed all over every song on the album, seems destined to be tense, and Olivia performs best when her own creativity manages to escape it. “favorite crime” is essentially a Taylor Swift album track, imitative of Swift’s least incisive creative tendencies. “And I watched as you fled the scene / Doe-eyed as you buried me / One heart broke, four hands bloody,” writes Olivia, in the kind of mildly clever figurative imagery that makes the listener’s brain work to uncover a meaning that was already obvious, the kind of line Taylor writes in her weakest moments. The song’s apparent antecedent, “Victim,” performed live on Instagram in June of 2020, doesn’t sound like Taylor at all:

Let me be the victim of your perfect crime Bathe in my blood so I’m not the bad guy Yeah, I messed up so that you’ll mess up too I really want the blame to be on you So drive the knife in deep Make the victim bleed  

“Make the victim bleed.” It’s both unpretentiously direct and painfully deep. The imagery is vibrant and even specific enough to evoke centuries of high Catholic masochism without being at all complicated. Olivia’s best lyrics are indeed never detailed for their own sake, but calmly symbolic, referential of cultural archetypes, serving in the makeup of some more abstracted, weightier conceptual design.

Guilt, particularly of the religious kind, would seem to be her true creative center, a counterintuitive thought, given that so many of her songs officially released are so especially accusatory, to an empowering extent. But she always admits her doubt: “'Cause let’s be honest, we kinda do sound the same / Another actress / I hate to think that I was just your type” she says of her ex’s new girlfriend. Indeed every song on the album that is explicitly about heartbreak goes out of its way to acquit the criminal in one way or another, either implicitly or directly, describing situations that are as emotionally painful as they are understandable from both sides.

She knows, in other words, that her anger at the boy is both valid and unjustified, that her sadness is real but not at all unique. Her pain transcends by its lack of an honest target, and this is what makes her music relatable to all ages. Without quite saying it, through a contradictory combination of dedicated vulnerability and self-awareness she asks the universe--or God even--rather than the boy, why did this happen? Why does this happen and is it my fault? "Did I do something wrong?"

More than anywhere else, you can hear it in her voice. Though lots of different things can get in the way, this transcendent guilt sits in her voice as a sustained emotional power, shifting between a dull pain somewhere deep in her chest and a lump in her throat, lending sincere force and tragic significance to subject matter that most have interpreted as specifically teenaged and delightfully naive. Bruce Springsteen famously said that the first time he heard “Like a Rolling Stone,” Bob Dylan’s voice “sounded somehow simultaneously young and adult.” This is the kind of compliment disallowed to teenage girls by the use of the “you’re mature for your age” trope by predatory old men, which is a shame, because if anyone deserves to be called mature it's a teenager who takes guilt seriously before they’ve really had a chance to even do anything wrong.

Maybe she has had her marvelously unanimous success because this pained emotional high is heavily tempered on SOUR, particularly in its singles, two of which drown it out in the bridge (“drivers license”, “deja vu”), and the third of which filters it through talk-singing and distorted yelling (“good 4 u”). Maybe this is why she switched out “Victim,” a song where she sings of her “guilty Catholic heart,” and pleads “make the victim me,” for “favorite crime.” It does seem almost too heavy for American pop, and maybe a little dab of it is all the industry’s recipe requires because America doesn’t know how to process a mature teenage girl in a healthy way. But it is the passion at the source of her talent and, although her album is not at all perfect, shines through like the burning sun at every opportunity.

[mimik-u]

Fragments III, 1-100

300 drabbles about Steven Universe/Future, 100 words each! These are the first 100 prompts and writer’s choices that have been fulfilled.

Asterisks are placed next to my personal favorites that I’ve written.

Baggage* — Steven meets his new therapist!

Eternity —How about a Bellow interaction you've always wanted to see in canon but didn't get to?

Foe —Jasper is simultaneously satisfied and yet left deeply empty inside by her self-isolation on Earth, and doesn't understand how to even begin to process this dichotomy. (So she doesn’t.)

Letter — Young Greg's POV when he wrote those letters to his parents Steven found on Mr. Universe episode.

Sword —Connie interacting with someone she doesn't usually talk to by herself (ex Jasper, Bismuth, Lapis, etc.).

Reconciliation — Idk about you but I wanna see more Mega Pearl. The others have not met Mega Pearl.

Marks —How about... Spinel, and the tiny, everyday baby steps towards healing?

Tangled — Peridot finds out/is told about PD/RQ? (And is confirmed in her guess that Pearl is fancy...?)

Challenge* — How is Steven’s TubeTube channel doing?

Bruises — Priyanka tends to Connie's wounds after training sessions with Pearl. [Writer’s Choice]

Rest* — Yellow Diamond gets to relax. (She's the one who most expresses regret and real understanding. Let her take a nap! She deserves it!)

Barbecue* — Post-movie, during cleanup, Steven and Lars talk and plan the BBQ we got a glimpse at during the final song.

Ghost — Yellowtail and Greg talk about fatherhood and how it can be ruined (mentioning Marty and Greg's father subtly).

UNO* — Date between Pearls (platonic or otherwise).

Height — The pebbles!!! They're so small???? Where are they? *Sobs, points at the Heaven and Earth Beetles.*

Embrace — Steven gets a well-deserved cuddle pile from family and friends.

Constructs — Bismuth and Peridot have a lot more in common than they think.

Horns — Amethyst makes an unexpected new friend at Little Homeschool. (Whichever other character you feel would fit best!)

Garden — Pre-show scene. While having a funny chat, Greg mentions something that reminds Rose about her abandoning Spinel, which makes her regret more of her choices.

Advice — Garnet can tell when Stevonnie has a lot on their mind. [Writer’s Choice.]

Hum — Yellow and her relationship with music.

Love* — Pearl considering her romantic feelings towards someone and thinking about how she's finally moving on from Rose. (Doesn't mean she'll ever forget her.)

Kid — A glimpse into “Sadie Killer.” Maybe when they played their first show, while Steven was still in the band. Celebrating afterward or a discussion on why Steven didn't stay IN the band?

Troubleshooting* — Integration of gem communication networks and Earth Internet and phone lines and the resulting inevitable disaster.

Fairytale — Connie gets a tour of Little Homeworld.

Hope — Jasper finally starting to let her guard down and realize her self worth.

Song* — As for prompts... Steg? Like, him in general, just being himself. It's a bummer we only got to see him in the movie.

Mistakes* — Steven talking to someone (not a therapist, just another character) about his trauma?

Forgiveness — The Topaz fusion reconnects with the Crystal Gems at Little Homeschool and apologizes for her role in the kidnapping all those years ago.

Visions — Sapphire and Ruby reflect on the events of "Together Forever." [Writer’s Choice]

Reunited — Maybe a scene where Yellow comes home from a long escapade and is reunited with a worried Spinel?

Beginnings — After CYM, Lapis and Peridot discuss where to live since the barn is destroyed.

Pet* — White Diamond happily announces one day that she has decided to take in a small creature (of your choosing) as a pet.

Together — What were Doc, Army, Navy, and Leggy doing during Future?

Desert — Steven meeting Lion from Lion's perspective. I dunno, I think it could be neat.

Freedom — For a post-CYM/SU:F prompt, what do you think about the exact moment it hit either Blue or Yellow Pearl that they were completely free to follow their whims?

Apologies — Greg apologizes to Steven due to the incident in “Mr. Universe” and both have the talk they should've had in that episode.

Change — Blue and Yellow Zircon's relationship has improved even if they are now rivals in the new democratic Homeworld. This last tiny bit is related to the “Homeworld Bound” episode.

Hug — Bellow cuddling. Yellow has no idea what to do, but Blue is loving it.

Valentine* — Steven gives Peridot a Valentine's Day gift. [Writer’s Choice]

Spite — Aquamarine and Eyeball are distraught at knowing they won't be rewarded for their actions because their worst enemy, Steven Universe, has been labeled a hero and royalty by the Diamonds.

Reevaluation — How about more Peedee and Steven friendship? Like, Peedee noticing Steven’s change in demeanor the farther along the show we get?

Camp — Connie kicking ass at space camp.

Family — The night after the events of the movie, Steven gets some quality family time.

Homestretch — Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth spend time together while preparing Little Homeworld.

Enough — We know what Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck are gonna do for their futures, but what's Kiki been up to? Is she gonna take over the pizzeria?

Spillage — Vidalia and Amethyst catch up after Steven's monster episode.

Reformation — White Diamond has learned how to be so extremely empathetic to the point that she literally becomes another person, but has she really begun to understand others?

Comment* — Sardonyx makes some Internet videos.

Unicorn — While traveling through California, Steven encounters two fishermen arguing about unicorns. [SU/GF crossover.] [Writer’s Choice]

Worry — Andy and Greg stay in touch.

Homerun* — I hopal for Opal—perhaps she will attempt some baseball.

Skydancer — Post-CYM, Pearl getting to “truly” take Steven out for a joy ride through the cosmos in a properly operational ship of her design.

Mercy* — The shattering-is-wrong discussion between Rose and Bismuth that led to Bis being bubbled.

Happy — Smoky Quartz hasn't made a self deprecating joke in a while—is it Steven's therapy?

Electric* — Yellow’s gloves—I feel like they’re covering something up, maybe.

Cake — Fusion Cuisine 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Belonging — The Rose Quartz sisters visit again.

Transcendence — Fluorite offers someone wise caterpillar grandma advice.

March — Connie and Steven reflect on changes in life after the pandemic. Not canon compliant. [Writer’s Choice.]

Understanding — Onion be doing Onion things.

Ocean* — Andy and Steven post-”I Am My Monster”? I love their relationship, lol.

Ignorance* — Does Lapis even realize Bismuth was probably the one who poofed her?

Reflection — Did I already say more Mega Pearl? ‘Cause there can never be enough Mega Pearl.

Possibility* — Yellow deciding she should try putting shattered gems back together. (She probably broke the most.)

Storyboard — Peridot’s budding career as a storyboarder.

Fall — Lapis and Steven talk about trauma and recovery. Pre-The Future.

Limbo — How the dismantled gempire has affected the lives of noble gems like Emerald, Holly Blue Agate, and others.

Now — Garnet reminds herself to live in the present.

Grief* — Alexandrite forms for the first time. [Writer’s Choice]

Inauguration — Wait, did Connie's parents ever meet Stevonnie?

Please — Did Kevin ever learn anything? Naaaaaah....unless...

Friend — General prompt? A sequel/prequel to this, please [White D’s panther].

Treatment — Greg starting to learn more about gem stuff to be more involved in Steven's life if something ugly happens.

Numbers — Pearl, please do something with all those phone numbers in your head.

Generations — Rose continues to discover the wonders of Earth, even after all this time. (No angst allowed in this one, just pure wonder.)

Survival — The Off-Colors used to have more members in the past.

Acting — How did Rainbow 2.0 even get invited to babysit Onion?

Kindness* — Former Mayor Dewey coming to terms with his new position in town.

Play — The Gems and Greg try to capture Steven's first moments on a bike. [Writer’s Choice]

Documentary — Ronaldo makes a real actually informative documentary about Little Homeworld.

Rain — Blue Diamond still cries sometimes.

Zoophobia — Also, I saw Z and my immediate thought was "Zoophobia.”

Echo* — Why does the tiny floating whale have Rose's voice before Steven ever heard it in the tape?

Sketch — Steven and Connie discover an anime character/mythological figure who bears an awfully similar resemblance to Obsidian.

Unironically — Why does Buck wanna be a doctor?

Club — How did Bismuth, Lapis, and Peri become such tight friends?

Nostalgia — Greg considers a comeback tour.

Pressure* — The creation of the Diamonds, maybe?

Coping — Amethyst and Pearl grapple with Rose's pregnancy. [Writer’s Choice]

Theatre — Sugilite, meet Rainbow 2.0.

Dadhood* — Whatever happened to Mrs. Fryman? IS there a Mrs. Fryman, or was it only a passing on-and-off thing that resulted in kids?

Lingering — Jasper finally lets Malachite go.

Human — Steven talks to his therapist about his mom, the feelings of before and the now. (It was left open-ended—his relationship with his mother.)

Words — Kofi is proud of his daughters.

Quest — [Letter prompt] Quest.

Picture — Sour Cream and Steven talking about absent parents and bad parenting. Post-The Future.

Bittersweet* — Shep finally gets to meet the notorious Lars.

Gemini — Spinel discovers memes and we're all doomed.

Weird — When he's younger, Steven doesn't quite know how to label the Gems.

[astrology-india]

Venus in Pisces Man - Tips For The Perfect Relationship

New Post has been published on https://www.astrology-india.com/venus-in-pisces-man/

Venus in Pisces Man - Tips For The Perfect Relationship

Venus deals with love and money in the birth chart.

When Venus falls in Pisces, which is ruled by Neptune, you have a man who is sensitive, empathetic, and intuitively in touch with his partner.

Even dissolving the physical boundaries between the two to become one soul.

The Venus in Pisces man is magical and otherworldly and a relationship with him could only be described as “spiritual”.

The Venus in Pisces Man Key Features

Positives

A man with this chart placement is empathetic, intuitive, sensitive, and emotional. His connection with his partner is magical and spiritual.

Negatives

The dark side of Pisces represents illusion.

The Venus in Pisces man can deceive himself that he is in love with a partner when he is not.

This is especially bad if the relationship is codependent or abusive.

Needs To Work On

Commitment. Some men with this placement can be a little wishy-washy, as the fish being pulled in two directions is known to be on occasion.

If the Venus in Pisces man is looking for anything stable and long-term, he needs to be able to ride it out through thick and thin.

Venus in Pisces Personality

This man loves to be in love. A man with Venus in Pisces is the romantic type.

He looks for soulmates rather than just partners or flings.

While he may fall in love with more than just a couple of his kindred spirits, he is always connecting with them on a deep level and not out of pure lust or ego.

A man with his Venus in Pisces is enchanting and possesses charm.

He is friendly and sociable with an embracing warmth to him. Many will be drawn to him, even if they are not a good match.

On a more intimate level, those who become familiar with the Venus in Pisces man know him as sensitive and emotional, he also prefers partners who are the same.

With him, it is never about being dominating nor being dominated, he is looking for his equal.

The Venus in Pisces man is elusive and otherworldly, just when you thought you have him pegged, he surprises you. Sometimes this is good, or it could be bad.

It could also be neither or a mixture of the two. It can be just downright confusing.

He is known to be flimsy at times, this aspect is notorious for indecisiveness and not being able to commit.

To be fair, this is not always the case with the Venus in Pisces man, rather, it is only the negative aspect of the placement which can and should be overcome- most likely with age and maturity.

The man with his Venus in Pisces placement is an artist. Not always by trade, but Venus in Pisces indicts a creative type at heart.

Falling in love with him is like painting a picture, watching an independent film, or reading a romance novel.

Pisces are a spiritual sign and men with this aspect in their charts are drawn to spirituality.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and deals with transcendence.

This is important to know because when you meet a man with Venus in Pisces, he is likely doing this kind of soul’s work on himself, even if he is not open about it.

Likely, he draws mates to him that are on a similar path, who are more reflective in nature.

Positive Traits

Empathetic – Intuitive – Sensitive

Affectionate – Charming – Friendly

Open – Spiritual – Artistic

Negative Traits

Disillusioned – Wishy-Washy – Deceptive

Lacking Commitment – Cynical

See also: Pisces man in love

What Attracts Venus in Pisces

A man with his Venus in Pisces is drawn to the femininity of all kinds.

In a mate, he looks for someone gentle and passive. His ideal partner would be a person who displays traditional forms of femininity.

The Venus in Pisces man has many of the same feminine qualities that he searches for in a lover: sensitive, empathetic, intuitive, to name a few.

He is not interested in the alpha male or female, nor is he looking for a challenge or someone to butt heads with.

He is not one for power struggles and might be gone as soon as he came at the first sight of one.

He prefers a mate that is more subdued than strong-willed, but this man is not looking for someone to completely dominate or to take charge of, he is just looking for someone similar to himself- his equal or his other half.

Simply put, the Venus in Pisces man is looking for his soulmate, his long-lost friend from another lifetime.

When connecting with Venus in Pisces man you might get the feeling that you have known him forever and there is a good chance that you have.

You should know that this is the same way that he feels about you.

However, if neither of you gets this feeling, you should be cautious.

The Venus in Pisces man has been known to delude himself into thinking he is in love when he is only wearing rose-colored glasses.

Understanding the Venus in Pisces Man

As you can tell from this article the Venus in Pisces man may seem complicated and a difficult fish to understand in a romantic relationship.

However, astrology tells us that this zodiac sign is secretly craving a woman who can satisfy his deep-rooted desire to be understood.

Someone who has studied this burning need in the Pisces man is relationship expert James Bauer.

After years of extensive research James has discovered that a Venus in Pisces man falls madly in love with a woman, not for her beauty or her perfect body, but for her acceptance of his secret obsession.

If you want total commitment from your Pisces crush, I suggest you listen to a short video in which James explains why it is vital for a woman who wants true love to understand His Secret Obsession.

Most Compatible With

The best fit for a Venus in Pisces man will be dictated by other factors or his chat, mainly the sun sign.

Generally speaking, his best match is with someone who’s chart possesses a lot of feminine aspects, like the sun sign of Pisces.

Speaking strictly of Venus’s compatibilities though, he is most compatible with partners who have their Venus in a water element sign.

For instance, another person who has their Venus in Pisces will be an excellent match just as long as they do not become so entangled in each other that they lose themselves.

The Venus in Pisces man is also a good partner for those who have their Venus in either Cancer or Scorpio.

Both of these signs are sensitive, intuitive, and spiritual as well.

You can find out more about Pisces compatible matches here.

Final Thoughts

Venus in Pisces is a mystical placement. It aims to dissolve physical limitations and form a union on the soul plane.

The Venus in Pisces man is a sensitive and intuitive lover. He is highly empathetic and in tune with his lover’s needs, to the point his partners lose themselves in him.

To create the perfect relationship with this zodiac sign there needs to be an understanding of his hidden needs and what he craves from his partner in love.

Physical attraction is of course important, but it is the emotional bond that will weather the test of time.

By understanding the Pisces man’s Secret Obsession it will not only give you the key to his heart but also a lifetime of making you the only woman of his dreams.

[thelifedocumentor]

Nkuley Masemola and his iconic creative expressions

Nkuley Masemola is a multidisciplinary creative who works as a fashion model, DJ and stylist. Nkuley Masemola has modelled for iconic South African fashion brands such as Rich Mnisi, Thebe Magugu and Nao Serati. They also invite the young vibrant youth of Johannesburg to the eccentric scenes of Braamfontein through DJ’ing. With styling that transcends cultural eras and borders, Nkuley translates their experiences of navigating South Africa and the creative culture artistically into their photographs. The success they have garnered since working as a fashion model from the age of 17 is truly inspiring. In this interview we talk about what inspired Nkuley growing up, their artistic journey and the importance of being yourself in order to thrive in the creative industry. 

1. How was it like growing up in Pretoria? 

The funny part is that I didn’t actually grow up in Pretoria, it was more outside of Pretoria than it was Pretoria. I grew up on the outskirts of Pretoria - that’s the farms. Bronkhorstspruit is where I was from. And it was bland - I don’t know any other way to explain it. It was like growing up on a big sheet of white paper. I had to make out myself. It was an experience but it was also really overwhelming because no one there had progressed to anything. It was complicated but also a good learning curve. I always say I would have rather not. I would have rather had a soft life but I guess I see the benefit of growing up like that but it was overwhelming. 

2. What are some unforgettable childhood experiences you believe shaped who you are today? 

When I finally moved to Bronkhorstspruit, after my father passed on, my mom bought herself a huge mirror. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t have anyone. So the only thing I ever did was look into that mirror. I had all my performances there, I had all my interviews, I did everything with that mirror. I just became so self-obsessed, all of my art is self-obsession. Everything is all about me. It’s my self-portrait, it’s music that is about me, everything that is structured in a way that is like self-worship. So I think that particular childhood experience shaped me forever. I got harassed but I never got bullied. I never let anyone bully me. If it happens, I can just avoid it, I’m not gonna stick around. I was always inside the house. I would make up my own stories, live in my head, and wait for the day I move to Jo’burg. When it finally happened, I already had like self-discovered so much. That particular childhood experience shaped who I am today. I created my whole world, and now I’m living in it. 

3. How did you start modelling? 

Back home, there used to be this modelling agency. It was just high school kids who had high-quality cameras, more than it was a modelling agency. They were like, “Yeah you should be a model.” And I was like, “I guess.” It was never my thing. I take really good photos, but I don’t look like a model, I don’t present myself as a model. At that time, I wasn’t the typical male model. And so I was like I’m not a model. That happened and it wasn’t really serious. When I moved to Jo’burg, my friend and I had just come from registering and we were going past Kitcheners and my friend was with their friend. We were all speaking to a guy and he said, “Yeah you can just come back to my place.” We all went back to the place. Then I left my matric certificate at their place and then when I left and went back home, they were like, “You left your stuff here [matric certificate] and also, I saw on Twitter that you might have to drop out of school because you don’t have anywhere to live until March so you can just live with me.” This is the person that I met with a friend because they met on the streets of Braam, literally at the corner of Kitcheners. I lived with that person for 3 months. They literally got me into modelling.

The first day I got here they were like, “You’re a star!”. I was on a music video set, and they needed one guy and I had just moved to Jo’burg and put my bags down. My parents had just dropped me off. I put my bags down and went up to shoot the music video. After that, I had another job. It was quiet for a minute and then my friend asked me to escort them to a casting. Still, I was not in the modelling game, I was just deep in love at the time. So cool, I go to this modelling gig, and then when we get there, my friend doesn’t get picked but they’re choosing from outside. They’re like, “You? Come here.” I said that I’m not here to model what’s happening? They said, “No, just audition quickly.” So I walked and strutted to the wall and then when I came back I got picked. It was The Threaded Man show. After that, everything started picking up, everything just set off. That’s how that happened. I just started modelling after that. Still very weird. 

4. Wow! The Threaded Man was so huge at that time. 

I didn’t even know. I didn’t know who Siya Beyile was. I had just got to Johannesburg. I had no idea who anyone was. So literally getting calls from Rich Mnisi being hey it’s Rich Mnisi. When I found out it was Rich Mnisi I was like OMG! They were shooting for i-D. That is one thing I’ve always dreamt about - I’ve always bought i-D magazines at the taxi ranks. When they said, "You’re 17 you’re gonna shoot for i-D", I was like that’s crazy, that’s crazy. I shot for almost every magazine that I had back at home. In one year, I had Cosmopolitan, Vogue, and i-D. My mom was like, “Aren’t these the magazines that are in your room.?” It was my favourite flex. I didn't even know it’s gonna happen in terms of modelling. I had always imagined being a part of the creative team or like one day when I’m all the way older on the cover of i-D for doing something. But not a whole documentary that is based on us. That’s so crazy, that’s insane. 

4. Which would you say are your favourite fashion collections you have modelled for?

I really enjoyed the Rich Mnisi collections that I modelled for in the first year - I thought I looked really good in zebra print. Thebe Magugu gave me a suit and said “Do what you must with it.” That was really insane for me. Siyababa Atelier’s collection, Rich Mnisi’s collection and Nao Serati’s collection. 

5. The South African creative scene has truly evolved over time, but there’s still so much work to be done. What do you think still needs to be done to move the culture forward? 

I think South Africa needs to stop normalizing things and actually live in them. We need to stop trying to normalize things so much because we are othering them more than we think. We are othering people more than we think. We are regressing more than progressing. If we keep saying “Normalize trans women” - why? They’re women. Women are already normal. You don’t need to normalize women. It’s microaggressions like that. People don’t realize homophobia is just as serious as racism. The same way people are judging you because of your skin colour is the same way you are judging someone for loving someone. I think South Africa would be much better if they just lived in their truth more than trying to be these progressive people. We’ve been through so much, that we should know by now that we can’t risk having another revolution. We’ve revolved too many times. We’ve been traumatized too many times - we don’t need any more trauma. We just need to get that into our heads. We need to let go of the power game. The obsession with power in this country is a hectic obsession - that needs to be let go of. 

6. How do you find the experience of integrating fashion, music and creative direction together to tell a story? 

It comes easily because everything that I do is still self-obsession. Everything that I create is based on me so it’s not that hard. Self-awareness. It’s hard in that term that you know yourself so much that people want to digress you into this way. The only thing hard about it is people not understanding you and wanting to change you and who you are at that point. You already know who you are. Trying to accommodate everyone into your world because I’ve already said I am living in my own world, in my own space. In my own space, there is no need to accommodate other people. I think that’s the hardest part about it. It’s just me finding spaces for people in my world. In terms of navigating it, it’s always been me living out what I wanted to live out. It’s always playing music - when I DJ I play all the music that has registered with me. I’ve always been a Rihanna girl, I’m always going to play Rihanna. I’m always going to have the Rihanna aesthetic - the same way she does it. I’ve been studying Rihanna for the longest time in my life. The same way she does it. The same way she has this creative direction that goes into her music that also goes into her modelling - it’s really insane. That’s what I’ve always done. Rihanna, FKA Twigs, and FAKA do that in the most perfect way ever. That’s my thing. 

7. If you ever feel a creative block during a project, how do you reconnect and channel your energy? 

I like feeling things out. If it doesn’t happen then it’s not gonna happen. I was at a point where I was really depressed last year - I was at my lowest. I had never been that depressed ever in my life before. I told myself that I never want to feel like that ever again. For that to happen, I always have to be honest with myself. I have to know that I can’t do this right now. If I’m gonna go somewhere and I’m like okay you’re gonna have to model today but you don’t have the haircut. You look bad, you’re gonna feel bad and the pictures are going to look bad. So rather, we don’t do it. Rather sacrifice that and put me in a risky position but I’m not going to put something out there that I don’t believe in and don’t feel comfortable with. Being uncomfortable with something that’s seen by so many people is actually kinda crazy. It’s like uploading a picture of your pinky toe that you don’t like. I know people always say embarrassing yourself on the internet is being real, but that is always different for me. My realness is perfection. The real me is the perfect me. 

8. Which creative material inspired you on your overall journey - it could be a book, film, exhibition, art collection - anything really. 

Definitely seeing FAKA. Sitting down, talking to FAKA, and realizing that we have had the same life experiences. When I was 15, when I was a party girl - I still am, FAKA was like, “Oh you host this party called “Umrubisho” and I was like omg we used to host that party and FAKA was like we were always there. It’s so crazy how the Universe aligns like that - that’s insane to me. No one at that point understood what that meant to me but it just means to me my life is fine, I don’t need to worry about a lot of things. Life is just going to progress the way life progresses. I’m just going to get to where I need to get. A moment most pleasing to me was when FAKA was curating a Versace show. That’s so insane. That means anything is possible. That moment for me just sparked up everything. Thebe Magugu winning the LVMH Prize. Rich Mnisi doing Milan Fashion Week. Moments like that for me make anything. Moments like that for me are the most affirming.

9. Which brands and artists would you like to collaborate with in the future? 

I’m not a big fan of Kanye but I really love Yeezy and the direction that it’s taking. As much as I’m working with Adidas, I would love to go deeper into Yeezy like that. Of course, I want to be a FENTY girl so, so, so bad. All the luxury brands - not necessarily as a model but as a muse nonetheless. I would love to be a DIOR girl, I would love to work with YSL but most mostly, I want to be a FENTY girl. 

10. And lastly, which words of advice would you give to artists who aspire to manifest their dreams in this creative industry? 

I would say be yourself. It’s not a joke, really be yourself. Everyone always says this, and it sounds corny all the time but really but it took me at least 2 years to realize, be yourself. Don’t fake it out, be yourself in such a way that even if you are being fake, you’re being fake in a way that is beneficial to you. You’re being fake in a way that is not going to hurt you in the end. You’re doing chaotic things but everything you do must be aligned with you. Everything you do must not come back and bite you. Everything you do must be something that you’ve always wanted to do. Be selfish as much as you can because being selfish just means being yourself and be selfish in ways that will still benefit you. That’s what it has always meant. Just remain yourself because that’s all you’ll have. People will come in and out, but you’re gonna remain with the same person forever - and that’s gonna be you. Take care of yourself, you know what’s good for you, you know what hinders you. You know what you need to do, so just do enough of that to keep yourself going. 

[thefloatingstone]

We’ve gone from Self-Isolation to Quarantine and in some places to gradual relaxation phases, but that doesn’t stop the need for more nonsense you can watch on youtube while you wait for things to get back to normal. And recommending things and making lists are some of my favourite things to do but I have not yet figured out how to start or structure a video myself, you guys get another rambling tumblr post of things you can watch on youtube.

This time I’m once again just gonna recommend individual videos rather than full channels like I did in part 2.

Part 1

Part 2

In no particular order; 

LOCAL58: The Broadcast Station that Manipulates You

I recently started watching the Nexpo channel when I went on a binge of creepy youtube videos. Most of his videos are really good although the ones where he himself goes into theory crafting can be a little asinine. However, this video is REALLY good. And before you get nervous, LOCAL58 is not a real TV station. LOCAL58 is a youtube channel created by the same guy behind the Candle Cove creepypasta. This video by Nexpo covers the various episodes of LOCAL58 and discusses them. Just be aware going in that this is abstract horror, and will probably get under your skin regardless if you’re unaffected by certain topics or not. although cw for suicide mention.

I also recommend most of the rest of this channel, although be careful where you tread. I don’t recommend his series “Disturbing things from around the internet” as it can sometimes include real life crime, abuse and such caught on security cameras. Everything else is really good tho. (although I was really annoyed by his 2 videos on KrainaGrzybowTV)

The Search for D.B. Cooper

LEMMiNO has a new video out covering one of the most unexplained crimes in the past century of the US. LEMMiNO is the guy I’ve recommended before who did videos on the Universal S. He is very down to earth and not someone prone to conspiracy or even really that fanciful of thinking. (He’s like the one person I feel covered the Dyaltov Pass incident and was confused by why this was even a mystery because if you read the Russian Autopsy reports and documents associated with the case it’s all pretty logical and easily explained)

D.B. Cooper is the name given to a man who, in 1971, hijacked an airplane with a bomb, asked for a large sum of money, and after receiving it, parachuted from the plane and was never seen or heard from again.

The Austrian Wine Poisoning | Down the Rabbit Hole

Down the Rabbit Hole also has a new video out, this time covering the Austrian Wine Poisoning event from 1985. A scandal that involved literally the entire country of Austria, affected multiple countries, and forever changed the way wine was made world wide. As someone who is generally pretty allergic to most artificial substances this one made me personally very angry. But luckily, it has a happy ending and a better world for us all... if I could drink wine which I can’t do anyway.

The Turbulent Tale of Yandere Dev - A Six Year Struggle

The Right Opinion is another channel I only recently subbed to after watching his cover on Onion Boy. I put off subbing to him simply because of his channel name and I thought it meant he would come across as smug and elitist. Luckily this seems to merely be one of those “I chose a bad channel name and now I’m stuck with it” type of situations. (IHE has a similar problem).

Anyway, I have a weird interest in bizarre internet personalities, so I’ve been enjoying his channel as he simply discusses and presents a timeline of events of certain individuals. In this video, he covers the developer behind the much maligned Yandere Simulator. It’s a tale of hubris, arrogance, immaturity, and an unwillingness to accept your own shortcomings due to ego.

Oh and there’s a meme game about Japanese school girls with anime tiddies in there as well.

The Most Relaxing Anime Ever Made | Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō

Kenny Lauderdale is a youtube channel which is slowly becoming bigger which I’m very happy to see. He exclusively covers anime and live action Japanese television no younger than the mid 90s (as is the case with YYK) and which usually never saw a release outside of Japanese Laserdisc. I do wish his videos were a little longer, but if nothing else his videos serve as an excellent starting to point to find some older and underappreciated shows... or hot garbage fires. In this episode he talks about the 2 OVA episodes made based on one of my favourite manga, Yokohama Shopping Log. A Post apocalyptic anime about an android who runs a coffee shop outside of her house, and the quiet solitude of living in a world of declining human population, brief encounters with travelers and other people, and just... existing. The anime was never released outside of Japan and is only available on Japanese VHS and laserdisc.... but hey guess what!! Somebody uploaded both episodes, subbed, to Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2HCVOH6DtA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSTwfkobME

YMS’ slow descent into madness as he uncovers just how bullshit the Kimba Conspiracy is

I’m linking a full playlist for this one.

YMS is busy planning his review on the “live action” Lion King remake as the original 1994 movie is probably his favourite movie all time (and also self declared what made him a furry). As part of the 2 hour review, he decided to what all 2000 hours of Kimba the White Lion just to mention how The Lion King potentially stole the idea. ....until he actually watched all 2000 hours of Kimba and realised that if you actually WATCH Kimba, it has VERY little to do with the Lion King at all apart from having the same animals in them because AFRICA. Watch as one man slowly loses his mind as he realises just how stupid this conspiracy theory is, just HOW DECEITFUL and straight up LYING people can be. People who write BOOKS. People who teach LAW AT UNIVERSITIES. Because NOBODY bothered to actually watch the entire show and just parroted the “Disney stole this” lie which got started by like 2 salty fans on the internet.

The man set out to just mention how Disney stole an idea, and uncovered one of the most infuriating rabbit holes on the internet. Screaming for SOMEONE to provide him with sources or evidence.

YMS will be publishing his full Kimba documentary this month which he has said is around 2 hours long before he continues to work on the Lion King one.

Science Stories: Loch Ness eDNA results, Poop Knives, and Skeleton Lovers

TREY the Explainer has a video giving us some updates in Archeology from 2019. In this video he discusses the findings of the eDNA results conducted on the Loch Ness to see what animal DNA the lake contains which will tell us what living animals currently inhabit the lake, ancient knives made of poop and if this is a real thing that could have existed, and a skeleton couple found buried together which were at first thought to be lovers, then revealed to be both male, and then how in this instance we cannot let our modern sensibilities dictate what we WANT this burial find to be, but to look at the evidence as presented to us and place in context finds of this nature. The worst thing an archaeologist can do is look for proof to a theory they already have.

The Bizarre Modern Reality of Sonic the Hedgehog

Super Eyepatch Wolf is back and he’s here to talk to us about the very very strange existence of Sonic. a 90s rebellious “too cool for School” answer to Mario, a lost idea as the world of video games changes and culture shifted, a meme and punching bag amplified by a unique fanbase and poor quality games, a transcendence into a horrific warped  idea of what he once was, and modern day and where Sonic and his fans are now. As usual Super Eyepatch Wolf knocks it out of the park.

Kokoro Wish and the Birth of a Multiverse: A Lecture on the Work of Jennifer Diane Reitz

I don’t even sub to this channel as I’m not entirely sure what Ben’s usual content is about. But every now and then he has a “101″ class, where he explains to a room full of his friends in a classroom setting (complete with Whiteboard) an internet artist and oddity, the timeline, and what it is they have created. (wait... didn’t I say this already?). Unlike TRO however, the 101 classrooms are not a dark look into disturbed individuals (although the CWC 101 is debatable) nor is it a “lol look at this weirdo” dragging. Instead, of the 3 he’s done so far, it’s usually a rather sympathetic look at some of the strange artists on the internet who through some way or another, left a very big cultural impact on the internet space through their art. Sometimes they may not be the best people, but their work is so outside of what we’re used to seeing that just listening to him run you through these people’s internet history is fascinating.

In this episode he talks about Jennifer Diane Reitz. And although it is titled Kokoro Wish, the lecture is more about Jennifer’s larger work back in the early internet when being a weeb was unheard of, how being trans influenced her stories and characters, and her world building that is so rich and in-depth with it’s own ASTRO PHYSICS it puts any modern fictional world found in games or movies to shame.

Jennifer is not exactly a nice person... and in many ways can be seen as dangerously irresponsible, but she created something truly unique in a way that you kinda struggle figuring out if it’s terrible or a work of genius.

Anyway I think that’s enough for now

[irandrura]

The Elder Scrolls - a disclaimer and rant

I am going to make some posts about The Elder Scrolls, and in particular, its background, setting, and characters. That means that a disclaimer is probably necessary.

Here’s the tl;dr version: yes, I know about the lore. Please trust me when I say that I was really super into it about a decade and a half ago, and I’ve kept an eye on it since. I have read the Michael Kirkbride forum posts. I have read C0DA, The Seven Fights of the Aldudagga, Sermon Zero, the Loveletter from the Fifth Era, and so on. I know the forum roleplays like The Trial of Vivec. I know that Ayrenn is really a time-travelling mining robot from outer space. I think all the stuff I just referenced varies widely in quality, opinions quite reasonably differ on it, and it’s frequently at odds with what’s actually depicted in the games, but at any rate, I promise that I know it.

So when I go on and talk about Psijics – I know, all right? I know. I am choosing to engage with the setting on a level that focuses more on characters, human stories, and, well, the narratives of the games. The TES apocrypha is interesting, but of limited relevance to the things I’m interested in. There are many valid ways to enjoy TES. Okay?

Now, the longer part:

If you haven’t played TES, and… actually, scratch that, for like 90% of people who’ve played TES, none of the above needed to be said. The thing is, when you play a TES game, it is a fairly straightforward elves-and-wizards-and-dragons fantasy setting in the D&D mould. Indeed, the earliest versions of it, back in the 90s, were based on a D&D campaign. So there’s relatively little surprising about it, and “it’s like D&D” will carry you most of the way towards understanding it.

However, TES games are also renowned for containing lots of in-game books you can read, which are often some of the most striking and evocative parts of the games. These are supplemented by a large library of apocrypha: often unofficial material, posted by developers (and ex-developers) on the internet. The most infamous of these writers is Michael Kirkbride, who has some… very unusual tastes and interests, but there are a range of other names as well. In any case, the result is that TES has an ‘expanded universe’ composed of these non-canonical writings. Often canonical texts in-game hint at some of this vast, unofficial hinterland, and sometimes ideas invented in the apocrypha sneak back into the games themselves.

Further, the apocrypha often hints at what seems to be a very different setting to the one directly experienced in the games: one that’s less about warriors and wizards and adventure and more one about divine magic, transcendence, myth, and meaning. The descriptions often seem to be somewhat at odds. This can best be demonstrated with some examples.

For instance, here is Michael Kirkbride’s description of a High Elf warship, written before any game had depicted the High Elf homeland:

Made of crystal and solidified sunlight, with wings though they do not fly, and prows that elongate into swirling Sun-Birds, and gem-encrusted mini-trebuchets fit for sailing which fire pure aetheric fire, and banners, banners, banners, listing their ancestors all the way back to the Dawn.

This is Old Mary at Water.

 You will immediately notice two things. The first is that this sounds really cool. Some of it you need some context to parse (the old elven homeland is called ‘Aldmeris’, hence ‘Old Mary’ as a mocking nickname given by its foes; the High Elves believe that they are literally, genealogically descended from the spirits that created the world at the Dawn), but even so, man, that warship sounds awesome. This Kirkbride guy can write. The second thing, though, is that it is extremely unclear what any of this even means. Given that descriptions… what does this ship look like? Try to picture it! What the heck does ‘crystal and solidified sunlight’ look like? How exactly does a trebuchet throw fire? What?

You might then go on to play a video game where the High Elves are taking part in a war to conquer the continent. If you’re like me, you’re probably keen to see one of these fabled warships. But then it turns out that in-game, High Elf ships look… like this. Or like this.

(Indeed, the High Elves are often a good example of this. An earlier written text, in a pamphlet enclosed with the video game Redguard, described the elven capital of Alinor as “made from glass or insect wings” or “a hypnotic swirl of ramparts and impossibly high towers, designed to catch the light of the sun and break it into its component colours”. Needless to say, should you visit it in a game, it does not look like that.)

After a while, you start to notice that there is very little connection between the world implied by the apocrypha and the world experienced in the games. Kirkbride says that the “closest mythical model” for the ancient knight Pelinal “would be Gilgamesh, with a dash of T-800 thrown in, and a full-serving of brain-fracture slaughterhouse antinomial Kill(3) functions stuck in his hand or head”, and says “Pelinal was and is an insane collective swarmfoam war-fractal from the future”. Indeed in Kirkbride’s descriptions Pelinal seems to have been an ultraviolent schizophrenic who led a wild, genocidal band of anti-elven warriors, was very definitely gay, and who had only a red, gaping hole where his heart ought to be (which in turn is a reference to the missing heart of the creator-trickster deity Lorkhan, whom Pelinal was in part a mortal incarnation of). You might find that really cool or you might find it banal, but there’s no denying that it’s extremely different to the Pelinal whose ghost you can meet in-game. The apocryphal Pelinal is a mad butcher whose closest mythic model, contra Kirkbride, actually seems to be Achilles; the game Pelinal is a straightforwardly sympathetic chivalric knight. This is complicated somewhat by the in-game books being written by Kirkbride and therefore being gonzo bananas insane, so the ‘canon’, such as it is, is unclear – but at any rate it is impossible to deny that there’s an incongruity.

I could go on with examples for a long time. I haven’t even mentioned the most famous – the 1st edition PGE description of Cyrodiil compared to what it actually looks like in Oblivion – or more recent ones, like the gulf between Alduin the mythic dragon who will consume the world and indeed time itself in its terrible jaws and the frankly quite underwhelming beastie you fight in Skyrim. The point I’m making is that there are effectively two TES settings: one relatively down-to-earth, immersive, and depicted in great detail in the video games, and one that’s this absurd mash-up of magic and science fiction and whatever psychedelics Michael Kirkbride has been taking this week.

I write this long disclaimer because it has been my experience discussing TES in the past that people who are mostly interested in the former – in the relatively grounded setting experience in the games – sometimes run into an elitist attitude from people who are interested in the latter. Sometimes fans of the apocrypha can come on much too strong, or gatekeep the idea of being a fan of ‘TES lore’. Any sentence that starts with “actually, in the lore…” is practically guaranteed to go on to be awful.

My point is not that the apocryphal TES is bad. As I hinted above, in my opinion its quality varies extremely widely: there are things that Kirkbride has written that I think are pretty cool (I unironically love the Aldudagga) and there are things he’s written that I think are indulgent tripe (C0DA stands out). Ultimately it’s all about what you enjoy, and I would never try to tell anyone that they shouldn’t have fun reading or speculating about or debating the zaniness of some of these texts. Indeed, as far as online fandoms and video game fan fiction goes, TES probably has the most fruitful ‘expanded universe’ that I’ve ever seen, and I think that’s wonderful. Kirkbride himself has said that “it’s really all interactive fiction, and that should mean something to everyone” and “TES should be Open Source”, which is a position I wholeheartedly endorse – and does a lot to take the edges off some of the worse things he’s said.

Rather, my point is that everyone should enjoy what they feel most interested in, or most able to enjoy. Further, I argue that there is absolutely nothing wrong – and for that matter absolutely nothing less intelligent or less intellectual – about a person preferring to engage with the version of TES most clearly depicted in the video games. Part of this might be defensiveness on my part, because in my opinion what TES has always done best is a nuanced depiction of cultural conflict: this is particularly the case in Morrowind and Skyrim, and ESO’s better expansions tend to deal in this area as well. As such I take relatively little interest in the metaphysical content of much of the apocrypha. For me, Shor, say, is most interesting as the protagonist of several conflicting cultural narratives, rather than as a metaphysical essence.

I would also argue that the most recent game content has taken a good approach by going out of its way to legitimise a range of possible approaches to the setting. The latest chapter of ESO, Greymoor, includes a system where the player can dig up ancient artifacts, and a number of NPC scholars will comment on them for you. This allows the game to indicate in-character scholarly disagreement over issues fans have previously debated. One item shows disagreement over whether the mythical character Morihaus was literally a bull, or a minotaur, or whether he was a human allegorically referred to as a bull. Another one points to disagreement over the possibility of magical spaceships: apocryphal materials have referred to ‘Sunbirds of Alinor’, ‘Reman Mananauts’, etc., as sorts of magical astronauts, but that seems so ridiculous given what we’ve seen in the games as to be easily discounted. I like items like this in-game because they seem to say to players, “It’s okay to disagree over questions like this – no one is doing TES wrong.”

That said, I am reasonably positive that I’m in the minority here, because I am in the camp that usually says that legends exaggerate, and so Morihaus probably wasn’t a bull and magical spaceships don’t exist. This is not a popular position. My reason, of course, is that I think tales are more likely to grow in the telling rather than shrink, and I have a dozen of what I think are hard-to-deny examples of this happening in TES (e.g. heroic narratives of the War of Betony are very different to the grubby reality you uncover in Daggerfall, or Tiber Septim is almost certainly from Alcaire rather than Atmora). However, this means that I openly take an opposite methodology to Michael Kirkbride. Kirkbride was once asked by a forum poster whether some in-game writings are exaggerated. His reply was: “I prefer, "It is very possible, as is the case throughout this magical world, that some of the exaggerated claims made about some subjects pale in comparison to the Monkey Truth. ZOMGWTFGIANTFEATHEREDFLUTYRANTS."”

Needless to say, I find this implausible, and it means that, for example, I interpret the Remanada as an obvious piece of propaganda, inventing a story about Alessia’s ghost in order to retroactively explain why Reman, probably born the son of a hill chieftain with zero connection to the previous dynasty, really has imperial blood. This is a very different but in my opinion more historically plausible take than Kirkbride’s, who has a naked thirteen year old Reman standing atop his harem and slaughtering recalcitrant followers.

I’m not saying that my approach is objectively correct. It’s all fiction – and as Kirkbride said, TES is open source. The only thing that matters is what you the reader, player, or interpreter find the most interesting. For me, that means generally favouring what is seen in the games over the developer apocrypha, which I can take or leave.

At any rate.

I’m going to go on and make some more fannish posts about stuff in ESO that I liked.

Just… if it’s relevant, be aware that I am familiar with the zany stuff. Some of it I like, a lot of it I don’t like, and I feel no obligation to use it if I don’t like it.

There. Disclaimer over.

[nerianasims]

Billboard #1s 1987

Under the cut.

"Shake You Down" -- Gregory Abbot -- January 17, 1987

The only reason I've heard this song before is because of Todd in the Shadows' worst hit songs of 1987 video. I do not entirely agree with his list, but this one definitely belongs on it. I don't think the song's writer knew what "shake down" actually means. This is supposed to be a love song about how the narrator is missing the woman he's staring at (um) and wants her back so he can "shake you down." It sounds creepy, and yet the music is so painfully bland it can't even rise to that. It's no surprise it hasn't gotten radio play since it was a hit. That it was a hit in the first place is mystifying.

"At This Moment" -- Billy Vera and the Beaters -- January 24, 1987

A rather good blue-eyed soul song. The narrator is singing to a woman who just told him she's in love with someone else. It sounds like she's acting scared, and he's upset by that as well as by her leaving him, because "I'd never, never hurt you." And he'd give up twenty years of his life if she'd stay. There are some massive blues horns, Billy Vera sings it well, and it's cathartically sad. The song became a hit years after it was first released because it was on Family Ties. Billy Vera keeps on chugging, and he's also a music historian. He won a Grammy for "best album notes" in 2013 for a Ray Charles boxed set. I had no idea that was an award category.

"Open Your Heart" -- Madonna -- February 7, 1987

Watch out. When Madonna says "I've had to work much harder than this/ For something I want, don't try to resist me," it's absolutely believable. She worked incredibly hard to get where she was. I guess the song is stalkery when looked at from a certain angle, but that is not the angle I choose. I hear it as I did as a teenager -- as something aspirational, because I got huge and powerful crushes on guys (mostly friends) and then did absolutely nothing about it, both because I had no idea what to do and because I didn't actually want a boyfriend yet. (That changed in college.) Musically and lyrically, the song is Motown mixed with disco and updated, as most of the True Blue album is. It's a lot of fun.

"Livin on a Prayer" -- Bon Jovi -- February 14, 1987

I wonder what I'd feel about this song if it hadn't been overplayed for years and years. I don't think it was/is played more than "You Give Love a Bad Name," but I have never been sick of "You Give Love a Bad Name." This one... meh. I don't want to run screaming from it, even after hearing it a zillion times, so that's something. It's about a working class couple who's having serious money troubles. It's just a snapshot of this difficult time in their life, and how they're holding on to each other. I'd be happier with it if the story were rounded out, and especially if they got a happy ending. The music is fine, acceptable rock, but nothing special.

"Jacob's Ladder" -- Huey Lewis and the News -- March 14, 1987

This song is a "fuck off" to televangelists, though if you only listen to the chorus you might not know that. I always appreciate anyone telling televangelists to fuck off. I could use it being nastier, but you can't expect real nastiness from Huey Lewis and the News. Genesis would go there a few years later, and I like that song much better. "Jesus He Knows Me" is also more interesting musically. This one's fine, but not memorable.

"Lean on Me" -- Club Nouveau -- March 21, 1987

The original "Lean on Me" is one of the great songs. This version is annoying. A go-go beat and a faux-reggae break. The original of this song is deeply emotional and touching. This one is not even a good dance song. I liked it when I was a kid, but that makes sense, because it's a very kiddie song.

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" -- Starship -- April 4, 1987

This song is actually not bad. It's pretty good, even. It's a very slick synth-heavy drum machine love song, but I really like the way Grace Slick sings on it. Mickey Thomas, well, he hits the notes. Could be worse. If they'd gotten a male vocalist who could match Grace Slick on his part of the duet, this might be a great song. They didn't, so it's just pretty good.

"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" -- Aretha Franklin and George Michael -- April 18, 1987

George Michael is an excellent singer, but he's no Aretha Franklin. But who is? He holds his own pretty well here. As both Franklin and Michael know how to push emotion in a song, they end up with good chemistry on this one. Unfortunately, though the vocal performances are great, the music itself is dull. The melody slips out of my head while I'm listening to it.

"(I Just) Died in Your Arms" -- Cutting Crew -- May 2, 1987

*silent scream of anguish* I wish this song would slip out of my head permanently. It is my personal most overplayed song in existence. My hate for it could end worlds. I have no idea about what qualities it might or might not have. I just want it to shut the fuck up.

"With or Without You" -- U2 -- May 16, 1987

I don't think U2 actually counts as "alternative," but the alternative stations were the only ones who played them where I lived. The song is extremely structured and carefully designed, but it feels somehow raw at the same time. It doesn't have the layers upon layers of synth that most of the songs on the charts did. It has a beautiful melody. The lyrics are thoughtful, heartrending poetry. I'm not sure what I thought of the song at the time -- I associate it more with a couple years later, when my family moved to a town near a huge state college and I started listening to the college station. It hasn't aged a bit. An amazing song.

Also Bono’s personality is somewhat insufferable if one is silly enough to look into it. But his voice is incredibly hot, and I very much appreciate that.

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" -- Kim Wilde -- June 6, 1987

Back to the layers of synth. This is the Supremes song updated as a 1987 dance song, and it sounds exactly like you'd think it would. It's okay.

"Always" -- Atlantic Starr -- June 13, 1987

This is the kind of song I made gagging noises about at age 10, when it came out. I'm tempted to now too. It's like corn syrup, both lyrically and musically. It sounds like it was written for weddings.

"Head to Toe" -- Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam -- June 20, 1987

I liked this song a lot when I was a kid. I had a lot of fun dancing to it. Now I hear Lisa Lisa's vocals in the opening and chorus, which are kind of like a police siren, and want to cover my ears. I can't listen to it without getting a headache nowadays.

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" -- Whitney Houston -- June 27, 1987

This is a Whitney Houston song I like. She doesn't oversing as much as usual -- she mostly, though not entirely, saves it for the chorus. She wants to dance with "a man who'll take a chance/ On a love that burns hot enough to last." It's a simple dance song that speaks to real emotion.

"Alone" -- Heart -- July 11, 1987

In the 80s, Heart did hair metal ballads. All the men who did the same were copying them. Including the hair itself. Heart did it first, and Heart did it best. So lyrically, why can't she get this person alone? Not even on the phone? Whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is the emotion, the music, and that this is a great song to sing along with.

"Shakedown" -- Bob Seger -- August 1, 1987

Unlike Gregory Abbott, Bob Seger knew what "shakedown" meant. The song was written for Beverly Hills Cop II, and that's exactly what it sounds like. It's a good movie song, but doesn't transcend that box. Still fun though.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" -- U2 -- August 8, 1987

This is a spiritual pop song. But it's very far from the sanitized happy clappy Christian-brand pop that's so foul. It's about a search for transcendence that's ongoing -- eternal, really. And while this song is explicitly Christian, it speaks to a universality that doesn't require religion of any kind. Also it's beautiful musically.

"Who's That Girl" -- Madonna -- August 22, 1987

I'm surprised this was a number one. Or even charted in the top 20. I'd have predicted #46 or something. The movie it was written for was terrible, and Madonna was particularly terrible in it. Like, aggressively terrible, when in most movies she was just kinda blah. I've never liked the song. I don't hate it either; I don't feel much of anything about it. That is very strange for a Madonna song -- "American Life" is awful, but it makes me feel things. (Mostly embarrassment.) But "Who's That Girl" is bland, which a Madonna song should never be.

"La Bamba" -- Los Lobos -- August 29, 1987

This is a nearly faithful rendition of Richie Valens' original hit, which was based on a Veracruz folk song. But where are the castanets? The original is better, a true classic, but this one isn't bad. It's simply... unnecessary. It was done for a movie about Valens, so I guess it was sort of "necessary" in that way. Skip this one and go for Valens' version.

"I Just Can't Stop Loving You" -- Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett -- September 19, 1987

This is from the Bad album, which I did not like in 1987 and continue to not like now. I find this song extraordinarily dull. Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand both turned it down, and I'm not surprised. This song weirdly makes me think of The Love Boat. Like it belongs in a television series. It's legitimately bad. When do we get to Janet again?

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" -- Whitney Houston -- September 26, 1987

I think the narrator in this song is trying to get an old flame back. It's a pretty melody, and the lyrics are wildly repetitive but not bad, but I can't get past Houston's oversinging. Anyone who doesn't mind that will probably enjoy this song.

"Here I Go Again" -- Whitesnake -- October 10, 1987

I wonder what makes one feel a song is "horribly overplayed" vs. just "played probably too much but I'm fine with it." This song is the latter for me. It's a really good song, so obviously that's part of it. The beginning is thoughtful and searching, with an organ and everything (or probably a synth on the organ setting), and has that same spiritual feel as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Then in come the guitars, which are awesome. It absolutely rocks, and the emotion is of "like a drifter I was born to walk alone" is amplified by the rock, rather than buried under it.

"Lost in Emotion" -- Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam -- October 17, 1987

Lisa Lisa does not sound like a police siren in this, thankfully. And I got frozen on this song because I listened to it over and over and managed to feel absolutely nothing about it. I guess she's falling in love with a friend and worried she's telling him too much, and I should identify with this because it's happened to me more than once. But I don't. I like the bass line, and it's updated Motown, so I should like that. But again, I feel nothing. Maybe it's the way Lisa Lisa sings it. I don't know, and I've wasted far too much time on something I cannot make myself care about in any way.

"Bad" -- Michael Jackson -- October 24, 1987

I think the Bad album is bad. Actually bad, as in not good. I was 11 when this hit #1, so everything in the universe embarrassed me, but this stood out. I no longer knew anyone who liked Michael Jackson. I certainly didn't. In my opinion, Jackson had exactly one good album in him, and that album was Thriller. Thriller is one of the greats. Bad is blah.

"I Think We're Alone Now" -- Tiffany -- November 7, 1987

I wonder what makes stations decide to play #1 hits and what makes them decide not to. I don't remember hearing this much at the time, and never after. It's a cover of a 1960s song that was never that great, and it's worse here. In 1967, the "ooh we're alone gonna do something naughty" idea was still edgy. In 1987 -- are you kidding? Madonna's tearing up the charts in 1987; what on earth is this thing doing on it? It's an annoying song, annoyingly sung.

"Mony Mony" -- Billy Idol -- November 21, 1987

I had to do aerobics to this in middle school. Next!

"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" -- Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes -- November 28, 1987

This is one of those songs I can't really evaluate because it feels like background music to my life. Not that it was ever particularly important to me -- it's not. But it's sort of like "Eye of the Tiger", movie song and all. Medley and Warnes are well-matched on the song, and they do a great job. I wish the music were more interesting, but well, movie ballad. It's a good one for what it is. By the way, Dirty Dancing is another movie I've managed to never see. For no reason -- I might even like it. But somehow, it's never come up.

"Heaven Is a Place on Earth" -- Belinda Carlisle -- December 5, 1987

Ooh baby, do you know what that's worth? Yes. I love everything about this song. It's a big and unashamed dance power ballad about how great love is, and the lyrics are simple but powerful. But I have  a question: What the heck is up with the video? It looks like she's being inducted into a cult, not like she's in ecstasy over great romantic love. Well, it was the 80s, the videos usually didn't have anything to do with the songs. Still, weird.

"Faith" -- George Michael -- December 12, 1987

I've known the lyrics to this song since it came out, but I never registered them before. Only "I gotta have faith, faith, faith." I remember the video, though, with its prominent focus on George Michael's butt. I'm watching the video now, and huh, there's a basically naked woman in it too. That, I didn't remember, because it wasn't relevant to my interests. Anyway, the lyrics are about how the narrator needs a break from relationships so is not gonna have sex with this hot woman. Sure, George, that's why. Ahem. Sorry, we didn't know then, and it doesn't matter one bit anyway, because the singer is playing a role. It's a fun song for which the lyrics don't matter at all.

BEST OF 1987 -- "With or Without You" by U2  WORST OF 1987 -- "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett

[maximura]

[mi6021huwfenny]

Inspirations and Influences

I really enjoyed the conceptual integrity of Boom is Life. It was transcendent, the sheer workmanship and the execution of the production. The combination of both stop motion and 2D elements was a great influence for the concept of my own work. The poetic monologue over the unique visual stimuli, the neon yellows and greens mixed with the contrasting darkness, made the film feel like it had heightened production quality and impeccable idea development on the creators part. It was very idiosyncratic and I was passionate about replicating this into my own work. I am really just curious about multi-media expressionism. placing a 2D character into a home-made 3D environment was an incredibly inspired choice by all accounts and I would like to do something similar by using both 2D and stop motion together in unison for my final project.

Hanging by a Thread was also a strong influence on my work. I liked the incorporation of mental health and the manic state of mind within the short video. I found the inclusion of self exploration and mental health stigma really enriched the concept and I found in most of my work I like to explore mental health and using animation, and other forms of art, as a way to explore self expression and visually show ones struggles and mental health. It uses less complex story telling and narrative, focusing on primarily visual stimuli. And the fact that the film was made by hand using stop motion really interests me.  

I found this film a few years ago, because as a child I was always interested in Peter and the Wolf - especially the Disney version which I had on video cassette. I think it was a Merrie Melodies episode, in the same vein as Silly Symphonies but I cannot be sure. From what I can remember, the wolf in the animation was lumbering but lithe, a being of power and as a child, very traumatic. This may have influenced my dreams and influenced me to find fear and horror interesting as a concept. 

This version of the classic story was recreated in 2006, by a team of animators from Poland, the UK, Norway, Mexico and Switzerland. It is a 30 minutes short film set in Russia and was created using stop motion animation. There is an uncanny realism to it that is reminiscent of Laika productions and films, it is also similar to Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox with the use of real fur. The environments are so rich with atmosphere and add so much to the film. 

Above, Disney’s Peter and the Wolf (1946)

Above, “Piotruś i wilk” [Peter and the Wolf], (2006)

Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)

Fantastic Mr Fox, directed by Wes Anderson, is a poignant influence for my work. The wolf has only a few seconds of screen time but it is powerful and commands a powerful screen presence. It is used as a metaphor for the wild side of Mr Fox, as is shown visually by having the animals all anthropomorphic and bipedal, except the character of the wolf. It has no lines of dialogue and simply stares at the characters curiously. 

“Chirin’s Bell” or “Ringing Bell” (1978)

To a lesser extent, the underrated 1978 anime Chirin’s Bell influenced the idea development of my work. Following a lamb who’s family is slaughtered by a wolf, travels to the wolfs lair to become the wolfs apprentice so he would never feel as powerless as he did when he was unable to protect his family. As the lamb grows he becomes a formidable creature and joins the wolf on his hunts. They attack the farm where Chirin lived as a lamb. Chirin suffers PTSD and attacks the wolf before he can murder innocent sheep. Chirin kills the wolf and goes back to his flock, they reject him. He has become stronger but he is, much like the wolf, feared. He has become the thing he hated the most as a child and now the only person he had by his side, the wolf, was dead by Chirin’s own hand (hoof?). Chirin travels back to the cave alone, presumably to die. 

I found the wolf both as a teacher and as an animal with urges and faults was an interesting narrative device. As if, although guided through life by a teacher, the outcome and flaws of such a thing can have dire consequences.

My Depression Is Like Having A Bad Dog https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kayeblegvad/dog-years

I read this article a few years ago and it always stuck with me. This is a major influence on my idea and work. I found it incredibly relatable at the time, and now, as I have grown and developed as an artist and a person, it still gets me in my soul. It was reflective of my mind state and allowed me to visualise my issues such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thought into more real, malleable things. The metaphorical extension of using an animal as a way to express your depressions behaviour really inspired me to create this project.

Mood boards

As a pseudo-cinephile, I wanted to encapsulate the mood and feeling into my work that resonates with myself and can properly convey a feeling towards an audience that can help them understand. 

I love A Clockwork Orange and Trainspotting, and I find opening scene of A Clockwork Orange (referenced in Trainspotting) interesting as an image. I wanted to pay homage to it, as an outsider - not self proclaimed but scathingly honest - it shows the characters as both young and misguided, as well as something unsettling, something not quite right. As they are holding milk in the scene, this shows innocence and naivety. I wanted to have something similar in my own film. 

8 Mile, Quadraphenia and Donnie Darko also focus on the outsider. People that are rejected from their societal groups and are neglected for being different. The use of white space, in Coroline (and to a lesser extent Mac Miller’s music video for Self Care) is something I am eager to experiment with. Its a beautiful way of exploring loneliness and separation of reality, akin to the dissociative effects of depression. This also allowed me to explore the use of black and white in film as an artistic tool. Sometimes it is uses as a flashback (American History X), and others it is used to create tone within a film (Raging Bull).

I was interested in stop motion since I started the course. And I find the works of Laika Studios. Will Vinton, the late founder of Laika Studios created fascinating character models

I thought the imagery of the berserker was an interesting motif to add to my work as I liked the notion of it. I was a man who wore an animal pelt to empower himself, however I wanted the juxtaposition of the narrator wearing a wolf pelt and being weak and vulnerable - the polar opposite of the berserker’s purpose. 

With the addition of Peter and the Wolf for inspiration, I also referred to Grimm's Fairy Tales for inspiration. The image of the wolf has been moulded, in my opinion, through folklore and fairy tales for millennia. I thought that having the start of the animation as a quasi-Charlie and Lola-esuqe style would appeal to the thought of children's books and would give the beginning a strange, unnerving quality. The wolf from the Never Ending Story was also an influence, as it shares the overall appearance with my own designs as a black wolf with haunting yellow eyes and giant teeth. 

Milt Kahl’s use of animation in old Disney films such as The Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood was interesting, the constant line movement and the inconsistencies in appearance of certain characters appealed to me greatly. Especially the different designs of wolves through out Disney’s 2D animated era.

Isle of Dogs and Fantastic Mr. Fox, both directed by Wes Anderson, were heavy influences on how I wanted the wolf to appear and move. Using real fur because I liked how it would move about when they were animated.  

Hemlock Grove also deals with wolves, however they are more of the lycanthrope kind. I liked how in one scene the wolf appears from the jaws of one of the characters during a transformation and I wanted to pay homage to that in my animation.

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Robert Jay Lifton’s Eight Conditions of Thought Reform

He published his research in 1963.

“I wish to suggest a set of criteria against which any environment may be judged — a basis for answering the ever-recurring question: “Isn’t this just like ‘brainwashing’?” – Robert Jay Lifton

Milieu Control – The control of information and communication.

Mystical Manipulation – The manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated.

The Demand for Purity – The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection.

The Cult of Confession – Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group.

The Sacred Science – The group’s doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute.

Loading the Language – The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand.

Doctrine over person – The member’s personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.

The Dispensing of existence – The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/7715-ideological-totalism

___________________________________________

As presented in Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China, by Robert Jay Lifton, M.D.; W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1963.

Milieu Control

The most basic feature of the thought reform environment, the psychological current upon which all else depends, is the control of human communication. Through this milieu control the totalist environment seeks to establish domain over not only the individual’s communication with the outside (all that he sees and hears, reads and writes, experiences, and expresses), but also — in its penetration of his inner life — over what we may speak of as his communication with himself. It creates an atmosphere uncomfortably reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984…. (Page 420.)

Purposeful limitation of all forms of communication with outside world.

The control of human communication through environment control.

The cult doesn’t just control communication between people, it also controls people’s communication with themselves, in their own minds.

Mystical Manipulation

The inevitable next step after milieu control is extensive personal manipulaton. This manipulation assumes a no-holds-barred character, and uses every possible device at the milieu’s command, no matter how bizarre or painful. Initiated from above, it seeks to provoke specific patterns of behavior and emotion in such a way that these will appear to have arisen spontaneously from within the environment. This element of planned spontaneity, directed as it is by an ostensibly omniscient group, must assume, for the manipulated, a near-mystical quality. (Page 422.)

Potential convert is convinced of the higher purpose within the special group.

Everyone is manipulating everyone, under the belief that it advances the “ultimate purpose.”

Experiences are engineered to appear to be spontaneous, when, in fact, they are contrived to have a deliberate effect.

People mistakenly attribute their experiences to spiritual causes when, in fact, they are concocted by human beings.

The Demand for Purity

The experiential world is sharply divided into the pure and the impure, into the absolutely good and the absolutely evil. The good and the pure are of course those ideas, feelings, and actions which are consistent with the totalist ideology and policy; anything else is apt to be relegated to the bad and the impure. Nothing human is immune from the flood of stern moral judgements. (Page 423.)

The philosophical assumption underlying this demand is that absolute purity is attainable, and that anything done to anyone in the name of this purity is ultimately moral.

The cult demands Self-sanctification through Purity.

Only by pushing toward perfection, as the group views goodness, will the recruit be able to contribute.

The demand for purity creates a guilty milieu and a shaming milieu by holding up standards of perfection that no human being can attain.

People are punished and learn to punish themselves for not living up to the group’s ideals.

The Cult of Confession

Closely related to the demand for absolute purity is an obsession with personal confession. Confession is carried beyond its ordinary religious, legal, and therapeutic expressions to the point of becoming a cult in itself. (Page 425.)

Public confessional periods are used to get members to verbalize and discuss their innermost fears and anxieties as well as past imperfections.

The environment demands that personal boundaries are destroyed and that every thought, feeling, or action that does not conform with the group’s rules be confessed.

Members have little or no privacy, physically or mentally.

Aura of Sacred Science

The totalist milieu maintains an aura of sacredness around its basic dogma, holding it out as an ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence. This sacredness is evident in the prohibition (whether or not explicit) against the questioning of basic assumptions, and in the reverence which is demanded for the originators of the Word, the present bearers of the Word, and the Word itself. While thus transcending ordinary concerns of logic, however, the milieu at the same time makes an exaggerated claim of airtight logic, of absolute “scientific” precision. Thus the ultimate moral vision becomes an ultimate science; and the man who dares to criticize it, or to harbor even unspoken alternative ideas, becomes not only immoral and irreverent, but also “unscientific”. In this way, the philosopher kings of modern ideological totalism reinforce their authority by claiming to share in the rich and respected heritage of natural science. (Pages 427-428.)

The cult advances the idea that the cult’s laws, rules and regulations are absolute and, therefore, to be followed automatically.

The group’s belief is that their dogma is absolutely scientific and morally true.

No alternative viewpoint is allowed.

No questioning of the dogma is permitted.

Loading the Language

The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. [Slogans] The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed.

The cult invents a new vocabulary, giving well-known words special new meanings, making them into trite clichés. The clichés become “ultimate terms”, either “god terms”, representative of ultimate good, or “devil terms”, representative of ultimate evil. Totalist language, then, is repetitiously centered on all-encompassing jargon, prematurely abstract, highly categorical, relentlessly judging, and to anyone but its most devoted advocate, deadly dull: the language of non-thought. (Page 429.)

Controlling words helps to control people’s thoughts.

The group uses black-or-white thinking and thought-terminating clichés.

The special words constrict rather than expand human understanding.

Non-members cannot simply comprehend what cult members are talking about.

Doctrine over Person

Another characteristic feature of ideological totalism: the subordination of human experience to the claims of doctrine. (Page 430.)

Past experience and values are invalid if they conflict with the new cult morality.

The value of individuals is insignificant when compared to the value of the group.

Past historical events are retrospectively altered, wholly rewritten, or ignored to make them consistent with doctrinal logic.

No matter what a person experiences, it is belief in the dogma which is important.

Group belief supersedes individual conscience and integrity.

Dispensed Existence

The totalist environment draws a sharp line between those whose right to existence can be recognized, and those who possess no such right.

Lifton gave a Communist example: In thought reform, as in Chinese Communist practice generally, the world is divided into “the people” (defined as “the working class, the peasant class, the petite bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie”), and “the reactionaries” or “the lackies of imperialism” (defined as “the landlord class, the bureaucratic capitalist class, and the KMT reactionaries and their henchmen”). (Page 433.)

The group decides who has a right to exist and who does not.

The group has an elitist world view — a sharp line is drawn by cult between those who have been saved, chosen, etc. (the cult members) and those who are lost, in the dark, etc. (the rest of the world).

Former members are seen as “weak, “ “lost,” “evil,” and “the enemy”.

The cult insists that there is no legitimate alternative to membership in the cult.

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Video: Paul Morantz on Cults, Confession and Mind Control

Excellent podcast: Ford Greene, Attorney and Former Moonie, on the Death of Rev. Moon

Socialization techniques through which the Unification Church / FFWPU members were able to influence

Sensibly Speaking Podcast: Terror, Love and Brainwashing ft. Alexandra Stein

Cult Indoctrination – and the Road to Recovery