#norton escaped! || event

[the-asylum-show]

not your escape though freedom is cool.

ξ⊗_ʖ⊗)ξ > "I-..I guess...Uhm...Thank...You?..."

[itsxeo3]

Hello everyone, I'm crossposting my nortalice week onto Tumblr ! ! ! 🧲💕🗞

I'm a little nervous, since this is my first time doing this kind of thing, but I hope everyone here enjoys it 🫶

It's open for writers and artists starting August 4th to August 10th, it's strictly 16+ and will use the first hashtag seen below when creating works for this week 🙇‍♂️

Here's some basic summaries on each prompt of the a week to give a better idea on what each theme entails!

Pre-Manor:

Anything that happens before Oletus Manor, a coincidental run-in, scenarios relating to Alice is investigation on Norton, or Norton being hired to go after Alice, even once concepts!

Matching Costumes:

Alternative universes or just costumes that match! Ex. Eternity/Infernal Sin, Summer Frisbee/Trainee Editor, Spinel/Wolframite etc, etc...

Banquet:

Based on the official artwork for Ashes of Memory Chapter II featuring all members of the group dining together, can also reference the endless banquet MV, or a scenario loosely akin to a dinner date.

Interview:

The canonical interaction between Alice and Norton during their time in the Manor, I suggest looking at Norton's 2022 letter for more information in regards to this event.

Chase:

Another canonical event that took place during Ashes of Memories, this is the prompt most focused on Fool's Gold and Alice's dynamic, it also doesn't necessarily have to be about that specific chase, can take place in any part in the story that you'd see fit!

death/Life:

more of a metaphorical concept to tie into the theme of their characters and such, this prompt is intended to be interpretive but can be taken literally if you choose to do so.

Post-Manor:

A prompt with a lot of ideas to work with; escaping the Manor together, having an unlikely run-in after the manor, tending to their injuries after their game, so on and so forth.

[sirenjose]

Norton is Alive in the Final Game

This is going to be less of an organized post and more just a collection of points. I wanted to post a theory I wrote about Time of Reunion here based on quoththeowl31's request, but I wrote the original theory right after the event (I needed hope) and it's been quite some time since then. I would've felt guilty just copy pasting it here considering how long its been, but I didn't have the energy to make it nice and neat. So I'm just going to take the important points from my previous theory, revise them based on what info we currently have, and go from there.

(Sorry, I only had the energy to be lazy for this. Hopefully this is good enough for you.)

Alice (Little Girl) is running from Orpheus during Time of Reunion in-game.

She disappears in Da Capo after Orpheus beats up Norton, leaving only her diary behind. The same thing happens at the end of the Time of Reunion event in-game. The diary is left on the ground near where Orpheus lies.

Possible Orpheus scared Alice due to his actions, even if he thought he did it to defend her.

This is the “final game”. No bodies are found except Orpheus’. The fire didn’t consume everything, so if Norton really were dead, his body should be around there somewhere, but it isn’t.

Melly and Alice are never found either, but if they did manage to leave, we’ve heard nothing about them.

(Reusing an idea I read from quoththeowl31 that I really liked)

Little Girl helps other survivors. If Orpheus was Nightmare, that’d mean she’d have to help Norton, Melly, or whoever the 4th survivor is (whether that’s Frederick or otherwise). Novelist was banned in this mode, meaning Little Girl couldn’t support him (and it’s possible this could have been meant to also signify Little Girl didn’t support him in the story either).

Alice is a rescuer. The only person we’ve seen hurt and chaired during the in-game cutscene was Norton. Ergo, it’d be her responsibility to rescue him.

Norton is a survivor built to harass the hunter (and potentially by-time for others/help others escape from the hunter), while Melly is built for kiting and running. This could explain why Norton is the one who is the one wounded during Time of Reunion

Norton and Melly, each time they appear as hunters during the animations, are always reaching towards Little Girl aka Alice, not Orpheus.

Norton was using the axe to break the door to the room Orpheus had locked himself and the girl in. The axe disappears right after he makes a big enough hole, meaning Norton didn’t intend to use it to hurt either of them.

Melly in Alice’s diary was said to be trying to persuade Alice to leave, but she refuses due to not finding the answer she’s looking for yet.

If Alice/Little Girl knew Norton and Melly were trying to help her, she likely would’ve sided with them. That could also be why she disappears after Orpheus beats up Norton (as well seeing how Orpheus truly is/how messed up he is). Or she disappeared so Orpheus, upon losing sight of her, she’d be freed and could help Norton without Orpheus stopping her.

Orpheus isn’t a reliable perspective. The memories we’re seeing are because of the Hydra drug, which “rebuilds” memories. “Rebuild” rather than “regain” or “remember” means the “rebuilt” version can look the exact same as the original, but it’s also possible for it to somewhat differ from the original version. For example, the memories Hydra gives Orpheus has Orpheus being chased by Nightmare, which we know is impossible as Orpheus is Nightmare, as well as shows Alice as Little Girl rather than her actual, present day version as Alice the Journalist. (Similar to what happens to Sora during Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.)

There are inconsistencies in the animation, which can help show that it, like the Time of Reunion event in-game, isn’t the exact truth. Besides Alice appearing as Little Girl rather than Journalist Alice, as well as how we can see hallucinations exist considering we see Melly and Norton appearing as hunters, but we know this is a hallucination as, for example, after Orpheus punches Melly, we see the real Melly briefly afterwards.

Norton doesn’t have his signature burn scar over his eye

Norton doesn’t have his nose piercing

Only Orpheus and Little Girl are in color. Norton and Melly are in black and white.

Only Orpheus and Little Girl have real eyes. Norton has button eyes.

Norton isn’t fighting back. When Orpheus tries to punch him a 2nd time, Norton actually grabs his hand, struggles to keep him still while Orpheus continues to try to attack him, and then grabs Orpheus’ other hand when he tries to swing that at Norton too. In the second or so that Orpheus can’t attack, we see Norton trying to say something to Orpheus, but Orpheus isn’t listening and continues to attack. Norton this whole time hasn’t made any moves to attack Orpheus himself.

The strange scene where Melly is hiding in a locker, Norton touches something on the floor, walks over to the locker, shakes it once, hits it once, shakes it one more time, then runs out. It’s kind of nonsensical. If he was running from something, we’d see Norton moving quicker and more furiously, yet the nonchalant way he goes about his business before slowly walking to the locker says otherwise. Right after this, Melly opens up a trapdoor once Norton leaves. It’s possible Norton’s actions were a signal to Melly, potentially signifying that it was Norton, not Orpheus, and him trying to potentially say Orpheus wasn’t around, and that could’ve been why Melly only opened the trapdoor afterwards. This could mean Melly and Norton are working together, and as both of them seemed to be trying to reach for Little Girl specifically, that could help further prove the idea.

The only time we see Norton and Melly going against each other is when Norton punches Melly and causes her to drop the flashlight that Orpheus then picks up. I think the only reason this happened was because they might’ve known Orpheus was watching and had to pretend. Even when Orpheus firsts locks himself in the room with Little Girl, closing the door right as Hunter Melly appears in front of the door, in a few seconds, we see the axe coming through the door, signifying Hunter Norton is right outside the door now. Both Norton and Melly should be nearby, outside the door, but they’re goal is getting into the room, not fighting each other.

We also see both of them running past Orpheus at about the same time.

There’s also how Melly during Time of Reunion is shown to be using her bees to try to get Orpheus hit and killed by the hunter.

“Da Capo” is a music term and means to “go back to the beginning” of the music. This only happens once, with the second time you reach this symbol it doesn’t repeat, and instead goes to a different measure. This basically seems to symbolize doing things over but reaching a different ending.

Da Capo and redoing something can connect to COA 4, as Highway Cavalier and the others repeatedly die and are forced to redo the race over and over. Highway Cavalier does defeat Molten Hound and win the race in the end, receiving a “powerful life force” as his reward in the end. Molten Hound, who is absorbing the life force of the racers forced to redo the race in loop after loop, can parallel Orpheus as Nightmare, who does something similar with the participants of his experiments. Highway Cavalier obviously parallels Norton, while Melly can parallel Reflective Mirror, someone who at first did not get along with and was on different sides from Norton, but after Norton changes and starts to care, he saves her from dying at one point, and they become allies.

Considering what we know about Alice based on her letter to Orpheus in the 2nd anniversary package, where she says she’s going to save him (Orpheus) this time, she could parallel Pumping Tires, who sacrifices himself for Highway Cavalier to ensure Highway Cavalier can win the race and defeat Molten Hound.

There’s also how the COA 4 races were taking place in Yidhra’s Dreamlands, and Yidhra in canon seems to relate to Oracle and Orpheus’ drugs via the fern, as well as to Darkwoods where the Final Game takes place.

Norton in his 2nd letter was asked to assassinate some female in exchange for a lot of money. Despite this, we see in this letter that he (Hunter Norton/Fool’s Gold) is trying to convince himself (Survivor Norton) to go through with the job and kill the female for the money. This is similar to Norton’s backstory trailer, where we see Norton fighting with himself before he sets off the explosion in Golden Cave. We see him holding his head, as well as both him and his hunter version at the same time, before seeing Fool’s Gold win and cause the explosion.

It’s possible during the Final Game, Norton chose to reject the assassination request and side with Alice instead, similar to Highway Cavalier’s change from selfish to working with others during COA 4 to the point in previous loops he gets himself killed while trying to help them.

Norton in Time of Reunion is shown to be eliminated via chair rather than bleeding out. This means there is a chance he survived. (Orpheus is also shown with scars on his hand from the wires on the rocket chairs, meaning he survived despite being chaired. It’s possible he was rescued, but in-game, if you’re eliminated via chair, it does say “returning to manor”, which could be what happened to Norton).

Little Girl, as well as Nightmare, disappeared because Orpheus forgot about them. Because the gas he released via the valve is shown to have the Dionysus/Mnemosyne symbol, which is the drug that makes a person forget.

Strange split screen during the scene Orpheus attacks Norton. Suspicious we can’t see exactly who the shadows are, even though the left side shows us Orpheus and Norton. Considering we know the hallucination drug can cause people to see someone as something else, it’s possible the fact we can’t see who’s on the right may hint that maybe they aren’t who they seem to be. It’s possible rather than attacking Norton, he’s actually attacking Alice, which could also tie to why she sees him as Nightmare, as well as why Little Girl runs away from Orpheus during the Time of Reunion event.

Orpheus is focused on the past before the tragedy. He is “looking back”. He also “looks back” after attacking Norton in Da Capo, and when he does, Alice is gone. And like in the original myth, when Orpheus looks back, Eurydice vanishes forever. The fact Alice is gone could mean he did in fact attack her and caused her to disappear despite what he thought he saw.

Last thought. We see Little Girl disappear at the end. And based on Alice’s letter to Orpheus, this seems to echo this. If Yidhra really is involved, what if she made Alice, as well as Norton and Melly, disappear. Similar to what happens to the Lakeside villagers. And potentially similar to what Eli describes in his 4th letter, as he describes “dissipating” just like how we see happen to Little Girl in the animations as well as in-game at the end of Time of Reunion.

As Yidhra’s letters seem to connect her to the fern used in the drugs, as well as to Darkwoods, where the final game is, and where we can find a bonfire that Yidhra’s form can appear in, it’s possible she could’ve made Alice, Norton, Melly, and potentially all the other participants of Orpheus’ game disappear, similar to how she makes the investigators who wander into her territory see the steps to the Dreamlands.

Alice in her letter to Orpheus in the 2nd anniversary package does say “As I gradually regain my consciousness, I’ll find a way to escape from the prison that locks me in”, and though I don’t see how she could write a letter to Orpheus if she had already been sent to the Dreamlands, I still wanted to suggest the idea that the “prison” she refers to is the Dreamlands. In which case, the “hunter” Alice references she could potentially use could be Yidhra: https://www.tumblr.com/sirenjose/738327507924828160/oracle-orpheus-drugs-and-yidhra-theory?source=share.

That or Joseph. Both him and Yidhra seem to be potential solutions: https://www.tumblr.com/sirenjose/737972149259829248/did-joseph-make-the-portraits-are-they-still?source=share.

Joseph is all about saving people from death, which he does by taking a photo of them, causing their souls to be trapped within the photo and their bodies to seemingly go missing. He had a wall of portraits of people that went missing, and we are now getting portraits of survivors for their 5th birthday. In which case, the “prison” Alice references could be that photo, and the hunter she suggested wanting to use could be Joseph.

[byneddiedingo]

25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)

Cast: Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, Tony Siragusa. Screenplay: David Benioff, based on his novel. Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto. Production design: James Chinlund. Film editing: Barry Alexander Brown. Music: Terence Blanchard. 

Spike Lee's 25th Hour is a "day in the life" movie, and a very good one. The day is the last one of freedom for Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) before he goes to prison for seven years. He spends it with his girlfriend, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), his friends Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Frank (Barry Pepper), and his father (Brian Cox), and also makes a visit to the Russian mobsters who got him into the business of pushing drugs. It's also one of Lee's best films, less celebrated than Do the Right Thing (1982) or Malcolm X (1992), but worthy of being mentioned in their company. The only reservation I have about the movie is that Lee doesn't let his powerhouse cast bring their solidly written characters to life without indulging in a few distracting cinematic tricks. He and his longtime editor, Barry Alexander Brown, can't seem to resist techniques like freeze frames and moments in which the action is repeated from a different angle. There are showy montages and tour de force episodes, some of which work, like the "fuck you" episode in which the embittered Monty anathematizes almost every racial, social, and economic group in New York City. And the film ends with a beautifully realized sequence in which Monty's father proposes to help him escape and imagines the life he might live. But other episodes don't quite work, like the long take in which Jacob and Frank talk about their friendship with Monty, a scene that must have involved careful preparation on the part of Pepper and Hoffman, But it's staged in front of a window in Frank's apartment, which somewhat improbably overlooks Ground Zero, where crews are clearing away the rubble of the World Trade Center. I couldn't help being distracted by the scene outside the window instead of concentrating on their dialogue. Still, the movie, which was planned before the 9/11 attack and completed and released afterward, beautifully integrates that event into the theme and tone of the film, which deserves to find the audience it never quite did when it was released. 

[georgiapeach30513]

One of the comments my father made while watching knives out was noticing how smart ransom is but what a shame he used his smarts to do bad instead of good. Like you said, it’s like people don’t necessarily realize what he did requires an insane amount of intelligence along with cruelty.

I really don’t think rian johnson expected to create such a fun character as he did with ransom. I think he was writing it with Marta and Benoit in mind and ransom was just supposed to be both a red herring and the culprit with a throwaway ending because he “really did suck as much as his family said he did.”

But I think Chris made the role. I really do. I don’t actually think someone else could have done it. I mean, maybe if they had casted someone else in the role it would have been fine, but I really think having him be ransom right after the world saw him as Steve just turned the expectations upside down.

Ironically, I’m usually an ed Norton fan (I even preferred him as the hulk LOL than mark ruffalo) but miles bron in glass onion didn’t really do it for me. His ending was very anticlimactic and I def don’t think he’s the knives out villain people will be talking about when both movies get rewatched and rediscussed years down the line.

I still wonder sometimes what ransom is doing in jail. If he’s plotting his escape or something else. I also wonder about that house of his. I wonder about how he was like in school. I wonder about his dating life, if he had one, and if he was the one ghosting people or if he was getting ghosted. wonder what he’s like at parties - when they played the mafia game during Fourth of July.

For someone who hates his family he still shows up for family events. Does make you wonder if maybe he does still want to be around these people but everyone else just rejected him. Kind of sad now aw

(lol sorry for the mini tangent. I just love the movie and the character so much!)

I agree with all you said, and I also need to know everything about Ransom. Chris did such an amazing job with Ransom, and he gave him so much, well character. He was the shining part of that movie, with so many great characters. I think had Rian known what he had on his hands, things might be a bit different. I hope eventually we will see Ransom again. And I think Ransom had the potential to be so good. He was Harlan's favorite for a reason.

[mintytealfox]

Any headcanons about Detective Orpheus?

Yeeeeeeeeeeeee~ The creepy gremlin man who doesn't realize how scary he is lol

and sniffing all the gosh dang drugs like Alice, and him taking it a step further and DRINKING THE ONE IIMMMMM???????? Just like he did when he was still the Novelist 10 years prior LOL Alice maybe doing the same (likely and hopefully not pff) since he finds that same BOTTLE on HER DESK in HER ROOM THE FUUUUHHH???

What are these two DOIN LOL

(side note Alice is familiar with the drug cause the forgetting one was replaced with this hydra one and she was able to escape 👀:

the sticker behind the forgetting one has a hint of one of the hooks of the hydra mark but I totally could be in delusion land again loool)

ANYWAY! (gosh DANG I keep getting side tracked lol)

HEADCANONS GOSH LOL

-Bro has a HORRIBLE case of dual personality(or at least he is convinced he has dual personality. Like he is trying to convince himself he is a good person and would never do anything that he did and its just his alter ego). Where one is aware of everything and trying to lead the other who has control. But the naughty one is able to do 'minor' things such as making him see things and potentially carving clues into his skin 😱but most likely just making him see it not actually doing it, but I wouldn't put the carving past him either honestly.

-Bro hasn't slept in ages, I mean look at him lol he barely 35 and looking in his 50s (which reminds me that Norton would be 38 with 40 around the corner lol old jk jk 🤣 I bet he would age well if he has the opportunity to. I mean look at him, after all he has been through, he should be looking ROUGH considering, but here he is and still looks like a baby bean with his 30s are around the corner looool)

-I don't think he ('or his alter ego') know what happened to everyone after that night. I don't think they know if Alice is alive or not. One seeking for answers the other seeking Alice.

-Orpheus seemed to have gone on with his life and just lived as a detective for 10 years until he got a letter again, then he started loosing his marbles again. So all this time he hasn't been looking or searching, just kind of living. (what if he gave himself that letter and he is so messed up he genuinely doesn't realize like. All of his stuff is so messy I would believe that as a possibility lol everything he says is wild and everywhere oh my gosh)

I wish I had more headcanons but this dude baffles me so much, with all of his stuff being confusing and contradictory and unreliable oh my gosh LOL but he puts on the airs that he has two personalities, one trying to be a good person and find his memories while the other is like "NAHHHHH I GOT PLANS"

bro baffles me so bad man orz I want to give him the benefit of the doubt like this detective version of him does for himself, but I don't trust a darn thing cause he is so unreliable as a narrator lol

-But after all of these events and he gets all those memories again and goes back on his mess? I betcha he would hunt down Alice whether she is alive or not. orz I bet he would try to hunt down all of da capo (if they are alive or not) honestly, and try a REDO, sort of thing, to make sure it all goes RIGHT this time orz He either finds them if he can or finds people like them to try and recreate it orz I feel like Da Capo would HAUNT that 'alter ego' and its a wrong that needs to be made right 🙃

but of course these are just some thoughts/ponderings heh

[quoththeowl31]

1930's Martha Behamfil or whatever alias she's using this time...

Life after the manor was directionless for quite awhile. Martha and Evelyn had said their goodbyes to each and later Martha helped Alice, Norton and Melly escape to America in order to avoid the powers behind the manor after the final game. She'd work various jobs around Europe, correspond with Alice as frequently as they saw safe and kept an ear out for anything related to the manor.

A series of deeply unfortunate events would leave Martha bereft but filled with determination as said events revealed these "games" were happening again and they were being used to prepare for something big

Martha would use her skills in the Great War, playing an important role for the allies and exposing the chemical labs attempting to create more chemical weapons. She'd lose an eye during her time in the war.

After the war, she herself moved to America to find a sense of peace and became a school teacher. Over the years she kept correspondence with Johnathan "Carter". Their relationship is tenuous and awkward but they do care for each other.

Sometime ago she met with Johnathan as they both received and invitation with the familiar wax seal.

She wears a hat and coat similar to Evelyn as a tribute to her dear teacher.

[scotianostra]

On July 30th 2003 Multi race winning Motorcyclist, Robert Steven ‘Hizzy’ Hislop died.

Hislop was from a close knit, Scottish Borders family. He grew up in the village of Chesters near the town of Hawick with his father Sandy, mother Margaret and younger brother Garry [his best friend]. Sandy encouraged his boys to be enthusiastic about competitive motorcycling and take up racing.

However his father died when Steve was 17, then Garry was killed in a racing accident at Silloth circuit in 1982 aged 19, Steve’s enthusiasm waned and he slumped into an alcohol fuelled depression.

However, a trip to the TT races in 1983 inspired him, and he decided to compete there, with his first win in the 1987 TT Formula 2 Race on a Yamaha.

He went on to become the fourth most successful TT rider of all time with a total of 11 wins, including four victories in the senior race - the TT’s premier event. In total, he took the podium an incredible 19 times. But for many domestic fans, the victory held most dear is his win on the rotary-engined Norton in 1992 - the last time an all-British machine won a TT.

Unlike a lot of TT specialists, Hislop was also extremely good on conventional racing circuits and was tipped by many for world championship success. When he won the British 250cc Supercup for Honda in 1990, everything looked set for a glittering career in grand prix, following his countryman Niall Mackenzie.

But promise was never turned into reality, and he never marketed himself in a way which would secure a GP ride. Later, he expressed regret that he had not contracted a personal manager, who could have directed his talents on the bike into a career off it.

He was twice British superbike champion and also won in world superbike and world endurance racing. Hislop excelled at endurance racing and was world champion in 1993 - but again didn’t capitalise on this success.

Much of the problem lay with his dual personality. With race fans he was often the most charming, accessible and easy-going of all his generation of riders. However, he was often difficult for teams - despite his astonishing skill on the track.

Even after winning the 2002 British superbike championship, Monster Mob Ducati team owner Paul Bird did not renew his contract, and Hislop was fired from the Virgin Mobile Yamaha team in July of this year - and mid-season sackings of a team’s lead rider are rare occurrences.

Injuries did not help his career either. In a miraculous escape, he broke his neck at the 2000 world superbike round at Brands Hatch and then, unaware of the seriousness of his injuries, discharged himself from hospital. In 2002, he suffered horrendous injuries when a safety fence lifted and he hit a solid barrier behind it. Despite this enormous setback, he went on to win the 2002 British superbike championship.

Conscious of the fact that his racing career was coming to a close, Hislop had been taking helicopter flying lessons with the aim of becoming a commercial helicopter pilot.

On July 30th 2003 Hislop crashed his hewlicopter just eight minutes after leaving a friend’s home in Hawick to fly solo back to Buckinghamshire.

Steve has two statues in his memory, one on The Isle of Man, the other at Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick. He has two, £2 coins that were struck by the royal mint in 2019 to mhonour him.

There is a cairn near Teviothead close tothe scene of the helicopter crash, it reads……

The last pic is a cairn near Teviothead, the scene of the helicopter crash, it reads……

'Hizzy’ This cairn was built by a few friends of Steve Hislop, British Superbike Champion, who was tragically killed in a helicopter accident near this site, on July 30th 2003.

Kind permission was granted by His Grace The Duke of Buccleuch.

[bracketsoffear]

Breed to Come (Andre Norton) "It tells the story of an Earth abandoned by humans and inhabited by intelligent animals. The primary protagonist is Furtig, a mutated cat who lives in a colony related to a famous explorer and leader, Gammage. The People, as they call themselves, have evolved somewhat functional hands—at the cost of their ancestral claws—and the ability to walk upright as well as on all fours. They coexist more or less peacefully with mutated pigs, have an adversarial relationship with local tribes of mutated dogs, and open enmity with the mutated rats who infest the ruined cities of the Demons.

The Demons, it quickly becomes clear, were humans. They are long gone. Some went into space. Those who remained on Earth either killed one another off or died of the same disease that caused some of their livestock, lab animals, and pets to develop enhanced intelligence.

Gammage has a mission, not only to master Demon technology but to use it against the Demons themselves. He believes that the ones who escaped into space are coming back in response to the beacon that they left behind, and he wants to be ready for them. He is convinced that this will happen soon…"

White Noise (Don DeLillo) "White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, his fourth wife, Babette, and four ultra­modern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event," a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys—radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings—pulsing with life, yet suggesting something ominous."

[agentnico]

Asteroid City (2023) Review

Wow, even for Wes Anderson this is a stacked cast! Might as well just advertise this as Asteroid City - starring all of Hollywood!

Plot: World-changing events spectacularly disrupt the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in an American desert town circa 1955.

Like or hate him, it is hard not to at the very least respect Wes Anderson and his directorial style, as he’s basically achieved his own genre at this point. You hear a movie described as ‘Wes Anderson-esque’ and you are guaranteed to expect beguiling symmetrical shots, bright vintage coloured flair, use of stop-motion animation and postmodern symbolism, all the while featuring a vast array of A-list actors appearing in either awkward or over-confident fast-talking caricatures. There’s an interesting article on Curzon detailing what a Wes Anderson style entails, and it is a very interesting read. You can find it on the following link: https://www.curzon.com/journal/unpacking-wes-anderson-s-cinematic-style/

So with Asteroid City you can already anticipate these Wes Andersonisms. The question is how strongly the style takes over the substance, and also if this is befit to Anderson’s stronger outings like Fantastic Mr Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel, or does it lean more into the weaker aimless results of Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch. Ironically those latter two films were the most recent of Anderson releases, so he could do with a hit now to reinstate his original success. Well, is it?

This may be the most Wes Anderson movie to ever Wes Anderson. It’s so Wes Anderson that you at the end feel like you have took a bath in the waters made out of Wes Anderson’s brain and are now overfilled with Wes Anderson syndrome. Went I walked out of the cinema, for a good minute or two everything around me looked over symmetrical, and colours popped. The latter effect I feel will also be a symptom when I watch the Barbie movie later this month, only then I’ll be seeing all pink. Look, visually this movie looks gorgeous, from the costumes to set pieces everything looks great, and Anderson evidently has a lot fun showcasing his visual craft. Speaking of the set, the Asteroid City itself is brought to life practically with Anderson and his production team literally building the set, and from the opening sequence the cinematography relishes in showing every little detail, every nook and cranny of this city, or more so town as for a city...well, it’s the tiniest city ever. Barely even a village. Nonetheless, it’s very well realised but at the same time this city manages to look very cartoony and unreal, however that’s not a detriment as this brings us smoothly to our next point...

Asteroid City makes the intriguing choice of providing a narrative meaning to Wes Anderson’s style. In most his movies like The Life Aquatic and The Darjeeling Limited we as an audience are simply thrown into the Wes Anderson landscape and simply made to accept his eye candy of a world. Nothing wrong with that, if ever a movie directed itself to the idea of escapism then it’d be a Wes Anderson flick. However Asteroid City goes a step beyond that by presenting this movie as if it were a stage performances, that is intercut with black-and-white segments of Bryan Cranston narrating how the writer (Edward Norton) is writing his final play, and how the actors bring it to life in the shape of Asteroid City. From the get-go Anderson underlines that Asteroid City is not a real place nor are its inhabitants or visitors, but that they are all performing a theatrical piece. A theatre stage and Anderson’s style do share a lot in common so this aspect worked really well and in fact this was one of the lesser pretentious elements of this film.

That being said, I also do think that in this case Anderson has gone more style over substance, as he was evidently so focused with creating a visual feast, that he somewhat forgot to have a decent story and have characters of any substance. Think of this as Anderson’s fine dining experience. The presentation is immaculate, the look of what’s on the plate is exquisite. But the portions are miniscule. You will receive a couple of delicious bites, but overall will be left unsatisfied and will most likely head to the nearby fast-food joint and grab a semi-decent burger and some fries to full up that stomach of yours. So with Asteroid City, there are a few delightfully splendid moments and ideas (for me personally an early sequence involving Matt Dillon’s repairman fixing up a car with this one tiny bolt was fittingly amusing), and for Anderson’s first venture into sci-fi territory the alien aspect was handled well enough, but overall I found myself heavily disengaged with the proceedings. It was a lot of ado about nothing, with moments happening just because, and one could argue that is simply the Anderson way, but it didn’t appeal to my personal tastes. Also most of the jokes didn’t land. The movie tries its hardest to be quirky light-hearted fun, but rarely did I even chuckle or smirk if that.

The cast - I mean, what a cast! Anybody who’s anybody is in this movie. Everyone fits really nicely into the caricatures Anderson gives them, however a lot of them are left with hardly anything to do, with the likes of Liev Schreiber, Tilda Swinton, Hong Chau and Willem Dafoe suffering most. I did enjoy Tom Hanks though as the more level-headed grounded of the lot, and Jason Schwartzman is continuing his solid summer streak after Across the Spider-Verse as a father who’s struggling to reveal to his children about their mother’s death, as well as supporting his son in the space program competition. Him and the son played by Jake Ryan make for a solid duo. Scarlett Johansson delivers Anderson’s line with style and eloquence bequest of his style, and Steve Carell is comically humorous as a motel owner who glimmers with positivity. Jeffrey Wright does a fun monologue, Adrien Brody provides frenetic quips as an auteur director (may or not be inspired by Anderson himself) and Jeff Goldblum cameos as an alien. All is well on the casting front, though if you’re looking forward to an ensemble piece where everyone gets their share, most appearances here are but fleeting cameos. 

If you are a fan of Wes Anderson you will find enjoyment in Asteroid City, however I myself prefer a little more substance and meaning in the films I watch, and also the comedy didn’t land nor did I care much for what was happening. As I said, presentation is of a fine-dining level, but I will now head to get a McDonalds to settle my hunger. 

Overall score: 5/10

[ragnarlothcat]

I’ve been caught in the clutches of the poet au and I’m unable to escape it (but to be honest I’m not trying that hard). I read this poem by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton and it just screams poet Obi-wan in denial.

This is so beautiful and it does fit poet Obi-Wan perfectly 🥺 This is him before the events of the fic I guess, or the poem that's circulating around court at the very start and the people who pay any attention to poetry realize immediately who Obi-Wan is writing about. The trouble is that probably includes Qui-Gon, who I have as Anakin's guardian. Maybe that's why Obi-Wan is so anxious about saying anything to Anakin 🤔 I haven't written any disapproving parent stuff before. And maybe Dooku is Obi-Wan's dad/guardian!

I'm getting ahead of myself. Thank you for sending this, it's lovely and very inspiring 🥰

[the-asylum-show]

norton i'm going to turn you into porcelain if you don't stop.

ξ⊗_ʖ⊗)ξ > "...S-Stop what?...My-...My escape?...No-...No way! I-I'm not stopping now! T-That i am...I am free for the first time in-...In so many time..."

ξ⊗_ʖ⊗)ξ > "...I-I don't care...How much you threaten me...I-I will stay free! W-With my family!"

[the-active-news]

Asteroid City Wes Anderson Movie Trailer: The Great Asteroid Escape

You're about to be taken on an incredible journey to a universe where space and oddness meet, where adventure and whimsy mix. The extraordinary is the norm, and the unthinkable is done daily in Asteroid City. Expect the unexpected from a film directed by Wes Anderson, the undisputed king of a cinematic oddity.

Asteroid City Wes Anderson Movie Trailer

The first teaser for Wes Anderson's upcoming comedy "Asteroid City" has been released by Focus Features. The "Asteroid City" events occur in a made-up American desert city in the '50s. World-altering events cause turmoil during a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention meant to unite youngsters and parents via academic competition. On June 16, it will debut in select theaters, and on June 23, it will open to the public, as per the variety.com The film's premiere is planned for the Cannes Film Festival. See the teaser video below. https://youtu.be/M6QOGrUVOC0 Margot Robbie, Tom Hanks, Hong Chau, and Scarlett Johansson comprise most of the film's key cast. Besides those mentioned above, the film also stars Bryan Cranston, Ed Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, Grace Edwards, Aristou Meehan, Sophia Lillis, Ethan Lee, and Rita Wilson. Together with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Isle of Dogs," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Moonrise Kingdom," "The French Dispatch," and "The Royal Tennenbaums," "Asteroid City" is the most recent addition to Anderson's impressive filmography.

Also set for release in 2023 is Anderson's "The Wonderful Tale of Henry Sugar," a Netflix original based on the Roald Dahl novel of the same name. Anderson and Roman Coppola, who has previously written for Anderson's films like "The French Dispatch," "Isle of Dogs," "The Darjeeling Limited," and "Moonrise Kingdom," collaborated on "Asteroid City." You may also be interested in reading the pieces about previews and trailers. - The Last Of Us HBO Release Date Episode 2: Is There Trailers? - Welcome to Flatch Season 3:Welcome To Flatch Season 3 Release Date, Wiki, Çast, News Trailer? Anderson's regular working partners, Jeremy Dawson and Steven Rales of Indian Paintbrush, produced the film. The film's producers, Christoph Fisser and Henning Molfenter were joined by executive producers John Peet and Octavia Peissel. Marking our site, theactivenews.com will allow us to understand more about your preferences in films and television shows. So that you're always in the know Read the full article

[sirenjose]

So I've been really into your analysis lately and I'm a huge fan now, wanted to ask some questions, feel free to not answer any

1- what was your favourite idv story/event to analyze?

2- your least fav of the latter?

3- are you into anything else besides idv?

4-how do you find the motivation to analyze stuff? I've tried before and it was very draining :')

Thanks for your time, hope you have a lovely day

I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying yourself despite my own low opinion about much of what I put out. I'll do my best to answer!

Hmm I always dislike picking favorites because I'm bad at picking eheh... But the ones I liked most... I honestly enjoy T&I and COA (1-5) even more than the main story. So I think I might pick... Atropos' Ropes for T&I and for COA, thats harder... 3-5 are my faves but I might pick 4 just because of how it felt it had the most story/details given than all the rest. Even the *SONG* had story. I loved it.

Least fave, eh... Orfeo and Zinaida immediately come to mind, though Orfeo I'd say was worse... COA 1 is another primarily because of how DIFFICULT it was for me to figure it out enough to put together an analysis. And I had to rewrite that thing at LEAST 3 times to the point I'm just hoping it's good enough and leaving it alone. Time of Reunion I think is another that comes to mind, mainly because I didn't appreciate how they treated Norton in there, especially in the videos (but at least those aren't canon like the in-game event was). So based on all that, I might say Orfeo if I really had to pick 1. Then rank ToR 2nd and Zinaida/COA1 3rd.

FF14 and Honkai Star Rail especially I'm playing actively these days, but I honestly like a lot of stuff. Like Persona (espeially 4), 999 aka Zero Escape, and Star Ocean Til the End of Time. Least in terms of games.

Hmm... Maybe because the 1st reason I play a game is because of the story, and gameplay is always 2nd to me. If the story and characters are good, that gets me interested. Issue with IDV is we only get bits and pieces. Really need to look deeper to really understand some of the characters. I actually only started analyzing because I challenged myself (partially out of curiosity for the answer) to see if I could prove if Norton wasn't as evil as people thought (based on all the comments I saw when I 1st joined the fandom a long while ago). From there, there was Jose who I wanted to analyze because he honestly had so many plot holes I couldn't (and still can't completely) solve. So I get the most enjoyment analyzing something that doesn't have a clear answer. Which is why I don't always post for every letter. A big part of it is I enjoy history and culture and such, so it's fun for me to learn about different foods, or time periods, or how bad the environment was for miners or sailors back in the day, etc... I dont think I have an easy answer (I can see I'm rambling). Norton I actually only began to like because I was spending so long working on my 1st analysis for him (and my perfectionism made me analyze all of Norton's essences before i could call it finished). Jose was because I love Captain Hook, and then after because of the plot holes that bothered me. Then for others, I think I enjoy making analyses to... try to sometimes change people's opinoions/beliefs. Like with Margaretha or Vera. With Edgar was because I was more interested in his story and him as a character only once I put together all his lore. Sort of goes on from there. I could ramble on but I'm going to get even more guilty. I hope this helps somewhat, but let me know if it doesn't and I'll keep going. Maybe the simple is A) I like history/culture/research, B) I like to convince people that certain characters arent as evil as they think or change beliefs I think aren't quite accurate, C) I like solving puzzles and I love story, D) I already think too hard about literally everything, and combined with my perfectionism, we get analysis

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.17 (before 1920)

1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia". 1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empire to recover central Anatolia from the Seljuk Turks. 1382 – Louis the Great's daughter, Mary, is crowned "king" of Hungary. 1462 – Thirteen Years' War: A Polish army under Piotr Dunin decisively defeats the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Świecino. 1543 – The first Finnish-language book, the Abckiria by Mikael Agricola, is published in Stockholm. 1577 – The Treaty of Bergerac is signed between King Henry III of France and the Huguenots. 1620 – Polish–Ottoman War: The Ottoman Empire defeats the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Battle of Cecora. 1631 – Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War. 1658 – The Battle of Vilanova is fought between Portugal and Spain during the Portuguese Restoration War. 1683 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules", later known as protozoa. 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The invasion of Quebec by the Continental Army begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean. 1776 – The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain. 1778 – The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe. 1787 – The United States Constitution is signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end. 1793 – War of the Pyrenees: France defeats a Spanish force at the Battle of Peyrestortes. 1794 – Flanders Campaign: France completes its conquest of the Austrian Netherlands at the Battle of Sprimont. 1809 – Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War; the territory that will become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn. 1849 – American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery. 1859 – Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Norton I, Emperor of the United States." 1861 – Argentine Civil Wars: The State of Buenos Aires defeats the Argentine Confederation at the Battle of Pavón. 1862 – American Civil War: George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac halts the first invasion of the North by Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history. 1862 – American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war. 1894 – Battle of the Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War. 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham Jr. at Mabitac. 1901 – Second Boer War: A Boer column defeats a British force at the Battle of Blood River Poort. 1901 – Second Boer War: Boers capture a squadron of the 17th Lancers at the Battle of Elands River. 1908 – The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes, killing Selfridge, who becomes the first airplane fatality. 1914 – Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time. 1914 – World War I: The Race to the Sea begins. 1916 – World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.

[jils-things]

Heyyy ms jil.. could you.... could you infodump to me about idv so i can see if it's a game i'd like to play thaaank youuu.... -Ekans anon

OH WOW. I . WHOA... A GUSH PASS ON HOW NORMAL I AM FOR THE GAME.... LET'S GO....

okay AHA so eemmmm🤓🤓🤓🤓 i would describe idv to be a game similar to dead by daylight. (its primarily a mobile game but you can play in pc too) i would call the game "horror" as that's what its supposed to be but it's kinda hard to say that now because they spill a lot of very lighthearted content and events (skins especially) (THE FANBASE IS VERY. LIKE. NOT NORMAL ABOUT SOME SURVIVORS SKINS. ME INCLUDED) but yeah! its also kinda goofy AHAHAHA (though i feel that they were forcibly told to make it less horror-ish... idk why.) (but guaranteed, the actual lore can be dark as a lot of the characters and lore are quite unfortunate)

if you know how to play dead by daylight, it should be easy to understand how to play, but in case you don't - ill say it here:

you play either as a survivor (with other 3 survivors) whose task is to cooperate with your teammates to decode 5 "cipher machines" that will help open a gate to escape. OR a hunter, whose primary purpose is to stop the survivors from escaping, and trying to eliminate them by taking them to chairs that blasts them off LMAO (the way they were supposed to be eliminated was supposed to be more scary but... rocket chair it is)

there are a lot of survivors and hunters to play as! there's around 45 survivors and 30 hunters i think? and they're still adding more 😩 it may get a bit overwhelming because you have to understand everyone's gimmick but ... you'll find a way soon :3

i'm a survivor main! i'm actually really bad at playing hunter (ive been playing for years) but im trying to fix that this year aha 💀 but i also like survivors because each of them have special roles and skills to work with! they all have their own strong traits and many includes:

- decoders (those who decode fast)

- kiters/containers (those who can distract/buy time with the hunters)

- rescuers (those who can efficiently save teammates who are "chair'ed")

- assist (those who can help teammates, could be actively or passively)

i primarily play rescue/assist :3 decoder is my secondary (ORPHE.US IS A KITER/ASSIST BTW AHEM) i would also try to elaborate on the hunters but i'm not that well versed and would much rather have someone else say it :3

its also worth mentioning that SOME survivors due to the lore, have double identities! which means some survivors have a hunter identity and vice versa. (there is only one case of a survivor having another survivor identity - which is just an adult character having a younger counterpart of themselves)

.... unfortunately norton recently had his double identity released and sadly i am Very not normal about that but shhhhhh

also orpheus does have a double identity harharharhar surprise hahrhahrhh

UHHH UH WHAT ELSE

i guess the reason why i like this game a lot is because of the very cor.aline-esque feel, with survivors having a more doll like appearance + era taking place around 1800-1900... and the ongoing actual story that has lore n shit happening that is MAKING ME GO INSANE BECAUSE IT CAN BE DARK ACTUALLY (SOMETHING THAT WASNT TOO PRESENT YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS A NEW PLAYER AND I WANTED THE HORROR) I NEED MORE OF IT AAAAAA ITS STILL UPDATING GKFKGKRKR

and of course my beloved Norton Campbell thank you

i think that is all thankyoufor readingsnorensoremummuum