#our understanding of the IRL history likely has some holes

[broncoburro]

does fg have prosthetics?

(This one was largely written by @lsdoiphin.)

Yes, but they’re nothing special for the time period. So, hooks and pegs for the lower class, with more aesthetically appealing, comfortable, and complex prostheses for those who can afford it.

If you were wondering about the prospect of meur-powered mecha arms, that’s something that would probably be feasible… in the far future. The field of prosthetics is slow to improve, and there are a few reasons the Tri-Kingdom isn’t actively pursuing refinement:

1. Vestur has been at (relative) peace for a long time.

In the real world, big leaps in the field of prosthetics tend to coincide with postwar periods. This only accelerated in the post-industrial age, when war became grisly enough to yield tens of thousands of amputees from a single conflict. Before that, amputees were sporadic enough to be considered unlucky individuals rather than a specific demographic to be accommodated.

In the setting, war on home soil is out of living memory; the Vesturian peninsula has enjoyed peace for more than a hundred years. When the Tri-Kingdom goes to war, it goes to war off-peninsula on its own terms. A foreign enemy’s most gruesome weapons couldn’t hope to match a red conductor’s fire or a green conductor’s brambles. Simply put, they aren’t getting injured as frequently or grievously as their opponents.

2. The work of white practitioners decrease the number of amputations that need to be done in the first place.

Another common reason for amputation is to control severe infection: if the limb’s too far gone, it’s better to have it cleanly removed. (And essentially get a fresh re-roll on the chance/severity of infection, in any age before antibiotics...)

But white meur allows practitioners to remove damaged tissue, repair flesh, and close wounds instantly. This drastically decreases the risk of infection, salvaging limbs which otherwise might not have ever healed properly. Granted, the patient still needs to have access to a white practitioner and have their wounds seen to in a timely manner, but the end result is still a kingdom where less amputations are performed.

Less, but not none.

3. The amputees of the peninsula tend to be common laborers.

Barring unfortunate carriage accidents, it's rare for a nobleman or a commoner of wealth to lose a limb. Most amputations in Vestur are happening in rural areas, or to patients who had to travel/wait a long while in order to be seen by a practitioner. The cultural image of an amputee in Vestur is probably one of the following:

a Southern sailor who developed gangrene out at sea

a Northern frontiersman, who lost a limb to exposure or had an amputation following a hare bite

a Midland farmer from the rural eastern coast who endured some livestock or farm equipment accident

Of these groups, few have the kind of guilder to motivate innovation. Some of them are lucky if they can afford something like a peg or the hook in the first place - it's a large expense. Some will scrimp to get a peg if it allows them to keep working, but these must be commissioned and fitted. For the most part, the poorest will use solutions the local craftsman can make (like crutches) or simply adjust to life with one arm.

The upper class can commission prostheses that allow some movement, but they’re solely mechanic in nature and custom-made to the buyer. Think of the IRL jointed peg legs invented by Ambroise Paré, or the metal hands of the 16th-18th centuries.

In short: it would probably take a large scale war to spark Vestur’s interest in prosthetics. (Either that, or it would need to become a personal issue for a very wealthy nobleman willing to fund research as a dedicated obsession. And the resulting designs would need to be cheap and easily reproducible by local craftsmen.)

[asunachinadoll]

#28 from your prompt list featuring our otp din/omera 😍❤

AHH so sorry this took so long XC some things came up irl BUT I was able to throw this together for you and the great prompt you sent me for our most precious OTP. I hope you like this @amukmuk, and thanks so much for the ask my dear friend! ❤ ❤ ❤

Din really should have been paying attention.

But now he has what do babies eat in his search history, and a poor woman in front of him rubbing at her ankle because he was looking down instead of ahead. 

He felt the jolt of an abrupt stop run through his wrist, a hand curled around the handle of his shopping cart, at the same moment hearing a surprised yelp. His attention snaps up to the source, his face contorted with shock and an apology on his tongue.

“I am so sorry, ma’am. I should’ve been watching where I was going,” he says in a rush, feeling the back of his neck heat. “Are you okay?”

The woman blows out a breath before straightening, turning to look him in the eye. Dark hair frames her face, and she flashes him a close-lipped smile, waving her hand dismissively.

“I’m fine,” she answers easily, although he thinks it may be to sooth him. “I was just startled.”

He grimaces. 

“I really am sorry, ma’am,” he replies, holding his hands up placatingly. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Is there anything I can do for you?”

The woman shakes her head. 

“No, you’re fine,” she reassures. “I completely understand. Believe it or not, I’ve been distracted once or twice before in my life.”

A part of Din wants to insist, but the woman’s eyes are genuine. He nods to her, about to wheel his cart off.

“Are you alright?” She asks, and he blinks in surprise, stilling. 

“Me?”

She breathes a laugh. “Yes. Even before you tried to run me over, you seemed in a bit of a panic.”

Din exhales, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Sorry,” he says. “I’m…”

Din is a private man. So he isn’t sure why, but a part of him wants to tell her. He hasn’t even told Cara yet, and she’s his partner. Confiding in a total stranger is just absurd. 

He must have taken too long, noticing the way the woman’s face shifts, her eyes widening slightly. 

“I’m sorry, it’s none of my business--”

“I’m adopting a kid,” he blurts. “He’s coming home tomorrow.”

Saying it aloud seems to solidify it. He is nervous. He is excited. He is terrified. His blood thrums with it all, awaiting the woman’s reaction. To his surprise, she softens, smiling warmly. 

Maybe it’s the stress and anxiety of the past few weeks roiling in his chest that made his mouth move before he could think. Or maybe it has something to do with the kindness rooted in this woman’s eyes and the sincerity lacing her voice and the gentle curve of her lips. 

The word pretty flashes through his mind. He shakes his head minutely, clearing his throat.

“Anyway, I looked in my fridge and realized that I needed to go grocery shopping.” He forces a chuckle, prepared to see judgement on the woman’s face. He finds none. 

“Oh, well, I don’t blame you,” she replies, understanding in her tone as she brushes a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’ve been there before.”

He perks up a little at that, tilting his head. He asks, “You have kids?”

She grins, eyes brightening with motherly pride, and he thinks that he likes her smile. 

“Yes, I have a nine-year-old daughter. Her name is Winta.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Thank you.”

And because Din is glad to have met a parent, and at this point he’s more than desperate for some tips, he says, “Um, if you have a few minutes, would you mind-- could I get some advice?”

“Sure,” she responds slowly. “I can try.”

“The kid, he’s twenty-two months old, and I’m not exactly sure what he can eat…” His voice trails off, realizing how foolish he sounds and just how out of his depth he is. He suddenly wishes he didn’t say anything at all, wanting an escape. A hole in the floor will do nicely.

The woman blinks, and his face reddens. He’s about to open his mouth to spill out an explanation, but the woman smiles again, an amused but charmed glint in her dark eyes. He thinks his heart skips a beat at the sight. 

“Do you have something to write with?”

He scribbles down everything she says on the back of a crumpled receipt he found in his pocket, nothing but gratitude flooding his chest. 

“Thank you,” he tells her again, and she waves it off. 

“It’s not a problem,” she replies. “I’m glad I could help. Even if you tried to run me over.”

His face pinches slightly despite her teasing tone, and he’s about to apologize again when she speaks up.

“Could I see that?” She gestures to the receipt and pen in his hands. He complies. At the bottom of his notes, she quickly writes something down before folding it up and handing it back to him. The corner of her mouth lifts as she meets his gaze. 

“I don’t normally do this,” she starts slowly. “But I know the struggle of raising a child on your own. So, if you need any more parenting tips.”

Din blinks, a little surprised, before giving her a small smile.

He tells her, “Thank you.”

With that, they give their friendly goodbyes, and he watches her momentarily, walking away to the check-out lines. 

He looks down at the paper in his hand, unfolding it carefully. Written in neat cursive beneath his chicken scratch is a phone number and her name. 

Omera.

He mouths it to himself, liking how it feels on his tongue. 

He decides that more parenting tips couldn’t hurt.

[lcnguor]

THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all have witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

Mun Name: Mik      Age: 26       Contact: IM, discord, smoke signal, whatever.

Character(s) I rp: Nora, Spike. Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM): Nora, most likely Current Fandom(s): Fandomless Fandom(s) you have an AU for:  pretty much everything I find around and hop on. My language(s): spanish, english.  Themes I’m interested in for rp:   Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: modern without supernatural, I do have some fantasy set up but eh. 

Preferred Thread length: one-liner / 1 para / 2 para / 3+ / novella. Asks can be send by: Mutuals / Non-Mutuals / Personals / Anons. Can Asks be continued?:   YES / NO   only by Mutuals?:  YES / NO. Preferred thread type: crack / casual nothing too deep / serious / deep as heck. Is realism / research important for you in certain themes?:   YES / NO. Are you atm open for new plots?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Do you handle your draft / ask - count well?:  YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. How long do you usually take to reply?:  24h / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3+ / months / years. I’m okay with interacting: original characters / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / my fandom / crossovers / multi-muses / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / canon-divergent portrayals / au-versions (as main or only verse). Do you post more ic or occ?:  IC / OOC. Are you selective with following others?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS.  

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting:  ask, IM, discord, singing telegram, smoke signals, messeger pidgeos -- whatever dude. I will most likely talk and ramble a lot, I do like plotting and I squeeze my brains out to think in ways to rp with ppl. and I really suck at approaching others. really...

What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner:  Ideas and somewhat more enthusiasm than me. I tend to shy away or feel very much awkward right off the bat if the person approaches me with not much to say or give. And honestly, some people really intimidate me because I am too hard on myself, so giving a bit of a pat on the back makes me relax more. I deal with a lot of anxiety and I know people run away the second I show it. 

When you notice the plotting is rather one-sided, what do you do?:  Mostly when I am doing the talk or coming with ideas or looking generally more interested. It takes effort for me to get on things and actually do stuff but if it’s not the other way around I end up thinking they got bored of me. I am one hell of insecure person. As for what I do, if after many tries of trying to reach another person and end up feeling rejected or ignored, then ... I stop. What’s the point of insisting if the other person would just be awkward or not spare you a word?

How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?:  well, I usually ask first what the other thinks or have in mind, if nothing, I either suggest or start brainstorming with the other person. I know some who have dealt with me at first I seem like a dettached person but not having ideas really makes me feel like I have not much right to talk. I want to give yet without impossing or letting it twist my arm. I know for a fact nora’s lore really doesn’t help shit for most things. 

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: if the thread was meaningful and we were really into it , then I would ask but as for the most, I don’t really bother with it. Sometimes people just lose muse, and even if I was enjoying it, I don’t have the right  to force someone or ask why they stopped. thread dropping is normal, i guess.  - What should your partner do when dropping a thread?:  whatever they want. telling me or not is up to them, I don’t really mind. RP is not something SUPER serious like it should be just perfect. I try to convice myself of this a lot.

What could possibly lead you to drop a thread?:  either because it was old as fuck, I couldn’t find muse or because it was lost in the void of tumblr’s amazing tracking system. - Will you tell your partner?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you?   YES / NO. - And why?:  if I do not have some idea of who am i rping with and what they have in mind, then it’s nearly impossible. being purely IC is really uncomfortable and could lead to a lot of misundertandings. - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?:  yeah. mostly yeah -- I mean, I will feel bad, I do have feelings, but I will take it with water. - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way?  YES ( but I will feel bad anyways ) / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?:  connect with others, ramble a lot about characters, have fun. I’ve been rping since i was 12 ( back then it was not big deal your age apparently ) and having to connect with other people by making these plots and stories and just having a fun time is something that brings me joy. There’s so much that can be done. And exploring my muses with other muses influences is really helpful to fill the holes left due indecisiveness.

Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios:  I wish people joined my lore more. Having muses that could be in the same story department as Nora in particular, would be hella and inspire me more. There is so much I have. Explore nora’s power is also something I want but it’s hard -- it’s very invasive and not many would really like it, feeling it’s meta. For now, I don’t really have other muses and Spike has her little crew outside tumblr.

Themes I won’t ever rp / explore:  umm, it’s hard to think in something in particular. But mostly stuff that collides with nora’s story/character. but there is a lot I am willing to explore.

What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?: casual starters are my fab. It’s easier to figure out how  to go or stop and think. plotted ones also work. as for what I dislike or cannot work with, things that force my muse to not act how they would? not giving me something solid is hard to handle. 

What type of characters catch your interest the most?:  I really like out of the norm muses, something that you see and say /oh , look at that/. Aesthetically, story wise or personality wise, something that goes out the usual troup most would use. I do have a guilty pleasure for opposite to my muse characters --- something that would really show the contrast with one another.

What type of characters catch your interest the least?:  Very basic ones? or those who try TOO hard to be special. A character that doesn’t fit in the context they are in, esp. in fandoms. HEAVILY divergent characters that just basically turn them into OCs. I know I sound like a bitch but I am the type who respect canon and the actual author behind the character too much. Also those that I don’t know much about? as in, the fandom never managed to catch my interest or smth in that line.

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?:  I know where is the line between fiction and reality. And that what your character does it does not reflect as the person you actually are. I am pretty laid back and I understand people’s views and reasoning. idk. I draw a lot if I am super invested ?

What are your weak aspects as rp partner?: I am super sporadic and can go from being super active to flat out dead for weeks. my mood swings a lot with the amount of attention I get, as horrible as it sounds. I am very anxious as a person for reasons ( not IRL mostly, just bad experience from previous partners ). I promise a lot but do little? honestly I will just bad mouth myself if I keep writing this.

Do you rp smut?:  YES ( tho mostly on discord ) / NO. Do you prefer to go into detail?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Are you okay with black curtain?:  YES / NO. - When do you rp smut? More out of fun or character development?:  both? - Anything you would not want to rp there?:  ehhhh, idk -- i don’t do as much to know what I don’t like here.

Are ships important to you?:   YES / NO / RELATIVE. Would you say your blog is ship-focused?:   YES / NO. Do you use read more?:  YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Are you: Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship  —  Multiverse / Singleverse. - What do you love to explore the most in your ships?:  the very nature of human relations. I am talking about Nora big time here -- there is a lot to explore in her relations and how she reacts and acts towards someone is very very contextual. How much she fakes, how much she is sincere, how much she struggles or how relaxed can be. force her to show her real self, which is very hazy even for her as a task. Be very poetic deep and also very shallow. I particulary see her as a character that REALLY depends on her relation with the other muse -- but generally speaking for any of my muses: I love to explore them as a pair and as individuals. - What is your smut tag?: the unfamily friendly. ( new tag (?))

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?: Anything? I am open to anything honestly. As long as it makes sense.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?:  Anyone who is denying their feelings, are peculiar as an individual or anyone who needs an insight of themselves and the world around them. Nora is a mentor type of character, she is here to be a support and help others explore themselves and learn. Also if you are a minor, she will most likely try to get close to help -- one must protect the good sad kids.

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?:  Stubborn, very fixated with things. Who would not open themselves to other perspective without thinking someone is trying to change them. Also she would struggle a heck lot with psychopaths and sociopaths, or anyone that “doesn’t have a face” for her. - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?:  Curious people, struggling ones, kids in general -- people that are willing to listen to her opinions and try to improve in a positive way. Also those who are quirky in a way. 

- What interests your Muse(s) in general:  rabbits, literature, interesting people, the unknown, learning, relationships of all natures.  - What do they desire, is their goal?:  Live long without letting her particularity ruin her -- for her kind nobody makes it past the 50s and she wants that , to conquer her ability and prove that even with something like she is ( they are ), it’s posible to live and be happy. have a family of her own, yeah she is that cheesy. - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?:  Their actions and the emotions that they are carrying on their back.  - What do they value in a person?:    sincerity, willingness, enthusiasm. - What themes do they like talking about?:  a lot of phylosophic stuff, deep topics -- as well to casual things of life. about people and society. - Which themes bore them?:  excuses and avoidance -- people who are willing to drop everything and give up.

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?:  the attempt of suicide of her mother. and the successfull suicide of many of her peers. - What could possibly trigger them?:  any sort of threat or violence towards someone who does not asked for it. esp. her peers and family. - What could set them off, enrage them?:  Immoral ones. Those who are willing to stomp on others just to success in their goal. - What could lead to an instant kill?:  is not killing, but touch a hair of her family and you are done. same for her friends and protegees.

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?:  gorgers, suicide, her tired face. - Is there someone /-thing they love?:   her family and dear ones --- to a fault. rabbits or anything related to it.

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?:  any way is okay as long as is not threatening. - Where are they usually to find?:  during the night, in the streets -- during the day is either her workplace or her house. maybe a park near her apartment/location if she is feeling stuffy.

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?:  she is not a good person , she is willing to manipulate people and is constantly trying to impose her morals. but she is also very sensitive even if she doesn’t show it --- Nora does look tired for a reason , and one of them is because she cries a lot . 

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by:  @skyvar​ Tagging:  @batoushoujo​ , @obtainedloss​ , @lorddiiavolo​ , @evanesense​ , @sunpierce​ , @necrotrigae​ , @maljefe​ , @ethaeria​ , @calpio​ , @veiliisms​

[jcmorrigan]

Just popping by and asking because I'm curious about your self ship with Giovanni. How did you both meet? :3

Ooh, I love this story! Though I had it only bare-bones before...this ask inspired me to sit on it and think through more of the details! So now I have a little more of that.

First of all, it doesn’t exactly follow the storyline of this song, but I just discovered it last night and I was STRUCK by how fitting it was for this whole ship, so give it a listen while reading this. Also, this got LONGER THAN I EXPECTED I’M SO SORRY

So. Here’s me: Rachel Scribere. Absolute mundie. Wants to be Inscribed, but that’s just not my life. Also wants to move up in the publishing industry, since she loves writing (mostly fanfiction, but let’s not tell the world that). And good news! A suburb outside Sweet Jazz City is hiring for a small local paper! Better than nothing, right? So I move from my small town into the heart of the city, scraping up for a cheap apartment so I can get started at work.

And it’s Hell.

My boss? Racist, homophobic, Lexist, and thinks I’m annoying. This job is slowly killing me, but I think it’s my only shot. If I lose it, I lose the apartment, I have to move back in with my parents, I have to let everyone down. Not to mention I haven’t made any friends yet in this city...surely my co-workers can’t be as bad as I think, right? They’ll be my pals eventually, right?

In the throes of depression, feeling absolutely no worth, I’m left to watch the office one day while the others are out. At a “business lunch” without me. Because I’m not in their inner circle yet, and probably will never be. I’m just trying to do some menial task they haven’t trained me how to do properly, nearly crying because it’s just not working and I know they’re gonna come back and be mad with how little I got done.

When the wall blows open.

“THERE’S NOWHERE LEFT TO RUN, [SUBURB] HERITAGE MUSEUM! FOR YOU HAVE BECOME THE NEXT TARGET OF THE BANZAI BLASTERS, AND THEIR PEERLESS LEADER, GIOVANNI POTAGE!”

When the dust clears, we’re trying to work out what, exactly, just happened.

He tried to rob a heritage museum in this suburb...and showed up at the wrong fucking building.

So he’s just all “Oh. So that’s why I’m the only one who showed up. Caaaan we just forget this ever happened? OKAYTHANKSBYE” and peaces out.

Well, I’m just about done, because our office got blown up and I still haven’t done my job and this is gonna be on my head and I just kinda fall on the floor and start crying. (Look, I know this isn’t the most headstrong start, but it’s my fantasy and I wanna be rescued from despair!)

When Giovanni WALKS RIGHT BACK IN to ASK ME FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE ACTUAL MUSEUM -

And witnesses me having a breakdown. “Hey...you, uh...you okay there?”

Well, now I’m mad at him for fucking up my life, because I am SO fired, so I get up and start sobbing and screaming at him how this is gonna be seen as my fault, and how this was already so horrible and it’s just so much worse now, but I launch into how little I was valued and Giovanni interrupts to express disbelief that my bosses didn’t take the time to help me catch up and feel welcome. After all, aren’t bosses supposed to treat their minions with love and respect?

Well, that’s when said bosses come back to the office. And they let me HAVE it.

Giovanni is miffed for two reasons. One, that they’re ragging on their precious minion (me) when that’s not something anyone should ever do, not ever! Two, that by going all “SCRIBERE. WHAT...DID...YOU...DO?”, they are totally stripping him of the cred of having made that bombastic entrance. He’s supposed to be the villain here, okay? Know his name! Fear it!

A great big argument ensues, with Giovanni defending this poor “newspaper minion” he just met and me not knowing what to say and my bosses trying to chase this crazy supervillain wannabe out of their office. And as Giovanni starts rattling off how much I deserve better and I’d be better off just quitting and being a villain...I get the impulsive idea. Hey, why not? At least I might feel alive.

So I stand up and make the decision for myself. I’m quitting. Effective now. And becoming an actual villain because I’m tired of adulting. SEE YA!

And I walk out.

Only to realize, a couple blocks away, that I have just thrown out my only financial lifeline.

Cue breakdown #2.

Now, Giovanni, he hasn’t gone love-at-first-sight for me or anything. But he does know a sad minion when he sees one, and he sort of has it in his head this is kiiiiiinda his fault, so he tails me to make sure I’m okay (which I’m not). And, I mean, a professional villain isn’t who I expected to be venting to, but he’s all I’ve got, so when he says he’ll listen, I just let it all out.

Giovanni has a great idea: I could join the Banzai Blasters with him! To which I utterly refuse. I mean, everyone knows it’s a pyramid scheme at this point, right? No one would join without being fully aware of that. (Gio: ”Heheh...yeah...I mean, I definitely knew that when I signed on, but that just means they’re legit bad guys...”)

But then he gets a BETTER idea! What if I’m an independent contractor villain? I keep the spoils of my own heists! He even thinks he remembers the name of some appraiser in the Blaster handbook that could help me get a foothold in the black market! I just need to steal some stuff to get startup capital, and hey, no one said I couldn’t tag along with the Blaster squad and take some of the spoils, like the awesome cursed swords we’re gonna find at the museum! (Me: “...What do you think the heritage museum is actually for?”) After all, the Blasters’ success is more based on clout and rank than the actual things they walk away with. No one will notice if one or two nice things goes missing! Not to mention, if I’m not an official Blaster, I get to pick my OWN uniform!

I’m desperate. And you know what? This...sounds like fun. What if I just said “fuck it”? So I agree. (And mentally plan out a potential blue-and-black aesthetic for my villain career.)

I also agree to give Giovanni a ride over there, since he is seriously NOWHERE NEAR THE MUSEUM.

En route, since it’s my car, he gets to hear one of my car mixes (IRL I make killer car mixes that make riding in my car like playing Russian Roulette - you could get rock, you could get emo, you could get trashy pop, you could get video game music, or you could just get a meme). And so he learns about my music taste. He also starts grilling me on my life - what do I do for fun? Well, I...write. They’re not really publishable stories, but...

Giovanni: “It’s fanfiction, isn’t it?” Me: “GOD DAMMIT”

He also asks my name. Which he hates, because he graduated with seven Rachels, and I can’t blame him, because I graduated with four others.

We finally get to the museum and the rest of the squad has been waiting for like an hour. They know he got lost but aren’t about to bring it up. Giovanni announces that he’s bringing a friend today and I get to help out.

Now, it’s worth noting at this point that I noticed he was QUITE A HANDSOME FELLA from the moment he walked into the room through the hole he blew in the wall, and his quirks are exactly My Type. So I’m already starting to crush on him. But I am well aware that should NOT be ANY sort of priority right now. As for me? He just sees me as a new villain buddy! (He develops feelings for me later, at which point he’s horrified because “I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FAVORITE MINION!”.)

The other Blasters are just like “Okay, cool” because it’s really not strange at this point for Giovanni to pick up a stray (”How do you think we got Flamethrower?”). Ben is excited because now he’s not the only one who doesn’t have a cool minion name, but now Giovanni wants to give me one to spite Ben. “Hmm...let’s see...you’re a writer, so...Storyteller? Chronicler? No...oh, wait! You also like all that weird music! What about COMPOSER? See, it’s a double meaning, because it’s a music thing, but also, you COMPOSE stories...you...you get it? It’s wordplay.”

Composer. I like it. In return, even though Giovanni’s technically not my boss, I agree to call him Boss. (”And really, I may not be your boss legally, but I want you to think of me as a boss in your heart.”)

And we have FUN clearing out the museum. It’s a Sunday, so it’s closed and no one’s actually there, so we just have the run of the place. I get to take back a couple artifacts that Sweet Jazz history buffs on the black market will love.

At the end of the day, Giovanni is all excited for this new partnership, and he’s talking up how he’s going to meet up with me tomorrow to get my stuff appraised - can he have my number? Just to keep in touch? - and I have to discreetly drop him back off at the newspaper office so he can collect his Vespa and drive home. (Look. I know he does not, in canon, drive a Vespa. But he gives me the exact energy of someone who drives a Vespa, so in this ‘verse, he has one. Just rollin’ down the road like he’s on a motorcycle when it’s a fuckin’ scooter that just goes very fast)

Before I drop him off, though, he asks me if they’re gonna kick me out of my place due to me not having a paycheck that day. See, he doesn’t exactly understand how rent works. I assure him I have a due date. He tells me that I can totally crash at his and his mom’s place if I want; he’ll bug his mom into making up the guest room. Apparently she’ll be happy that he’s made more actual friends.

I joke that she would probably be fazed that he brought a girl home. He says that’s never been a concern. “Oh. Not into girls?” “No, I am. And guys. And a couple who weren’t either. The thing is, if my mom was gonna ban everyone I COULD end up being attracted to, she’d have to ban...EVERYONE. And then I wouldn’t be allowed to have ANY friends over.”

I drop him off, go back home...and hit breakdown #3.

What was I fucking thinking? I can’t be a supervillain. Especially not an independent contractor. I’m on the wrong side of the law for a living. This isn’t going to turn a profit...and that’s not even taking into account the trouble I’ll get in with the heat. I’m having anxiety, shakes, nausea, the whole works. Starting to think this isn’t worth it. Maybe starting to feel a little suicidal.

Crawl into bed. Barely sleep. Drag myself out of bed the next day to rendez-vous with Giovanni.

Just seeing him makes me feel...slightly better. He and I head off to a hidden locale to briefly confer with Ramsey Murdoch over my finds. (”Just don’t look him directly in the gross rat face.”)

Ramsey informs me I actually have some valuable stuff on my hands, recommends some buyers, makes an offhand joke about us being a “cute couple” that goes right over Giovanni’s head.

This doesn’t do much to reassure me. I still feel empty. Hollow. Afraid. But Giovanni, he SENSES this on the drive home. He can also tell I put in one of my most upbeat dance mixes to cover the sadness. So he pesters me until I tell him how I really feel...

And he refuses to leave me alone all day because a good boss doesn’t leave a minion who’s feeling that down on herself.

We end up back at his place. Start out by watching movies. I have to put up with him and his mom yelling at each other, but Ms. P. switches on a dime around me - “So glad you’re here, Sweetie. Giovanni could use more good friends like you. Good influences who will tell him NOT TO PUT HIS FEET ON THE LIVING ROOM TABLE GOD DAMMIT HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO GO OVER THIS WITH YOU GIOVANNI anyway, Rachel, can I get you anything? A drink? Some popcorn? Since MY RUDE SON DIDN’T ASK WHAT HIS GUEST WANTED WHEN SHE CAME OVER but you name it and I’ll get it for you.”

I’m still depressed. I cuddle up in a blanket. It’s hand-knitted. I mention that it’s super comfy. Giovanni takes it as a compliment, revealing that he made it himself. This leads to him parading a bunch of things he’s knitted in front of me - scarves, hats, etc. And I love every one of them. Oh, no, I am falling for this man and am also still depressed.

We end the day by plotting out my new villain attire. He’s good at sketching out patterns for clothes, so I give him an aesthetic to go for - blue, corset lacing, asymmetrical skirt, off-the-shoulder, is this too Disney villain?, you know what I don’t care, hey, that looks great! (Eventually he actually helps me put that monstrosity together)

He sticks around. I gradually become more confident in my element, making sales, stealing more things, getting comfortable with THE VILLAIN LIFE, actually turning up a profit because Ramsey knows where the market is and is glad to show me, and hanging out with the Blasters on a regular basis in an abandoned library we’ve taken over as our lair (Giovanni says the word “Lair-brary” once and immediately regrets it and asks us all to forget he ever combined those syllables).

And I’m happy. Finally.

Then one day, in the library lair that is not a Lair-brary, there’s some shenanigan and a bookshelf almost falls on me and crushes me and Giovanni tackles me out of the way because THAT’S WHAT ANY DECENT VILLAIN BOSS WOULD DO FOR HIS PRECIOUS MINIONS and oh. Oh my God. If I didn’t have a crush on this man before, I LOVE him now. Oh, no. Oh, no... ;-)

That’s pretty much the origin story. I’m still kind of nursing the idea of doing an AU version of this in TBTC, and I would probably still wanna use “busts into WRONG PLACE, sees Rachel being mistreated, takes her to rob a place to feel better,” and I hope it’s not tacky to copy the same device. But yeah, I hope that wasn’t the 15 minutes of your life you’ll never get back

[faelapis]

white diamond’s morality

i think one of the reasons i like SU so much is, i feel its approach to morality is more structural than individual.

cartoons tend to be a bit... “great man history” about its conflict resolution. that is to say, entire systems hinge on their leaders, and the masses are easily led in a new direction if the old leader is dispatched. this is seen as unproblematic, and no one clings to everything they were taught under the old system. unless, of course, they’re one of the “bad seeds” (note again the individualism) and must also be dispatched, rather than understood as part of a context.

su definitely has a bit of that, namely the gems who were inspired by rose and chose to fight with her, but it’s more deconstructive about it. they all have personal reasons for joining, rather than the rejection of their old lives being the “default”. they still cling to fears of failing to be what they’re supposed to (especially pearl), and their leader doesn’t have a solution to the gem hierarchy. 

rose is against it, but she doesn’t know how to dismantle it. she carries seeds of disrespect towards those she protects. she may not even think they can truly break free, judging by her dialogue. she plays the perfect leader, because she’s become depressed enough to think that’s what they want her to be. it’s certainly what she was encouraged to think.

moreover, many on the cg side, including rose, thought that “shattering“ pink would be the end of it. that the dear leader was necessary to keep the system alive. but that thought is subverted - not just by the other diamonds, whose ties to pink are close, but by her followers. the ones whose role became their solace, rather than the thing they wanted to escape from. they don’t all become crystal gems, because that’s not what makes sense to them. what makes sense is to... keep going, as before. that’s what made sense to jasper, eyeball, nephrite.

and yes, they all suffer for it, but the worldbuilding of the show is strong enough that there’s inherent understanding that their responses make sense within their world, and that expecting them to celebrate and change sides overnight is... kind of unfair. it was certainly immature of rose, if she ever had that hope.

which brings me to white diamond.

i love the setup of the current arc. the question is never “can white be redeemed or will we just have to kill her”, because there are actual reasons they’re talking to her in the first place that aren’t merely ideological. like, ok, you defeat white, then what? the corrupted gems are still corrupted. her gems will hate you, maybe even seek revenge. i hope your individual moral purity was worth it, because that’s all you get for refusing to talk to her. by treating her as an individual evil, you’re inherently choosing to ignore structural problems at hand.

so the real questions are as following: 1. what would steven need to do to convince white to help him? 2. why does white perpetuate the system, and what does she think would happen without it?

i’m not the oracle who can tell you the former, but the latter is worth discussing. most of the reaction i’ve seen to the idea of white having genuine character motivation is very... well, as the saying goes, “cool motive, still murder”.

but people basically say that about every character before they know that motivation. they said it about jasper. they said it about blue and yellow (some still do, but others substitute that for blaming everything on white). it’s a very easy thing to say, when you assume all it could be is just “maybe they’re sad and lonely :(“... but that’s not what i imagine for white.

to be clear - i do think she’s lonely. isolating yourself in your head (figuratively and literally) for thousands of years will do that to you... and playing puppet with her pearl is kind of a brilliant commentary on what it’s like to be avoidant - you’re there, you can see and hear others, but you’re shielding yourself in such a way that they can’t really reach you. you’re not present enough to open yourself up, or ever tell anyone how you feel. “white never leaves her own head anymore”.

but this isn’t a motivation in and of itself. avoidance is tied to anxiety, so what is white so scared of happening if she lets go of her control?

honestly, i think what she fears is nothing less than the end of gemkind.

becoming a childless god.

the crystal gems are basically ok with that. they have to be, because gem production requires feeding off of planets, and fertile ones tend to be populated - hence the injectors look like irl viruses. they’re a parasitic species. they reproduce by killing their host.

moreover, gem production is highly specialized. you need kindergarteners, and then you need lapis lazulis to terraform in preparation of the injectors, then of course you need armies to conquer the next planet, and then Of Course you need agates to keep those gems in line, and then Naturally you need a court system with zircons to make sure everyone does their jobs, and Obviously guards to keep the peace, and managers, and pilots, and domestic servants, and if everyone doesn’t do these things then nothing will ever get done! there will be chaos and we’ll be defeated and we’ll all die next time we try to reproduce. what’s that, the youngest diamond thinks we should prioritize humankind over our own species? don’t be absurd!

that’s the rabbit hole of anxiety white has fallen down. and those anxieties aren’t merely hers, but everyone who follows the system - and gems seemingly burst out of the ground “already knowing what they’re supposed to be”, which is very much in line with that system. 

we tend to prescribe individuality to the diamonds, that they do things merely because they want to, but i think white is as much part of her court as her court depends on her. she doesn’t just think she’s the leader, she thinks she has to be in order to serve her society. she’s another gear in the clockwork, just like everyone else. why shouldn’t she stay in her room as a perfect queen, shining down on her court without desires of her own? why should she open up about what she wants? such irrational thoughts...

i think how pink creates life (the pebbles, lion, steven’s watermelons) terrifies white, because it’s use of resources without that structure. putting your own desires above your duty, allowing atomic chaos controlled only by each individual, knowing that those individuals could be destroyed and nothing new could be made without a diamond’s essence... feels selfish to her. like. ok, you want individuality and choice, cool, i’m kinda trying to keep everything in its place so we can live on as a species. but go off i guess.

and this is the part where i say what’s obvious but still needs to be said - white’s perspective is flawed. pink may be reckless, selfish, and naive, but white’s system is so deeply collectivist that she fails to see the clockwork as made up of individuals. why shouldn’t she harvest and replace a faulty part, if someone in the beehive isn’t doing their job perfectly? we’re all just machine parts, and we’re all replaceable. naturally. for the greater good. 

it’s fitting that what made her smile in the first place was a synchronized dance of literal machine parts. the end of that order terrifies her.

this is why her design (and homeworld’s) is so heavily inspired by the movie “metropolis” - which was in and of itself a critique of the dehumanization of workers under industrialism. white is the end point of that. that’s also where we got the quote for the configuration of the diamond ship - “the mediator between the head (white) and the hands (blue & yellow) must be the heart (steven)”. 

but it’s not just her. peridot and jasper both think this is perfectly rational, and write the crystal gems off as emotional and selfish (at first). and.. everything taken into account, it’s clear that neither the crystal gems as a collective or rose as an individual have been able to fully cast these ideas aside. rose’s answer wasn’t for gems - it was to put her faith in humanity, who “can choose”. who can reinvent themselves. and she thought right up until her last years that gems are somewhat tied to their purpose. that’s why she wanted to be human, after all.

and that’s why steven makes such a great bridge between these worlds. he’s blunt about how wrong it is, what rose and the crystal gems thought - that gems couldn’t change. of course they can, look at how far garnet, amethyst, and pearl have come! look at how they’ve blossomed, look at how they’ve worked to become their best selves! look at what gems and humans have in common! 

and what’s sometimes a flaw of his - inserting himself into other people’s lives and believing he understands what’s best for them, even before he knows them as individuals, to the point that it occasionally drives people (like lapis and lars) away... who does he have that in common with, if not the diamonds? if not the “impeccable judgement” of white herself?

i think that’s why, ultimately... flawed, biased and shortsighted as he can be (just like his mother), steven can get through to white. maybe not now, but someday. because he understands how these things fit together, how the problems of individuals have structural causes. most importantly, he knows that it’s going to take more than just him to fix things - and maybe he can help white realize that, too. there’s a secret fusion or love affair everywhere you look on homeworld, and so she could never really control a clockwork order... but that’s ok, because she can let go. everything in the world isn’t up to her.

[en241]

Friday, 17 April

Week 11: The Secret Garden, Chapters 19 - end of book.

First, More of Your Comments: 

I am just catching up to the end of the book so I thought I would check in. As most said in the comments you shared on Tumblr I would have to agree it takes a lot for me to get into a book so it did take me a bit for this one but I was surprised how much I liked this book. The ending was really surprising as well it was very sweet and just made you feel good. I have noticed that the author uses sensory imagery throughout this novel which allows the characters and reader to connect with nature making you rethink your own life in positive ways, I really enjoyed this aspect. Mary’s positive thoughts and attitude makes you want to be the same. This even makes Colin interested in the outdoors as well despite his illness. I did really enjoy this book!

From this weeks reading, I have observed how the garden is changing People and things as a way of resurrection.  Not only are Mary’s waxy features changing but, Colins skin is changing as well. Colin is no longer ivory skinned, he looks like he has flesh. It seems that the garden is bringing life back to them after all of the bad things that have happened to them. It may also be helping things like the tree his mother fell from. Although the tree is dead, new roses will cover its outside. I feel the new roses symbolize the spirt of the children and Colins mother who have never really left the garden. Colin planting the single rose represented ownership not only of the garden but of the spirits left there. 

We all have that one place where we want to be, or think is our fairy-tale.  The garden is the fairy tale in this story. The flowers create the fairy-tale. The tale or what it once was and what it could be. This has become such a part of Mary’s life she claims to have stolen it. I have experienced this situation as well. I have claimed a horse that was not really mine. I had so much pride in her I did not realize I was stealing her like Mary.

Now, some Thoughts from Me: Please bear with me and read them . . .

I’m so glad that so many of you liked the book so much. I love this book & I love teaching it, but it’s never been as meaningful as it has been this semester. And that’s because of all your comments. 

One big thing: the way all the book’s major characters are on their own maturation plots, and how each of them help the others, so that in the end they all overcome their own personal traumas and grow. (And the garden itself is one of those characters -- maybe because it’s Mrs Craven’s spirit or maybe because Nature.) 

I wish we could talk about all the details of this book and how they work together in order to make a coherent narrative argument. And I wish we could talk about this book -- especially its characters -- and compare it with the other books we’ve read this term. I could write up notes for you about this, but that wouldn’t be the same as discussing it together. It wouldn’t be fun.

I also wish we could come back to the big issues of the course -- the maturation plot, the adult/child identity problem, the three modes (nonsense, realism, and fantasy), and all the thematic patterns like food and appetite, indoors vs outdoors, reason vs imagination, sorting, stacking & counting, adventure vs safety, honesty vs dishonesty, etc. Because, you know, that’s the point of the class. 

I also wish we could talk about all the different ways we can read Children’s Literature from a cultural perspective -- not just its history, or its connection to things like theories of psychology and education, but also its relationship to issues like race, gender, dis/ability, and ecology. Because, well, college. 

It would also be really interesting to think about issues like illustration (have you spent time with the illustrations I’ve been posting?), book design, and adaptations into other media. Because words are great, but words are not enough. (Although tbh the new movie version of The Secret Garden looks like absolute shite imho.) 

Aaaand it would also be fun to talk about more recent children’s literature and how reading these books together might go

 But we only have one week left. 

And we are all dealing with a lot of stuff. 

So next week, if it’s ok with you, I will finish out the term by giving you a couple of new things to read and/or watch. (Kinda like what we did at the beginning with Struwwelpeter, the Gashlycrumbs, and the Wild Things. Only nicer. Much nicer this time. Happier. I promise.) And I’ll ask for your comments, and post them, just like we’ve been doing. With a final reflective assignment at the end. 

Meanwhile, read this article: 21 Ways The Secret Garden Prepared Us For Adulthood . If you hadn’t read the book, it would look like a list of 21 cliche phrases . . . but now? 

Take care, stay safe, be kind, and wash your damn hands. 

AAAAAnd one more comment:

I just finished the book , absolutely loved it. Heres some thoughts...

So I think Mary is a super super interesting character. Most child fantasies start their adventures with a likable, honest and pure protagonist. At first, Mary isn't the most likable of characters .. She’s privileged, kinda annoying and just isn't the most relatable. This made it really hard for me to like Mary in the beginning but to slowly realize no - she's just damaged, really flipped the whole narrative for me. Life as a neglected, lonely orphan must have caused a lot of internal dysfunction in Mary and left a hole of hurt and pain she wasn't able to deal with and heal.

- I mean she is a child; she doesn't know how to handle these things. Imagine having your parents die at that young an age? Must be a horrible thing to deal with. Then getting sent off to the middle of nowhere to live with your weird uncle? that would suck - I definitely would cause a scene too -

I think Mary was destined to find the key to the garden and I think the robin - yes! i also think this is symbolic of Colin's mother - specifically chose to give it to her because she needed to see the garden. She needed a physical thing to take care of and nurture so she can see how attention to something leads to blossoms and beauty .. this helps her accept how important it is to give attention to herself and how planting a seed of self-love and acceptance will lead to strength and happiness.

The garden helped Mary heal wounds of the past, understand human failure, forgive herself and her circumstances to grow. Mary needs to go through this transformation to achieve maturation which is a super super prevalent theme here .. pretty much the whole book focuses on the healing and growth of Mary, and Colin later in the book. The garden is her “Wonderland” - it’s her safe place that wants to instill some sort of lesson or narrative in Mary that she absolutely needs to hear.

Mary and Colin are very alike at the beginning of the story and they get along best because their relationship is so honest .. they’re both at Stage I of childlike naiveness, with no self-awareness. I think maybe they were also destined to meet and their growth together is a beautiful thing to witness. I think the friendship they share is so important and fundamental to both of their growth. Mary and Colin aren't romantically engaged either - well because they are cousins - but this makes their bond even more special and important - definitely a relationship that’s important to have irl too .. a true friend , someone to grow with - I kinda wonder how the story would unfold if they weren't written as cousins .. would they have fallen in love??

The garden is an important place for Colin too - it gives him the motivation to want to live .. a super powerful and almost magical thing.

Anyways I'm kinda obsessed with this book now , the journey to learn how to love and accept yourself - at least that's what I took out of it - also how beautiful and valuable a strong relationship is.. definitely an important thing to note.

illustration by Inga Moore

[impossibleleaf]

The Crimes Of Grindelwald Meta: The Lestrange tragedy

Soooo.... The Crimes of Grindelwald. A highly anticipated movie that missed the mark on several accounts.

Too many characters and plot conveniences, a blatant disregard for the ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ rule, apparent OOC moments. A few WTF moments that, if you think about it for a minute make you scream ‘But that does not make sense!’ At first glance, the entire movie is an utter mess.

And it is. It is a mess. I’m not going to lie, the execution was sometimes badly done and JKR makes you do intellectual acrobatics for points that are actually pointless. The movie has many problems, the first one being that it is a movie. And movies cannot handle so many new arcs at the same time.

Rowling is not a screenwriter. She is a writer and her mistake was ultimately to assume she didn’t need to make any adjustment. As a result, some new characters get accidentally tossed in the bin by the audience because the audience doesn’t care enough yet and has many more problems to deal with. And as it is a movie, you do not have the time to ponder any new point and see how everything fit as a whole.

But if you start looking at it as a book...

Well, if you start looking at the Crimes of Grindelwald as a book and began assuming she knows what she is doing...

A lot of things suddenly start to make sense.

Tighten your belt, we are about to enter the realms of guesswork and speculation. Some of you may even say this is only a headcanon but I really don’t think so. Still, if you want everything to suddenly make sense and several plot holes to magically fill themselves, just bear with me.

There will be of course MAJOR SPOILERS so keep reading at your own risks. Spoilers from CoG, and potential spoilers for the entire FBAWTFT serie. Also, I’m using some part of the original screenplay.

You’ve been warned.

First thing first, I am not going to talk about the reveal at the end of the movie about Credence’s identity. Mostly because, for how everything seems to turn around him, he is at the present moment a puppet. More than that, he is a McGuffin.

He is a McGuffin, only a plot device. The real actor, the key for understanding the entire movie is not Credence but this person.

(Bet you didn’t see this coming).

Yusuf Kama, that new character who falls on our laps telling us he needs to kill Credence because of an Unbreakable Vow and throws at us the entire story about the Lestranges. Spends half his on-screen presence with some insect in his eye, Nobody IRL seems to care about him.

We should. We should really look at him because he is the one who has all the answers even if he doesn’t know it yet.

Let me explain now.

As you must know by now, his entire life went to hell when Corvus Lestrange IV kidnapped his mother to rape her and had a child with her, Leta. His father went mad with grief when she died in childbirth and made him swear an Unbreakable Vow to kill ‘the one Corvus Lestrange loves most’. From the moment Leta, his half-sister, was born, he took the path of an avenger and began trying to fulfill the Unbreakable Vow by finding ‘the one Corvus Lestrange loves most’ and killing them.

He began thinking it would be easy. Problem was, Corvus IV is a shitting piece of work and has never loved his daughter.

But then Lestrange had a son... Corvus Lestrange V. And, according to Yusuf Kama, love began filling his cold and empty heart.

I’m summarizing the rest. To protect his son from Kama, he sent his children in America on a boat with a half house-elf (the script explains why the boat, to leave the least magical traces), the ship sinks, Leta being a brat at that age had switched the baby with another, Baby Corvus sinks. She never tells anybody but shows the family tree in the end to reveal the truth.

So, what now? Does that mean that Kama’s Unbreakable Vow is null and void? If Corvus is dead, then who was Voldemort’s classmate?

Here’s where absolutely everybody has made a dangerous mistake.

At no moment has it been said that Corvus Lestrange IV is dead.

We assume he is dead. But, unless we hear from a reliable character he is dead, we have to assume he is not.

Tom Riddle’s classmate? Tom was born the 31st of december 1926. Most, if not all his classmates were born in 1927. So, it is strongly possible that this Lestrange was not in the family tree only because he has yet to be born. It is 1927 in CoG, he may very well be born next month for them.

And, if you connect the two, Voldemort’s classmate might have just been Corvus Lestrange IV’s son and Leta’s half-brother.

And if Lestrange has another son, then Kama is back in business and will continue his revenge quest. He will try to find ‘the one Lestrange loves most’ and attempt to kill the new baby.

(Careful Kama. Killing babies because of prophecies is bad luck in HP).

Now, we are going to go deeper in the realm of speculations, so bear with me.

Kama’s father made his son swear he would kill the one ‘Lestrange loves most’. Kama had once thought that person would be Leta except he didn’t love her. Kama then started believing Lestrange loved Baby Corvus so he tried to kill him.

We’re going to assume for a moment Lestrange is a real monster (which he is). He used the Unforgiveable on a married woman to bed her, he does not love his own daughter. And, even if he supposedly loved his son, we need to remember he sent him to America to be adopted by Mary Lou Barebone.

He left who he thought to be his ‘beloved’ son so he could be adopted by Mary Lou Barebone. That woman!

A muggle! The leader of the New Salem Philantropic Society, a group which notably hates magic and would love to kill witches!

Don’t believe me? It’s written in the Original Screenplay!

IRMA: I took you to Mrs Barebone because she was supposed to look after you.

It was not an accident! He wasn’t dropped in an orphanage and she adopted him! The Lestrange’s servant was under order to give who she thought to be Baby Corvus to that woman!

And at no moment had the father tried to get any new of his ‘son’ or he would have known what an enormous mistake that was in a minute!

It’s as if he sent him to her and told that woman his mother was a witch so she could abuse him and turn him into a a powerful Obscurius!

No really, considering how bad his plan to send him to Mary Lou Barebone was, the only thing for it to make sense is to assume that Lestrange used the occasion to insure his son would be abused enough to become an obscurus. For how cruel, how despicable it is, that is the only ‘reason’, the only thing that sounds ‘logical’. Lestrange must have wanted an obscurus, probably thinking a pureblood such as his son would manage to control it and be an all powerful weapon.

So no, Kama is wrong. The one Lestrange loves most is not his son either. And even if he had felt even a sliver of paternal love, he wouldn’t be the one he loves most. And there is absolutely no reason at all that the new Lestrange will be loved either. So, someday, Kama after much research will finally get it right and see what should have always been obvious.

The one Corvus Lestrange IV loves most is himself. He is the one Kama is supposed to kill.

Baby Corvus? Even if he had cared, he still loves himself more than he loved his own son. And the whole ‘let’s send him by boat so that Kama cannot find him, love you baby’ suddenly becomes ‘So he thinks he needs to kill my son. Wonderful! Let’s send my son away so he goes on a merry chase and stay far, far away from me!”

And here comes the first part of the prophecy Kama gave us.

The first part, as you remember is: A Son cruelly banished. The Son is Baby Corvus, abandoned by his own father to save his skin and, possibly, to become an obscurus after years of abuse. The only thing that saved him from this horrible fate was that he died before reaching America.

Now come the second part: Despair of the Daughter.

It is obliviously Leta. Leta Lestrange who had accidentally killed her little brother and lived with that guilt all her life.

Question is: are we really sure Lestrange didn’t know what his daughter has done? If all you have to do to know if somebody died is to check the genealogic tree, then Lestrange who has it for years, even decades couldn't have not known Baby Corvus was dead. And for an adult, it is ridiculously easy to see a child like Leta at the time is feeling guilty because she did something very, very bad.

So it is possible that Lestrange has always known his daughter had killed his son. There was no point from then to care about Credence. He was not his son after all, he didn’t matter.

But Lestrange must have used her guilt to torture and manipulate Leta. Just the right allusion at the right moment, and she was his unwilling puppet.

Now, let’s take a look at this picture.

I don’t know for you, but it does not feel like it is the first time the two are seeing each other. There seems to be history there. It is not Queenie Goldstein joining Grindelwald, she’s getting a special treatment here.

The whole hate speech is happening inside the Lestrange Mausoleum, the Lestranges are a dark family. Grindelwald seems to have powerful and utterly loyal followers. So, it is very easy to speculate from there that Corvus Lestrange IV is also one of Grindelwald’s men. And if Lestrange is one of Grindelwald’s, then Leta also had to be one of his followers, whether she liked it or not.

But what could she do for the cause?

Well, she could seduce a rising and very powerful Auror for example. Be their spy, marry somebody high in the Auror Forces and tell them what she learns from him about the British Ministry of Magic’s plans.

It’s just a pity that Auror’s brother happen to be Newt Scamander’s hug-loving brother. She may not love Theseus and only use him, she still loves Newt. He’s probably the only one she has ever loved, in fact.

And because she loved Newts, she’s decided to save them by switching side somewhere around the middle of the movie and attempting to derail Grindelwald and Lestrange’s plan.

If you assume Lestrange knows his son is dead, that his replacement will believe he is Corvus Lestrange and that he is one of Grindelwald’s men, then it becomes extraordinarily obvious that it is Lestrange who told Grindelwald Credence is not Corvus and that he’ll probably try to find Irma Dugard because he took his son’s place and she sighed the adoption papers. From there, Grindelwald had enough time to makes a plan.

The real trick for Grindelwald to ‘seduce’ Credence to his side is to insure he follows his breadcrumbs and learn what they want him to learn at the proper time. Not before, not after. Not less but not more either. We wouldn’t want him to realize Lestrange sent his son to Barebone on purpose. Grindelwald kills Irma Dugard right after she tell Credence Mary Lou Barebone was supposed to look after him so that he doesn’t see this wasn’t an accident and some man sent his own son to hell.

And, when Credence finally despairs at the realization it is a dead end, he tells him he just has to comes to him to know what he is. That was their plan.

For this reason, Leta taking the Lestranges’ book was not a coincidence. She must have figured it out, maybe she was in the plan even if she didn’t know everything and she tried to derail the plan by taking the book before Vinda could. And then she told the truth, hoping it would solve everything, not knowing it was also part of Grindalwald’s plan.

And when all else failed and he was about to kill Newts and his friends, she decided to show her true colours and fight Grindelwald to save them.

Her death was not pointless, it was the natural end of her redemption arc, one that has yet to be told to the Scamander brothers.

So, where does that leave us? Kama, in his quest for revenge will most certainly discover the truth. Instead of killing the baby, he will realize just what kind of monster Lestrange really is and finally get the prophecy right.

A son cruelly banished

Despair of the daughter

Return, great avenger

With wings from the water

He is indeed the great avenger, but he got the prophecy wrong and jumped to conclusions even though he’s correctly identified the ones mentioned here. EDIT: The wings from the water are nothing but his realization that the two Lestrange children (whose family animal is a raven) are the true victims and ‘died’ because of their father in that shipwreck, giving him finally the drive to do the right thing for the right reasons.

Kama was never supposed to kill Lestrange’s children, he is the one supposed to avenge them and kill their father.

And when he does and kills Lestrange, the true culprit and the one that should have always paid for his crimes, he would have fulfilled the Unbreakable Vow he has made to his father and be free.

EDIT: ADDENDUM

The most striking evidence of this theory is the magical creature in Yusuf Kama’s eye.

He lives with some magical creature in his eye and only manages to keep it at bay via the use of his magical eyedrops. How long he’s had that problem, we don’t know, but it is a clear metaphor for him being unable to see clearly things as they are. He tries to keep going despite this, tries to contain the problem, but it stops him for doing what he has to do. He is ‘blind’ to the truth, he cannot see it because of that parasite that according to Newts must come from the sewers, in other words used water, and is in other words fated to fail so long as the parasite is here.

It’s a good thing Newts Scamander got rid of it. His eyes are now ready to finally see clearly what has always been right in front of him.

[chpinthestacks]

In the Stacks with Lara Mimosa Montes: Darrel Ellis

This past March, I visited OSMOS at 50 East 1st Street in Manhattan’s East Village to see some works by the Bronx-born painter and photographer Darrel Ellis. As far as I know, the last time any of Ellis’s works have been shown in New York was over fourteen years ago, in 2005, so it’s something of a big deal to see his work in the real world once again.

When I first began looking a bit more thoughtfully into Ellis’s biography upon recalling that he had been included in the exhibition Urban Mythologies: The Bronx Represented Since the 1960’s, a basic internet search yielded very few results, especially in comparison to Ellis’s peer group, which includes artists like Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar, and David Wojnarowicz. Apart from a short entry about Ellis on Visual AIDS and an exhibition catalog from 1996 published by Art in General to celebrate the posthumous, traveling exhibition which featured seventy of the artist’s works from his estate, there remains very little in print on the subject of Darrel Ellis. Given the works of his that I was able to view online and the little bits that I had been able to glean from his bio, this just didn’t sit right with me. This is an artist whose work needs to be known.

Self-portrait based on Peter Hujar photograph, c. 1990, painting on canvas, 22” × 24”. Courtesy of OSMOS. ⓒ Estate of Darrel Ellis.

Darrel Ellis was born December 5th, 1958. He died April 3rd, 1992, a couple of months before David Wojnarowicz, whose full-scale retrospective at the Whitney Museum, History Keeps Me Awake at Night, I saw last fall. Having encountered Wojnarowicz’s presence as a teenager through the fairly obscene underground films of Richard Kern [ie. “Stray Dogs” (1985) and “You Killed Me First” (1985)], it was definitely a trip seeing his work at the Whitney—it was packed to the point that I kind of didn’t want to be there. People love David now, I thought, a little moody.

As I moved through the museum’s galleries, I had to wonder what an artist like Wojnarowicz would think of all this posthumous looking and snapping. I had to ask myself: Why does the art world want to stage its appreciation for an artist like David Wojnarowicz now? Because the fucked up political future he had been observing finally came to pass? And if we are looking at David and the ambitious body of work he assembled during his lifetime and encountering it as emblematic of a certain downtown New York countercultural moment, or an idealized version of some queer, punk sensibility we associate with the ’80s and ’90s, then what else—and who else—in our historicization of that particular time drops out as a result?

I am not exempt from the “we” I speak of here; next to my bed currently sits a newly purchased copy of Weight of the Earth: The Tape Journals of David Wojnarowicz, published by Semiotext(e) just last year. My attention is turned towards David, too, and I suspect, unlike many of the tourists at the Whitney that day who might have been seeing his work for the first time, I had the luxury of living in New York City and participating in the art world in ways that allowed me to encounter his work IRL many times over the years and in several different contexts with varying degrees of politicization. I’ve even been lucky enough during my brief time working at a private arts college to teach and share his work with others. If I have a lot to say about David Wojnarowicz, it’s because I have had years of looking and thinking about his work alongside the many documented accounts of his critics, friends, admirers, and biographers, some of whom were fortunate enough to know him, and live to tell of their experiences (among my favorites of these accounts are those by artist Zoe Leonard, with thanks to Sarah Schulman).

The same, however, cannot be said of Darrel Ellis, so it is still something of an experiment: learning to look at and speak about his work, the impression it leaves on me. As of now, I cannot speculate as to how his art and reputation will fare in the wake of this strangely belated and renewed interest in the art historical ongoings and culture wars of the 1980s and ’90s. [1]

Poster for Day Without Art, designed by Danny Tisdale Studio, 1994, offset lithograph on paper; 35” × 25 ⅝”. Courtesy of Visual AIDS. Background image features Darrel Ellis’s Self-Portrait After Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1989.

When he died in the spring of 1992 of AIDS, Darrel Ellis was the same age as his father, Thomas Ellis: 33 years old. In 1958, Thomas, a postal clerk and aspiring photographer who briefly ran a portrait studio in Harlem with his wife, was killed by the police following an argument with two plainclothes detectives who had blocked his parked car. The injuries sustained from the altercation proved fatal. At the time of Thomas’s death, his wife was pregnant with Darrel. [2] Justice was never served.

These events and the life that preceded them, as documented by the senior Ellis in the many family photographs taken before Darrel was born in parts of the Bronx and Harlem during the 1950s, eventually made their way into Darrel’s work. In 1981, when Ellis was living in the Lower East Side with his then-lover and “unofficially” participating in the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program, the artist, writer, and independent curator Allen Frame recalls that Ellis had recently acquired some of his father’s black and white photographs from the 1950s which he was reinterpreting with ink on paper at the time. [3]

In 1983, BOMB magazine published some works from this period. [4]

Left: Darrel Ellis, My Mother and My Sister from My Father’s Photograph, 1982. Right: Thomas Ellis, Picnic NYC, 1953.

The diptych featuring Thomas Ellis’s photograph alongside his son’s interpretation published thirty years later is uncanny. In Darrel’s version, there are outlines, blurs, shadows, and contours. Certain details, like the density of the grass or the striped pattern on the young girl’s shorts fall away in favor of other, more plain facts, like “here’s a family.” The position of the subjects in relation to one another would suggest even without our knowing that these folks are kin. Their togetherness in time is an indisputable fact. Prior to Darrel’s being-in-the-world, Thomas’s photograph establishes the family as existing within a shared visual field: they had a life and their being together—whether it was in a park or at home—appears as a notably carefree aspect of that life.

Ellis continued experimenting with his father’s photographs: the layers of technique and reinterpretation that would distinguish his images from the ones taken by his father would become more pronounced. Allen Frame observes, “Between 1984 and 1986, [Ellis] made a series of photographs of his mother, brother, and sisters, from which he produced a new body of work evolving from screenprint to experimental photograph to painting. The screenprints, made while he was living at his mother’s apartment after breaking up with his boyfriend and coming out to his family, were compiled into a book at the Lower East Side Printshop, with the help of Susan Spencer Crowe.” [5] The book, published by Appearances Press in 1986, reveals various domestic scenes and interior living spaces depicting relatives sitting in the kitchen, around the family table, doing each other’s hair, laying in bed. They are sparse in terms of detail, and resemble studies of the generic and the sublime as they depict the taken for granted scenes from a life. Again, what stands out are not the faces of the individuals pictured, but their relation to one another as suggested by their body language, particularly the casual nature of their closeness. [6]

At some point, while looking at the drawings alongside the later photographs, I remember saying to my new friend, Kyle, who had accompanied me to see the show at OSMOS, “I don’t see how the artist who made these drawings also made these photographs. Or rather, I can’t see that the photographs were made by someone who primarily identified as a painter. . .” Kyle responded, “I can see it. . . Maybe it has to do more with understanding Darrel’s relationship as a painter to the photograph as a surface.”

Kyle was onto something. In an interview, Ellis said of his process, “The idea of putting a photo on any surface other than photo paper gives you a lot of freedom. The process became [one] about animating the photo, about revivification.” [7] Perhaps what was painterly about Ellis’s photographs, particularly those that reinterpreted his father’s negatives, was that he treated the original images as content rather than object. In other words, by projecting the negatives on a wall and then experimenting with both his position as the photographer in relation to the projected image and the dimensionality of the surface onto which the image was projected by creating sculptural forms onto which the projections would appear, Ellis transformed his father’s negatives into surface. The resulting images that we are left with therefore are not really appropriations; they’re the being-with of a trace of a lost object—the trace being the negative, and the lost object, the father. As Ellis reflected of his father’s images, “When I look at those photographs sometimes, all I see is holes.” [8] I will never fail to be moved by those words.

Left: Untitled (Aunt Connie and Uncle Richard), c. 1990, silver gelatin RC Print, 15 ¾” × 19 ¼”. Right: Untitled (Aunt Connie and Uncle Richard), c. 1990, crayon and ink on paper, 10” × 12”. Courtesy of OSMOS. ⓒ Estate of Darrel Ellis.

When Ellis was discovered in a coma by his friends Susan Spencer Crowe and Bruce Dow in the spring of 1992 at his apartment off Franklin Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, “his last self-portrait was sitting on his easel beside his bed, eerily depicting him as he was found: eyes closed, lying on his bed in deep repose.” [9] After spending some time with Ellis’s work at OSMOS, I felt better able to appreciate how complicated the idea of the self-portrait must have been for Ellis if he was so compelled to return to it as a generative mode of inquiry. By adopting different mediums such as drawing, painting, and photography, while sometimes blending all three in the process to create an individual work, I imagine he must have felt provoked, if not also a bit estranged, by all the selves he had discovered through his practice.  

Among Ellis’s self-portraits, perhaps the most recognized one is Self-Portrait After Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe which was featured in the now infamous Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing exhibition at Artists Space in 1989, curated by Nan Goldin. For the show, Ellis contributed two self-portraits, both of which were based on photographs taken of him by Peter Hujar and Robert Mapplethorpe. The caption in the exhibition catalogue that accompanies Self-Portrait After Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe reads: “I struggle to resist the frozen images of myself taken by Robert Mapplethorpe and Peter Hujar.” I’ve never seen either of the photographs Mapplethorpe or Hujar took of Ellis, but I remain haunted by the decision Ellis made to take back his own image. [10] I suspect that if during this time period, Ellis became that much more aware of his mortality following the discovery of his HIV status, then “the struggle to resist the frozen images” through the creation of the self-portrait forms part of the process by which the artist is able to reassert his right to his body as well as his right to explore acts of self-representation. I imagine then for Ellis: the self-portrait is not a luxury, but a vital necessity.

[1] Thank you to Tiona Nekkia McClodden who, through her continued work, conversations, and writing on Essex Hemphill, Julius Eastman, and Brad Johnson, helped me think the most deeply about some of the contradictions inherent in this renewed interest in queer art from the 1980s and ’90s, and so much more.

[2] Allen Frame, “Our Family Legacy: Variations in Black and White,” Darrel Ellis (New York: Art in General, 1996), p.13.

[3]  Ibid., 14.

[4] Darrel Ellis and Thomas Ellis, "Darrel Ellis, Thomas Ellis" in BOMB, no. 5 (1983): 44. Also see “Two Drawings by Darrel Ellis” in BOMB, No. 8, (1983/1984): 37.

[5] Allen Frame, “Our Family Legacy,” p. 17.

[6] Thank you to Ricardo Montez who, upon learning about my interest in Darrel, gifted me his copy of the aforementioned book.

[7] David Hirsh, “Darrel Ellis: On the Border of Family and Tribe,” in Disrupted Borders: An Intervention in Definitions of Boundaries, ed. Sunil Gupta (London: Rivers Oram Press, 1993), p.125.

[8]  Ibid., 124.

[9] Allen Frame, “Our Family Legacy,” p.21.

[10] See Kobena Mercer, “Reading Racial Fetishism: The Photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe” (1986) for a more in-depth discussion of the artist’s use of black male bodies.

[facialintelligence]

astoundingly long train of though not brought on by any recent activity (don’t worry) and solely because i had to disinfect my cardboard cut from work and actually did

so warner pretty much never intervenes with my more troublesome behaviors, we all know this. he lets me do what i need to do and then take responsibility for the consequences. sometimes he offers support afterwards in the form of non-judgement, thought suppression*, helping me get up, and telling me to keep walking. he actually doesn’t do a lot, he just offers quiet company without pitying or insulting me. maybe that is a lot. i digress

this is only notable because he almost never even really steps in afterwards, except for the like one ultimatum he gave me relatively recently, which was “You will disinfect open wounds.”, referencing primarily self-inflicted injuries. 

i never used to apply rubbing alcohol to anything because it just hurts so much. literally never. last time was when my dad applied it when i was 12 and i vowed never to let that shit touch a wa again. but after i cut my arm pretty bad that one time and didn’t disinfect it, warner was like “Don’t you ever fucking let an open wound get gross.” and i have so far properly cleaned every goddamn laceration i’ve gotten since. it’s weird. i still really really don’t want to but every time i’m like “well i’d rather die i hate this shit”, i get the “Nope. You have to clean it.” in my head, so i do. 

i think the CPU understands (or supports) that none of us (least of all me) like our habits or character interfered with, which is why warner never steps in no matter how much i choose to escalate things, so i think it’s interesting that there is some vestige of control left out of my reach for instances it considers worth intervening in. maybe it’s because i freaked out so bad at the time, but in retrospect i ended up not minding at all (i thought it was pretty cool) and yet the demand hasn’t lifted.

*thought suppression is usually just him being present and thinking of nothing, so my anarchistic mental shrapnel is quietly boxed out. sometimes he semi-fronts to get me to chill out a little by just being the calmer personality. neither of us can actually manipulate thought, it’s more of a coping function.

with the exception of this recent ultimatum. i actually think there have been less stark prior instances but i can’t recall them. even then i think it was things i more or less begrudgingly agreed on, like ‘stop stalking people who don’t want you to’ and wacky shit like that, so it’s not as comparable. it’s just a little weird to me. i definitely wouldn’t still be doing it if it weren’t for his influence. i don’t care that much

ended up wondering why this was the only notable stand warner ended up taking. maybe it’s just the one hole in my extreme carefulness and the CPU just had to fill it somehow. that’s most likely. i almost always think three steps in advance even when i’m lashing out at myself (level of severity, consequence, ability to be hidden, etc), but i happen to fuckering hate the stinging from rubbing alcohol which i figure i would otherwise sensibly use, according to patterns in previous personal damage control.

i think it’s still worth noting. there are three traits his character has that worry me in terms of safety in the scenario where he is the host. a) poorly regulated depression and consequential lack of passion for anything, b) nicotine addiction (very minorly, just a lame inconvenience), and c) a ‘history’ of cutting. yeah that’s right he ended up keeping that even after we all disavowed backstories so i still have to worry about it even though he’s never done anything irl. thanks

but that coinciding with his only real interjection is what makes me linger. he and i have different methods and mindsets surrounding it, so we actually don’t relate to each other much on it, despite the shared ground. it’s his primary self harm, it’s one of a variety for me, he did so with suicidal intentions, i do it to alleviate emotional episodes, his is very standard in appearance but i keep covertness in mind and have serious aversions to traditional cutting, etc.

we also disagree on the severity of mine. i’m aware of how fully in control i am (im also a huge coward, etc, etc, a whole heap of exposition i don’t want to get into but i can actually defend myself quite well) and 100% cannot empathize with the fact that HE actually finds it a minor but marked concern.

i’m not convinced he processes my clarity of thought and thousand and one safeguards (i can tell it just doesn’t reach him regardless of what i say), so i figure it’s just because, as a person, he personally had worse issues with it and that’s all he can see. again. weird... because he is not a real person and this is maybe not a useful take... but it’s the best reason i can come up with for the idiosyncratic response. 

and i know. concern over self harm isn’t that out there, especially from someone who functions as a survival mechanism. but here’s the thing: i’m concerned about it. i’m extremely cautious and conscientious. i know my limits and i hate pain and consequences too much to ever reach them. that’s who i am as a person. the cpu assigns alters that deal with things i’m not concerned enough about. things i can’t handle properly, or can’t control, etc. 

i know when i’m not in control enough and i can feel the cpu find plugs for those holes without me, for better or worse. warner takes certain things more seriously for me because i don’t. thesely and dianthys and II embody the idea of ‘letting go’ to varying degrees because i’m fucking incapable of it. but i am always in control when i hurt myself because i am very afraid of death, and also owies, so his concern over that seems outside of cpu regulation. i don’t feel the cpu worrying about it, even when i feel it worry about other things that i don’t find concerning. 

so to me it seems like it might be 45% cpu sensibility (the standard ‘going above and beyond in terms of survival - not only will you clean and dress it, you will ALSO disinfect it’ m.o.) and 55% personal to warner. 

i... had some other train of thought that i have since forgotten, but i guess the conclusion of this one was ‘weird that the one thing i THINK is actually due to warner’s personhood more than the CPU’s need for survival is the one thing he put his foot down enough to continually affect me, there are so many ways to interpret the situation that there’s a 70% chance i wildly misinterpreted all of it and am so wrong it hurts’. 

i just wanted to fukcjkng... get this on paper so i could figure out what i was even trying to figure out. absolutely not worth it

[jessicakehoe]

Meet the Instagram Account Democratizing Canadian Art

Caitlyn Murphy, Ibrahim Abusitta, Caitlyn Murphy, Shantel Miller. If you’ve never heard of any of these artists, Canadian Art Forecast is for you. Founded by Toronto-based freelance writer Tatum Dooley (whose work has appeared in FASHION as well as Teen Vogue, Artforum and Essence), the account does what Instagram was born to do—present beautiful images. These images, all created by relatively-unknown Canadian artists, vary from paintings to sculpture to photography. Whether you consider yourself an art geek or just someone who enjoys visual stimuli, the account (which has gained close to 4000 followers in just over six months) is an enjoyable little deep dive into Canadian art. If you like seeing your art IRL, Dooley has curated the work of seven of her favourite artists into a show that’s running at the Dianna Witte Gallery in Toronto from June 28 to July 21. Here, our conversation with Dooley about why she started the account, what she loves about its “democratic” nature, and why it pushed her to reeducate herself about art.

View this post on Instagram

Grace Eunshun Kim #graceeunshunkim

A post shared by canadian art forecast (@cdnartforecast) on Nov 1, 2018 at 4:52pm PDT

What made you decide to launch something like the Canadian Art Forecast? I have a friend, Grace Eunshin Kim, who’s an amazing painter but she wasn’t getting the recognition that she deserved, both widespread recognition but also within the art world in Canada. So I thought what an easy answer to create an Instagram account which is free, and low risk. And just once a day, post these artists that I love and that I’m excited about and that I think more people should know about.

How do you find and discover new Canadian artists? Because to post a new one every day is quite a commitment. A lot of it is about being ingrained in the Toronto art community so I go to a lot of shows, I read a lot of reviews in magazines, but also Instagram has been an amazing tool to discover new artists—through other people posting artists they love or shows they’ve been to, the Insta Explore page, and kind of getting lost in Instagram art rabbit holes. But another way that I’ve discovered new artists is by asking painters and artists that I personally like to take over the Instagram account for a week. I’m always blown away by who they post. There’s such a sense of excitement when they post an artist that I never knew!

What’s your process when you’re deciding which artists to feature on the account? At the beginning my process was very much akin to my personal taste so I was just posting artists that I knew and loved and that I wanted to collect and have on my walls, and that quickly ran out. I had maybe 20 artists that I had really seared in my heart, and I was like I have to branch out from my own personal taste and start to question what I consider to be good art. I’m not personally that knowledgeable about photography so I had to sit down and look at photographers and say ‘what do I like about this artist?’ and start to post more things in photography and sculpture and artists from the east coast and the west coast and places that were a little bit out of my comfort zone.

View this post on Instagram

Ibrahim Abusitta #ibrahimabusitta

A post shared by canadian art forecast (@cdnartforecast) on Feb 28, 2019 at 4:01am PST

The account was founded as a way to expose other people to Canadian art, but it’s been a journey for you as well. What are some of the things you learned about your own taste in art over the course of the past six months? To go back to that notion of taste, it really came from this very Western art history education where we’re taught who the Masters are, and they’re all white men. As a child I loved Van Gogh and I loved Pierre Bonnard and I still love those artists but then I realized that I was placing the same guidelines on contemporary artists so I was maybe gearing a bit towards this Western art canon. and I realized I had to reeducate myself about what is considered to be good or masterful art, and I don’t love using the term masterful because it’s rooted in the patriarchy but for the sake of ease, I’ll continue to use it. I had this view of art that was also rooted in colonialism, I didn’t know as much about indigenous art as I should have, and this account has really allowed me to face those blind spots that I had and to try to fix them by reeducating myself about art history and with that knowledge has now come an appreciation and love of that art. It’s completely shifted away—now the things that I love, the artists that I love, have completely changed through knowing more about the art history of different groups of people that don’t get enough recognition.

Speaking of which, I noticed that most of the artists you’ve featured so far are women. Was that a conscious decision? I have gotten that comment before. It’s completely an unconscious decision. I am so drawn to female artists, sometimes I have to be like ‘oh I have to post a man today, I haven’t posted one in like a week.’ And in the same way when I curated this art show coming up, I reached out to artists I was really excited about and they were all women. It wasn’t on purpose, it was just genuinely who I think is making the most exciting art right now.

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Corri-Lynn Tetz #corrilynntetz — preview from “summer forecast,” at @diannawittegallery

A post shared by canadian art forecast (@cdnartforecast) on Jun 26, 2019 at 5:55am PDT

I also found it interesting that the captions are literally just the artist’s name and not much else — no description of their work or what drew you to the artist. What’s the reason behind that? Was it because you wanted viewers to engage with the work on a purely visual level without being fed too much information? That’s definitely part of it but to be honest part of it was also it being low labour on my end. I am incredibly busy, I work full time as a writer and if I was going to keep it up on a daily basis I knew that it had to be something that was manageable for me and being respectful of my own time. But there is something to say about being aesthetically minimal that makes it easier for people to engage. When there’s a big block of text I think maybe people tend to scroll past because they don’t have time to read but if it’s a single [line] they can just click on [the artist’s] profile and follow them. Which leads me to say that I have gotten the feedback from artists that being featured on the account has led not just to more followers, but also gallery representation and [sales] which is just insane and so exciting. It’s better than I ever thought would happen.

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Tristram Lansdowne #tristramlansdowne

A post shared by canadian art forecast (@cdnartforecast) on Feb 25, 2019 at 5:18am PST

Going back to what you said about the big block of text precluding people from engaging, I think it’s true that art can feel really intimidating for people and sometimes they just want to feel when they look at something.

I think that, in the art world, we tend to make everything a bit more academic than it needs to be and we sometimes strip the art of the fun aspect of it, and I do think that art should be a bit more fun. And that makes it more accessible. I have an MA in literature, but sometimes I read how people write about art and I don’t understand it, despite having a [background] in art history so if I don’t understand it, who does? Who are they writing for? I really wanted this account to be so democratic, that it’s for everybody. You might not know anything about art and you just like looking at aesthetically pleasing images and that’s fine, that’s exactly what it’s there for.

You mentioned that you weren’t anticipating some of the positive consequences of the account, like artists getting gallery representation out of it. So what were you hoping to do when you set out with this account? I don’t think I had any expectations going into it, it was almost a compulsion, like ‘I have all of these artists swimming around in my head and I want to share them with the world.’ The best case scenario was we gain some traction and a few hundred or a thousand followers, and people in other countries would see them and that’s all it was. I almost never connected the internet aspect to the real life implications because you know you kind of live online and you forget that online is real life, so it was a pleasant surprise.

The post Meet the Instagram Account Democratizing Canadian Art appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Meet the Instagram Account Democratizing Canadian Art published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

[goodforyourego-blog]

I Was Cooler on Facebook than IRL, and I’m Cool With That

About a year ago, I began the surprisingly long process of detoxing from a 10-year dependency on Facebook and social media. At many times, this process of detachment has left me feeling socially impotent and heavily isolated from a world desperately in need of spreading inter-connectedness. Despite this, I remain convinced that quitting Facebook has been the best decision for my overall health and well-being in the world.

It is imperative that I elaborate upon my meaning when I refer to “the world.” I use this term to imply a summation of three distinctly different dimensions of modern living: The Inner World, The External World, and The Social World.

The Inner World could also be known as spirituality, mental health, emotional intelligence, or simply, thought. It is the teleprompter off which we all read constantly; the ever-evolving and living script which provides us with our lines of narrative and dialogue. Our own thoughts are a world unto themselves, rife with context and subtext only digestible to the human brain. And, even it makes frequent mistakes in understanding life’s plot.

Beyond this primal, intuitive plane, there is the world of the external. The External World begins with the body and ends with the infinitely expanding blackness and light of the universe. Whereas thoughts represent a boundless, internally spiraling realm with no form, The External World is one of mass, matter, and a quantitative quality which boggles the mind in its scope and limitation.

And, finally, all living creatures must exist in some form of The Social World. Animals travel in herds and packs, as do human beings, and no creature has surpassed mankind in our ability to dominate our dominion with social prowess. Our reproductive and industrial abilities have allowed us to reshape the face of the earth, if not her very foundational ecosystem and structure. The Social World is the most rapidly shifting environment humans must cope with, and it is made this way by our own doing.

Each of these worlds must contend and collaborate with the others for there to be harmony within the individual. Thoughts must be allowed to roam without endangering the physical home of the human thinking them. Likewise, a healthy body informs healthy thought.

This is where the ambiguous nature of The Social World becomes a problem, particularly in an era during which most people experience The Social World through the channels of social media.

Using social media, we have adapted one of our habitats to such a drastic extent that this plane of existence is no longer in sync with the holy trinity of the human universes. We can thrive on social media without thriving in the inner or external worlds, and this creates unquantifiable discord in every aspect of our lives.

This discord is the very bread and butter which feeds Facebook and other corporate entities masquerading as tools for "connecting people." Facebook advertisements utilize subliminal messaging to undermine small business and turn every user into a point-of-sale statistic. News is butchered, clumsily re-built, and then delivered to the masses through newsfeeds with devastating consequence. Faith, politics, and isms of all types are debated and degraded in comment boxes at a blistering pace on our screens and at our fingertips.

None of these statements I’ve just made are conspiracy; they are simple facts about social media which we have all come to accept and even embrace with a satirical grin and a nihilistic meme. Each of us is guilty of over-indulging in the negative aspects of Facebook, Twitter, and dating apps like Tinder in some way or another, at some point in our scrolling history.

I was a prolific Facebook narcissist.

I got on Facebook in 2006, back when you needed an email address distributed by a college or university in order to sign up. We were all coming off of the Myspace days, and as a musician on the former platform giant, I became comfortable with the self-promoting environment of the new digital age during early adolescence.

Our generation moved from dully designed forums and chat rooms to glittering, sparkling pages with pictures, music, and video. We readily embraced a fun new internet society, and when it grew up, we allowed it to do so for us.

Facebook represented a more mature tool for gossip, sharing snapshots of our lives, and hooking up with our barely-known peers. It started as a casual accessory and became a needed commodity so subtly that we hardly noticed it happening.

When Facebook became available to me during my early college years, I sought to master the platform. Zuckerberg himself couldn’t have designed a better candidate to get lost in Facebook’s jungle of opportunity for egoism. I was a former troubled youth, a self-styled artist/entrepreneur, and a witty, wordy writer with a desire to come across as worldly - a desire fueled by my massive, male insecurity.

Over the years, I played many roles on Facebook, all of which were small exaggerations of actual events and identities I took on in my life. Meanwhile, there were intense, inescapable memories being formed in the inner and external worlds which weren't being expressed or explored in The Social World to any degree.

I posted about the concerts I performed at, the beautiful moments in my life, and even many of the tribulations which I deemed to have some honorable or enviable aspect to them. I didn't post about the embarrassing sexual encounters, the dark decisions made under the influence, or the borderline unforgivable things I did to and with other people.

On Facebook, at worst, I was another narcissistic young white man with too much to say and too much time on his hands. At best, I was a small-town rock star living his dreams, traveling the world, and befriending beautiful people everywhere I went. The problem is that I have often been far worse and/or far better than either of those things in the real world.

During most of the last year that I was on Facebook, I worked as a content specialist for a social marketing company. Essentially, I was a copy writer working on social media and web content for individual service providers and small businesses.

This was 2016, mind you. Not exactly our golden age for communication.

At some point, it became clear to me there was a serious problem with how I/we conducted myself/ourselves in our current Social World. I think one of the first big indicators that Facebook had a dangerous role in our lives was actually its emerging role in dating apps.

Think about it: Dating apps are a fundamental aspect of our contemporary mating and hedonism practices. We've replaced conversation and time spent getting to know an individual on a real basis with a right or left swipe based on a photo and a few words. Even more interesting - all of those dating apps highly recommend or require that you have a profile on a social media network like Facebook or Twitter in order to register for the service.

Imagine that you are a stranger in a strange town, looking for some strange in a strange region without cell phones. It sounds strange, I know.

You decide to venture down to the local watering hole to see if you can meet a compatible person and to quench your thirst.

Upon arriving at the bar or restaurant, an insurmountable man at the door informs you that, because you prefer another brand of swill to the stuff served inside, you are not welcomed in the establishment. Because you do not adhere to the same corporate allegiances as everyone else in town, you are not allowed to check out the club, so to speak. Here, in this town, The Social World is cut off from those who do not drink the proverbial "Kool-Aid." 

This is the situation we have created with Facebook and other modern services, even ones offered by seemingly all-encompassing entities like Google and Amazon. This exclusivity is not exclusive to dating apps, but can be found in all miracles of modern convenience.

Nearly every small business owner in America is under the misguided perception that the greatest thing they can do for their business is to master social media.

What social media experts and marketing professionals won't usually tell you is that in the equation of social media, the platform is always the master and the user is always the slave.

Facebook's algorithms function without the juxtaposing advocacy of human thought, and they exist for the sole purpose of encouraging people to make purchases. The resulting forum is an environment in which collaborative thought can not thrive, and competitive thought is championed constantly.

Socially, we are each struggling to balance an internal monologue and an external dialogue which can never share equal space, for they each take up infinite space on their own.

If you have made it this far, I urge you to re-consider the so-called convenience of Facebook, if nothing else.

When I was preparing to delete Facebook from my life for good, at the end of 2016, most people said they wished that they could do the same. Other artists and entrepreneurs said they couldn't operate their businesses/networks without Facebook. Friends and family told me it was how they stayed in touch with one another. But, the more I thought about these claims, the more I found them to be categorically false in their assumption that Facebook provided anything revolutionary in terms of convenience.

Did life not include enough charming moments and heartwarming videos in all the years before Facebook's existence? Were we not able to express ourselves to one another, either in writing or through some other medium?

I began to realize that all of the convenience of Facebook exists whether the platform does or not. We can send all forms of media to one another instantaneously. We can chat in real time across vast distances. We have been able to communicate and stay in touch with one another since well before the first telephone lines were strewn across the continent, so why does Facebook suddenly seem so crucial to our correspondences?

The truth is that, with social media, the onus of responsibility is removed from the individual themselves. It is not that our individuality has been lost through some Machiavellian scheme to destroy human awareness, but simply that, with all of the burdens the world offers, we each often delight in being able to give the one burden up. We eagerly defer the need to direct our own social world by submitting to the preferences and practices of cold, capitalist algorithms.

Make no mistake, in some sense, I have lost touch with thousands of people over the last year. I enjoyed writing a post that earned dozens, or hundreds, of "likes.” It fed my need for admiration, and made me feel as though I was connected to those people. But, I was connected to those people through Facebook in the same way that doing cocaine makes you supernaturally powerful.

It doesn't. But, it sure as hell makes you think that it does.

I may not experience the instant gratification of Facebook dope anymore, but I've got to tell you that sober living really is much more rewarding. It's taken the entire year to do so, but I've truly begun to form my own rich, offline community. Once I removed the newsfeed from my life and replaced it with my own self-driven use of phone numbers, email, and mailing addresses, I began to remember what relationships are supposed to feel like.

To those of my generation and prior: Do you recall having long conversations on the phone, your movement perhaps limited by a stretchy, curly cord? Remember the sense of excitement you would experience when someone you cared about would call or pick up the phone when you dialed? This feeling still exists, and these types of interactions can still be yours.

I find it ironic that, as I typed these words, Macy Gray's "Beauty in the World" came on the radio. There is beauty in the world(s), girl.

Facebook takes all of the world's beauty, misery, complexity, and compassion and condenses it down into an easy-to-swallow pill. This facsimile of life and The Social World makes for a powerful and stimulating simulation of the living experience, but it also renders the user blind to the edges and fine lines around them.

About a year after Facebook, I'm kind of a bigger loser than I've ever been. I definitely deal with a sense of isolation on a daily basis, and I often feel that nobody likes me or wants to spend time with me. I make frequent attempts to be social, but those efforts go unrequited - it often seems as though no one has time for my antiquated methods of correspondence.

I remember this feeling well, this sense of overburden. Everybody seems to think that they are busier than they are, and I believe this has a lot to do with our social world weighing too heavily on our internal and external worlds. Our lists of friends and those we influence climb into the thousands, and we never think twice about the burden this places upon our brains.

Now, with all of that being said about being a big ol' loser these days, I might as well point out some other things. Despite those frequent feelings of inadequacy, I have also established myself in three new reputable careers this year. I am in a dynamic and deeply rewarding relationship with a partner I love beyond description. I have an email list of about 30 people I can send a heartfelt message to, and I can expect a trove of supportive and encouraging responses. I may not be able to address the masses as I once could, but the masses can no longer address me either, and that is a balance I'm perfectly fine with.

All of the insecurities I am experiencing now were also there when I was a daily Facebook user. The difference is that the platform gave me constant adrenaline rushes and an unending source of distractions, and as a result I never looked at myself straight-on. Facebook was a house of mirrors in which my inner child, angry old man, and present self were constantly having a staring contest.

I could spend all day, every day, urging others to see the insanity in all of this. But, I would soon find myself in an Orwellian nightmare with my role being the presumed-to-be lunatic ranting against a world gone numb. Since I'm more of a Huxley man, I suppose you could say that I have stopped taking my soma since I stopped posting my status.

I recently described the social media platform as a place where everybody is trying to prove that they are the least lost. On Facebook, your insecurities can be worn like badges of pride, and the accolades you will receive for wearing those insecurities proudly can almost make them seem to disappear.

Almost.

Look, I'm not saying that real life doesn't require a bit of posturing here and there - it does. We have to puff up our chests and make a brave face now and then, which is an acceptable part of the human experience. The problem is that, on Facebook and other social media sites, all we seem to do is compete with one another in an attempt to escape being deemed the biggest loser of the day.

Admittedly, in my personal life, I would say that this mission also compels me even in my largely offline persona. I was bullied, neglected, and abused by a cruel world like so many others, so why wouldn't I feel the need to prove something? Leaving Facebook did not rid me of my shame or guilt, it simply silenced the echo chamber in my skull.

The difference is that, with some distance from Facebook, I no longer feel the need to prove that my experiences have in some way made my perspective more valid than anyone else's. I'd rather be okay with the loser I am, than be competing with the rest of the world to prove I’m not.

I was much cooler on Facebook than I am in real life, but deleting my account helped me realize I'm cool with that.

[leovia-blog]

Data Dump 2.5

I realize that I’ve been dumping all my tabs onto Facebook, in hopes of developing some intrigue, maybe starting a little bit of conversation, sharing, and to (truthfully) shape my virtual persona. 

I was going to carry out these thoughts and musings there, but I don’t think that the format really resonates or is as applicable as this. Ultimately, I miss having discursive conversation and I feel the need to lay my interests out to understand them better. So this should be a good project for me..

1. Your Esophagus Is A River

alimentary (ăl′ə-mĕn′tə-rē, -trē) 

adj.

1. Concerned with food, nutrition, or digestion.

2. Providing nourishment.

I learned this word when I tried to read a book about the political implications and history of water. It ended up being a little heavy and repetitive on the historical section at the beginning of the book and I had a hard time latching on before the book was due at the library. Nonetheless, I appreciated the way it likened body to body. Generally, it’s used when speaking about the esophagus and I liked linking the notion of that short essential distance with a grander one.

2.“be tender with yourself.” - MHYSA

So I feel like it’s my cultural duty to grasp, examine, and be aware of the topic of this article “Black Femme Sci-Fi and Unapologetic Softness”

It’s something that can be a little bit difficult to do, 1. because my peer group is not IRL | 2. because I have a complicated relationship with my identity like everyone else | 3. It can feel a little played out, because coverage of the topic can be redundant in taking the time to explain the fact that it’s reasonable and completely necessary to imagine a future with Black people in it.

That being said, I feel like beating that drum is important.

And that being said, I wonder how often Sci-Fi is a mis-used term when Contemporary may be more appropriate. But maybe I’m just bitter, and maybe I’d just like to live in a world that doesn’t deem it far fetched or revolutionary that Black Femmes have a vision of the future, Or that they can make work that doesn't directly reference their “place” in a hegemonic patriarchal power structure.. That there is voice and imagination outside of that and it’s not fictitious. But maybe that’s really Black Femme Sci-Fi of me and I’m just tired of reading about it and would rather push forward / move on.

Regardless, RAFiA’s work above resonated with me and I’m down for its starkness.

3. Your Place or Mine?

 ^^ “A Line Made By Walking” - Richard Long ^^

This is a work I came across the other day and it touched on some subjects that I’ve been interested in recently.

Richard Long is a British artist born in 1945 that has a portfolio that has focuses on Land Art, Performance, and Walking.

When I think about those subjects, I generally first think of Ana Mendieta (1948) for Performance/ Body/ Land and Francis Alÿs for Performance/ Walking.

There are 3 reoccurring themes that I’d like to address in reference to this piece.

1. Boundaries. How do we create them and where do they live? Are they mapped? Are they visible? How do they effect and affect? How do they change over time? Who decides that they’re there? Who draws the line?

2. Ecological Art. This article in Hyperallergic has some nice nuggets and references in it and relates well to the class I’m taking about Media and the Environment. It asks, as artists, how can we move beyond the notion that Land is material and that the Natural world is something that can be molded at our whim. We are in a moment where that thought process is not fruitful to perpetuate. What kind of relationships can we rekindle with the Earth to treat it fairly? How can we convey this way of thinking to an audience? What kind of action is most needed? Generally, an understanding or partnership with Science is paramount.

3. Perceived importance based on Origin. It could be read that Richard Long’s effect on the Land could have direct connotations with his British origins. Because he comes from a place that has participated as a forceful power in colonial efforts, his mark on the land is read differently than Ana Mendieta’s. Ana was from Cuba and fled to America as a child at the beginning of Castro’s regime. Both artists were experimenting with popular forms in their epoch, but Mendieta’s exhibits content that haunts. Perhaps my perception is effected by the cannon and I assume that Long’s Formal presentations are in direct response to other white male artists of the era. That Mendieta’s works feel more visceral because of my reading of her oppression.. I’m not sure if this is fair, but I feel it in my response, and I struggle with it as many others do as a sociopolitical symptom on a day to day basis. I’m not sure it’s reasonable, I recognize my bias, but I’m going to leave it there for now because this paragraph is getting long.

4. Your Place

^^ space given towards ‘minority’ consideration ^^

This article, “Place-making and the Politics of Belonging and Dis-Belonging” has some gems worth ruminating on. 

The last time I researched Belonging, it was in the context of Mental Health on college campuses. The effects of whether someone feels like they have a person to talk to, a shared public space that they’re welcome in, and access to needed resources can be a matter of life and death in a stressful environment that could otherwise be isolating.

This is very easily translated into ideas of city planning and development.

In my recent trips to Denver, it is very clear how things can fall apart and trust quickly erodes when part of the public feels that their being told that they don’t belong. This can be contentious when artists and designers are asked to “improve” or “create” these spaces. In those moments, it seems necessary to use your voice to identify holes in the process.

“Placemaking in city/neighborhood spaces enacts identity and activities that allow personal memories, cultural histories, imagination, and feelings to enliven the sense of “belonging” through human and spatial relationships. But a political understanding of who is in and who is out is also central to civic vitality. How do current Creative Placemaking practices support this knowledge?”

5. Your Job

^^ “Neighbours” by Norman McLaren. NFB. Every time I try to share this online it gets no love and it makes me think they’re up to something ^^

This article is a good extension of the one before: The Afterlife: Art for Art’s Sake in the Experience Economy. 

It underlines the artist’s true role and what happens when it gets subsumed by corporate interest. What are the effects of turning a verb into a noun? When “artist” as questioning, reactive, and gritty becomes “creative”- subservient, quiet, fabricator for a paycheck.

Particularly this piece is in conversation with the development of Portland. But everyone knows all too well that it is not limited to that space. What jobs are you willing to take? How much effort are you willing to put into holding them accountable? What will you say in the face of “... those not willing to get vulnerable or self-reflexive. Those not willing to get hurt when confronting the pain of others, or willing to empathize vigorously enough wherein that pain is, however much possible, a shared experience.”

A good reminder that “we are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.” An empowering read, and helpful to me in this moment of finding balance in work and life.

6. Your Verbs

Speaking of what we can do as artists and as people, this New Yorker article: Is There Any Point to Protesting? shines light on whether recent actions have been effective, how they could be, and if that’s even the point.

I’ve struggled with contributing to protests, marches, etc and I feel like I have better words to describe how I feel:

I’ve never gotten what I’ve wanted by complaining. I’ve done better by calmly explaining my position and being part of organizing a solution. I’m not extremely reactionary or combative. Though I’ve come a long way in speaking my mind from the shy girl who hid behind her mother.

I’ve been scared to participate as a brown woman. Fearing someone else will not respect my body as much as I require.

But to be in a procession, which I last felt at Zozobra-- to be moving towards something with others en mass.. that has a special quality and sensation to it.