#the main defining factor of the category is: if it is not already a part of the love song medley from Moulin Rouge | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fellharder · 4 months ago

Text

Terminology quibbling

What defines a BL/GL/QL that makes it not a regular queer romance?

My short answer to that is "I don't have any fucking idea".

My long answer is that personally I go with whatever people decide something is called because it's easier to be understood when you operate within an agreed upon terminology. If the romance is the plot line and other plot aspects take the backseat, there's zero or very little Gay Angst, the themes are reasonably typical of BL since the start and how it has developed, sure, I'll call it BL/GL/QL.

From the manga A Man Who Defies the World of BL

To continue the long answer, I don't view queer romance as a subgenre of romance, but queer is a useful additional label (and an academic term) for not-straight and/or not-cis romance subgenres. Of course, genres are only commonly agreed upon labels, they're not cast in stone, and your mileage may and will vary depending on what you find relevant when categorising works. It's just, as I mentioned above, easier to do as the Romans when in fiction-discussion Rome.

Genre definitions based on themes and form make a fair bit sense to me personally, such as romance, satire and documentary, but genres as a tree structure don't make sense to me at all. A set of labels/tags for various important characteristics of the work in question do make the most sense to me - like "love story, LGBTQIA+, gay/bi/pan male lead character(s), gay/bi/pan male support character(s), South Korea, urban life, paranormal, comedy, animal-human transformation, bar setting" - I'd be interested in a queer love story, side-eye the paranormal bit but be intrigued by the transformation. This is me making a set of tags for a specific show that exists, by the way. It gets classified as a BL, not as a queer romance.

There's already a generally agreed upon characteristc of BL/GL that the most important part of the story is the love story, they're not for instance action shows with a love side plot, which makes the romance/love story label fairly mandatory. Labels indicating that the main love story isn't about heterosexuals would also be ever-present for what we call BL/GL/QL now.

The long answer also includes that romances are not limited to rom-com or lighthearted feelings, but include tragedies, tales of loss, tales of abuse, crime stories and so on and so forth. The number of fiction genres and subgenres is vast - and it makes no sense to me to make a branch on the fiction tree called queer, where pretty much all of the general fiction varieties get a second twig or leaf labelled "queer [insert usual subgenre term]" and then staple another branch to the queer branch and do the same thing all over again with "BL [insert usual subgenre term]". Or stick the BL branch somewhere else in the tree, for that matter.

Side note: a Tumblr post is probably not the best way to revolutionise how the world thinks about genres and labelling of fiction.

Another side note: I'm not dipping into how the terminology is used in Japan, but do read this great blog post by nicks-den. BL history is very interesting and it's always good to know some background. But as Erica Friedman says in the notes to "On defining yuri", "Fan language is free to shift and change with fashion and need, so that it often runs ahead of both commercial and research terminology (...)" - this fan language has shifted a fair bit in the export out of Japan, and the usage a lot of fans globally are familiar with is what I'm talking about.

However the category is defined, the outdated notion that BL/yaoi is more or less steamy gay stuff made for and by straight women shouldn't be a factor in the definition anymore, although some people do like to cling to that idea. There may however be a notable lack of queer community references, because the target audience is generally more widely defined than The Gay People, but as there are cultural differences between such communities, it may just be that as a queer moving in social circle A in region B you miss a reference that's well known in social circle C in region D.

Which means I can't really see how BL/GL differs all that much from any other queer romance, except possibly in that the plot conflicts, the obstacles to the love story, don't primarily have to do with being queer (i.e. the QL lack of Gay Angst). If there's a struggle with acceptance from the couple's surroundings, does that maybe make it a non-BL/GL?

Is SKAM season 3 a queer romance because the main character struggles with accepting his sexuality and with belonging to a community he doesn't feel is relevant, or is it a BL because it's an intense boy/boy romance with very little in the way of sexuality acceptance plot points and very much in the way of other forms of acceptance plot points?

tl;dr I don't like the BL/GL/QL terms all that much.

It's all (queer) romance, as far as I'm concerned. I also happen to be extremely tired of the main obstacle to love and happiness etc. in queer fiction being omg gay. I've practically stopped watching Western queer films because if I have to watch one more teary homophobia scene I may have to maim the director. I want some fucking escape, goddamnit, I want non-heterosexuality to not be a fucking problem all the time in our own fucking media. And this is why I have a permanent grin on my face when watching something where anything can be an obstacle except the queerness. I have actually slowly started to get rid of some of the annoyance with queerness obstacles, some soft BL approaches have been just fine with me, since I said to hell with it and dived into QL.

I don't really have any great suggestions for a better terminology than LGBTQ+ romance/queer romance (I quite like this overview of the genre, although it lacks some common Asian QL traits), but I do have some thoughts.

Perhaps what we in this age and place call BL/GL could be labelled idealised queer romance.

I mean, the usual expectance of a BL/GL is that it's pretty idealised anyway.

(Yes, I'm aware that "idealised romance" is a bit of a pleonasm. A romantic story can be pretty gritty, though. For an example of a romance narrative that's not very idyllic you have literally thousands of so-called regular queer films and books to choose from.)

Seeing as BL/GL often feature a queer semi-permeable bubble where the characters don't have to deal much with being surrounded by straights, and the obstacles to the romance often have little to do with struggles queer people face, the world in a typical QL can be viewed as a fairly rosy picture. In other queer romances, you can bet homophobia is going to rear its ugly head at some point.

Ditching the BL/GL terms would sort out some arguments about for instance I Told Sunset About You - it's romantic, it's Asian (which does tend to make a lot of non-Asian people think BL automatically), but Oh-aew's and Teh's struggles with identity and sexuality practically scream Gay Angst queer romance.

If everything is a variety of queer romance, then I Told Sunset About You is a queer romance, which could also be tagged as idealised by some, while 2gether is without doubt an idealised queer romance.

These two examples are naturally not randomly picked, 2gether is often held up as an example of extremely BL-y BL while there are arguments about which genre I Told Sunset About You belongs to.

(What's more, in Thailand the genres aren't called BL and GL, although they do use those terms as well so that the international crowd understands. It's called waai (วาย) from the letter Y for yaoi/yuri, which is basically as little helpful as BL/GL, but it neatly illustrates a shift in fan language.)

In more recent days and somewhat ambiguous, we have My Stand-In, which dips its toes into the cesspool of homophobia but resolves it BL style easily. Is it an idealised queer romance? Maybe. Do we have to argue at great length about that or can we just call it a queer romance? I think so. Would I call it an IQR (look, groovy acronym!)? I would, but I can see how it could be viewed as not sufficiently idealised.

All in all, I'd like to move on from arguments about whether something is a BL or not, based more or less on personal ideas about what a BL is (I've seen some who seem unaware that non-BL queer shows and films exist) to arguments about how idealised a show is and how central the love story is in it. The volume of arguments wouldn't be reduced in the slightest, but I think it would make more sense as the output of comics/novels/live action shows and films operate now.

Gratuitious My Stand-In gif as a separator before some parentheses finish up the post:

(I've talked a bit about terminology with some friends and I was very insistent to one about having spotted a Greek BL on Gagaoolala, and then I mulled over words and meanings for a while and I also looked in vain for that Greek BL, hence this post. I found two Greek films, but are they BL/GL or not? Gagaoolala has a BL/Yaoi category, but they don't tag films or shows as BL. Is it important how the films are labelled, when I'm able to find what I want to see? (Actually the 'Greece' tag does not work and I need to have words with Gagaoolala, but I digress.) Either way I'm planning on giving both a go. And possibly call them QR or IQR or just bloody IR as I see fit.)

(I may have to revamp this blog to try and make "idealised queer romance" happen instead of talking about BL/GL/QL.)

#queer fiction terminology #fiction terminology #i don't except to be successful because just look at china miéville having worked for decades trying to launch the term 'weird fiction'

0 notes

kagami-taro · 3 years ago

Text

What is Transport and Logistics?

The word "logistics" is derived from the Latin phrase, meaning "to move". Logistics services are those that help companies move goods and information. The word 'logistics' is often used to describe all aspects of transportation, from sourcing raw materials to shipping finished products. The term includes the processes of making, processing, and distributing physical products. It can also refer to the movement of people. In business, logistics can be divided into three main categories: operations, vehicles, and infrastructure.

One of the most basic functions of transport and logistics is to manage the inward and outward flow of goods. The opposite of logistics is transportation, which is the movement of goods from one place to another. Although these two terms are often used interchangeably, there are distinct differences between them. A distribution center should design a model with the most accurate information possible. A truck or train cannot carry a container that is oversized. It must be able to fit in an airplane.

The word logistics is an homonym of an existing mathematical term, logistikos, which is the traditional division of Greek mathematics. However, some sources claim that this term was not the original one. Despite this difference, the term was influenced by an already-existing word, and it has been called transportation since ancient times. These two concepts are fundamental in supply chains and are crucial to a successful business. When done together, they form a strong supply chain that links the world's biggest consumer market and contributes 7.5% to the U.S. economy.

The transport and logistics industry is a multifaceted field. While the former focuses on movement of goods, the latter is focused on the process of managing them. The services of transport and logistics include the storage, handling, and packaging of goods. The process of transportation is an integral part of the logistics business and should be considered carefully. In addition to the physical aspects, the logistician should also consider costs and urgency. In short, the entire transportation and logistics industry has an extensive scope.

Besides logistics, transport and transportation are also related industries. Both are concerned with the movement of goods. For example, the logistics industry handles the management of the supply chain. By defining the various modes, it is possible to create a highly efficient, collaborative environment. These factors are important for ensuring the success of any retail business. When combined, they can be used to improve customer experience. This way, they can improve their customer experience.

Unlike other forms of transport and logistics, truck freight is a flexible option. The best way to move a package is to have it delivered as close as possible to its destination. The most important aspect of this industry is that it keeps products safe. For this reason, logistics providers must ensure that the goods arrive in good condition. Generally, the goods must be intact and not be damaged during their journey. This is why it is essential to manage the transport and logistics process as effectively as possible.

#transport #logistics #transportandlogistics #lorries #trucks #trucking #truckerslife #removal companies #transportcompanies #logisticcompanies #goods #consumergoods #postalservice #deliveries

2 notes · View notes

gayassbagelmom · 4 years ago

Text

A short(but probably long) rant about the beginning of chapter 23 and Thomas’s mental health in general:

Ps: this isn’t proofread and is likely all over the place, blame the ADHD lmao

At the beginning of chapter 23 there’s a scene where 10 year old Thomas is in the hospital waiting room, while his parents and doctor discuss his health. The doctor mentions the Thomas has OCD, that’s the first and biggest problem I have with this chapter. Let me give you all a lesson on psychology. OCD is probably one of the most misunderstood disorders out there. The main problem is people mistake OCD for OCPD. OCPD = obsessive compulsive personality disorder. You may think “okay well what’s the big deal? Aren’t they the same thing” no, they aren’t. In the DSM(diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders), the organize disorders into 5 categories, called axes:

Axis 1: clinical disorders

Axis 2: personality disorders

Axis 3: general medical disorders

Axis 4: psychosocial and environmental factors

Axis 5: the global assessment of functioning

Right now, axes 1 and 2 are the ones we will be focusing on.

OCD is an axis 1, or clinical disorder. Axis 1 disorders tend to be things that more so effect people’s moods or reactions. Examples being anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, and most mood related disorders. Basically, everything but personality disorders and mental retardation. People with these clinical disorders are usally well aware of their Irrational behavior and are distressed by it, actively seeking help.

OCPD is an axis 2, or personality disorders. Axis 2 disorders, as the name suggests, effect a persons personality and life as a whole. Examples being narssistic personlity disorder, mental retardation, antisocial personlity disorders, schizoid and schizotypal personlity disorder, basically, if it’s got “personlity” in the name, it most likely fits into this category. The difference between these and axis 1 disorders is they usally aren’t aware or their irrational behaviors and aren’t particularly upset by them. They usally only seek help due to friends or family

Thomas doesn’t have OCD, he has OCPD. Before I go over the differences between them, let me define two terms:

Ego dystonic: thoughts, impulses, and behaviors that are felt to be repugnant, distressing, or unacceptable with one's self-concept.(OCD)

Ego syntonic: thoughts, impulses, and behaviors that are felt to be natural or acceptable with one’s self-concept.(OCPD)

Okay now the rant like, actually begins. There’s a fuck ton of evidence the supports Thomas having OCPD and NOT OCD. OCD is a disorder charactrized by impulses and cleanliness. People with OCD usally have one or a few specific obsessions, an example being ALWAYS unlocking and relocking your front door three times before leaving, or washing your hands til they’re sore and red. People with OCD are motivated by the idea that some imaginary disaster could happen if they don’t do this. This is why OCD is considered an anxiety disorder. This is also where the fact that it’s a clinical disorder plays a large role. People with OCD actively seek out help, they don’t like the way their impulses effect their lives, OCD is an ego dystonic disorder. OCPD is much different though. Unlike OCD, people with OCPD, don’t have just a couple of rituals. The focus completely on perfectionism and control. They want everything to be orderly and under control, and have a tendency to come off as domineering. People with personlity disorders, don’t view it as a disorder and only seek help due to family and friends openly discussing that they dislike said persons behavior. They don’t view it as unnatural, that is why OCPD is a ego syntonic disorder. Off the bat there’s already a lot more similarities with OCPD symptoms and Thomas’s symptoms. Another fun little tidbit, studies show, a good number of OCPD cases may have developed due to overcontrolling, intrusive and dominating parents. Let’s look back at chapter 23 and I’ll list some example of OCPD behavior

“He had seen other kids his age--ten--scribbling stick figures when they drew, but he wanted his to look perfect. Or else what the hell was the point?” I mean come on, this literally screams obsession with perfection. He finds no interest in something less than perfect and can’t understand why anyone would be different.

“He switched his crayons from red to a black, tucking it back in the cardboard packet in the slot where it belonged.” A subtle but an example of a need for orderliness.

“He hated that there were ugly blue lines slashed through his drawing.” While the context of this scene relates to the lines reminding him of school, they also break the perfect nature of the picture

Some may argue “well if people with OCPD don’t think they’re behavior is so weird, then why is he obviously so bothered by it?” Well see, Thomas isn’t bothered by his OCPD, he’s bothered by his IED. His parents obvious concern is him becoming a surgeon, and dont get me wrong, I don’t wish OCPD upon anyone, but it seems like something 2 asshole parents would for their kid to have. People with OCPD tend to work extremely hard at their jobs, like way too hard, ruins their relationships usally. This whole situation mixed with his IED, just spells disaster. Thomas has absolutely no control in this scenario, he has no say in his medication, his dorm, his school, his studies, etc. to him, it’s not perfect, it’s not exactly how he wants it to be. This also explains why the medication really wasn’t working (and oh boy will I get to the medication part later)

I think I know why Thomas likes cars. He’s in control. To him cars are PERFECT, they’re sleek, shiny, made with no mistakes. When he’s behind the wheel, he has full control over this object that is so incredibly “perfect” he can make it go where he pleases, and go as fast as he pleases.

Now onto the medication part, oh man, fair warning and apologizes, I can already tell I’m going to get heated. Obviously Thomas is 10, so he’s going to have his parents take part in these sort of appointments. But I find it extremely hard to believe Thomas wouldn’t be in there with them. At least in the beginning to disccus any possible side effects. But okay whatever, that’s not even the part that got me mad. So we find out that Thomas is taking 9 medications and is having another one added.

I’m sorry,

What?

There is no way in hell they’re going to prescribe that much medication to a 10 year old. Sure maybe if the kid has fucking cancer, but an IED, OCD(OCPD) and migraines? Hell fucking no. And also they wouldn’t have prescribed the migraine medication “Nurtec” for a 10 year old. This is because the company that makes nurtec doesn’t know if it’s safe for children or not. And If a side effect of the Nurtec was depression, then they would have fucking taken him off of it. ITS LITTERALLY THE MAIN SIDE EFFECTS DOCTORS SAY TO PAY ATTENTION TO!!!!!!!!!!!! And this is assuming that the thing doesn’t even work, because If it did work, why would he be taking 7 other medications????? You’re trying to tell me those are all for OCD and anger mangement? I DONT FUCKING THINK SO. ITS JUST FUCKING UGHHHH THE PARENTS ARE ANNOYING AS FUCK!! PUT YOUR KID IN THERAPY AND STOP COMPARING IT TO A RUPTURED APPENDIX. FUCK THIS HAS ME SO ANGRY. ITS JUST LIKE, NOT ONLY IS THIS WHAT I WANNA GO TO COLLEGE FOR BUT ITS ALSO SHIT IVE EXPERINCED FIRST HAND. IVE BEEN TAKING SOME OF THE EXACT SAME MEDICATION THOMAS HAS SINCE I WAS 12, I KNOW WHAT THE SYSTEM IS LIKE AND THIS AINT IT. Whew sorry about that, I just feel like ranting in all caps can help you calm down a bit faster. Ok I think I’m done, if you read through all this, lol, sorry.

I’m not trying to be mean @the-hamilton-files-author trust me, I don’t expect you to know most of this stuff. It’s a complicated science that I love dearly. Very, very, dearly. :’)

20 notes · View notes

notafrogblog · 4 years ago

Text

Who wants to read an entire fucking essay I’ve been writing over the last few months it’s about viddy games wooooooo

Video Games's Popularity

16% of entertainment hours in 2018 were spent playing video games, according to a study by The NPD Group, an American market research company (Stych). Video games have become more and more popular as they have become easier and easier to access through consoles, computers, tablets, and phones. Video games and gaming have become some of the most popular topics to watch on youtube, twitch, and other platforms, which is shown by the fact that youtube has a trending section just for video game content. I myself watch video game content whenever I get the chance. Merriam Webster defines video games as "an electronic game in which players control images on a video screen." If you use that definition for video games, it means gaming is a lot more widespread and prevalent than you'd first think. It would be a struggle to find anyone below the age of twenty who's never played a video game in some form. There are thousands of people in online communities who discuss video games and the people who play them, on sites like Reddit, Twitch, YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, and more. Video game music, posters, clothing, and general merchandise is popular and lucrative for the companies that make and sell the products. People continue to invest their time, money, and energy into playing and enjoying video games. Video games are such a big part of the online community and my life that I decided to take this opportunity to learn more about them.

While researching this paper, I found different types of sources than I was expecting. Many articles on video games are outdated, poorly written, or simply didn't contain much information. Most possible sources were game reviews, tabloid-esque gossip, or talked about events occurring recently in the gaming community. These weren't very helpful for the type of topics I wanted to discuss. When I set out to write this, I expected to find more analyses of video games or game genres as a whole, or perhaps more in-depth writing. Although I did find articles that were in-depth, they were often very niche, scholarly, or outdated. Video games as a culture moves indescribably quickly, with new games always being released. The vast amount of content and places to share said content on the internet makes video games so widespread, it's near impossible to categorize and talk about video games a whole, rather than individual games or franchises. I suppose that's why there are so many game reviews. People are always looking for new games to play, new content to view. I did my best to find articles and sources I could use to talk about video games a whole, as a culture, and as a complex and nuanced form of entertainment. Part of my own interest in video games is due to the large variety of games and game content available. I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about video games, especially after researching this essay. But I don't know much about games as a whole, or why people play them. As much as I love to talk about and watch video games, I don't play them often myself. I wanted to know what made other people love playing video games so much. Both my brothers are very engrossed in their respective games and consoles, and I found myself wondering what compels them to put their time and energy into something that doesn't give me that same satisfaction. Which begs the question, why do people play video games? What keeps them coming back? What makes video games so enjoyable?

I started by looking in the school databases, and on credible sites like the Washington Post and the New York Times. Video games is such a broad topic, but many articles focused on specific games or events. While I researched, I wondered what is so compelling about video games. I had some hypotheses. Video games often have a plot, a list of tasks to complete, or some sort of storyline. I found an article about the stories and plotlines of first-person shooter games, one of the most popular genres of games. In the article, David M. Leeson explains what differs between a multiplayer and a single-player shooter: "Most multiplayer shooters are gameplay-driven: play sessions consist of one or more matches, in which players compete with each other (either individually or as teams) to win the game, either by scoring points or capturing objectives. Most single-player shooters, by contrast, are story-driven: play sessions consist of one or more levels, in which the player is told the story so far and then must overcome a series of obstacles to find out what happens next." Already this provides some insight into what compels people to play video games. Multiplayer shooters, such as Fortnite, some Call of Duty games, Battlefield games, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, depend on other players to keep you interested. Winning a match is the main objective. In single-player games, the goal isn't to win a round, it's to complete the story. In a way, this makes a single-player shooter similar to a book or a movie. The difference between them is that the player takes an active part in moving the plotline forward, which keeps the player interested and motivated to find out what happens next.

A storyline isn't the only thing that can be necessary to keep a player motivated. The gameplay plays a big role in keeping the player interested in continuing the game. Games have two main parts, speed and strategy. Speed-based games rely on fast reflexes, immediate feedback, and quick thinking to be enjoyable. Games like these require you to be in the moment the whole time, ready to react to whatever is thrown at you. Games that are more speed-based include titles such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and endless runner games such as Temple Run or Subway Surfers. Despite being very different games in style, aesthetic, plot, and goals, these all rely on speed as a main mechanic. Another aspect of games is strategy. Strategy-based games take a slower route, and are more based on planning and thinking before you act. Strategy games often have some sort of back-and-forth mechanic between the player and some sort of other entity, usually a non-player character (npc) or the game itself. This includes games such as battling games such as Pokemon, storyline games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, and many mobile games. Strategy games require the player to think about what they want to do before they do it, and often have multiple storylines or options for how to play the game or what to do when. All games have elements of both strategy and speed, but usually one takes precedence over the other. Each category of game has its pros and cons and its own problems.

There are a few problems with speed-based games that the developers must remedy for the game to be enjoyable. Firstly, games with speed-based mechanics are often very easy to pick up and learn. Many Super Smash Bros. players will mash buttons or spam attacks rather than use combination attacks or the full variety of moves available. Speed-based games must introduce a learning curve for players to learn new skills, become better at the skills they already have, and some sort of challenge that requires those skills to be used. Another problem with speed-based games is the lack of variety. One character with only one set of moves can quickly become boring to play. Most games don't have this problem, with many games having multiple characters. Breath of the Wild, however, only has one playable character, Link. Nintendo keeps BotW from becoming boring by having Link have many weapons and clothing to collect and choose from to use, food items to temporarily boost stats, and a way to upgrade Link's health points as the game grows more difficult. Many endless runner games (i.e. Subway Surfers or Temple Run) lack this attribute, which causes players to become bored of them after playing for a while. While they may include customizable or lots of character choices, the changes are purely cosmetic and don't impact the gameplay.

Strategy games have issues as well, most notably those to do with speed. Strategy games often have a slower pace, and making the pace too slow can cause players to become bored. This was an issue with the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII, a 1997 turn-based rpg by Square Enix. Final Fantasy VII is set to have a remake by Square Enix, the first part of which was released on April 10, 2020. An article I discovered addressed some flaws in the original game as well as what the remake should have to make the game better. The article reads: "Modern releases of Final Fantasy VII include an option to speed up combat by a factor of three, and after turning it on, you quickly learn that you almost never need to turn it off to more carefully manage the flow of battle, such is the monotony of just attacking and healing over and over. This speed boost is greeted by latter-day players as a crucial "quality of life" improvement. It doesn't matter how many oakleaves you've acquired in 22 years; when letting the player essentially skip the gameplay is treated as a godsend, you don't have a very good game." (Vogt) As said in the quote, the ability to speed up gameplay shouldn't be necessary. The gameplay is also described as monotonous. Games must be interesting to keep players motivated to continue playing. Keeping players interested in the game is a big part of video game making.

Game designers and developers must put player enjoyment first when making a game. Even if the ultimate goal is to make money or gain popularity in the community, player enjoyment is what leads to a game's success. If a player isn't having fun playing a game, they won't recommend it to others, or join an online community about it, or even continue playing it. For this reason, I decided to find information about the process of game design and development, where ideas came from, and how enjoyment of the game came into the mix. I found an academic study of a game jam in 2013. A game jam is an event where multiple groups of game makers come together to make games in an allotted time using a given prompt. The study discusses multiple aspects of the game jam, including initial ideas, prototyping, and game development and testing, the latter of which is shown in the quote here: "Participants [in the game jam] removed systems within the game (e.g. attacks requiring combinations of buttons rather than single buttons) or reduced the total number of components used (e.g. fewer game levels or types of enemies). Swapping mechanics occurred when already implemented systems were buggy or dysfunctional or when playtesting (personally or with others) showed them to be overly complex or unintuitive." (Zook) This quote shows how game developers must think about how the players will interact with mechanics, especially mechanics they aren't used to. Mechanics are how you do things in the game, whether it be with certain buttons, an item, movement, interaction with the environment, or a combination of these. Mechanics must be easy to pick up on and learn for beginning players, but difficult to master so as to keep players entertained. The quote shows how initially complex mechanisms such as button combinations or buggy systems can be unintuitive for the players, and therefore need to be fixed. If a player has difficulties with the game's function, it won't be fun to play. Games must be fun if they want to keep players interested.

For this paper, I interviewed one of my friend's younger brothers, an avid player of video games. Ian plays video games for a few hours every day, he says, on xbox, nintendo switch, and mobile devices. In the interview, he says that what he thinks makes video games enjoyable is having fun. Although he plays video games more suited to younger users, there were a few things he had to say about games he disliked. The main things he didn't like about games were the difficulty (too hard, too easy) bad graphics, or he "wasn't as interested as he thought he was." His viewpoint as someone who plays a lot of video games is very useful for the question I'm asking. Difficulty of games is something that is hard to balance for game developers. As discussed earlier, the mechanics must be intuitive so the player can pick up on them easily. However, if the entire game is easy, the player will get bored, just like Ian did.

"What makes video games enjoyable?" is the question I've tried to answer. So, what does make video games enjoyable? I'd say it's a variety of things. Video games are so complex, and what makes them entertaining is even more complex. There's such a huge variety of video games available to play, on dozens of platforms and consoles, and in many different ways. Expecting to find just one answer for such a broad question would be unjustifiable. So, I've determined a couple things that make video games enjoyable. As Ian said, games should be fun. Fun means different things to each person, so different games will be better for different people. Different difficulties and styles of games will be different for different people. A more casual game style, like mobile games or kid's games, might be more enjoyable for a gamer like Ian. However, strategy based games such as Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, or shooting games such as CS:GO might be more suited to older players. In short, what makes video games enjoyable is the variety of games there are to play. Games are for everyone, and each type of video game has people who enjoy it, and people who don't. There is no one clear answer to this question. Unfortunately, this means that if I want to be more involved in playing video games, I'm going to have to try some games and find out what I like. If you're interested in video games, I suggest you do the same.

Works Cited

Jabr, Ferris. “Can You Really Be Addicted to Video Games?” New York Times, 22 October 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/magazine/can-you-really-be-addicted-to-video-games.html. Accessed 2 November 2020.

Leeson, David M. "Northrop Frye and the story structure of the single-player shooter." English Studies in Canada, vol. 37, no. 2, 2011, p. 137+. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A294194389/SUIC?u=midd34407&sid=SUIC&xid=e5b85bc6. Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/video%20game. Accessed 5 November 2020.

S., Ian. Personal interview. December 2020.

Stych, Anne. “Americans' favorite forms of entertainment are digital.” bizjournals, 28 March 2019, https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2019/03/americans-favorite-forms-of-entertainment-are.html?page=all#:~:text=The%20shift%20to%20digital%20is,research%20by%20The%20NPD%20Group. Accessed 2 November 2020.

Vogt, Ryan. "For all its greatness, Final Fantasy VII wasn't a good game. Let's remember why." Washingtonpost.com, 7 Apr. 2020. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A619723232/SUIC?u=midd34407&sid=SUIC&xid=0b17c660. Accessed 11 Oct. 2020.

Zook, Alexander and Mark O. Riedl. "Game Conceptualization and Development Processes in the Global Game Jam." School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, http://www.fdg2013.org/program/workshops/papers/GGJ2013/ggj13_submission_4.pdf. Accessed 11 Oct. 2020.

#idk what this is #hopefully now I won’t fail english class

15 notes · View notes

beommew · 3 years ago

Text

I think Pansexuality as a whole, is problematic and hurtful to the Bisexual and Transgender community. (and genuinely every sexuality that isn’t Pansexual) Here’s why: Lets start with the main definition of Pansexual that most people identify with today:

Pansexual: not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity.

This means that you do not care about what gender people are, or what gender they choose to present as, and you don’t care about the persons genitalia. (specifically you don’t care if the person identifies as trans or not) etc. You only care about things like personality when looking for a partner.

Pansexuality is commonly seen as the more “Inclusive” sexuality, since it includes trans people, non-binary people, and other genders in its spectrum. But this isn’t really true, since Bisexuality has been inclusive of non-binary people and trans people since the 1970s. This is commonly a misconception about Bisexuality, which is again hurtful to the community.

Pansexuality also thrives as the premise of, “Hearts not Parts” and that they’re gender-blind, saying that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others. This is a problem solely because its saying that Bisexuals have a gender preference, and that biological sex and gender is a determining factor in their romantic/sexual attraction. Because if it wasn’t saying that, then we wouldn’t have to define that with a sexuality like Pansexual in the first place. Pansexuality is also transphobic for the reasons that they exclude trans and nonbinary people like they’re a 3rd gender, with having a separate category for them on their flag. And also that the sexuality is just based around having an attraction towards trans people, because a majority of people see it as “trans inclusive” because it somehow includes them like they weren't included already in Bisexuality.

There is no real difference between bisexual and pansexual, as the label bisexual implies the same as the label pansexual. Pansexuality in essence calls every sexualitiy out there transphobic, since its theres no separate sexuality like, “I dont care if you’re a trans woman” for Lesbians or, “I dont care if you’re a trans man” for Gay men. Because Trans people are included in these sexualities already, like Bisexual has been doing for over 50 years already (if not from when it was coined). But for some reason we still have sexualities like Pansexual. There is no actual difference between the two, since they’re both attracted to two or more genders. I don’t believe that the way you’re attracted to people should change your sexuality label. Like how Pansexuals don’t care about gender and somehow Bisexuals do.

I’m not trying to dictate and tell you how you should feel about your sexuality, but the making of new sexualities just because you feel somehow different in your attraction is just spreading the community thin in order to make everyone feel “valid” instead of critically thinking about things. I believe that you can make everyone feel safe in the community without making a new sexuality every time someone finds a nonbinary person attractive, or when they realize that they dont think about gender when looking for a partner. Theres also this very brilliant comment made by someone named Alice on this article, that sums up my opinions as well. “’All sexualities are inherently transgender and nonbinary inclusive. “Transgender” and “nonbinary” are merely umbrella terms that describe different relationships to one’s assigned sex. “Transgender” is not a gender a transgender wo/man is just as fe/male as a cisgender one and “nonbinary” is not just one gender. Anyone can date a nonbinary person. Just because some gay men say they’re only attracted to cisgender men doesn’t mean that gayness is “attraction only to cisgender people of the same gender.” Bisexuality isn’t limited or inherently distinct from pansexuality. We’ve been saying bisexuality is broad, non-binary, and all-encompassing since the 1970s. As the American Institute of Bisexuality tells us, bisexuality “is inherently inclusive of everyone, regardless of sex or gender.” The Bisexual flag itself clearly is inclusive with the pink for same-sex attraction, blue is for different sex attraction, and purple is to represent the attraction across the gender spectrum and attraction to Non-binary individuals. Almost every modern description of pansexuality not only denies this history of Bisexuality but bases itself on and perpetuates the misconceptions listed above, if not other forms of bigotry. Stop giving validity to bigotry!“’ This article here is also good at explaining the history of pansexuality. I also realize that at the time of making this, pansexual has had a change in flag and meanings behind the colors. But that still doesnt make my arguments here any less, besides maybe the argument about it being transphobic. Its still exactly the same as Bisexual. there is no material difference to it. Which is the reason why some people use Bisexual and Pansexual interchangeably based off of ‘comfort’, because there really is no difference. Its different when you think you’re a lesbian but then realize you still have an attraction to men, but not when you discover that you don’t care about gender versus you like men more than woman. -If that makes any sense I’m not really good with words. Thank you for taking time to read this, sorry for any typos or any misinterpretations.

#lgbt discourse #lgbtq #lgbtq discourse #pansexaul #bisexaul

3 notes · View notes

queermediastudies · 4 years ago

Text

Call Me By Your Name: A new attempt for queer movies

youtube

Call me by your name is a queer film directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Timothy Chalamet, Amy Hammer, and Michael Stuba, in January 2017 It was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States on the 22nd. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Andre Acimon, and tells the story of a 24-year-old American doctoral student Oliver who met 17-year-old Elio in Italy, and the two developed an ambiguous relationship. In November 2017, the film won the Best Picture of the 27th Gotham Independent Film Awards; on November 29 of the same year, it was selected as the top ten films of 2017 by the British "Empire" magazine; in December of the same year, it was awarded the 2017 Tenth Film Institute Best video. On February 12, 2018, the film won the American Screenwriter Guild Award for Best Screenplay in the category of film; on March 5 of the same year, it won the 90th Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. The story takes place on the Italian Riviera in the 1980s. The sudden love is like a wild beast running out of the forest, grabbing the body and mind of 17-year-old Elio. He fell in love with Oliver, an American doctoral student who was 6 years older than him and came to Italy to travel. The two were fascinated, hesitant, and tempted towards each other, allowing their passions to burst out, and they achieved a first love that lasted only six weeks. This beautiful summer love left an indelible mark on the hearts of the two. The performance that really stood out in the film came from 21-year-old Chalamet. He played Elio has many "firsts" in the film. He doesn't have too many lines, but Chalamé uses his own facial and body language to transform this character into a character that everyone can understand at a glance. people. The last few minutes of the film without a line of dialogue is a rare close-up shot of Elio in the film. This shot is very attractive. The chemical reaction between the men is obvious, but more importantly, the two actors can convey the complex feelings, expectations, and ideas between the characters without opening their mouths. This movie is one of my favorite movies all the time. After learning some queer theory and LGBTQ knowledge, I think I can analyze and deconstruct this movie from a more professional perspective.

After watching this movie, the first thing I thought of was the intersection of culture and queer issues. Sexuality does not exist alone. It is integrated with society, culture, religion, education, etc. It involves different content of knowledge and social factors. Intersectionality helps us understand the diversity and complexity of identities, and allows us to examine issues more comprehensively. Just like Ahmed mentioned in 2006: "After all, both queer studies and phenomenology involve diverse intellectual and political histories" (p.5). Although the whole film does not describe how homosexuals are discriminated against, Struggling with one's own sexual orientation, there is no race, and the shackles and constraints of the social system need to be broken, but the cultural background that the director vaguely expresses through the lens language is differently ignored. One of the most direct is that Oliver wears a six-pointed star pendant around his neck: a symbol of Jews. Here, the freedom from the United States collides with the conservativeness of Italy. As we have shown, the queer problem is impossible to put aside everything that exists independently, even without political and social factors. In addition, the film also incorporates the question of queer into the discussion of the family framework. In the film, Elio has a pair of enlightened parents. The mother's understanding and father's enlightenment made this ignorant and beautiful relationship not a shadow in Elio's heart, but a treasure in his life. I like his father’s words at the end of the film the most: "How you live your life is your business, Just remember our hearts and our bodies are given to us only once." Elliot is happy, and his mother knows what he wants, What he likes, his father knows his inner struggle and suffering, and he lives in an open family. In the previous class, I remembered that in the video Mia showed us, it was mentioned that many queer groups lived carefully in the last century and did not dare to let friends or family members know their "secrets". From this point, we can compare the importance of family in the queer problem, which is an issue about understanding and tolerance.

Another point I want to focus on is not the content of the movie itself, but the market and audience that the movie faces. "However, within television, audiences matter – a lot. In particular, the imagination of audiences matters because demographics determine which advertisers might be interested in shilling their wares in the spaces between the narrative" (Alfre & Martin, 2018, p.1) The film is a sophisticated work. The director has mastered his own high-speed editing and eye-catching close-up style. The rhythm of the film is very suitable for the hot Italian summer in the film. The details of the film are very special. The trust and power of the characters in the film will make ordinary audiences who are not familiar with it feel very rich. It is this kind of film craftsmanship that will let people know that the film can create resonance from an almost spiritual perspective. According to Doty (1993), "Queer" is a practiced mass culture, which is accepted and shared by different audiences to varying degrees (p.2). This film is not limited to LGBTQ groups, it is more like a movie of the same kind A new attempt to allow a more diverse audience to find a microcosm of their own life from the emotional development of the protagonist to the regretful ending. It is not only that the audience group is not defined, it is a diversified process from production to presentation. "'Queer'" can be used to describe an authorial voice, a character, a mode of textual production, and/or various types of representation practice. Filmmakers, forms, and audiences-not necessarily identified as gay or lesbian-can rather be understood as queer" (Benshoff & Griffin, 2004, p.2). As this sentence says, this movie is no longer a queer main movie in its own sense. What it wants to present to the audience is just a paragraph A beautiful and slightly regretful love story.

And in the following part, I would like to share some of my personal views and comments on the film.Before I saw this film, I only felt that the title of this film was very sentimental. Although I knew it was a story about the same sex and had won numerous awards, I was not particularly interested this time because I was disappointed in Carol first. I thought, alas, maybe another film won the award by relying on the same sex stunt.But after watching the movie, my heart was calm for a long time.Should this relationship in the movie be called sweet or regrettable?It's sweet because you have a wonderful and romantic time together.Sadly, it was clear that the relationship was not going to last, as Oliver's holiday was over and the couple were likely to be separated for the rest of their lives.Alas, sad romance ah.In the scene at the train station, the director handles it with great restraint. The two men don't even speak, just a deep hug. Then Elio smiles and watches Oliver get on the train.Elio struggled, and his grief manifested itself when he finally called home, crying and asking his mother to come pick him up.Seeing this paragraph, I already shed tears.People in love generally hope to be together all the time, but separation, often bring is tore heart crack lung pain.In the film, Elio's pain was also restrained. Maybe in front of his mother, Elio had to restrain his emotion, but because of the pain of separation, he could not cry, but could only twist his face into a lump. I have to say that the director showed the character's emotion perfectly.I want to say, Elio was still very happy, he came back home, my father said to him the meaning of a passage, it is the world 90% of the parents could not have said, he told Elio, do you have a wonderful friendship, perhaps more than friendship, you may now pain, sad, but don't let this feeling disappear, not to mention there have been happy.What a waste it is for us not to feel in order not to feel.I think it was a great comfort to Elio that their relationship was validated, that it was real, and that even though they weren't together, the joy they had would make this summer memorable.This reminds me of a sentence we learned at that time: "Het Culture think of itself as the elemental form of human Association, as the very model of inter-gender relations, as the indivisible basis of all community,And as the means of reproduction without which society wouldn't exist "(Warner, 1993, p.21).This film shows us that the beauty and simplicity of relationships should not be mixed into the so-called mission of reproduction.Love this abstract thing is unrelated to gender, just a warm attraction between two people.

"Do you mean what I think you mean?" The tone of the whole film is like these dialogues, full of ambiguity, whether day or night. Two shy people fell in love and started a classic couple life. However, there was no banquet that would never end. Oliver had to go. The night before parting, Elio saw Oliver dancing with the stranger on the road, squatting down and vomiting violently. Vomit is not only because he is unable to drink, but also because he is about to part with you. He sings and dances with strangers to his heart's content. You are like an outsider. The person you love deeply, like Mount Fuji, doesn't belong to you, and then the miserable heart quickly vomites out. The next day, the platform whistle, two people smile goodbye, the train left, take away your favorite person, you finally can't help but wipe a tear, crying in the place he can't see. At this time, he called his mother to pick her up. His mother comforted him in the car. When he got home, his father boiled chicken soup for him to drink. He felt sorry for his parents. Father's several bowls of chicken soup, the child immediately stopped crying, and even lit up hope, the professor is really not a fuel-efficient lamp. Two years later, on Hanukkah, it was winter in the small town. Frozen ponds, withered fruit trees, and heavy snow all implied the tragic fate of the hero. Elio received a phone call from Oliver, like an old friend, "I'm going to get married." then there was a classic blessing. I was numb to see. I didn't know that the screenwriter even asked Elio to say "Elio" six times. I admit that A few words almost tears, and then Oliver's soft call "Oliver", I knew the story began to point. There was a light in the eyes of the boy by the fire, but I believe he was happy at that moment because I felt the same. "Queerness is not so much a stable, clearly defined sexual orientation as it is a way of seeing and experiencing the world" (Ruberg&Phillps, 2018). This film gives me a totally different way of experiencing and seeing events. If Jack in Brokeback Mountain is warm and cheerful, and Ennis is is silent, two people forced by life fall in love on Brokeback Mountain, and eventually Yin and yang are separated. This is the real world. Then Call Me By Your Name is more like a hazy poem in the sunshine. It is a new attempt to integrate queer and the film industry. It makes people ignore the cruelty of reality and social system, and only devote themselves to the beautiful world brought by movies.

References:

1. Ahmed, S. (2006). Queer phenomenology: Orientations, objects, others. Duke University Press.

2. Doty, A. (1993). Making things perfectly queer: Interpreting mass culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

3. Alfred, L. & Martin, Jr. (2018). Pose(r): Ryan Murphy, Trans and Queer of Color Labor, and the Politics of Representation. LA Review of Books. URL: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/poser-ryan-murphy-trans-queer-color-labor-politics-representation/

4. Benshoff, H. M., & Griffin, S. (Eds.). (2004). Queer cinema: The film reader. Psychology Press.

5. Warner, M., & Social Text Collective. (1993). Fear of a queer planet: Queer politics and social theory. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

6. Ruberg, B., Phillips, A., Pozo, T., Stone, K., & Youngblood, J. (2018). -Queerness and Video Games Not Gay as in Happy: Queer Resistance and Video Games (Introduction). Game Studies, 18(3).

#call me by my name #queer #queer movie

6 notes · View notes

gochasethesunset · 5 years ago

Text

From Concept To Patent To Successful Product

What To Do With Your Invention Idea

Eventually in your life, you have possibly had among those "aha" moments.

You understood there was an imperfection, something missing out on, or a possibility to develop a much better means of achieving something.

Although every person has these moments, few latch onto their suggestion and recognize that there is an invention trying to reveal itself.

Also, much less aim to create that suggestion and patent it.

All that to say: Developers are individuals.

They're not superheroes. They're not always abundant to start and also they're not necessarily of some intergalactic INTELLIGENCE degree that makes your above-average knowledge seem equivalent to a rock.

No ... innovators are just individuals. Like you.

No matter of background, IQ, or superpowers, successful creators do have certain typical natural high qualities.

Among those high qualities is drive.

They have the drive to be relentless as well as follow up non-stop with each step in the invention procedure.

Successful inventors are hungry for success - they envision it and press themselves to discover the path toward it.

The daily ideator who puts action and also intent behind his suggestion with this level of drive is most likely to become a successful capitalist (given the item is feasible, of course).

It takes place constantly on Shark Tank right in the public eye, and it takes place thousands of thousands of times per year somewhere else.

If you believe you're simply the "daily ideator" and also do not have what it takes to press your concept via to success, take a look at the video clip listed below, "From Suggestion to Cash," an interview with Rick Receptacle.

Rick is among Shark Storage tank's most successful business owners. He created viewers, a magnetic clip that safeguards analysis glasses onto your individual. also check out the help of invention help

It was a basic suggestion created from the truth that Rick kept shedding his analysis glasses. Invention concepts are commonly ideal in front of your face - in this instance, essentially.

Taking Invention Suggestions To Success

If you have ever before googled anything related to patenting an invention suggestion, you were most likely inundated with advertising and marketing messages and advertisements for days, weeks, and maybe even months following your search.

Just remember this: You can not patent a suggestion.

Gasp! Yet wait ... I maintain seeing ads as well as firms that inform me, "Patent your invention idea quickly!" and more.

Yes, proper, but it is not this first idea that you would certainly seek to immediately patent.

The initial idea about how you will produce, fix, or improve something requires to morph to become a real invention. You'll have to do some job ... you'll require a few of that drive to get there. You can also get help with invention

The truth is that your preliminary idea could be an invention as well as it could be patentable, yet you require to do some surrounding as well as a thorough study to ensure a couple of things:

Initially, That your idea addresses a problem and works;

Second, nobody has already invented it (by carrying out a prior art patent search);.

Third, your suggestion is not apparent. This is tricky and also a specialist who is experienced in the art or field of your invention idea has to eventually identify if your idea is "nonobvious"

The Adversary Remains In Your Suggestion's Information

When you can define your idea in wonderful enough information, the suggestion after that goes beyond to one more level. It comes to be the start of your invention.

Rick Receptacle's suggestion was easy: "I need to stop losing my analysis glasses.".

He included information to that idea, enough to ultimately think of readers, his invention. Now I'm not Rick, yet allow's go through what that may have appeared like.

One night, Rick was being in his love seat catching up on "Freeway To Sell.".

A commercial came on, and that was Rick's sign to pick up his tablet computer as well as catch up on the information of the day.

As he clicked the CNN application he understood he didn't have his reading glasses.

He frisked his lap fruitless.

He viewed on the coffee table; absolutely nothing. Nightstand; no-go. Where are those checking out glasses?

Inventors, this is what's called a "pain point.".

If you're actively seeking concepts for brand-new inventions, they are all over - you simply have to maintain your eyes peeled for the discomfort points.

Exactly how do you recognize it's a discomfort point?

Great concern, easy solution.

If you feel annoyed incidentally something functions or by something that maintains happening (like shedding your analysis glasses while you're viewing TV), think of your concern on a larger scale. Do you believe more people are shedding their glasses? If indeed, after that continue!

What's next?

Well, Rick needed to detail the issue as well as consider just how to solve it. He did this with solid documentation as well as a thorough focus being paid to it daily.

In his case, the solution was magnetized. Currently, did Rick invent the magnet? No, not.

An additional idea: You can utilize existing items or inventions as an item of your remedy. Yet as you are detailing your idea, you must specify precisely just how it is utilized and why your invention is still one-of-a-kind.

Documenting Your Invention Concept.

The recording is a vital component of the creating procedure.

At some point, you may need to count on your documentation throughout situations such as legal process or establishing or preserving legal rights to your invention.

You have to record your activities correctly - your paperwork may someday need to be valued in court and you must keep that in mind as you're working on it.

Due to the implications of your idea documentation, the most effective technique - and essentially a should - is to record whatever in an innovator's journal. This ought to be a bound publication with phoned number pages and every web page and also note need to be dated

Advantages Of Invention Idea Paperwork.

There are some benefits to recording your suggestions as you relocate through the stages of the invention process.

1) Evidence - Every patent should divulge the innovators of the concept, and also your journal can show your "inventorship".

2) Expedite the patent procedure - A well-documented invention idea aids improve the process when you fill in your patent application. This is a means you can conserve time and money in the future - 2 very important assets.

3) Assume and re-think your idea - Writing forces you to analyze your tasks and concepts to clarify what it is that you have developed. This process can evoke further ideas on how to change or enhance your preliminary vision.

4) Sanity - Documentation aids you remember what you have done and also considered in the past and also prevents unnecessary redundancies in your job.

5) Taxes - If the moment you have invested ideating and creating is part of a company, you may have the ability to look for tax reductions for the expenses that you incur. You ought to speak to your accounting professional concerning whether or not this relates to you.

File Your Idea With this Information.

The objective of describing out your suggestion for an invention is to broaden so deeply right into the concept of why your idea is such a fantastic invention, as well as what it addresses, that any individual that reads it will completely understand the description and agree with you that your suggestion requires to be an invention; it can much better the world, even if in some small way.

When you have sufficient information to accomplish this, you are after that going to be ready to patent your concept ... or your invention ... it's a type of both at this moment.

Here are some of the information you'll require your concept. Make this you are 'at minimum' checklist as well as, based upon your invention as well as category, increase upon it as essential: also check https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/InventHelp-Reviews-E152162.htm

1. A stellar description of what your suggestion is and what it does (you will require this for the Requirements part of your patent application so it isn't for naught or flair - do a fantastic work). Below is a fantastic rundown of what your summary can include: Title or name of your suggestion; the technological field as well as the group it falls under; background information on prior art, previous licenses or licenses pending (in various other words, just how have others attempted to resolve something like this); the trouble or test your concept will certainly attend to as well as just how you will certainly address it in different ways and effectively (because your suggestion requires to be one-of-a-kind); an example or two of usage situations for your suggestion.

2. Illustrations, layouts, as well as illustrations of exactly how it functions and also what it resembles. Measurements are good right here too so all can imagine and also conceive the size of the real-life model. You can describe your invention's representations in your description. As well as remember this suggestion: Even more is more. The even more pictures and also representations you have, the far better you will certainly see your idea, as well as the much better someone else can translate what your suggestion is and does. (By law, you will certainly need a minimum of one attracting to request the patent).

3. Try to list products in as much deepness as feasible. Talk concerning the details of each part and also exactly how they fit together as well as function together.

4. Various "personifications," or versions, of the invention idea. The hard truth is, not everyone will see points your method. Your concept, albeit proprietary to you, can be changed. You'll intend to account for the potential variations of your invention. The main factor is simple: If you do not describe variations of your invention and someone else has essentially the very same invention however various means of creating it, after that it is no more your invention (particularly with the First to Submit (FTF) laws).

5. Days. Every little thing needs to have a day. Every suggestion, every representation, every idea, and also every time you go back as well as erase believed from a previous day - sign as well as date whatever.

6. The target market of your invention. You'll intend to think about your end-users, your customers, as well as any individual else in the circle of impact. If you have developed a kind of apparel, you're listing out that wears it, but additionally, that might produce it, that may buy it for the individual who wears it, what it takes on - any person you assume your product pertains to.

If you've completed this listing for your suggestion, you're well on your means of filing a patent as well as having an invention of your very own. If you would certainly like to assist with obtaining a patent or submitting your application, allow us to recognize what we can do to sustain you.

My tip is not to hurry this part of the process.

Complete the workouts, take some time away, and after that revisit what you created. Your detailed summary and layouts must make your idea implementable by anybody that uses it.

Keep in mind, when you file your patent you can't make changes. The application you submit becomes your patent.

You want to be double and also three-way certain you have the information you require around your concept in that application.

#technology #inventors #patent #inventions #InventHelp #ideas #Crunchbase

38 notes · View notes

fiercestpurpose · 5 years ago

Note

hi u talked about how jean often gets overlooked as a mother, would u be willing to talk more about it? its really curious to me how scott is often associated with the role of 'father' and his relationships with nathan and rachel, how he 'failed them etc, gets talked about to death but people dont talk about jeans as much. anyways would love to hear what u have to say!

Hi! I really have three main categories of thoughts about this: Jean’s relationship with Rachel, Jean’s relationship with Cable, and Jean’s relationship with the idea of family/her own motherhood.

Jean’s relationship with Rachel is… complicated. First of all, Jean is incredibly important in Rachel’s life, but it’s not always our (616) Jean. Rachel is obviously the biological daughter of another woman, 811 Jean, and that woman raised her and was her mother until she died when Rachel was about 8 (well before the rest of Rachel’s X-Men did). Losing a parent that young is frequently very traumatic and defining, and it certainly was for Rachel, so she develops this relationship that is not so much with Jean as it is with Jean’s death. She comes to the 616 and she learns that Jean is already dead, and she vows to reclaim the name Phoenix and honour her mother’s memory (even though 616 Jean is not really her mother). And then, at least twice during the Cross-Time Caper, Rachel has to watch different universe’s versions of Jean die, trying and failing to save her. So Rachel has this whole relationship with Jean as a concept, with Jean dying and leaving her, before she and 616 Jean ever develop a real relationship with each other.

And sometimes, people (fans and writers both) use Rachel’s preexisting relationship with Jean As A Conceptual Mother as evidence that 616 Jean doesn’t really count as Rachel’s mother. However, 616 Jean and Rachel do have a relationship. It starts with Jean rejecting Rachel, denouncing her because she doesn’t accept the future that Rachel represents and doesn’t want to consider her as her daughter. She later apologizes for this, saying that she shouldn’t have pushed her problems onto Rachel because they weren’t Rachel’s problems to deal with. And we see them hug and make up and it’s clear that they consider each other family.

That relationship, the daughter viewing her mother as a concept more than a person, the mother pushing her problems onto the daughter and trying not to accept the future that she thinks the daughter represents, reads to me as a very believable mother-daughter relationship. The circumstances are a little strange, but the emotions are familiar. Many children have a hard time adjusting to seeing their parents as their own people. Many parents have a hard time recognizing their grown children as being their own people and also their children. It’s a very complex relationship that’s certainly worth exploring, and referencing it only when they want to make a joke of it (as X-Men Gold and All-New X-Men both did) is a sign of writers who are not really invested in the emotional lives of those characters.

Onto Cable! In some ways, Jean’s relationship with him is a lot simpler because he is actually and inarguably her child. To be clear, she’s not his biological mother, and we’re going to put her blood relationship to his biological mother aside because it’s not actually that important. Jean is his mother because she raised him. In X-Factor vol 1, she becomes one of his primary caregivers once his mother is out of the picture, largely because she is dating his father at the time. (I’m not going to get into the whole Sinister-creating-Maddy-to-breed-with-Scott thing or the Maddy-living-in-Jean’s-head thing. It’s messy and it complicates things, but it doesn’t change the basic facts of Jean’s situation.) Jean in X-Factor is a co-parent with a day job, a woman who’s responsible for feeding the baby and changing his diapers and helping teach him how to walk and talk and keeping him safe from harm (that time she takes him into a fight excluded, of course). The first manifestation of baby Christopher’s psychic powers is that he and Jean share a special telepathic bond. It’s hard to tell how long this goes on for (comic timelines are, as always, vague and difficult to pin down), but it’s at least several months.

After Simonson’s run on X-Factor, baby Christopher is removed from the picture by being sent off to the far-future — only to be raised by Slym and Redd, who are, of course, Scott and Jean. As a Scott fan, a Jean fan, and a Scott/Jean fan, I’m always surprised and frustrated by how little The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix gets referenced. This is years of their lives that they spend raising their son. Specifically, twelve years, which is quite a long time, and means that Cable is probably 13 by the time Slym and Redd have to leave. Redd is the mother that Cable remembers when he grows up. She’s the one who rocks him to sleep, who negotiates with his father about how to properly raise their son, who does everything in her power to protect him while continuing to participate in a secret rebel organization. And the telepathic connection he had to her resurfaces, so that they are able to fight together on the astral plane.

(If you ever want to cry about Scott/Jean or Cable’s childhood or the Summers family in general, I highly recommend The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. I will forgive Lobdell any number of crimes because he gave us such an excellent miniseries.)

But she isn’t just there during his childhood. Jean has a relationship with her adult son as well. They work together as X-Men many times, before and after she realizes that he is her son. Of course, there are those incredibly cute panels you may have seen of Scott and Jean and Cable all getting together to celebrate Christmas. And after the defeat of Apocalypse, when Scott is believed to be dead, Jean and Cable become especially close. It is Jean that Cable confides in, sharing with her his feelings, his loss of purpose now that his war is over, how hard it is for him to be vulnerable again. And when Jean thinks Scott is still alive but no one else believes her, Cable is the one who comes with her and helps her bring him back. Unfortunately, post-Search for Cyclops, Morrison comes in, and Morrison has no interest in love or families and does have an interest in killing Jean off to further his ship.

Prime Cable is dead now, of course, so I cannot hope that writers will explore that relationship any further. (EDIT: Oh, yeah, he maybe sort of came back again in a comic last month. Clearly that shocking turn of events made a big impression on me.) I did enjoy getting to see Jean and Hope bond after his death over the love they shared for him, and I can wish that the writers will carry that relationship forward. As for Bable (baby Cable), he’s an angry teenager who experienced the events of The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4 about three or four years ago. He’s angry, he’s upset, he’s lashing out by killing his future self. There could be something really interesting there, in Jean’s relationship with Bable, if they chose to remember that he’s still the kid she raised. Her place as the mother of a rebellious teenager is complicated because he’s both the boy who brought her husband back to life and the boy who killed the adult son that she loved. If writers looked past the soap opera of it all to actually acknowledge the emotions involved, they’d see there was an interesting story there, one that is not just about the Scott/Cable relationship but necessarily involves Jean as well.

I’m sure there are things to be said about Stryfe and Nate Grey, but I honestly do not know or care enough about alternate versions of Cable to really have a coherent picture of Jean’s relationship with them, so I’m gonna skip that.

Next, I want to talk about Jean’s relationship with the concept of family. I would like to mention (as I always do), that Jean’s entire family — her parents, her siblings, and her siblings’ children — were murdered by aliens. How she feels about this is a mystery, as the comics have not addressed it at all, but she might feel guilty, because though it’s not her fault, they were killed because of her. She might also feel guilty because while family in the abstract is very important to her, her relationship with them was strained and she wasn’t as close to them as she’d like to be. She might also feel angry as hell that somebody decided to murder her family despite them doing absolutely nothing to provoke it. Any of those emotional responses would influence how she relates to her children and her granddaughter. Maybe she becomes a little more attached and attentive because she has no other family left. Maybe she distances herself from them out of grief. Maybe she rounds up her incredibly angry son and takes him into the stars to attack aliens so they can be angry together. I think any of those, done properly, could be interesting and in-character for her, and I just want some writer to acknowledge Jean as a character with her own history and her own relationships that shape her actions.

Finally, Jean’s relationship with the concept of her own motherhood. Jean is someone who wanted and expected to be a mother. I usually tend to read Jean as coming from a more traditional and conservative family, but I don’t think that’s an adequate explanation. I think Jean genuinely wants children. In X-Factor, she says, “I always thought we’d have a girl,�� when talking to Scott, showing that she had thought about children being part of their future. When she talks to Rachel about her upcoming marriage to Scott, she mentions that she thinks it likely that another Rachel will be born. She wants kids, she’s seen them as part of her future for a long time, and then she got them! She got to be a mother, to Nathan Christopher and to Rachel, as explained above. I think a woman who wanted to be a mother and now is a mother should be allowed to have real relationships with her children. This isn’t like Emma, whose distance from the Cuckoos can be read as her viewing herself more as their teacher than their mother, since Emma always understands herself as a teacher. When Jean holds a baby in X-Men Red and winks at the mother and tells her that she’s implanted a psychic suggestion he not cry so much, that’s because Jean has been responsible for a baby before. Being a mother is part of who Jean is, just like it’s part of who Jubilee is or who Sue is, and I wish that writers and fans understood that.

#Do I have thoughts about Jean? Oh boy do I!#jean grey #rachel grey #x men blogging #asks #Anonymous #long post for ts #ch: heart and soul #ch: mind and will #cable

46 notes · View notes

one-divides-into-two · 5 years ago

Text

The principles of the metaphysical philosophy gave rise to the belief that, when cognition lapsed into contradictions, it was a mere accidental aberration, due to some subjective mistake in argument and inference. According to Kant, however, thought has a natural tendency to issue in contradictions or antinomies, whenever it seeks to apprehend the infinite. We have in the latter part of the above paragraph referred to the philosophical importance of the antinomies of reason, and shown how the recognition of their existence helped largely to get rid of the rigid dogmatism of the metaphysic of understanding, and to direct attention to the Dialectical movement of thought. But here too Kant, as we must add, never got beyond the negative result that the thing-in-itself is unknowable, and never penetrated to the discovery of what the antinomies really and positively mean. That true and positive meaning of the antinomies is this: that every actual thing involves a coexistence of opposed elements. Consequently to know, or, in other words, to comprehend an object is equivalent to being conscious of it as a concrete unity of opposed determinations. The old metaphysic, as we have already seen, when it studied the objects of which it sought a metaphysical knowledge, went to work by applying categories abstractly and to the exclusion of their opposites.

Kant, on the other hand, tried to prove that the statements issuing through this method could be met by other statements of contrary import with equal warrant and equal necessity. In the enumeration of these antinomies he narrowed his ground to the cosmology of the old metaphysical system, and in his discussion made out four antinomies, a number which rests upon the list of the categories. The first antinomy is on the question: Whether we are or are not to think the world limited in space and time. In the second antinomy we have a discussion of the dilemma: Matter must be conceived either as endlessly divisible, or as consisting of atoms. The third antinomy bears upon the antithesis of freedom and necessity, to such extent as it is embraced in the question, Whether everything in the world must be supposed subject to the condition of causality, or if we can also assume free beings, in other words absolute initial points of action, in the world. Finally, the fourth antinomy is the dilemma: Either the world as a whole has a cause or it is uncaused.

The method which Kant follows in discussing these antinomies is as follows. He puts the two propositions implied in the dilemma over against each other as thesis and antithesis, and seeks to prove both: that is to say he tries to exhibit them as inevitably issuing from reflection on the question. He particularly protests against the charge of being a special pleader and of grounding his reasoning on illusions. Speaking honestly, however, the arguments which Kant offers for his thesis and antithesis are mere shams of demonstration. The thing to be proved is invariably implied in the assumption he starts from, and the speciousness of his proofs is only due to his prolix and apagogic mode of procedure. Yet it was, and still is, a great achievement for the Critical Philosophy when it exhibited these antinomies: for in this way it gave some expression (at first certainly subjective and unexplained) to the actual unity of those categories which are kept persistently separate by the understanding. The first of the cosmological antinomies, for example, implies a recognition of the doctrine that space and time present a discrete as well as a continuous aspect: whereas the old metaphysic, laying exclusive emphasis on the continuity, had been led to treat the world as unlimited in space and time. It is quite correct to say that we can go beyond every definite space and beyond every definite time: but it is no less correct that space and time are real and actual only when they are defined or specialised into ‘here’ and ‘now’ — a specialisation which is involved in the very notion of them. The same observations apply to the rest of the antinomies. Take, for example, the antinomy of freedom and necessity. The main gist of it is that freedom and necessity as understood by abstract thinkers are not independently real, as these thinkers suppose, but merely ideal factors (moments) of the true freedom and the true necessity, and that to abstract and isolate either conception is to make it false.

GW Hegel, NB to §48 of ‘Second Attitude of Thought to Objectivity.’ Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences.

26 notes · View notes

apenitentialprayer · 4 years ago

Text

The Coordinate

Attack on Titan and the Metaphysics of Fascism

(x) tl;dr: Religious fascists believe in a mystical connection existing between members of the same racial-national group; Christians also believe in a mystical connection existing between members of their Church; how does a Christian avoid the fascist potential of this idea? One of the ideas that are introduced in the third season of Attack on Titan is the Coordinate; the race of people that the main characters belong to are all connected in a way that transcends space and time, sharing a power that other peoples do not possess. This is the Ymir Spirit, the “Coordinate” to which every Eldian is connected, and through which the souls of all Eldians are intertwined. Through this connection, Eldians are capable of inheriting the Power of the Titans, which will spontaneously appear in another Eldian should the Titan die in a way that prevents them from passing the power onto someone else. Now, we must understand that race is a social construct. This is not to say that real physical difference between people don’t exist; what it does mean, however, is that physical traits exist along several continuums (eye color, shade of skin, height, facial structure, etc), and that recognizing a specific configuration of traits as a ‘race’ is determined by social and historical factors. Medieval Arab understandings of race allowed for people who would be considered black today to be considered “white” (white, in this context, meaning Arab and not European), while the multivalent meaning of race in the 18th century meant the exclusion of some people who would be considered white today from the whiteness of 18th Century Europe and its narrower definition. Race may be based partly on appearance, but it is constructed through social categories. Attack on Titan takes on an essentialized view of race, where race is not merely a social category, but an innate characteristic; whether or not you are a True Eldian is simply a matter of whether or not you are connected to the Ymir spirit. The world can be divided into “insiders” and “outsiders” based on this criterion; though the idea that there are “racial spirits,” an inner metaphysical reality that certain people are in tune with by virtue of birth, may seem alien to those who see race as a social construct. But starting in the 1870s and stretching well into the twentieth century, we see just that kind of thought. In German thinkers in particular, we see this racialized national mysticism developed in the context of the “Jewish problem.” The development of nationalism, the belief that the government is legitimized through the fact that it represents a nation of people, led to an awkward situation throughout most of Western Europe; if France is for the French nation, how are the Jews in France (who have been defined for most of French history as not French) to participate in French civic life? How are Jews in Germany, who have been defined for most of German history as foreigners, to participate in German civic life? Many thinkers at first believed that the mass conversion of Jews to Christendom was the answer; that Jews could become Germans or Frenchmen if only they were to abandon Judaism, seen as a vile set of cultural norms that kept people from truly becoming part of the modern nation. That changed, though. While German thinkers were trying to find ways of converting Jews to Christianity as late as the 1820s, we see a noticeable shift with Karl Duehring’s 1881 The Question of the Jew is a Question of Race; this work actually describes the conversion of Jews to Christianity as a catastrophe, because the corrupting nature of the “racial Jew” (Racenjude) is now uninhibited by the laws put in place that limited the participation of religious Jews in civic life. In other words, it’s not religion or ideology that makes the dreaded Jew dangerous; in the mind of Duehring, it is something “deeper” than religion, something intrinsically part of the “primal nature” of Jews. This increased interaction with ethnic Jews leads to the corruption of “[the German’s] best impulses.” Two years earlier, Wilheim Marr wrote The Victory of Judaism over Germandom, speaks of the Jew people as a conqueror, having already ruined France and in the middle of ruining Germany; a Christian culture that tolerates Jews is ultimately a culture that brings death to all that is inherently German. This opposition between the supposed German and Jewish natures goes back at least as far as 1815, where Friedrich Ruehs argues that the German and Jewish peoples constitute mutually exclusive and hostile nations. The concept of the völk, the people as a mystical body, a Communion of Germans expressing the true Aryan spirit, became essential to the fascist nationalism of Nazi Germany. It is also the metaphysical underpinning of Eldian identity, a Communion of Titans bound together through their connection with Ymir, the “Coordinate” where all Eldian spirits meet. The individual Eldian may be weak, but each one houses within themselves the possibility of becoming a vessel of immense power. The Eldian and the Nazi can both call upon that reservoir of spiritual strength and pride, while at the same time looking at the enemy that is jealous of this power (the Marleyan and the Jew). (At the same time, the völk ideology of Attack on Titan isn’t the same as the German conception. In the German conception, race mingling damages and ultimately severs the offspring’s connection to the Aryan spirit; like American conceptions of race and the one-drop rule, one’s Aryan blood is diluted into something non-Aryan when interbreeding occurs. The Eldians, meanwhile, basically raped and pillaged the continent in order to increase the number of those connected to the Ymir spirit; in this sense, their völk ideology is more similar to South Asian fascisms like the one expressed in V.D. Savarkar’s Hindutva, where the children of ethnic Hindu and non-Hindu children are ethnic Hindus) Now, I used the phrase “Communion of X” when describing Eldian and Nazi racial mysticism on purpose; to the religious reader, especially belonging to the Catholic and Orthodox communities, I wanted “Communion of Saints” to come to mind. After all, the Catholic and Orthodox communities believe that each and every member of their communities are interconnected, their fates intertwined through a Coordinate of their own, Jesus Christ. A concept that I have just said is popular among fascist circles. We have an “in-group” of our own, the saints in Heaven to whom we are attached and the fellow believers who we share a common baptism with. If you look at the post that I linked at the very beginning of this post, I mentioned that “fascism” is more a collection of ideas and mindsets than an actual ideology. When an ideology has some of those ideas, that doesn’t necessarily make them fascist; it just means that adherents of those ideologies need to be careful, because they can potentially become fascist. And that is true here. So let’s look at völk ideology again to see what pitfalls must be avoided if one is to hold onto the belief that they are bound to a mystical community that transcends time and space. First, völk ideology affirms the natural innateness of this communion; you are born with it. You are special because you were born with your connection to the Race-Spirit, it is a birthright that cannot be taken away. Second, völk ideology is exclusionary; if you are not born with a connection to a particular Race-Spirit, then you can never have a connection. You are an outsider, and will forever be an outsider. You are cut off from the people you are surrounded by on a metaphysical level. Third, every concession you give to someone who does not belong to your Race-Spirit is a weakening of your Race-Spirit. Aryan-ness is threatened by a rich Jew; Hindu-ness is threatened by a Muslim with a large family; Eldian-ness is threatened by a Marleyan state existing across the sea. A Christian must thus remind themselves that their communion is not innate; it is a gift and not a birthright, a source of spiritual humility and not of racial pride. A Christian must remind themselves that even while the Communion separates those who are part of it from those who are not, this Communion is meant to be inclusive, accepting of anyone who desires it. A Christian must remind themselves that aiding an outsider, even an outsider that is an ideological enemy, does not weaken the Communion; rather, it glorifies that Communion. Ultimately, the religious fascist sees himself as part of a mystical bond that includes his nation and excludes everyone else; nations are inherently at odds with one another, because the existence of other nations sets a limit to how much one’s own nation can grow; even worse, contact with members of other nations threatens the very connection your nation has within itself. Those corrupted by other nations must be expelled for the health of the Nation-Spirit. In season 3, Eren and his friends finally see the ocean for the first time. There is a moment of freedom, of childlike adventure, of real accomplishment for the first time since their miserable adventure started. They look out in wonder, they splash around in the waves, they taste salt water for the first time. Everyone but Eren; Eren is too busy looking at the horizon, knowing that Marley exists somewhere on the other side. Eren cannot enjoy this victorious moment of simplicity; the unseen enemy exists somewhere on the other side, an existential threat to his own people simply by virtue of existing. As long as there is a Marley, there can be no peace. Because fascist nations cannot embrace the idea of peace between separate nations.

#Attack on Titan #fascism #racism #antisemitism #tribalism #Nazi #Hindutva #Catholicism #race #Orthodox Christianity #long post

12 notes · View notes

britesparc · 4 years ago

Text

Weekend Top Ten #433

Top Ten Things I Want from Xbox Series X

June is Games Month here at David’s Top Tens! That’s right, all month long we’re exploring the majesty of what we all used to call “computer games” before we became too cool. That’s because it’s the time of year when huge multinationals tantalise us with pre-rendered cinematics showcasing gaming experiences utterly divorced from what we’ll get to play. Even in this Time of Crisis (as opposed to a Time Crisis), games companies are still Touting Their Wares, and as such, I am brimming with fanboy fervour, tantalised at the prospect of Gaming Yet to Come. This week alone has seen sexy new videos from the likes of EA, Pokémon, and Sony – whose PlayStation 5 reveal gave us the best glimpse yet at exactly what the next generation could look like. I was impressed; although there wasn’t too much in the way of radically new concepts or whatever, games looked good, with plenty of sexy, shiny new bells and whistles, and it looked like environments will be bigger, more fluid, and more reactive than ever before. Plus seeing the ray-tracing in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart gave me serious “Quake II running on a 3D accelerator card” vibes. Suddenly I was sixteen again, getting all sticky-knickered over texture filtering and coloured lightning.

It was great.

However, I’m pretty much an Xbox-first gamer; mostly, I suppose, due to inertia, having gotten used now to how an Xbox works, to the point where a PlayStation always feels a little alien (still wanna play The Last of Us Part II, though). I’m more of a fan of the Xbox game franchises – the main reason I bought an original Xbox in the first place (way back in 2001) was to play Halo: Combat Evolved, and because of the promise of Fable. This love of Xbox games has only grown with the acquisition of Rare (despite the slight misstep of Perfect Dark Zero) and the release of games like Crackdown, Gears, and Forza Horizon. So as much as I try to be open-minded – and certainly I try to avoid any kind of partisan mud-slinging – I guess I’m pretty much in the tank for Xbox. As such, I’m phenomenally excited for Xbox Series X. I got an Xbox One at launch, and despite all of the hullaballoo and criticism, I’ve always really liked it. I think it’s kind of struggled compared to its predecessors (cult favourite OG Xbox and revolutionary Xbox 360), and hasn’t quite had the era-defining games that both of those enjoyed. All that being said, though, I’ve had loads of fun with it, and so have my wife and kids. But I’ve stuck with the same machine all these years, never upgrading to the more streamlined Xbox One S or the super-duper-sexy Xbox One X. So when I do upgrade, I think the jump will be far more noticeable than someone who’s been enjoying Red Dead Redemption 2 or Gears 5 on a 4K display; it should really feel like a new generation. And that’s before we get to all of the traced rays and other lovely gubbins.

Anyway, when it’s this time of year, I tend to do a semi-comical “E3 predictions” list, followed by a “Stuff I liked at E3” list. Obviously E3 isn’t really happening, but these other online game reveals are, and given my aforementioned excitement over Series X – and Microsoft’s upcoming and much-anticipated reveal of first-party titles – I thought I’d divert my thoughts to what I want to see on the new console. However, unlike the traditional E3 predictions of yore, I’m going to look at what I’d like from the console rather than what games I’d like to see. Partly that’s because these announcement videos are getting spread so far and wide that it’s hard to keep track of what’s been revealed or when we’re likely to see something; partly it’s because we already know quite a few Xbox games that are coming out; and partly because the list would just degenerate into older franchises I want to see come back round again. Plus, with Crackdown 3 having already happened, a new Fable more-or-less an open secret, and a new Perfect Dark being very heavily rumoured, my go-to “wants” are getting thin on the ground. Perhaps Tim Schafer can bring his old LucasArts classics to the Xbox next year…? Whatever, this time around, I’m looking at that big black box and thinking about what features and design elements I’d like to see. What could be improved from how the Xbox One works? How would I like Microsoft to leverage their assets – from the faster SSD to the power of Project xCloud? Basically, what do I want Xbox Series X to be like, outside from glittering reflections on Master Chief’s shiny armour?

Streamlined, faster dashboard: now they’ve already said that the Xbox Series X dash will be effectively identical to the Xbox One dash, which is a trifle disappointing, but I hope that doesn’t mean that both systems can’t get an improved dashboard before Christmas. At the moment things are a bit fiddly, and I’d like to use the improved SSD to mean seamless transitions from page to page. Make it super-easy to get to your game library. Allow more customisation of the landing page. How about allowing us to resize icons, like on Windows 10? Don’t have quite so many obscure categories clogging up the front page. Use the shoulder buttons to hop between sections. Make it more about the games I can play rather than connectivity, shopping, or chatting. Stuff like that.

Integrated streaming: with Project xCloud on the (official) horizon, hopefully we can integrate that service into how the Xbox works. How’s about letting us stream demos straight from the store? Or stream games while they install/download? Or the option to stream any game we own rather than play it from the console? Or cast games from console to phone, or tablet, or PC, so we can enjoy the benefits of Series X hardware in the palm of our hands?

Discless play: teased then withdrawn from the Xbox One launch as it require the internet to check, I hope this can make a belated return. I like physical media, but I also like not having to get off the couch to change discs. I’d be very willing to accept an always-on connection as the price for playing a game without the disc in. If they could find some way to implement this and keep everyone happy, I’d be delighted.

Improved Guide menu: the best thing about the Xbox 360 interface was the Guide menu, which – certainly by the end of the generation – basically offered you full console functionality from one simple pause-button menu. The One Guide has been refined but could go further. Offer instant access to all our games, and all the system settings. Let us seamlessly jump from one thing to another and back again. Let us view all our captures quickly and easily. And let us go through game-by-game and see all our achievements, cycling through their related imagery. Basically, make it more like the 360, please.

Standardised settings: another amazing thing the 360 did that was totally walked back for the One is the idea of having a standardised range of settings that were applied across your entire profile. So if you want to invert your Y-axis, you tick one box, then all games are inverted. This was fantastic, and Microsoft were daft for undoing it. Make it good again! You have the power!

Refined subscription services: I think Game Pass is the future of Xbox, and I think xCloud is the future of Game Pass. This seems fairly obvious to me. I don’t know how much money Microsoft makes from Game Pass, but the way they’re leveraging their entire gaming strategy around it suggests that it’s a much stronger money-spinner for them than the traditional console market. I just hope that eventually the myriad Xbox subscriptions can be refined. Perhaps “Gold” as we understand it could be retired, replaced with a simple three-tier monthly sub, similar to Netflix; Game Pass Bronze (limited multiplayer, limited ability to download games from the library); Silver (Gold and Game Pass as we understand it, plus limited streaming), and Gold (all the games plus full streaming of everything)? This would, hopefully, mean we could get some of the benefits at a reduced cost (say, a fiver a month), and the “free” games in Game Pass would offset the loss of Games With Gold, perhaps.

Switch app: simply put, this would be cool: the ability to stream Xbox games on a Switch. Nothing more to it than that, really; the Switch form factor and controls would lend themselves to the Xbox experience effortlessly, and it’d mean I could continue my Halo campaign whilst my wife hogs the Xbox with Stardew Valley again.

Tangible differences between generations: on the one hand, I really applaud Microsoft’s blended approach to console generations. Smart Delivery, Backwards Compatibility, and Play Anywhere combine to form a very consumer-friendly approach; if you a buy a game now, you’re more-or-less guaranteed the best possible version come the Series X launch in November (or whenever). The downside to this, however, is a slight nagging feeling that we’re not going to see the best that the console can do; it’s fair enough that the Xbox One and Series X versions of Halo Infinite are, to all intents and purposes, on the same disc, and your progress and achievements carry over; but does this not mean that, aside from improvements in graphics and loading times, the Series X version is functionally identical? Is it just like upgrading a graphics card? Ratchet and Clank boasted some nifty dimension-hopping technology that presumably is a core part of the gameplay and looked like something that maybe wasn’t possible this gen; will Xbox owners miss out on features like that? If Series X could, say, give us a new Fable that presented as one continuous open world with no “hubs” or separated areas or loading, with some kind of magical traversal that allowed us to rocket across the landscape on a broomstick or whatever, would that not be handicapped by having to carry save game data over from the inevitable Xbox One version? Basically, I’m fascinated by how it’s going to work, but I hope we’re not going to end up slightly short-changed from a featureset point of view.

New hardware: not just the Series X itself, obviously; and not even the strongly-rumoured “Series S” either. I mean other bits and bobs. As they’ve already shown us the controller, I can’t realistically wish for one that had a microphone in it, but a tiny mic attachment maybe? Alongside the obvious headset. I wanna talk to the machine, basically; it was the one genuine benefit of Kinect. Also: a new, improved, media remote. A wireless mouse and keyboard, or some kind of lap-based hybrid. A new camera, not as invasive or scary as Kinect, just so we can use the Xbox to Skype people. And y’know what? VR support. Doesn’t have to be unique, bespoke headsets; just let us use PC ones, and let developers support VR in Xbox games. I don’t have the money or space to upgrade my laptop to be VR-ready, but if I had a PlayStation you can be damn sure I’d have PSVR. Half-Life: Alyx might be a pipe dream, but can I play Star Wars Squadrons at least?

Don’t bankrupt me: yeah, this. I’m cautiously optimistic that Microsoft will at least attempt to make this manageable; the recent rumour that it’d sell for $399 was much appreciated even if I think it’s supremely unlikely, especially if Lockheart/Series S is a thing. With Sony giving out noises that the PS5 will be a “good value” proposition rather than cheap, I think MS will strongly attempt to undercut them, but also not feel the need to go stupidly low. So please, Microsoft: $450, top end. Please don’t give us a $499 box. I’m already gonna be forking out for a new TV so I’d appreciate if I could keep the whole cost. For what it’s worth, I think the prices of all the new consoles will be: PS5 $499; XSX $449; PS5 DE $399; XSS $299. There you go: I managed to slip in an E3 prediction right at the very end. Prove me wrong, guys!

Phew, that was another epic one. But it was fun. I guess it’s weird to try to talk about the feel of a console without having used it. There are things I’d like improving with the look and feel of Xbox, but it’s hard to quantify it; stuff that’s clunky on a daily basis. And I’m probably an edge case anyway: someone with a huge interest in games and gaming, but who’s not very interested in multiplayer, and who – because of time and money but mostly time – rarely plays new releases, and takes ages to complete a game. But anyway. I’m dead excited about the Xbox Series X, and I can’t wait to hear more.

#top ten #xbox #games #gaming #xbox series x #e3 2020 #microsoft

2 notes · View notes

citizenaycock · 5 years ago

Text

Cold War (2018) | Directed and Written by Pawel Pawlikowski

Before getting into Cold War, as a prelude, I’d like to mention a funny documentary the filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski released back in 1991 called Dostoevsky’s Travels. It follows the great-grandson of the famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky who died in 1881. Fyodor is generally known as one of the greatest writers of all-time and possibly one of the first modern psychologists, deeply probing the human soul in his work. Great-grandson Dmitri drives a tram in Leningrad, Russia and agrees to go on a speaking tour about his “prophet” Grandfather. He doesn’t do this to pay his respects, but only because he dreams of scraping together enough money to buy a used Mercedes to impress his friends. And he is OBSESSED with buying a Mercedes and knows nothing about his Great-Grandfather. He talks to crowds of intellectuals and hardly has anything to say about his kin Fyodor and just wants to get paid. He buys one Mercedes and it breaks down immediately. He then buys another at the end of the documentary and it gets stolen by bandits. As the doc progresses you see Dmitri is a bit of a numb-skull and a scoundrel. I liked it due to the irony of Dmitiri’s complete uncaring attitude towards Fyodor’s highly regarded esteem, and obviously this absurd infatuation with acquiring a used car as a status symbol compared to his novelist grandfather, who is held up so highly for his spiritual profundity and depth. It’s a great piece of work no one has heard of...part-cautionary Capitalist tale at the end of the Soviet Union, while Cold War is part-cautionary Communist tale post World War II.

Official Trailer for Cold War

youtube

Intro and Technical Specs

To start, my main fear of writing about films I love is that it will suck the joy out of the film itself by looking at it so closely. I have only written in depth about two films, and thus far, am finding it to be the opposite. When going under the microscope, I am just becoming more aware how great a truly well-made film is when breaking it down.

Cold War may be the most beautiful black-and-white film I’ve seen. The category Amazon has placed it in is “Arthouse Drama”. Amazon Studios also is the distributor of the film. My guess is because it did very well at the Cannes Film Festival and Pawlikowski won the Oscar for his previous film Ida in 2013. Sometimes they get it right. To give some more context, I am very familiar with Ida and studied it for research for making my latest short film. I found it interesting Pawlikowski implemented a particular style similar to filmmaker Paul Schraeder’s book, “Transcendental Style in Film”. One aspect of this style pertaining to Ida is the cinematic framing for the action and not moving the camera until the end. He framed his subjects in a squared 4:3 aspect ratio while leaving lots of headroom, sometimes leaving them in the bottom corner of the frame, which carried over to Cold War. I don’t exactly know why he does this, but I have some theories that I will flesh out within the post in depth. While watching, I immediately noticed the grain in the 4K version. I looked it up and the film was shot with an Alexa digital camera and also a 35mm film camera, so apparently they were able to mimic film grain with the Alexa in post to match. A 32mm lenses was used for almost all the shots. According to Pawlikowski it was because this focal length closely mimics the viewing width of the human eye and allows a wide space of action that can fit around the subject(s) in the frame. Similar to Ida, there is no non-diegetic music in the film (music added outside of the film’s music itself) until the closing credits, reminiscent of the French director Bresson.

Opening in Rural Poland

The film opens on the hands of a man playing an instrument that resembles bagpipes, looks handmade and I assume is indigenous to Poland. The camera tilts up to reveal a bright-eyed rural man, and eventually pans over to another interesting looking character playing a violin as they sing together. We soon learn that Wiktor (one of the protagonists) is traveling with two others (Irena and Kaczmarek) and they are recording various forms of folk music unique to the Polish people. Kaczmarek immediately degrades this type of music as “possibly crude” or “too primitive” immediately marking a divide in perspective compared to Irena and Wiktor, who visibly enjoy interacting and recording the villagers’ authentic music.

They soon come to a house where a unique-looking dirty village girl sings a song not accompanied by any instruments. She has deep-set eyes and looks slightly haunted, and the lyrics of the song are about unrequited love. Not a happy song. Wiktor and Irena are enraptured by the raw singing and are recording this. In contrast, Kaczmarek disinterestedly eats soup in the next room, spoon klanking against the bowl, probably interfering with the recording. Kaczmarek is representative of the Communist State for this film, high on bureaucracy and lacking in soul. The song being sung by the little girl is a huge part of the film as a whole. Little do we know (and probably not evident to most who have seen the film) the lyrics tell the story of what happens between the protagonists we are about to follow in the film. The song is called Dwa Serduszka (Two Hearts) and is an authentic Polish folk song like much of the music in the movie. After watching for the first time (I commonly do this) I went online to look up background information and found a very well-made youtube video essay describing the song as being the “Leitmotif” for the film. Leitmotif is a term defined as “a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation”. In this case, the song operates as a direct pointing of what is to happen. The song pops up several times throughout the course of the film, forecasting the fates of the two protagonist lovers, Wiktor and Zula, who are brought together by music.

This “forecasting” I believe goes deeper. It’s as if it is pre-determined. Pre-determined due to the current political environment in Poland and the two characters’ difference in personality and upbringing. Also, most importantly, is because they love each other in a way that seems beyond their control and not a choice, eventually becoming impossible for them to live life without one another. The leitmotif reminds us throughout the film of Wiktor and Zula’s inability to escape their fate, which is already etched in stone by powers beyond their will: Two hearts four eyes Crying all day and night long Dark eyes, you cry because you can't be together You can't be together My mother told me You mustn't fall in love with this boy But I went for him anyway and love him until the end I will love him until the end

youtube

Folk Ensemble

Now we are at a large building which looks to still be in the rural area. Auditions are going to be held here for singers and dancers for a folk ensemble performance. A couple of trucks haul the commoners in and Kaczmarek gives a stately speech to the bunch before cutting inside to everyone waiting to audition for Wiktor and Irena.

We then meet Zula waiting. She elects to audition with another girl, naively, rather than shine in the audition solo. They enter the room to sing for Wiktor and Irena. Wiktor is immediately transfixed and asks Zula to hold on and asks her to sing another song alone. She sings with an authentic, untrained beauty. We also see her feistiness here. It’s obvious Wiktor is smitten and she is marked down to be selected as one of the singers after they exchange a parting look. By now, the framing style of the cinematography is noticeably unique compared to other films. As mentioned in the intro, characters are often framed with lots of headroom and sometimes placed in the bottom of the frame, leaving it mostly open space. My theory on this is that the environment the characters inhabit are shaping their destiny more than the characters’ own free will, therefore their heads are often seen at the bottom with action on top and around them. For example, Communism looms larger than the individual, tamping he or she down (literally) to the bottom of the frame. Not only Communism, but their uncontrollable love for one another, the characters’ upbringing and the people around them with their general wants and needs. These factors shape their present and future more than their own willful, self-determination and I think the filmmaker is aware of this fatalism, yet doesn’t just come and say it because that wouldn’t be interesting. We just see that Wiktor and Zula are never able to comfortably settle anywhere with their love nor escape the love they feel for one another, making their situation impossible due to the circumstances. In Ida, duty to God looms large and so does the characters’ Jewish unknown family past (to only name two) and the shots are framed accordingly as well. On a broad level stepping outside of the film, what’s interesting to me is how much free will do humans actually have and how much is self-determinant? After studying the film closely, this is the deep question (not answer) that I came to that transcends the surface story.

Wiktor watches Zula from a distance outside that evening. Irena then tells him Zula killed her father and did some prison time for it. After rewatching, I suspect that Irena loves Wiktor, and there are a few subtle cues later on that I noticed as well. During private lessons, Wiktor curiously asks Zula what happened between her and her father while Wiktor plays scales on the piano and she matches the notes with her voice. Zula says her father tried to be sexual with her so she stabbed him. It is a very matter-of-fact and short answer. Wiktor doesn’t say anything and continues playing the piano. I’ve thought about this scene more so than any other scene after rewatching. I think it is because of the dialectical nature of Zula saying she stabbed here Dad because he tried to have sex with her, one of the darkest things you could imagine, then the slight humor of Wiktor’s reaction while seamlessly transitioning back to the softness of the piano and her soft voice syncing. Wiktor is very watchful, internal, reserved, most likely from a more refined family and musical background. Zula is tough, spirited, tenacious and has lit a fire in Wiktor. Wiktor is tall and dark-haired. Zula is short and blonde. Opposites!

It is now time to perform for a large audience in a theatre. Wiktor conducts. Zula and about 20 other girls in Polish folk attire sing the leitmotif song that was sung by the young girl earlier. The group sings beautifully. Zula shines in front. Even Kaczmarek on the side of the stage behind the curtain seems to be in awe and carefully walks about as if not to disturb the magic.

Afterwards there is a reception. Wiktor and Irena lean against a large mirrored wall and everyone else in the room is seen in the reflection. When you first watch it, it takes awhile to figure out the orientation of the room due to the mirrored wall. I think this is the most interesting shot of the film. Kaczmarek then gleefully enters frame and says that the performance was so beautiful, calls Wiktor a genius and says it’s the most beautiful day of his life. He really means it and is the most authentic emotion we see from him in the whole film. Previously, Kaczmarek thought all this “folksy stuff” was foolish. There is a funny moment between the three. Wiktor and Irena are obviously moved by this but not sure how to express it as the stately Kaczmarek leans against the mirror with the two. On a second viewing, one sees Zula in the reflection staring at Wiktor the entire time. The two make love soon after in a bathroom at the party.

The Ensemble + The State

The performance is so good, now the State wants to get involved and meets with Wiktor, Irena and Kaczmarek. The government wants to turn the repertoire into a “calling card for our Fatherland” and incorporate “Land Reform”, “World Peace” and a strong number about the “Leader of the World Proletariat”. In return the group will be held in high favor, able to travel to other countries to perform, etc. Irena and Wiktor are visibly uncomfortable with this. Irena speaks first and says thank you but the ensemble is about authentic folk art and the rural population doesn’t sing nor understand these difficult issues. Kaczmarek quickly intervenes and calls the man from the state “comrade” and says the ensemble, on the contrary, will do this after given proper direction. Irena stares him down. Wiktor says nothing. The next performance is stained by a huge tapestry of Stalin behind the singing ensemble. The tone now is more dutiful rather than soulful, as if singing a church hymn they are forced to sing. Zula’s face while singing now lacks the life it possessed in the performance before. The State must extinguish all individuality and uniqueness with the goal to homogenize. Irena’s heart looks broken in the audience. Everyone dutifully rises for applause afterwards and Irena walks out. We do not see her again in the film. Everything has changed.

The stuffiness of the singing troops is saved afterwards by a beautiful shot of Wiktor and Zula laying in a golden wheat field together at dusk. Golden?? The film is in black and white but my mind says “golden”. Birds and crickets sing. Tranquility away from the group.

But it doesn’t last long, as they are unable to run from the larger outside factors. Zula soon confesses that she reports on Wiktor to Kaczmarek about their relationship and the things he tells her. She says it’s because she’s on probation for something and assures Wiktor that it’s nothing that will hurt him, but Wiktor gets up and walks off angrily at a loss for words. As mentioned, the scene starts with their eyes closed as if in a dream, beyond the State, but it's inevitable that the state has to enter their relationship at some point, infecting the dream, and will remain a problem for the rest of their lives. Zula calls him a “bourgeois wanker” as he walks away and she reacts oddly by jumping in a nearby river. As soon as she hits the water, Wiktor stops and turns around. She floats in the river and begins singing the leitmotif song.

The next shot is of the two silently sitting together again in the wheat field at nightfall with a campfire going. Zula’s hair is wet. The two just stare at each other and never say a word. What are they thinking? I think Wiktor is thinking that he can not escape her because of his love and that they are stuck! Zula knows this too. This is a type of love that transcends choice. Just like the State, their love controls them. The silent shot in nature cuts to black, then diverges to a busy train station with a brass band as the ensemble leaves to go to Berlin for a show. Kaczmarek gives a stately speech to the group about their trip. Wiktor meets Zula privately in a train car and lays out a plan for their escape once in Germany to go to France. Zula is nervous she will not be able to make it somewhere other than her homeland Poland due to her inability to speak French and lack of experience. I doubt she has any family to rely on, and at the moment has the ensemble in Poland as a decent occupation. Wiktor assures her she has talent to learn and the most important thing is they’ll be together. They kiss. The performance in Berlin is shot very uniform and proper, perhaps further pointing to its newfound soulless rigidity. Afterwards, Wiktor goes to the meeting place to cross the border. Zula remains at the reception with the comrades and Kaczmarek (as if in a trance) and never shows. Wiktor waits until nightfall and eventually stiffly walks across without her.

Defection

Wiktor is now playing piano in a cool jazz night club in Paris with a band. It is 1954. His beard is now grown out a bit and his hair messier than before. He is now in an empty cafe at closing time and speaks French with the waitress. He seems to have assimilated well here. It is revealed he is waiting for someone. That someone is Zula. She eventually walks in and they stare at one another for a few moments. One look at Wiktor while sitting across from her shows how much he still loves her and has missed her. The actor playing Wiktor, Tomasz Kot, really shows this wonderfully. He is very good at being still yet showing so much. Regarding the performances, this is one of the most authentic love films I’ve seen in a long time. And an expert director and writer doesn’t hurt. The film never feels sappy, in my opinion, while simultaneously remaining very romantic. Zula doesn’t show much and stays cold during this scene, but can’t help but ask, “Are you with someone?” Wiktor is. So is she. He asks if she’s happy. She isn’t, but doesn’t say it. Wiktor knows and walks her to the hotel. She says she wasn’t good enough, not as good as him, to make the escape from Poland to Paris. Wiktor says he believes love is enough. Zula coldly kisses his cheek and then stolidly walks away. Wiktor watches her go. But eventually Zula breaks! She turns back around, walks quickly back and they kiss passionately for a few moments before she leaves again. If one just read this and didn’t watch the film, you might think it seems like any other love story you’ve seen a million times. But to me, because of the authenticity of the performances and lack of constant soundtrack music, it really felt great to see these two embrace again. And I think it proves that moments in movies that may look cliche on paper can be pulled off with a skilled filmmaker and actors. Also, there’s only a few angles that the camera covers in this scene and ALL the scenes really! There’s a graceful economy and no superfluous closeups with unnecessary dialogue. And as mentioned, no outside music booms in like most films commanding you to feel something! You feel it because you feel it, not because you’re told to feel it with an over-bearing soundtrack trying to compensate for lack of performance or direction. Wiktor now walks into his apartment, smokes a cigarette alone deep in thought, then gets in bed with his girlfriend. He tells her he’s just been with the woman of his dreams. She doesn’t seem to care and turns around to go to sleep, highlighting the lax and blase nature of their relationship and possibly Paris artist life as a whole. Wiktor then turns off the lamp and looks up at the ceiling in lovestruck thought.

We are now in Yugoslavia in 1955, which looks much more lush than I would’ve imagined Yugoslavia. Wiktor gets off the train to attend a performance of the ensemble. Kaczmarek quickly greets him at the front of the theatre and is oddly cordial and confident in a sharp suit. Once inside, Zula sees Wiktor in the audience and looks startled. Wiktor looks side to side and men are watching him from the aisles. He is escorted away by authorities yet remains adamant to see Zula rather than be afraid of being thrown in jail or hurt. The first time I watched I thought he was definitely going to be thrown in prison. Kaczmarek obviously ordered the men to take him away and send him home in a train before he could see Zula, because of Kaczmarek’s interest in Zula.

Zula and the ensemble are shown singing the leitmotif song now. Zula notices Wiktor is no longer in his seat. Perhaps he was escorted out at the intermission. She sings with a melancholic intensity. The black-and-white contrast is especially beautiful here, maybe more so than anywhere else in the film. There is a black back drop and all of the singers’ alabaster skin glows, as well as their folk costumes.

Wiktor is back in Paris now and has gotten work as a Film Composer. Two years has passed since the Yugoslavia concert. While in the middle of working on the soundtrack, the side door of the sound stage opens. Wiktor is spellbound as a smiling Zula is revealed.

Zula has married an Italian so she could legally move to France. She says the marriage doesn’t count though because it wasn’t in a church. Neither seem worried about it. This time Zula does not hold back her feelings and, obviously, neither does Wiktor. They make love. They ride on a boat down the Seine at night past the buildings and cathedrals. They messily and drunkenly dance alone at a night club in rapture. Heaven for a moment.

Which begins Zula’s vast transition from the performing rural ensemble in Communist Poland to a solo singer at the Paris jazz club with Wiktor’s band. She sings the emblematic Dwa Serduszka most wonderfully here. Order. Everything in it’s right place. She is luminous as the camera slowly dollies around her, eventually revealing a packed club. Everyone is captivated and still. Then at the end is a lovely moment, maybe my favorite moment of the film, where Wiktor is staring at her intensely and she turns to check in with him and he gives her a nod of approval. It’s almost corny, riding the edge, but is powerful, conveying a silent understanding between the two seeing one another perfectly clearly.

Poles to Parisians

We now are at where Wiktor and Zula live, which looks like a cool version of a converted attic with a Paris view. Juliette, Wiktor’s ex, has translated Dwa Serduszka from Polish to French and Zula is unhappy with the translation, which most likely includes some self-consciousness about her pronunciation. The manner is which the leitmotif song appears here runs parallel to the first step in the descent of the relationship in Paris. Zula is defensive and anxious about the Parisian artistic circle Wiktor has introduced her to and she drinks to ease the anxiety of feeling inferior. Wiktor tells her not to because she is “charme slave” as they say, alluding to how everyone has a narrative role and label in these circles. Zula is becoming difficult and insecure. Wiktor is becoming caught up in the scene and ignorant of Zula’s dramatic change of environment.

The film director at the party looks Zula up and down when they arrive. Wiktor allows this without rebuke, most likely due to the nature of the sexually-lax Parisian art culture. Everyone is beautiful and chic at the party. Zula immediately goes for the drinks. She then sees Juliette and approaches her abruptly (yet with restraint for Zula), subtly challenging her French translation of Dwa Serduzska. Juliette calmly explains her reasoning according to the lyrics’ metaphors. It’s obvious Juliette sees through what’s happening in the situation here.. Juliette’s part is small but the actress is excellent and conveys a lot. She eventually mentions how the transition to Paris must’ve been a shock...the cafes, cinemas, shops, restaurants. Apparently Juliette sees this shock more than Wiktor does. Zula tries to play it cool here but you can see she’s flustered. This is a game she’s not used to playing. She then retorts that her life in Poland was better.

Wiktor is talking to someone and looks over and sees Zula and the Film Director sitting closely, flirting. Zula glances back over at him to see if he cares, but Wiktor stays put. Then later she aggressively confronts him about giving her story “more color”. It is apparent now that he has enhanced her Polish story to seem more dramatic in order to captivate his French friends and colleagues. Wiktor shrugs this off. Zula’s vibe is not carefree and cool like the rest of the party with her straightforward, intense rawness which creates an isolation for herself. She sits in the bathroom now alone, drinking from a bottle, talking to herself in the mirror. She calls Wiktor a jerk, but then says she loves him. She calls herself an idiot at one point. She continues to talk in the mirror as if to console herself. And I can’t help to mention how much she looks like a young Gena Rowlands here. It reminds me of the 1968 film Faces, which is also black and white. They look so much alike, and both fantastic actresses that are blonde, voluptuous and troubled.

Gena Rowlands in Faces (1968)

Joanna Kulig in Cold War (2018) Wiktor, unknowingly and excitedly, opens the bathroom door and says that they’re all going to the Jazz Club now. Zula says she’s a bit sad and wants Wiktor to come in the bathroom with her, but he ignores this and says let’s go. She takes a moment to herself and then it cuts to the club. She looks miserable and wasted sitting at the bar. As we go, I am still noticing the framing I mentioned at the beginning with the subject at the bottom, but for this shot she really seems low!

Her melancholy is interrupted by an upbeat, American song (”Rock Around the Clock Tonight”) and she gets up reinvigorated and starts dancing enthusiastically with a few different guys. The camera goes handheld and is the messiest camerawork of the film (a good messy). She eventually gets sloppy and gets on the bar and almost falls and people drunkenly cheer as Wiktor exasperatedly watches.

youtube

We then see Wiktor carrying her into their room. Zula says he is no longer a man in Paris like he was in Poland, and says she and the director get along well in attempt to get under his skin further. He then sits alone in the dark and smokes a cigarette.

It now cuts to Zula in a sound studio singing into a mic in French. I don’t speak any French, but her accent and pronunciation feels correct, but her spirit is muted...and we soon see one reason why. Wiktor’s voice ominously interrupts her over a speaker behind glass in the recording booth. Now the shot is on him and he looks disheveled and dark and tells Zula they only have 40 minutes left and not to blow it. There is a deep hate in his eyes we haven’t seen yet, perhaps retribution for calling out his manhood and their recent relationship woes. An engineer and the film director are also in the booth. There is just a bad energy in the room and anyone that’s ever tried to perform anything would be able to detect how difficult it would be to bring a great performance here. The music starts back up and Wiktor looks down as if disappointed right before she starts singing.

We are at a listening party now for Zula’s record at the French Director’s apartment. Zula is standing in the middle of the room alone, listening intently as several others sit around in the background drinking champagne. Dwa Serduszka plays, but now in French. It’s okay but not great. It doesn’t have the soul that it had before in Polish. I’m trying to put my finger on it, but the French seems a little stiff and the vocal track seems extra-produced. Too loud and too clear when mixed with the band’s instruments and it’s just not what it was before like the first time at the jazz club, for example. Again, this leitmotif song is also a metaphorical indicator for the stage in the relationship. She looks over at Wiktor who is cooly leaning on the wall off to the side (maybe too cool) and gives Zula a nod similar to his nod after the jazz club performance. But this nod doesn’t have the effect it did then and seems oddly forced. The record playing here in this posh Paris apartment compared to the Polish rural girl singing at the beginning of the film is night and day. It’s obvious why, if you think about it. They’ve taken a folk Polish song, translated it to French for a rural Polish singer, then recorded and produced it in a slick Paris sound studio under difficult conditions. How could the quality not suffer a bit?! Another example of the larger outside obstacles making it impossible for them, even in a free society like Paris, France.

It cuts to them now walking home afterwards. Immediately it’s apparent Zula is unhappy. Wiktor recognizes this but apparently didn’t know while at the party. As they pass a fountain next to the street, Zula throws the record in <splash> yet continues to mostly hold her sadness in, which has become more of a depression at this point. Assimilating is one thing, but they have gotten into this habit of holding back and not being up front, maybe due to the social circles they run in now. Zula cooly mentions that the French Director has fucked her well 6 times and "not like a Polish artist in exile,” which causes an eruption in Wiktor (what she wanted) and he slaps her.

This is strange to mention but, technically, the slap doesn’t sync with the sound. Lol. I watched this part 3 or 4 times to make sure and it just doesn’t (unless there was a lag in the internet connection). Maybe nobody else notices this, but I’ve had to edit-sync slaps, kicks and punches before many times on this very computer and immediately saw something didn’t look/sound right. After the hard slap, Zula raises up and says, “Now we’re talking”, which is sarcastic but also the truth. Often one needs a crisis moment to break out of a behavioral habit and apparently the French translation broke the camel’s back. The next day Wiktor frantically goes to the Director’s apartment looking for Zula. He stomps through the rooms looking for her. The Director then says she went back to Poland. Wiktor slowly walks out of the apartment with a terrified look on his face. Wiktor has become unhinged and plays maniacally on the piano at the Jazz Club. The other band members just stop playing and look at him as he bangs on the keys in isolation. There is some slight comical levity here for a couple of seconds due to the look on the clarinet player’s face. You assume Wiktor has lost his job. He is now miserably pumping coins in a phone booth for talk time to find out where Zula is in Poland. Afterwards, Wiktor goes to what I assume is an embassy. A Polish man at a desk tries to dissuade him from leaving Paris and going back to Poland. You can see the Eiffel Tower outside the window as the man asks Wiktor why he would ever want to leave this place. He says Wiktor doesn’t exist anymore to Poland because he left and let down all the young people he worked with. The man takes a drink from his cup and reacts as if he’s spiked it with something strong, perhaps how he’s able to get through his job. He then mentions there is a way Wiktor can go back if he truly regrets what he has done.

The Exiles Return

It is 1959 and we see Zula back in Poland on a dreary, crowded train with peasants. Soldiers whistle at her as she walks on a snowy road. She has come to visit a very broken, gaunt Wiktor who is being held prisoner by the military for being an exile. He says he has to be here for 15 years and got off lucky. Zula gives the guard what I assume are cigarettes which buys them 10 minutes alone.

His right hand has been beat severely. They kiss and Zula says she will wait for him. Wiktor tells her to find someone else, but Zula says she will get him out.

Cuts to 1964, 5 years later. A performing Zula is on stage singing a ridiculous Latin-infused song with a black wig on, resembling a late Judy Garland. She looks overweight and drunk with her comical, sombrero-wearing band. We now see an older Wiktor backstage with Kaczmarek who is holding an unhappy, despondent child. Kaczmarek doesn’t look like he’s aged a bit and still has a detached soullessness about him. With Kaczmarek, you wait for him to be rude or mean but he is not. He always stays at a steady, robotic hum of cordiality. It is revealed Wiktor can no longer play music because he can no longer use his right hand. It is also now apparent that Zula married Kaczmarek in order for Wiktor to be released. Zula now comes off stage and walks quickly toward them but drunkenly falls down. She manages to rapidly get up and falls directly into Wiktor’s arms, completely disregarding Kaczmarek and her son. They go off to the restroom together and sit on the floor staring at one another. Zula pulls off her wig, perhaps finally able to shed this horrible identity she's had to create to survive.

She asks him to get her out of here...for good.

The two take a crowded bus and get dropped off on a country road next to a lovely field. They look slightly rejuvenated but stolid.

Early in the film, Irena and Wiktor sat in the van while Kaczmarek took a walk to take a pee. Kaczmarek then aimlessly walked into the ruins of this old church. He looked around, then left...point being we’ve seen this place before. And earlier, even Kaczmarek’s face showed a certain amount of reverence for this old church and felt the power it gave off. Wiktor and Zula now enter this same church. There is a circular hole in the ceiling, perhaps so God can see them.

They now kneel with a candle lit in front of them on an alter with a row of white pills. They have a brief, simple marriage ceremony. They both have a glow to them. They cross themselves and mention God. They ingest the pills.

They kiss.

They then sit on a bench at dusk and look out into the field, holding hands, quiet.

You can hear the insects and an occasional bird chirp. Both have dark circles under their eyes. It’s so beautiful yet so sad. Zula then says, “Let’s go to the other side. The view will be better there”. They stand and go, leaving an open frame. A gentle gust blows the wheat from behind where they were sitting. Perhaps God’s sigh...

This last time I watched, the ending really got me...and is powerful now as I write about it. As mentioned in the intro, Pawlikowski’s last film Ida incorporated a particular style. Pawlikowski never moved the camera until the end of that film, so when he did the viewer would be raised up in a transcendental way as the first external music came in, lifting us from the real world for a few moments. I think he did the same thing here with Cold War in a different way. The moment of transcendence for this film comes at the end also but not with the movement of the camera but with the movement of the wheat behind the bench before cutting to black. This film is high on realism, but this gust is something otherworldly, therefore a powerful contrast from the stark, real world tribulations previously in the entirety of the film up to this point. This is what makes it so heartbreaking and beautiful and poetic all at the same time. And also, for a moment, the viewer might weigh whether the fate of Wiktor and Zula is so horrible after all. “for my parents” appears before the credits, pointing to the fact that the story is based on the filmmaker’s parents’ true experience during that time period. Bach’s Goldberg Variations comes in and you know it’s Glen Gould when you hear the humming, which I don’t necessarily like but it doesn’t ruin the mood. Bach was also used for the ending of Ida and is also the only non-diegetic music used for Cold War.

In conclusion, I think every great film has to have a surface story that one can follow and then a large idea hidden within that story (or as a result) to meditate on which includes something deep about the human condition. With some films, one has to work to find out what that larger idea is. For future posts, I may try to specifically focus on this “larger idea” rather that breaking down the entire film. This often appears as a question, not an answer, and Cold War does this masterfully.

#coldwar #pawel pawlikowski #filmmaking #film analysis

3 notes · View notes

cryptocurrencyexchangescrip-blog · 4 years ago

Text

How to create a cryptocurrency

1. Introduction Since the visual appeal on the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin last season, there are a lot of people who demonstrate interest in creating a cryptocurrency. Either out of interest, or perhaps with the firm motive of competing inside the ecosystem. Regardless, the particular idea of creating some sort of cryptocurrency is very stunning. But initially this has been very difficult to accomplish. In particular since this expected extensive understanding of programming in addition to cryptography. Although currently, there are various tools and even projects that let you to create cryptocurrencies in a very easy way. This best proof of this is often seen in the tremendous level of cryptocurrencies and tokens which exist today. Each involving these projects using their own qualities. Some more groundbreaking than others, but most based on the same rule, blockchain technology. Effectively, in this article we shall expose step by step everything you need so that you can generate your own cryptocurrency. We shall guide you by means of this process so as to recognize the most important things guiding large cryptocurrency projects. Although above all, therefore you can create your current very own and learn extra about this wonderful earth. So, we invite you to definitely join us on this particular interesting journey to make your own cryptocurrency. Keep reading: Cryptocurrencies: what these people are and exactly how a digital income works 2 . not First measures to create your cryptocurrency Before starting your venture you must take into account some sort of collection of features of consideration. Initial of all, you have to have a clear concept of what you desire to do with your own cryptocurrency project. After all, cryptocurrencies seek to revolutionize this world and in that will sense, what does your own personal project offer you? In limited, be clear about the principle, vision and objective of your project. This initial step will assist you to get your own project on track. It will also help you focus your initiatives to reach a customer foundation that can easily benefit from your venture. As well as create a group all-around that. Creating a project with a well-defined purpose and a neighborhood that supports it, might allow you to make a good bottom of rely on. This is very significant, given that trust in the world of cryptocurrencies is usually important. Think about that, Bitcoin is actually it will be today, thanks to typically the trust that millions involving people have put in it. Why would your own cryptocurrency project be different? Therefore, the second factor you should do is transmit plus prove to everyone the fact that they can have confidence in your own project and what the idea offers. Lastly you is going to also need to have knowledge about the way cryptocurrencies work or maybe get a team of people who may help you within this undertaking. This last aspect can be essential to make the particular project progress at a good tempo. Cryptocurrency technologies changes by way of leaps plus bounds and relying along third parties to move onward generally ends in project abandonment. So possessing your individual staff and talent may not only help you improve the venture. Although at the same moment, it will permit you to change it to new options and needs that occur. This without counting parts such as security and even maintenance regarding systems that will are also important. If you are already clear about all the above, then you now have the basics to start out your project. So why don't continue our journey therefore you learn how to make a cryptocurrency. 3 or more. Programs to create cryptocurrencies To start creating your own online foreign currency you should recognize that you have, largely speaking, a few options. This first and the least complicated of all is to be able to use some sort of software. That will let you to be able to create your own blockchain and the connected cryptocurrency. The use of this kind of podium greatly helps this job. In fact, in a few a few minutes you may have your own cryptocurrency working completely. Of program, these platforms are usually minimal in terms of their choices and capabilities. But they do not stop getting a great interesting choice to understand about technology or perhaps generate a very specific application. A good example involving this type of program can be seen in Wallet Builders. This specific is a website the fact that permits you to produce a new blockchain together using an associated cryptocurrency within some sort of couple of clicks using your web browser. Often the second option is to be able to make a token that works on an additional presently set up blockchain. It can be a technically even more complex option but with increased possibilities. By choosing this choice you can use the mature blockchain project to support the procedure on your token. Options like Coloured Coins that work about Bitcoin, or Ethereum, NEO, TRON, EOS or Waves tokens fall into this category. Of course, every single case has its particularities and you must select the one which best fits your needs. It may possibly desire you: What is a good ICO? The third and last option should be to create your cryptocurrency immediately from scratch or based about the code of a single already created. Since almost all cryptocurrencies are free software, it is completely possible. You just simply have to content often the code of the cryptocurrency and modify it based on your needs. It is the most complicated selection, but also the most highly effective of all. This in addition to enabling you to know just how to create a cryptocurrency from scratch. In typically the case that worries all of us in this article, most of us will utilize the Wallets and handbags Designers platform. This kind of because this is the simplest associated with all along with the one the fact that you can implement without having major inconveniences. Four. Begin creating your own cryptocurrency together with Billfolds Builders Today, as mentioned before, most of us have chosen Wallets and handbags Building contractors for this experience intended for various reasons, among which usually we can detail: That is straightforward to use plus its access can be carried out by way of the web.

youtube

The development of a cryptocurrency will not necessarily entail advanced programming regarding any kind. Will allow you to configure a variety of selections. Among them the particular comprehensive agreement protocol, logo connected with our project or perhaps pre-completed. Delivers access to the cause code. This allows people to further improve our project autonomously. Inside improvement to aiding you understand how to make the cryptocurrency by 0. That offers billfolds for Windows and GNU / Cpanel platforms. Now that we know some connected with the features of Wallets Constructors, it is moment to go to their site and get to know this podium. To be able to do this, just click on this hyperlink, in addition to you can reach typically the main web site of that software. Once there we will start with the procedure of creating your individual cryptocurrency. Step # one: Start out your project The very first step that Billfolds Designer directs us all to generate a cryptocurrency is in order to the essential data of each of our project. Inside our particular situation, we have decided on the particular Free plan. In addition , many of us selected the PoW opinion protocol, based on the SHA-256 hash function. Typically the latter could be the same choice that Bitcoin offers people, a safe start out regarding our cryptocurrency. Starting this method you will begin to understand how to produce a electronic currency by following some simple steps. Action # a couple of: Details of your cryptocurrency The next thing will ask us in order to determine the name of the particular cryptocurrency and even it has the mark. For this illustration, we have decided to identify this cryptocurrency " Coingraph " and as a good symbol we have defined " CGH ". In both cases, you can pick the ones that you prefer the most. However, anyone should consider giving it a good original name and the unique symbol. That at order to avoid the fact that people can befuddle your own project with an present one. In the circumstance of the " Deal with Letter " we currently have found the letter very well D ". This methods that the addresses of our cryptocurrencies will most start with the notice C. With this most of us unequivocally identify that the idea can be a Coingraph deal with. Came at the choice " Coin Unit ", we now have decided to put typically the name regarding "graph". That makes mention of often the tiniest possible unit connected with the cryptocurrency. In this specific way, our coingraph gold coins can be divided upward to seven decimal locations, where the tiniest device is a new graph. This is a good default selection on all cryptocurrencies. For instance , a new bitcoin is divided up up to a optimum of eight quebrado spots, and the smallest potential model is called satoshi. Last but not least we come for you to the " Spoken timestamp " option, a possibility exactly where we can place typically the concept that the 1st block of our cryptocurrency is going to have. You can write down thier one you like the particular most and identify with your project. Step # 3: Establish the standard fiscal variables of your own cryptocurrency With this position, you should define several very significant variables. The first of these is the " Prevent Reward " as well as prohibit reward. This specific value appertains to the reward of which miners may acquire regarding the successful gold mining of each block of the cryptocurrency. In this scenario, we have decided in order to let it stay from a cost of 50, which means for each block, miners should receive 100 Coingraph as a new incentive. The next niche is called inch Stop Halving " which is of fundamental importance. This cost tells us how quite a few hinders the block compensation will likely be divided in 1 / 2 by a process called halving. The reason behind this reduction in reward is usually to maintain the issue managed. Remember that in case all of our cryptocurrency suffers from higher emission, this will trigger the value to decrease. Conversely, if your issue is definitely very small, miners will receive little profit in addition to lose interest. In sometimes case, deciding on a good spot regarding block halving is essential to the economy of our own cryptocurrency. Taking this into mind, you must choose the value of which best compliments your needs. It could interest you: What is halving? The block praise and their impact in Bitcoin The last value is called " Tableau supply " and appertains to the total amount of gold coins which is released. In Wallets and handbags Builder this value can be dynamically controlled by the Block Reward and even Obstruct Halving values you have selected. The particular reason for this is definitely to ensure that the particular emission maximum is definitely not too small and permits the cryptocurrency to produce. Action # 4: Fixing typically the coinbase and block generation Now we possess reached a critical point within the options for you to create the cryptocurrency. With this point the primary alternative in view is micron Coinbase maturity ". This method is used to signify the number of certitude necessary for miners to help spend their particular rewards. Cryptocurrency miners receive their benefits in a new special deal called the coinbase purchase (not to be confused with the Coinbase company). This particular coinbase transaction is generated simply by the same miners. It serves to obtain the stop reward like well as the expenses or perhaps commissions of every single financial transaction processed in stated block. Because it is created simply by the miners on their own, delaying the claim for all these finances helps two issues: Prevent the miners from generating blocks for almost any cause, collect the coinbase and then reject the prevent. Prevent miners from bringing in an outlawed coinbase and collect this. As a person can see, that price is essential for basic safety, so choosing a superior value is a good concept. To get a clearer concept, in Bitcoin this value is 100. Because of this miners can only state his or her profits after exploration one hundred more blocks. Typically the next discipline is known as " Numbers of confirmations " and suggests the number of confirmations necessary to consider a transaction as irreparable. However, the value connected with six that the program gives us is exceptional. Following we have the particular field " Focus on space in minutes ", which indicates the time it is going to take to my very own every block. With this time most of us will say that every single 5 minutes, our Coingraph cryptocurrency ought to generate a brand-new block. And finally we now have " Target timespan around minutes ", with which will we are going to signify the moment in which the exploration difficulty will be altered. In your example we have got pointed out that hour the difficulty will be altered. Step # 5: Polishing off the creation process Simply by choosing the free choice, typically the Wallets Builders podium will not allow us to be able to customize the particular company logo of our project, although to be able to create and test it. To make this happen you must move to the email an individual registered in the initially step and even open the link they have put you. Once you simply click on this kind of link a person will access a good -panel like this: From presently there you possibly can review all this cryptocurrency alternatives you now have created. The next action is in order to download this wallet for the operating program you are using. In this case, the options provided by means of the platform automatically will be a wallet for Home windows and GNU / Apache. Step # 6: Putting together the wallet and mining the first block Last but not least the past step to adhere to is to change our miner and start applying our cryptocurrencies. To accomplish this you must follow the particular following steps: Primary operate the wallet computer software, inside this case the brand is coingraph-qt. Once an individual run it you will see typically the miner's interface. In that case move to the Help menus and select " Debug Screen very well. Once there choose the micron Console inches option. Once you are usually in the console alternative, you must write that order: addnode node1. walletbuilders. junto de add Once an individual finish publishing the command, press the Enter key. Then work this demand generate 1 Wait the moment and you is going to be given a good notification following successfully mining the 1st block on your new cryptocurrency. Best wishes, typically the cryptocurrency a person have created functions together with is alive. Also read more about Cryptocurrency Exchange Software

#cryptocurrency

1 note · View note

ardenttheories · 6 years ago

Note

Thoughts on the epilogue so far?

So glad you asked, anon. I’ve spend a while thinking over it, and I’ve got a few thoughts in mind. Mostly ramblings and potentials, at the moment.

Prefacing that with a warning, and some information:

All of the CW tags on the Epilogue are relevant. I’ve seen a lot of people assuming it’s a joke, or Hussie mocking people - but it’s genuinely not. The tags have apparently been checked by a lot of people (including trans folk and cis women) to ensure they’re relevant and suitable for the content. However, a lot of it is apparently just going to be talked about, not actually brought up in graphic detail during the events of the Epilogue - so please take caution as we continue on. I’m sure people will eventually write up a page-by-page of content warnings so that we know exactly where each potential trigger comes in, and someone, somewhere, will do a writeup of what happens to avoid the warnings altogether.

Additionally, the entire Epilogue has already been written up, which means we’re back to upd8 schedules. We’ll just have to see how they plan on working the upd8s, since, as far as I can tell, there’s currently no specific plan in place, or at least not one that we know of.

And now, into my ramblings.

First of all, the hints towards relationships? Very cool. It’s nice that we confirmed Dave, Karkat, and Jade have that weird dynamic going on that none of them even really understand, and that Roxy and Calliope remain a sapphic mystery to pretty much everyone. Hopefully a lot of this gets confirmed later on in the Epilogue - or at least that we get something more solid to hold onto than John’s non-understanding of relationships.

John’s lamentations on his potential relationship with Roxy also seemed incredibly sad, and actually furthers my theory on John as a True Heir of Breath. As does just about everything he mentions, honestly.

Since he still has his Retcon powers, he’s still technically “Free”; Free from Canon, yes, but also free from the potential destruction of their Canonicity. He’s also, once again, the person who has to Free everyone from that fate. He’s Freedom incarnate, but also, it seems, Apathy incarnate. The fact that he’s apparently barely been speaking to any of his friends, feels disconnect between who they were and who they are now, still seems to be struggling to find his place in Earth C, and (so far, at least) seems unable to fully connect with Rose and Roxy implies that his inheritance of Breath is slowly reaching its peak.

On the other hand, the talk of Canon is wildly interesting. I never 100% completed the comic - lost my place somewhere before the Tricksters, but kept roughly up to date on stuff that happened afterwards and have since managed to catch back up to Jane’s introduction, though I’ve yet to continue reading again - so I know she’s likely referencing things I don’t fully understand yet.

Having said that, there is something pretty disturbing about the ideas that Rose is presenting.

The way she puts it, there’s three categories of existence defined by the amount of three different factors within them:

Relevance, Truth, and Essentiality.

Canon has varying levels of Relevance and Essentiality, I’m assuming based on the fact that past events can be changed through something like a Retcon and thus nothing that happens is entirely Essential and nor is everything in Canon wholly Relevant. All things in Canon, however, are True - the full events of the story 100% unquestionable.

Non-Canon has no Truth behind it, and thus renders whatever Relevance or Essentiality it has meaningless. It doesn’t matter that the events happening in these Non-Canon scenes are Relevant or Essential to a subjective degree - that to us, or to the characters, they’re Relevant to development or the story, or Essential to moving the plot on in the direction the author wants, or in presenting an idea or foundation for a character’s development - because they’re not Canon, and they can never be canon unless brought into Canon by the Canonical author or characters.

Out-of-Canon has almost no Relevance or Essentiality and holds no baring on Canon events or plots at all, but remains Truth in the sense that it’s still part of Canonicity. These events don’t matter to the main Canon, the real Canon, but they aren’t exactly Untrue. They’re as real as whatever’s happening in Canon, but can be easily looked over, forgotten, or overall viewed as insignificant.

This is, essentially, what Rose is implying is happening to Earth C. It’s becoming forgotten and insignificant, it’s shifting too far away from Canon, and something very bad will happen if it does - not physically, but metaphysically. I think she essentially means they’ll either become Non-Canon, or they’ll lose their place as the Alpha Timeline.

That’s a lot to think about, so let me use an example I gave a friend who has never read Homestuck:

The Star Wars movies are considered to be Canon. These are what you go to when you want to watch the actual events of the Star Wars series - the main plot, the main storylines, the main characters.

The comics and the animated TV shows are Out-of-Canon. These events do not follow the main Canonical events of the Canon movies, but still happen within the same world at roughly the same time, or set up/explain events that happen in the movies. Sometimes they don’t even include main characters, and characters mentioned in the comics/TV shows may not ever appear in the movies, or even be referenced. These are True events, but hold little Relevance towards the watching of the Canon movies - and can hold varying degrees of Essentiality based on what the comics and TV shows are showing.

Fanfiction is Non-Canon. These are events that hold absolutely no Truth towards either the Out-of-Canon or Canon plot and storylines of Star Wars. Reading a piece of Fanfiction will never give you any additional, Canonical information about Star Wars unless it’s made Canon by a writer. Princess Leia might absolutely deck a Storm Trooper and single-handedly raid a Sith hideout and slaughter the bad guys with one hand tied behind her back to save Han Solo in a fanfic, but none of those events have ever actually happened in Canon. They might hold some sort of Relevance or Essentiality - either because they develop the characters better, or plug up plot holes, or spread some Canonicity of events, or even just help to keep the actual Canon alive by ensuring fans are still consuming anything about it so it stays firm in their minds - but they are never True.

So what Earth C has done is placed itself in a position where they no longer align with the Canon events of Homestuck. Homestuck finished as soon as they stepped through that door, but they are still very much Canonical. They no longer contribute to the progression of canon, but they are still a product of Canonical events and are 100% the Canonical players of Homestuck.

But the longer they stay Out-of-Canon, they lose their Relevance and Essentiality - their Importance. That’s what Light is all about, after all. Rose is essentially realising that the longer they stay living in Earth C, in a world that Hussie can’t ever fully write out, no matter how hard he tries, they’re going to become less and less important.

Rose’s marriage to Kanaya is Out-of-Canon. Wholly Canonical, and it definitely happened, but her marriage is in no way Essential to the progression of Homestuck. It’s losing its meaning and importance because it didn’t happen in Canon. The more they do Out-of-Canon, the more unimportant it gets - until eventually some drastic event occurs that means it’s completely lost its Truth.

So, John has to go back and defeat Lord English to ensure they stay Canonical. If he doesn’t, their timeline will go on - but they’ll no longer be the Alpha timeline, and they’ll no longer be Canonical. They’ll become Non-Canon. They’ll lose all Truth completely.

I have the feeling the Apophis thing that kept popping up in the 413 event on FFBF will also become relevant here. I mean, it’s literally a snake that’s meant to eat the sun, and we get told that the Green Sun has to be consumed by a supermassive blackhole - one that John’s been dreaming about “in anime”, which I think probably means something to do with Lord English. At the very least, Caliborn.

I’m incredibly interested by the idea of John going back into canon, nabbing their younger selves, and doing… something. He can’t attack LE head on, and they’re going after his younger self - so Caliborn, probably? - but I’m genuinely curious where in the timeline John will end up, and who he’ll need to take. Definitely Dave, at least, since Rose mentioned some sort of weapon he has, and I’m assuming by proxy that means the other kids - but which trolls, and does that also include Calliope? Is this the event we’ve been waiting for, where John goes back and saves everyone?

John’s dream also worries me. A supermassive blackhole devouring the entirety of Paradox Space, permakilling billions upon billions of ghosts as it spans the width of the universe. This makes me wonder if we’re going to get the final ending to Homestuck - the True ending. One where everything is wrapped up so neatly that every other timeline is devoured by this blackhole. There will be no more offshoots, no reason for doomed timelines or successful-but-not-Canon sessions. I get the feeling that’s where it might be going, or at least that’s what John’s dream is implying.

So what that concerns me with, then, is Rose’s hesitance when John says he’ll come back. There’s the implication there that, no, John won’t be coming back. Or at least that Rose won’t be seeing him again. Roxy’s concern, too - and Calliope’s ensuring that this is a choice John gets to make rather than something he has to do - holds some sort of worrying note I’m not fully sure of yet.

Talking to a few people, I get the feeling it might be something along the lines of these:

- John has to die to complete this mission.

John’s death is at the hands of LE, or in his attempts to defeat LE, and becomes a vital part to his defeat

John’s the “powerful being” who attempts the suicide strike to destroy the Green Sun, and that’s why he’s having dreams about it now

- John will be creating a new timeline, and will end up getting Canon-locked into it, meaning that he won’t be able to return to the current Alpha-timeline Earth C

- Something will happen to Rose? Her condition might be worse than she initially thought, or she might be downplaying it for John’s sake, and rather then being concerned about his safety, she’s actually concerned about hers

- John will create a timeline that has no End State, or will create a new Alpha timeline. Either way, he’ll be dooming the current Alpha-timeline Earth C.

In any case, I am incredibly excited to see what happens with this. I feel like it’s going to be a very long, very interesting Epilogue - one that, hopefully, plugs up a lot of the plotholes we’ve been complaining about over the past three years.

#long post//#ardenttheories #anonymous #homestuck epilogues

36 notes · View notes