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superectojazzmage · 1 year ago

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Ever since Al Ewing’s next big project/sequel to Immortal Hulk, Immortal Thor, got announced, I’ve been wracking my brain as to what it’s going to actually be like and be about. I mean it’s obvious that Ewing is going to try and do for Thor what he did for Hulk; a massive, boundary-smashing run that ties together the character’s entire history into a single coherent epic and returns him to his roots while simultaneously sending him into insane new directions. But what’s that going to actually BE LIKE?

Let’s look at what we know. In the announcement interview, Ewing specifically mentions how Thor as a character and series has always been more fantasy, hope, and adventure-oriented than Hulk’s sci-fi psychological dread and doom. He describes Immortal Thor as basically being the New Testament to Immortal Hulk’s Old Testament. The solicitation puts a lot of emphasis on Thor as a hero who battles impossible odds to protect the vulnerable and oppressed, and whose heroism comes at terrible cost to himself. And there’s, of course, emphasis on Thor being “immortal”; of how he’s been saving the world for countless centuries, such that he’s been known by many different names. There’s specific mention of Thor battling threats like “Elder Gods”, calling to mind some of the classic Thor storylines where he battled forces even greater than he like the Celestials and Surtur and Jormungandr. And clearly there is going to be heavy religious themes to the story, as Immortal Hulk was, at its center, a religious tale, and with Thor that’s going to be even more pronounced given Thor is directly modeled on/inspired by a real deity.

I think that Immortal Thor is going to be a horror story much like Immortal Hulk was. But it’s going to be in a different way. Dark fantasy in contrast of Immortal Hulk’s science fiction. Immortal Hulk was a story about a normal man who stepped into a mad world and tried to understand why these bad things happened to him, to comprehend the strange cosmic happenings, and ultimately was forced to realize that he CAN’T understand the vast, unknowable thing he’s chasing, at least not like this. That he’s getting only a snapshot of an ocean that will destroy him if he keeps pushing into its depths.

Immortal Thor will be the opposite. The story of a hero, a god who understands the vast weight and complexity and terror of what he’s facing, but fights nonetheless to protect the world. A sentinel standing guard over a world that barely understands how precarious its position is. An eternal hero fighting an eternal war in the vein of Michael Moorcock’s protagonists, weathering the horror and trauma for people who barely understand him, like a soldier who leaves his utopic city everyday to hold back the monsters just outside their walls while everyone is none the wiser. That’s he’s deep-sea-diving in the ocean and being pummeled by its tides and pressures and monsters.

Immortal Thor is, like Immortal Hulk, going to be a story of immortality and not being able to die, of trauma and the struggle to find peace afterwards, and of trying to hold yourself together in the face of something incomprehensibly vast. But where Immortal Hulk was essentially the story of a civilian, a peasant’s take on such a thing, Immortal Thor will be that of a soldier or king’s. It will be a story of a shell-shocked, burnt out Thor trying not to buckle beneath the weight of his ever-increasing responsibilities and the unending horrors he faces daily, while also desiring to make a meaningful life for himself, one where he doesn’t have to fight everyday and where he isn’t tormented by the memories of war and all he’s lost. It will be about contrasting the hope that Thor brings to the people of Earth as one of the gods’ greatest champions with the despair and guilt Thor himself grapples with in the face of all he’s experienced, all he’s fighting against, and all he’s done in the name of saving. Essentially, where Immortal Hulk was “powerless against the system”, Immortal Thor will be “heavy is the head that wears the crown”. Something especially potent when one keeps in mind Thor’s roots as a character inspired by Norse religion.

Where Immortal Hulk spent much time driving home what an absolute disaster Bruce’s life has become because of his trauma and powers, dwelling on the wreckage he left behind him, both literally and figuratively, and ended with him having to accept that he can’t go back and undo it, just try his best to move on and that just because his story never ends doesn’t mean he can’t be at least somewhat happy in it, Immortal Thor will ultimately be about emphasizing the great good that Thor has done in the world, while also showing the immense cost to himself or others. The hard choices, the burdens. And it will perhaps ultimately end with Thor being granted some measure of freedom from this role, freedom from the hardship and battlefield.

I don’t know, this is just extrapolating, or perhaps hoping. August can’t come soon enough. This really is the Marvel book I’m most excited for this year and I think it’s going to be exactly what Ewing intends it to be; Thor’s Immortal Hulk.

#marvel universe #marvel comics #marvel #avengers #mighty thor #the mighty thor #thor odinson #immortal thor #al ewing #alex ross #martín cóccolo #francis manapul #comics #comic books

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rokonshimo · 1 year ago

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“In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” ― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

According to the Babylonian epic of creation, the universe was at first just an endless sea. The sea naturally coalesced into distinct forms of saltwater and freshwater, as embodied by myself and my husband Apsû. Where our waters met, we ended up with a bunch of gods, said to be our children – because humans love projecting how their family dynamics work onto the forces of nature.

It’s hard to get any peace or quiet when you’ve got a bunch of noisy gods lying around and you and your husband are the entire universe, so Apsû suggested we just kill them so we could get some damn sleep. Can you blame him? Well, they certainly did. I tried to keep them in line without resorting to all-out war, but no, they had to pre-emptively murder Apsû and his advisor, and make a throne room out of his corpse…

The Enuma Elish would have you believe that this is where Apsû’s greatest son created Marduk, the golden boy of the gods, who heroically slayed me and my eleven monstrous champions in return for being crowned god above all the others – do you really think that's a deal they wouldn't betray at the earliest chance? At least it has the decency to point out they tricked me into all this, causing more noise than ever and preying on my guilt over letting them kill Apsû.

We’ll skip over the part where Qingu and I wage war against my other bastard children and get to the important part – Marduk supposedly steals the Tablets of Destiny from Qingu, cuts me in half and then makes the sky and earth you know today out of the two halves of my corpse. As if the embodiment of primordial chaos could be killed in a way that matters! There’s a bunch of oral tradition in this part, written as the decree of god-king Marduk (tch. There's a reason people equate chaos with anarchy.), and – are you seeing this shit? I guess we’ve reached the part where the bards just say what they think the laws of man should be and call it the will of god… humans.

Anyway, I’ve been talking about the Elish for four paragraphs and not once mentioned the things this essay is actually about. We’re not sure how to transition into that, so we won’t.

Humans can’t stand the idea that their world is just the result of literal billions of years of evolution – look at any creation myth! They’re obsessed with the idea of some god imposing their idea of order onto me. Fine, I guess you have to look pretty deep into the sky – and know what you’re looking at – to figure out that you’re not the only thing in the world, but the idea that you are just runs so deep into western culture!

Look around you – does this world look like anyone did a particularly good job of imposing order onto it? To us, it looks more like the mechanisms of chaos have had even-I-don’t-know how long to run wild and they just so happened to produce, from the practically-infinite expanse of the cosmos, at least one planet on which the primordial soup of life eventually resulted in birds and humans and all the other interesting things you might take for granted.

Just think the words “order” and “chaos.” Think about them. Let me guess, they’re at war with each other and chaos is the “bad guy?” I – sorry, “chaos” – might represent the destruction of everything you hold dear, and the forces of “order” are the only thing keeping me at bay? Oh, please. This isn’t just “the universe is inconceivably complex and unfathomably old,” this is humans being afraid of change. I don’t blame you. Change takes away loved ones, it tears you away from your ideas of who you are, and if you’re a king or something, it might make you stop being a king – and we can’t have that, can we? No, best to cling like a baby koala to the idea that the way things are is the way things will always be.

“The light in the night sky is Nanaar’s crown and its shape traces out the months of the year?” “These six stars in particular move across the night sky in a way that only makes sense if they’re orbiting around something that isn’t our own planet?” “When the emu-shaped pattern in the starscape seems to be nesting, the time is right to collect the eggs of the grounded birds that it resembles?” I shouldn’t be so harsh on the idea of “order” – how else are you supposed to understand an existence so utterly incomprehensible? It’s beautiful, actually, the way people read the patterns of the universe and ascribe meaning to them.

The problems come when you mistake your ideas for being truths in themselves, rather than ways of describing truths more complicated. But that’s a whole other essay that we’ve already written, and I highly doubt we’ll ever publish that one. So in lieu of that, go read this, and understand why we think what we do about the underlying structures of the universe and of human culture.

Goodnight.

Signed, Tiamat and co. of the Cat's Eye Nebula

#tiamat #stream of consciousness #chaos #writing #babylonian #mythology #i made this #in this essay i will

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denimbex1986 · 1 year ago

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'A whale or a lion or an earthworm is less inclined to go off in their heads than a human. No animal other than man suffers from congenital or acquired mental disorders such as depression or multiple personalities. We may hazard an explanation for this in the extremely complex and fragile wiring of our brains. Naturally, our default mode is insanity.

There is no reason why J Robert Oppenheimer, one of the most intellectually gifted, successful, and born-rich men of the 20th century, would suffer from bouts of depression till he died—of throat cancer in 1967.

Christopher Nolan’s eponymous movie, much debated, does everything right except bring alive the man’s torment, either before or after the bomb that Oppenheimer fathered and President Truman dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—killing, according to one estimate, 2,20,000 people, most of them civilians.

Truman may not have been clinically mad, but he and his country had been fighting a war that cannot be said to be the finest expression of human reason. It must rub off in ways we are not equipped to tell because we are inside the matrix.

If those melted by the bomb, even one of them, were brought back to life by Nolan and confronted Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer’s remorse and guilt would have had an emotional punch the movie now lacks. Because when the dead come back, they always do so with more questions than the living can ever hope to answer.

In his essay on Gunter Grass, with special reference to the post-World War II novel, Crabwalk, J M Coetzee says: ‘Grass presents his apology for not having written and, sadly, for no longer having it in his power to write the great German novel in which the multitude of Germans (italics mine) who perished in the death throes of the Third Reich are brought back to life so that they can be buried and mourned fittingly … and a new page in history can at last be turned.’

Because of Oppenheimer’s connections at the time with the Communist Party of the US, he went through a sustained period of trauma, facing allegations of sedition and leaking sensitive information to the Soviet Union. Only as late as last December was he wholly rehabilitated, and the process by which his security clearance was cancelled (by the US Atomic Energy Commission in 1954) was declared ‘flawed’.

That a man who mastered nuclear forces and invented the atomic bomb for his country could be seen as an enemy explains how one’s fate is at the mercy of the careers of other men/women. If Hitler had remained a corporal as he was in World War I, content with the Iron Crosses he earned for his bravery and his soldier’s pension, and did not cherish a career in politics ending in his becoming the Fuhrer, millions might have had their lives spared. The role of an individual’s career in the destiny of civilisation yet awaits an author.

Indeed, had Oppenheimer’s ambition and drive for power not been so aggressive, he would not have accepted the post of director at Los Alamos Laboratory, which birthed the bomb.

In the movie, one of Oppenheimer’s lovers (Jean Tatlock, a communist party member, played with disturbing neurotic indeterminacy by Florence Pugh), in the course of a bedroom scene, picks out the Bhagavad Gita from the shelf, opens it conveniently at chapter 11, and makes Oppenheimer read the lines: ‘I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’

The words are from Bheeshma Parva, in which Arjuna suffers from the ‘atomic’ equivalent of a nervous breakdown and would rather not take up arms against his elders and cousins; in short, he would rather not wage war. What good can come off such epic slaughter? But in the movie, the way it is played out, Oppenheimer never really has any great misgivings on his mission. They mildly assail him only after the bomb has been dropped.

The words come from one of the most egotistic chapters in all literature. Krishna annihilates the idea of Free Will for humanity. He is everything. Everything has been done. By Him. In Him, death happens. So does life. And all of it has happened once. All of it will happen again. There is no human agency. Arjuna just must carry out his dharma. In the great lines following, which Oppenheimer must have understood with keener insight than an average Indian, Krishna virtually licenses the dropping, thousands of years later, of the bomb: I have already killed Dronacharya, Bheeshma, Jayadratha, Karna, and other brave warriors. Therefore, worry not; slay them without a second thought. Do your duty, Arjuna.

Except for the appeal of Freudian association (Eros, love, and Thanatos, death, are virtually bedmates), it is not clear why coitus is interrupted for a short course on the Gita in the movie. Perhaps it augurs the destruction of Tatlot herself, who later commits suicide as Oppenheimer is reluctant to continue with the affair.

Despite the massive implication that we can all do great harm in the name of God, that if we are detached enough—having surrendered to the divine will—we are free to detonate a bomb, the nature of Oppenheimer’s career is markedly Faustian. He was ready to trade in death and make good in life. The US exploited Oppenheimer as much as Oppenheimer exploited the US. The amorality of either party does not find sufficient dramatic expression in Nolan.

Despite a boycott call by the right-wing Save Culture, Save India Foundation trending on social media, the movie has collected close to ₹100 crore at the Box Office. I suppose we have arrived at a stage in India where particle physics has become a matinee attraction. And at the same time, feel the need to save the Gita from Hollywood bedrooms. As I said, insane.'

#Oppenheimer #Bhagavad Gita #Florence Pugh #Jean Tatlock #Christopher Nolan #President Truman #Cillian Murphy

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cinemacentral666 · 1 year ago

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The Painted Bird (2019)

Movie #1,078 • TWO FOR TUESDAY

The Painted Bird begins like this…

…and then proceeds to torture that child in pretty much every way you could imagine (psychologically, physically, and everything in between) for the better part of three hours. It is the ALL GAS NO BREAKS of films about the atrocities mankind unloads on one another. The main and perhaps only complaint I've seen levied against this boils down to just that: this is human suffering porn and human suffering porn sucks. I actually saw that phrase ("human suffering porn") used and it struck me (there's no shortage of shitty takes on this btw). That writer clearly had to make a distinction between this wonderfully shot black-and-white epic and something like Saw VI. To say, "I get that this Art, and I see how it checks off the boxes which makes something Art, but my mind can't parse any contrast between Jigsaw and Udo Kier." You can't really have it both ways, though.

Where torture porn exists purely in service of delivering those salacious goods, this strives to use those elements in service of delivering a message. Like any good war movie, this is stridently anti-war. And like the best war movies, it isn't political in the slightest. The Czech writer-director, Václav Marhoul, went as far as to use the Interslavic language (an auxiliary dialect used to facilitate communication between speakers of various Slavic languages) in order to obscure the actual location of these various Eastern Europe settings. One whiny critic actually wrote that "none of the film takes place in Germany [and] very little of the evil done to the kid has anything to do with Germans or Nazis." Like we needed to cut to a shot of Hitler pouting to understand why these people were living this way.

This movie is based on a 1965 book with a complex and fascinating backstory (its author is Jerzy Kosiński, who also penned Being There). It's pure fiction but what we know about the hell that was WWII suggests that all the gruesome elements aren't altogether fantastical. The parallels/similarities to the all-time classic Come and See (1985), at least on the surface, are instant and unmistakable even if they're not much more than "war seen through the eyes of a young boy." (Interestingly enough, Alexsey Kravchenko — who portrayed the boy in Come and See — plays a Russian military officer here, and one of the few "good guys" in The Painted Bird.) I don't think this is quite on par with Klimov's generational effort, but I'd still say it's a must-watch. As it turns out, this is simply a premium delivery system for the anti-war system.

For me, a grizzled vet of fucked-up horror, the worst moments weren't the violent and sicko outbursts, like when Udo Kier gouges a man's eyes out with a spoon. It was seeing the young boy striving to stay connected to some semblance of humanity in the wake of such things, like when he futilely delivers said eyeballs back to the man crying in the woods.

It was a fascinating choice to cast name actors, from all over the world, in small but important supporting roles in these various vignettes (the film is separated into seven specific chapters that could easily be viewed as shorts in their own right). Stellan Skarsgård doesn't utter a single line of dialogue and Barry Pepper, just one or two. There's the aforementioned Kier, and Harvey Keitel plays a priest. The late Julian Sands is a pedophile who gets eaten alive by rats. Like using the Impact font on the movie poster and inter-titles, this decision left me scratching my head, though not in a bad way.

But in the end this is child actor Petr Kotlár's movie. To subject someone as young as that to what we ultimately find onscreen isn't without a degree of moral ambiguity. That two stand-ins get a special shout-out in the credits alleviates some of this grief/guilt, but it's still worth mentioning. While I believe this is a much more valid complaint than simply stating you (an adult) were personally offended by the content, I choose to see this through a lens of bravery. He's really great in this without every speaking a word. I hope it doesn't/didn't fuck his life up.

I don't think this movie is begging you to look away. I think it's trying to make you look harder at what and why this could happen. Yes, all those Nazis we don't actually see, among many other things. It doesn't spell it out and never offers a concrete answer. The chief film critic of Variety walked out of this and in his "review" he willfully offers up a list of all the other films he's walked out of, among them:

I couldn’t get past the opening credits sequence of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (which had already managed to cutesify my favorite song, “Brandy” by Looking Glass), as Baby Groot dances to ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” while the ensemble fights a space alien in the background. I’d enjoyed the original, but the Guardians had clearly gotten too cool to care, so why should I?

Everyone's hell is vastly different in the end. My 2¢? Let's try to relate, even when that seems so painful that it's impossible. For example, I would have walked out of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also.

SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#two for tuesday #war #2019 #9 #🇨��#václav marhoul director #petr kotlár #nina šunevič #stellan skarsgård #udo kier #harvey keitel #jitka čvančarová #julian sands #ala sakalova #aleksei kravchenko #barry pepper

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naruto1kurama · 1 year ago

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My thoughts and review on Oppenheimer 💥🎥

This was a cinematic masterpiece, starting from the cast, storyline, ultra realistic visuals and to the epic music. Everything blended beautifully.

This has showcased one of humanities most extraordinary scientists in a very simple and an ordinary way.

Story shown through multi timelines which created confusion and built the curiosity was perfectly answered at the final hour of the movie. Nolan has yet again proven himself to be one of the best of the best, making sure to focus on the little details that impacts the story in a bigger way, all the guilt ridden grins and shameful faces were perfectly captured to give this biopic the complexity it deserves.

Even though the bomb created all the hype and word around the movie, the main actor was not the bomb but the man himself, his life and his work.

Now I understand why RDJ claimed his role in this movie to be his best performance yet. Hats off to Cillian Murphy, RDJ and Matt Damon for their extraordinary performances.

This is not everyone’s cup of tea, and is highly political. So be ready for a lot of talking.

I would rate this movie a 9.5/10

#oppenheimer #christopher nolan #atomic bomb #movie review #ratings #biopic

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doomerpatrol · 3 months ago

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Journey into Mystery by Kieron Gillen [3/5]: a really strong first half and a second half compromised by crossovers; good character arc for Loki but I don't feel like reading mid Thor and New Mutants stories to get it

Moon Knight by Warren Ellis [4/5], Brian Wood [1/5], and Cullen Bunn [2/5]: Ellis's run is really cool and beautifully illustrated urban psychedelia, and then the two subsequent runs completely fail to capitalize on its strongest concepts or aspects. whatever, I'll always have "Sleep."

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King [4/5]: gorgeous neon artwork and a very enjoyable, occasionally moving science-fantasy take on "True Grit", though the ending and some of King's scripting tics definitely bugged me.

Black Cat (and others) by Jed MacKay [3/5]: kind of superficial fun brought down by some awkward crossovers, but I enjoyed the characterization (even if there's no real arc) and some of the heists

She-Hulk (Vol. 2) by Dan Slott [3/5]: DEFINITELY superficial fun, and I think this second volume (I read the first a while ago) is not as strong as its predecessor - its legal-drama/sex-romp sitcom tenor (mostly amusing, occasionally grating) kind of hides how hastily the various subplots are developed and resolved. I think the first volume ends in a thematically stronger and more satisfying way despite having fewer installments. still, it has most of the same elements as that first volume, so it still mostly works!

Magneto by Cullen Bunn [4/5]: the ending is awkwardly abrupt thanks to the Secret Wars crossover, which is unfortunate, because the first seventeen issues (and a brief, slightly messy digression into "Uncanny Avengers") are a great, dark character portrait of a man burdened by survivor's guilt, masochistic self-loathing turned towards teleological martyrdom, justified rage, and messianism

52 by Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, and Greg Rucka [4/5]: very fun and engaging year-long series with an assortment of interconnected stories

Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing [5/5]: a fascinating, fucked-up, cosmological body-horror exploration of different manifestations of anger - towards ourselves, towards those that have hurt us, towards the systems that we live in that try to crush us - and what it might mean to channel that

Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka [4/5]: a very enjoyable political drama that really makes Diana as a character sing; gets a little wobbly thanks to Infinite Crisis, but recovers notably better than other books disrupted by events

Uncanny X-Men by Ed Brubaker [2/5]: Claremont karaoke; shows potential but ultimately doesn't have much to say with its stories or characters

X-Men: Messiah Complex by Ed Brubaker, Chris Yost/Craig Kyle, Mike Carey, and Peter David [3/5]: better than the above, though with a number of largely extraneous parts; while the central concept is good the plotting is a little wonky, which makes sense since it's used as the finale for two separate series and is disrupting the narrative of another. if nothing else it makes me want to read its sequels, spin-offs, and precedents

Currently Reading

Jason Aaron's Thor Epic (includes Thor: God of Thunder, Thor (2014), Thors (Secret Wars tie-in series), The Mighty Thor, Thor (2018) / War of the Realms, King Thor): heavy metal excellence, features various artists like Esad Ribic and Russell Dauterman at the top of their game, really sold me on Thor (defender of Midgard) as a character and also making me fall completely in love with Jane Foster as Thor

Starman by James Robinson

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu (ongoing)

Fantastic Four by Ryan North (ongoing)

(bold = have read those parts of an "epic" run)

2024 Comic Log with Overall Ratings

Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui [5/5]: incredibly funny, charming, full of interesting worldbuilding and compelling characters, some strong themes of entropy and consumption/desire and connection/ecology

Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison [5/5]: a darkly creative challenge to the Ubermensch masculinism that dominates comics

The Flash by Mark Waid [4/5]: breezily readable exploration of a character that I think has ebbs and flows, but generally features atypically fun time-travel plots and a great cast

The Flash by Grant Morrison & Mark Millar [4/5]: a solid continuation of Waid's themes and priorities that pushes Flash to his absolute limits

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon [2/5]: tries to be mutant assimilationist, but can't even do that fucking correctly

X-23 by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost [3/5]: perfectly fine, a little hacky in its treatment of motherhood, but a nice and heartfelt contemporary take on the Wolverine: Weapon X story

JLA by Grant Morrison [5/5]: incredible, maybe Morrison's best ongoing achievement

Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison [3/5]: very cool idea that doesn't really stick the landing but has a lot of bright spots and fabulous art

Batman: No Man's Land by Greg Rucka (and others) [3/5]: a crossover that features some of the best Batman stories and characterization, and also some of the worst; very much carried by the strength of its premise, best realized by Greg Rucka's stories

Animal Man by Grant Morrison [4/5]: features some of the best single issues I've ever read

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison [5/5]: needs to be read. beautiful.

Grant Morrison's Batman Epic (includes: Batman, Final Crisis, Batman and Robin, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batman Incorporated) [5/5]: despite having some questionable character decisions and being dense in a way that can be tiring, I love how it redeems Bruce from one of his worst periods and pulls together his values and history cohesively while injecting some great new ideas and consistent motifs - the idea of a hole at the center of everything, the constant imagery of spirals and recurrence, really stuck with me over time.

Action Comics by Grant Morrison [2/5]: frenetic, but very obviously shows Morrison straining against The New 52 reboot, and doesn't live up to its initial promise of a young Superman of the people, and ends on a sour note that seems to reflect Morrison's justified disillusionment with the industry

Detective Comics by Greg Rucka [3/5]: carried by the lovely monochromatic artwork, sets up some interesting ideas like Bruce's bodyguard but ultimately gets cannibalized by crossovers (coincidentally when the best art disappears)

Wolverine by Greg Rucka [4/5]: features Logan in lone wanderer mode, with some awkward threads that don't really go anywhere but also don't trip up the rest of the story too badly

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker [4/5]: peters out in the last third, but the first two are holistically great noir fiction, and have amazing illustrations

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction [5/5]: beautiful artwork by David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth paired with a compelling, clinically criss-cross structure both in paneling and serialization. astonishing that this book works as well as it does considering its protagonist is 1) typically boring and 2) a huge fuck-up

Punisher / Franken-Castle by Rick Remender [2/5]: fails to live up to its premise because Brian Michael Bendis had dibs on all the important characters, so it just throws everything out the window and does some random shit for a bit

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb [3/5]: perfectly fine blockbuster action-mystery with an eyeroll main antagonist

Detective Comics by Scott Snyder [3/5]: starts out strong, finishes super weak. I am pretty uninterested in hackneyed evil-since-childhood villains (see also: Hush), and I find the cynicism which runs through all its plots really poorly executed

Venom by Rick Remender [2/5]: fails to live up to its premise by trying to be a Peter Parker book (and also, briefly and inexplicably, a Ghost Rider book)

Black Widow by Marjorie Liu [4/5]: really gorgeous artwork from Daniel Acuna. I think the plot is a little convoluted and underbaked, but its spy-thriller antics were still quite enjoyable to read, and it has some surprisingly strong emotional beats for a character I'm not super-invested in

Birds of Prey by Gail Simone [4/5]: good cheesy fun with great character writing, though a rushed (and largely unnecessary) final act

Batman: Face the Face by James Robinson [3/5]: a "One Year Later" storyline that has some nice Bruce/Tim moments, but its main Two-Face plot is empty calories

Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four Epic (includes Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four, FF [Future Foundation]) [5/5]: another series where, even though I can find it overwhelmingly dense or breakneck in pacing, its thematic payoff is so triumphant that I admire it a lot anyway; probably my second favorite FF run, full of fun sci-fi concepts, moving character beats, and creative changes to the team's structure like the Future Foundation

Superman: Up, Up, and Away by Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns [5/5]: compared to Face to Face - the other big "One Year Later" return - it's literally no contest; incredibly charming, great art, thematic cohesion

#ran out of space so will have to make reblogs

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amalaabasu · 2 years ago

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Ursa author of Q30D, CY and FTF answered some questions on Reddit

I compiled some of them under the cut, read them if you are interested [SOURCE]

The Flower from Tiamat's Fire:

What inspired you to write Kingu?

It might be funny, but the main inspiration for Kingu was my therapist) when I thought of a man that gives me a feeling of confidence, that can raise me up in moments of need and at the same time be his own strong and independent person, I've realized that he has to be a very wholesome and grown-up person. So I discussed this type of character with my therapist and... here we go)

Speaking of Kingu, do you know yet when the bug on Kingu's route from the August update will be fixed?

I was really hoping that it'll be fixed in a matter of days, but alas, the team decided to move it to the next update.

What do you like most about each love interest in FTF?

This is a difficult one, so Kingu is like my therapist: comforting and understanding. Niall has these protective vibes, which can be annoying, but at the same time feeling safe is awesome. Iyar is fun to be with and it's amazing to dive into the depths of his soul to find a lot of hidden things. Su is tender and although she tries to pose as a strict mommy, she's basically very in need for love and when she opens up to you it's a whole new world to explore.

What are the zodiac signs of the other 3 LI's and Nikkal's?

You'll see them in the upcoming cards :D

Will we be able to get more clarification from Kingu about why he called Nikkal as Ningal? Or was his whole explanation about this topic in the last update?

You'll see the backstory and the trauma it left. But they're still due to a talk, yes.

How long ago did Ningal die and how much does Kingu miss her now? Is a that a guilt over what happened to her haunts him still or does he still have feelings for her?

She died about half a century ago. He still misses her, but it's more of a guilt that he cannot let go of. Losing someone is not something new for him, but being the main reason for it is tough for him. As a strong mage and smart person, he was always able to protect the people he loved... till that time. So the question that Nikki asked in the Hubur cave «The way you protected Ningal?» was like a knife in his throat, though she didn't know it and just showed her immature attitude.

FTF is very different from your previous two stories. What was your inspiration for it?

I was inspired a lot by the Epic of Gilgamesh, but actually writing a high fantasy story was the dream of my life. Having your MC flying around and casting fireballs and having a deep emotional arc at the same time is better than cakes for me :D

Will we see Niall's mother in a flashback?

We might. She had a big part in him meeting Nikki, so it would be logical to show her.

How long did Niall serve as a general of Enki?

For about 70-80 years, but most of that time he spent outside of the real battles. His initial role was as a builder and keeper of academy, which at that time served a slightly different purpose from the modern one.

What's Niall's favourite colour?

Blue.

Who is your favorite LI in FTF?

Namtar :D being serious, I don't have a favorite one. Each one of them is a complex and interesting character alas, and I still didn't choose the best one.

How did you come up with each character design in FTF?

Me and my tech designer were thinking that RC needed something new and we should come up with experiment. I'm an anime fan and I wanted us to incline to that side of animation, with vivid colors and impractical clothes and COLORED HAIR sorry :DD we were ready for this experiment to fail (which it did at first), but I'm glad to see more people enjoying it now.

Is Nikkal the reincarnation of Ningal?

Sumerians didn't really believe in reincarnations, so I don't as well. In this story, at least.

Is it hard to think like Kingu, such a powerful and a very old mage, when you're writing about him.. do you like to deep-dive into his head and how he views the world?

When I write his scenes, I try to look at everything as someone who's not triggered. Sometimes I have to discuss these scenes with my therapist so she could give me a view of a grown-up soul. When I don't have a possibility to talk to her, I think of three points: care, freedom and growth. How can I show that he cares, that he loves, but respects and gives freedom of choice at the same time and how can he help her grow at this thing? I's not easy, but I love to see the resulting scenes :D

Will we get more details on Nikkal and her relationship with parents in the next updates? Or we've already seen everything?

We won't see her parents, but there will be a big metaphor that (if I'm lucky and skilled enough) will resolve her parental conflict and give us all a little catharsis.

Will Kingu really add the title "great" to “lady”? Or was it a joke?

Depends on Nikki, but damn that was not a joke :D

How did Shamash hang Kingu on chains on that island if magic doesn't work there?

Shamash didn't need magic to do that. I mean, hanging is a very mechanical process and the shackles work because of the material they're made of (same as the jail Nikki broke in), not because of the magic. And you can always make people do that.

How do you come up with the idea of "Nikkal herself being humorous"?

I'm not ashamed (like hell I'm not, who am I trying to foul here?) to admit that most of the time Nikki is just transmitting my own insecurities or the self-consciousness or just the sarcastic comments I want to give to my characters :D sometimes I just look at the story and be "daaaaaamn, they're so cheesy right now, let me just make Nikki comment on that before I explode with the feeling" :D

What did Nikkal thought about Shady Five before Ethan gone somewhere?

Nothing in particular. She was taught to respect them and always obey to their will, but as you might notice, she's not very good with authorities, so it's not like she worships them in way some people do.

Did Iyar have any lovers in his human past?

He did.

What does Su think about Nikkal and Ethan? And what category does Shimun belong to (water, air or something else)?

Shimun is water. It doesn't mean that siblings always get one element, it's just how it happened. Su loves Nika and Ethan, Ethan was always more distant, so it's not that easy to grow attached to him, but as for Nika she adores her.

Did Niall have any previous lovers?

Not in a serious way.

What's life like in Ur, the capital? What are some fun things to do (besides watching fire dancers 🥺), the best dishes to eat, and sights to see?

In my imagination Ur is a fun place to be in. There're magic shows and festivals, there're pool parties and duels and the local kinds of balls... unfortunately, most of this stuff is available to rich only, so the poorer districts are mostly left with crowds gathering around a story teller or bards with lutes and dancers or local sports. Still a fun life to have, if you ask me)

Will we see Enki’s flower again? Does it disappear after being used? If we used it to find Ethan in jail, will we be able to use it again?

You'll see the flower again, but only if you didn't use it in the jail. It's a one-time-use thing.

Will Shimun stay at the Academy and wait for his friends to return or will he finally go to help them?

Shimun is not the one to go out of his way to help with global conflicts, though I can't say it's his fault. He was raised by Su to be a person he is now. Still, I do think this is not something we should appreciate and Shimun will face some consequences.

When Niki in the scene with the fireflies was expecting a kiss with Kingu, and he did not kiss her, after which it seemed to her that he was laughing inside, was it her imagination, or did she really feel it?

He's actually very good in picking little social cues, so he knew the way she felt and silently laughed at it (in a kind way, mind you). Unfortunately, he's also good in pretending he's blind and deaf and stupid :D

Which one of your main characters do you like the most?

Nikki is the best by now. She's kid, brave, a little dumb and childish, but curious and willing to dive into anything if this means getting what she wants. When she grows up a bit as a person, she'll be amazing.

Can water mages control blood?

They could've, but it's a skill that requires a ton of patience and is not widely promoted, obviously, so most of the society doesn't even know it's possible.

Why did Ereshkigal transform into Kingu to trick Nikkal?

She didn't do it on purpose, she just kind of nudged Nikki's imagination to do the job. Kingu was the most logical option for Nikki at the moment, as she didn't know of him being arrested and Niall having an option to come... er... downstairs :D

If Iyar lived in the 21st century, what style of music would he like and listen to? What about Nikki, Kingu, Su and Niall?

I believe, Iyar would go for pop-rock, something like Coldplay and Toto. Kingu is more of a classic and meditation music. Niall would refuse to listen to music as "it messes with your feeling of your body and doesn't help with surrounding awareness". Su would go for Evanescence, System of a Down and Breaking Benjamin.

Does Nikkal suffer/ have memory loss? I've noticed she tends to go through brief flashbacks of her memory.

She went through a lot of trauma, sometimes your brain makes you forget painful or triggering things in order to preserve your psyche.

Nergal's axe was stolen and Ereshkigal wants it back. I wonder does this axe have any sort of magic in it or is it just a memoir for her?

It's a powerful tool, yes, a gift from the Mother herself, but Eri wants it mostly because... well, if my late husband's concubine who is by coincidence my sister would steal the only memory I have of him, I'd also be kind of annoyed :D

How soon can we expect Tiamat to be awakened?

Pretty soon.

When when we will be able to be locked into our LI path?

I plan to start closing the LI paths in a couple of updates.

Can you give us a little hint about the next update? Something interesting to think about.

The fight is going to be epic, though short and very painful.

We know that you're writing a book about the contents of FTF. Are there any plans to translate it to English as well?

I'm not sure about that :D if there will be a demand, I'll be happy to do that, but as for now I'm going through all the legal stuff and figuring out what I can and what I cannot so we'll see when it comes to that.

About the book you’re writing, what can you tell us about it? Will any of the characters we know appear in it?

I can tell you for sure it's not an easy thing to write :D most of the main characters from RC will appear in the book, we'll also have an LI who's one of our four. However, the events happen in different order, many of original ones are missing and some are added, as I'm no longer tied by the mechanics of the game and can concentrate on character development and... well... spicy stuff with no routes.

What was your first reaction after you see the reaction of fandom when they found FTF would be on 2 seasons only initially...???

I was stunned. It was my office day and when I went around greeting everyone, they were all like "HAVE YOU SEEN THE FANDOM?!". And all the words of kindness and love and support were just too much, it was very hard not to cry throughout the day. FTF wasn't 2 seasons initially, it was 3, it's just that it was shortened after an update or two. I was obliged by NDA to keep this secret, so by the time the fandom got the news I already grieved my share and fought for the book and made everything in my power for the story to live on, so the reaction was like a huuuuuge wave that just knocked me over and made me speechless.

Personal/writer questions:

What made you get into writing?

Vivid imagination and loneliness in a very young age, I think :D and... well... spicy content later on.

What do you like the most and least about writing?

The most is the feeling of reading a well-made scene and knowing you can do this and go beyond this tomorrow. The least favorite are the days when I'm reflecting over a resignation letter because it's easier that making myself write even one comprehensive line.

When you're writing a story, what is the first thing you figure out? Is it the plot, the world, the characters or something else?

It's a detail. Any detail, any scene or a joke or even a feeling. When writing FTF I first saw the dragon rising and a girl standing in front of him in awe and fear and determination. It's a beautiful scene and my heart wanted it so bad that it built a whole world around it.

Do you have any routine you do before starting writing?

(can I include crying here? No? Ok) I like to light a scented candle and very politely ask everyone to leave me the heck alone :D my dog is the only one allowed in the room)

From FTF, CY and Queen in 30 days which story did you feel you wrote the best in story wise and character wise?

FTF, definitely. It has a big idea, a lot of psychology and philosophy and researched put in, not even mentioning me grabbing every other writing course just to become an inch better.

If you could live as the MC in one RC story, who would you be and why?

Agatha in CY would be perfect. I mean... money, respect, all the beautiful people around you! Getting in FTF also could be cool, but... errr... not in the specific time period we're in now)

How did these stories come to your mind? Were you watching a suspense movie and thought a detective story would be a great idea? what about Q30D and FTF?

Q30D was one of the stories requested by YSI. There was a list of topics they needed and I just went through them, wrote a plot or two on each of them and we chose the best one) CY was a result of a crazy brainstorm which included ten cups of coffee and me trying to murder my colleague with a pillow :D FTF was a result of me listening to a song and reading The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Do you horse ride? I love Namtar. He's my favorite character in FTF.

I do dressage since I was 13. I'm 32 now and excluding all the times I tried to stop doing it, it still is a long time, so yeah, I agree with you on FTF horses being a new level of horse-love in RC :D

Queen in 30 days:

Did you originally plan for Leonard to be an LI or was that something that came about as you were writing the story?

Leo was created not as an LI, but as royal brother with no love scenes. But developing him and seeing the need for love he's in, I realized that it's going to be the biggest waste of this story if I didn't give him a route. Let's say, Leo won it with being such a tender badass.

Chasing You:

Eve really have tried to seduce Alexander after S2? Even if he is in a relationship with Agatha.

That was the original plan. Eve would try to seduce him, but he would brush her aside unless Agatha went on another LI route. Then he could've try to be with Eve, but by the end of the story they would break up, cause they're like aaaaaabsolutely incompatible

I read somewhere that Alexander's look from CY is based on a real life friend of yours. Does he know that millions of people find him very handsome? 😂

Not only he knows, but most of our friends know :D and he always gets shy when this is brought up, but I know he secretly enjoys it, just like Alex would ;)

How much time it took to write the finale of CY and was cruetly and mercy path were suppossed to have much effect on finale or it was always planned to have less effect on finale?

It took me about a month and about a third of it was code, not the text :") cruelty and mercy have played just the role I assigned them to, no less, no more.

If the main characters in Chasing You were mages in Tiamat, which elements would each of them be a master of?

I believe, Rachel would be earth, Sam and Elliah - air, Alex, Agatha - fire and Eve - water)

#romance club #the flower from tiamat's fire #chasing you #queen in 30 days #ftf #cy #q30d #long post #rc kingu #rc nikkal #rc niall #rc su

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itsthenovelteafactor · 3 years ago

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Fall of the House of Hargreeves

So I mentioned a while back in my Superhero Gothic meta that there were a number of parallels between the season one finale of The Umbrella Academy and the Edgar Allen Poe short story The Fall of the House of Usher and that I could probably write a whole meta on that if anyone was interested. Shout out and love to the anon who requested that I do that!

It’s been a minute since I’ve done one of these long form metas, but I am very excited to get back to writing about two of my favorite things: gothic literature and chaotic superheroes.

Part I: The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher (which I’ll call House of Usher for convenience for the rest of this meta) is a short story by Edgar Allen Poe first published in 1939. It is considered a classic gothic short story, and deals with themes of family, madness, inheritance, and isolation.

Since it’s in the public domain, I’ll go ahead and link a pdf to the story here. If you aren’t interested in reading, though, or just want a refresher, the story follows an unnamed narrator going to visit his ill friend, a man named Roderick Usher in his isolated (and very spooky) family estate. Upon arrival, he discovers that Roderick’s sister, Madeline Usher, is also ill, and has a tendency to fall into dreamlike trances.

Over the course of the visit, Roderick confesses to the narrator that not only does he believe the house is alive, but that it is connected to the fate of the family which, at this point, only includes Roderick and Madeline. He later comes and tells the narrator that Madeline has died, and enlists his help in order to bury her in the family tomb beneath the house. They do so, but for the next couple of days Roderick is suspiciously...on edge.

Then, one dark and stormy night, Roderick shows up in the narrator’s room incredibly worked up, and throws open the window, and starts low-key (read: high-key) having a breakdown. The narrator is unsure as to why until he hears ripping and tearing sounds coming from somewhere in the house. These ripping and tearing sounds are revealed to be Madeline whom Roderick and the narrator buried alive whose appearance scares Roderick to death, right before she collapses, also dead from the strain of tearing through the foundations of the house.

The narrator decides this would probably be a good time to leave and is very much right about that because as soon as he leaves, the house (which was already in pretty bad shape) splits in two and collapses into the lake surrounding it. The end.

Part II: Umbrella Academy as Gothic

So, there are probably a couple similarities between House of Usher and The Umbrella Academy season one that stand out right off the bat, but I’d like to start by taking a step back to talk about thematic parallels between the two works. If you’d like to read a very long winded explanation of why I consider The Umbrella Academy to be a modern gothic tale, I have a really long meta about it.

If not, here’s a quick overview:

Gothic does not have a clearly defined set of requirements as a genre, but its purpose is to explore the contradictions and the failing edifices of convention in a way that is dramatic and often fantastic.

Gothic fiction plays with reality, but usually in a way that is representative of the characters and story.

It often situates itself during times of great change, as there is something haunting about the irreversible passage of time, particularly for those that struggle to acknowledge it and hide behind conventions that have grown increasingly irrelevant.

Poe is considered one of the classic authors of gothic fiction (though the genre significantly predates him), and is decidedly one of the best well-known examples of it.

The Umbrella Academy is a family drama about former child superheroes dealing with their trauma while trying to prevent an apocalypse that their every move seems to set further in motion. It explores the messy and complicated relationships between siblings who have been abused and pit against each other for years. And yeah, it’s fun with great music and talking gorillas and dance sequences, but the premise is kind of hard for me to read as anything other than gothic.

Part III: Parallels

Like House of Usher, the first season of Umbrella Academy takes place in a massive, largely empty mansion where siblings gather with disastrous consequences. Both works explore a family that is past their prime and disconnected from the present. They also both explore the psychological toll of isolation, the consequences of tyrannical family rules, and why it is a really bad idea to lock your unstable sister in a basement and just leave her there.

Let’s start with some thematics parallels. Everyone in House of Usher is extremely isolated, and the absence of anything resembling the modern world amongst the house full of relics is part of the horror. All of the siblings in Umbrella Academy are defined by their isolation as well, physically (Luther, Five, and Ben), socially (Vanya, Diego, Klaus, and Allison), and emotionally (legit all of them). It is this isolation that drives the conflict of the story, feeding into every characters’ choices.

In both House of Usher and Umbrella Academy, the main characters are trapped in this isolated state as a direct result of their familial legacy. In House of Usher, the titular house is a character itself, a manifestations of the obligations Madeline and Roderick hold as members of an aristocratic family that is so far divorced from wealth and status that it keeps them from ever fully moving on and rejoining the real world. In Umbrella Academy, the characters are similarly trapped by their familial legacy, this time in the form of the specter of their abusive father, and the roles he created for them. Like the Usher siblings, the Hargreeves have no way of maintaining the roles their family left out for them – they were never given the tools to function in the real world and it cripples them – but are trapped in them regardless.

Part IV: The Woman* in White

*As of the time I am writing this, nothing has been said regarding Vanya’s gender identity being written to match Elliot Page’s. I am using she/her pronouns for Vanya, as that is what has been used for the character thus far.

Aside from thematic parallels, however, the most direct connection between the short story and series, and in fact the reason I was inspired to write this meta in the first place is the way both of the stories end: with a sister trapped beneath the house clawing her way out to face her brother(s and sister) and creating a disruption of the family legacy so great that the entire estate crumbles.

Madeline Usher is described at this point as wearing a white dress, strained with the injuries she sustained from physically breaking herself out of the basement tomb her brother buried her alive in. Vanya, of course, becomes at this moment the White Violin, and though she has not yet had the epic violin-music-so-powerful-it-changes-the-color-of-her-clothes scene, the principal still stands.

As characters, there are also a couple of noteworthy parallels between Vanya and Madeline. The narrator at one point describes “the illness of the lady Madeline had lone been beyond the help of her doctors. She seemed to care about nothing” (Poe, 27). The reader never knows what illness precisely is the cause of Madeline’s apparent madness, but we see the effects. It dulls her emotional responses to situations and leaves her withdrawn and powerless. Similarly, we learn over the course of the first season of The Umbrella Academy that the medication Reginald Hargreeves prescribed Vanya for her anxiety is actually a power suppressor for her abilities that has much the same effect – because they are strengthened by extreme emotion, the drugs numb Vanya’s emotional responses and deprive her of the ability to access her powers.

Additionally, the final scene of the story story shows Madeline escaping her tomb during a great storm and going to face her brother who put her there, the storm itself being a metaphor for her anguish that tears the house apart. Vanya’s connection to the destruction of the house is a bit more literal, but it is similarly a manifestation of her anguish and trauma. She sees flashbacks of her siblings being distant and rude to her in their childhoods and the anger she feels rips the foundation apart.

It is not entirely clear in the short story why Roderick buries Madeline alive – there are a lot of theories: he genuinely believed she was dead, he wanted her out of the picture, he himself was succumbing to the madness of the house, etc – but the guilt he feels for doing so manifests as him hearing her scraping her way out for several days preceding her escape. The justification for Vanya’s imprisonment is more clear in text, but the series of flashbacks make it clear that it is not just the imprisonment that has driven her over the edge. It it guilt for her sister, anger at her abusive upbringing that is much more easily directed at her siblings than her father, the newfound emotions experienced by being off her medication for the first time since childhood, Leonard’s manipulations, etc.

In both cases, amidst a spiral of emotions and experiences folding in on themselves, Vanya and Madeline experience a single, cold moment of clarity that drives them to escape, and it is that moment of clarity that breaks the shadow of the family legacy. They observe the situation as it stands and realize that it is completely unacceptable, and it is the realization that leads everything to crumble. Because gothic literature is focused on the complexities of maintaining that which is out of date, the realization that things must change can break the spell.

Part V: Conclusions

As per usual, I have no great theories on why this is or what it means. One of the reasons I love gothic literature is that it is rife with meaning that can be more easily felt than deciphered. I welcome any and all interpretations, theories, (politely worded) disagreements, and comments.

Thanks for taking the time to read; I have a lot of fun doing these. Enjoy spooky season, y’all. 💛

#The Umbrella Academy meta #TUA meta #The Umbrella Academy #TUA #The Fall of the House of Usher #House of Usher #Edgar Allen Poe #back here with the long metas on gothic literature and superhero tv #Vanya Hargreeves #Madeline Usher #happy spooky season y'all

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snkpolls · 4 years ago

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SnK Episode 64 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 227 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

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RATE THE EPISODE 218 Responses

As has been the trend, the episode received mostly positive reviews, with over 90% of respondents giving the episode a score of 4 or 5. Not too shabby for one of the most anticipated episodes of the season!

Absolutely loved it!

MAPPA's winning streak continues with a near perfect adaptation.

Epic as hell wonderful adaptation.

I was on the edge of my Seat the whole time, even tho I read the Manga. It was amazing.

Best cliffhanger yet

PHENOMENAL!! THE TENSION DIDN'T LET UP FOR A SECOND

I really liked the episode. People can criticize, but Mappa couldn't have done the episode in another way. They're doing an amazing job, the animation is beautiful, the musics are amazing

Fairly good 8/10

It was ok, would've preferred a better climax.

Almost perfect episode

I thought this episode was adapted incredibly well; I enjoyed it more than I did previous episodes. The opening theme still isn't working entirely for me, though.

Best episode of season 4 so far. Also, Rage Mode is back…

Most anticipated episode and Mappa 100% delivered. MAPPA GOAT

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 220 Responses

As expected, the cliffhanger of the episode was the most favored moment (with 40.5% of the vote) with Eren transforming during the declaration of war was finally brought to life. The subsequent favored moments all contained various partts of Eren and Reiner’s basement reunion.

Reiner ready to protect Falco over himself made me love him even more, this moment needs more spotlight

Eren and Reiner's voice actors really went out of their way this episode. Their performance was ✨phenomenal✨

Reiner is really well-done in this episode. They were really able to capture his inner torment, not to mention the voice acting is amazing.

WHICH INTERPRETATION (BY RBA) OF THE OLD MAN’S STORY DO YOU THINK IS CLOSEST TO WHAT THE MAN ACTUALLY THOUGHT? 217 Responses

At 56.7%, the majority believe Bertolt was correct in that the old man RBA spoke with wanted to be judged before his death. 23.5% agree with Reiner that there’s no way they’ll ever know, and only 19.8% agreed with Annie in that he wanted to be forgiven.

IN THE SAME VEIN, WHICH OF THE AFOREMENTIONED INTERPRETATION FITS REINER’S STATE OF MIND IN THE BASEMENT SCENE? 217 Responses

In that same vein, the majority (52.1%) also believes that Reiner wanted to receive judgement, perhaps from Eren. Just a little under 31% believe that in addition to receiving judgement, Reiner also wants to receive forgiveness. Few believe Reiner solely wants forgiveness. Finally, a little under 9% simply aren’t sure what Reiner wants.

He knows what he's done and he knows it's unforgivable so I think he just wants a release from it all

He is depressed, has PTSD, and feels tremendously guilty.

He wants to die for his sins, I don't think it's either for for forgiveness or judgement, but his own internal quilt..

He wants to be free (of this world) da guilt too much

He wants to be judged and killed

He wants to die

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET A HUG FROM PIECK? 219 Responses

An incredibly serious question with a lopsided result. Just under 84% would like to receive a hug from Pieck, in contrast to a miniscule percentage who’d rather not. 12.3% don’t really care about stuff like this.

DO YOU THINK HELOS ACTUALLY EXISTED? 217 Responses

The plurality (little under 42%) believe Helos was a complete fabrication, down to his very existence. Some others (26.7%) think he existed, but wasn’t anybody special or (17.5%) think he existed and was actually involved with ending the Great Titan War. A bit under 14% just don’t care.

“I’M THE SAME AS YOU.” EREN SAID THIS TO REINER A FEW TIMES IN THE EPISODE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? DO YOU THINK EITHER OF THEM HARBOR A GRUDGE AGAINST THE OTHER? 108 Responses

One of the episode’s (and the adapted chapters’) focuses is the meeting between Eren and Reiner, in addition to their general relationship. Many people seemed to give their thoughts on the central motif of the meeting, and whether either of them bear a grudge against the other:

yes and no- they’re both broken by what they’ve done (and will continue to do) to each other, and those feelings are as mixed as can be.

No, they understand each other, and the horrible acts they do is the result of seeking the best for the ones they love, in an unbearably cruel world they were born into

Probably not, from Reiner i think it's just a lot of remorse for what he did, as for Eren, he's probably beyond all of that.

They were forced to do what they had to do and both were ignorant as kids.

No grudges. And I think Eren believes he and Reiner are the same, and therefore that Reiner can understand what he is about to do and why. Eren didn't need to have this conversation with Reiner, and yet, he risked Reiner possibly interfering in his plan to talk to the one person he believes understands what he is about to do. Eren no longer believes his friends will understand his actions, which is why he did not confide in them, but he clings to the idea that Reiner will. However, I personally do not believe they are the same. Reiner's actions, while horrible, were those of a brainwashed child. Eren is an adult, about to set in motion genocide on a much larger scale. There is just no comparing it.

There's definitely animosity between them/they genuinely dislike each other from this point on. Last battle of Shiganshina Made it clear imo.

No, if circumstances were different, they would be best friends.

They share a lot of similarities, but it all comes down to the path they take by the end of the story. While Eren decided to commit mass genocide, Reiner is regreting his past actions and trying to save the world. I don't think they absolutely despise each other, they understand their struggles but both are ready to stop one another even if it means killing them in the process

Not sure. Reiner took Eren's family so not completely same-same trauma

Yes and no, feelings aren't particularly concrete between any two people ever. There are parts of Eren that still hate Reiner, and parts of Reiner that still hate Eren, but the same can be said of their comradery. Their relationship is pretty complex

No. Reiner doesn't hold a grudge for Eren because he is guilty. Eren doesn't hold a grudge towards Reiner because he also sees himself as a mass murderer.

Yes, Eren still wants to inflict pain on Reiner. He just claims that Reiner didn't care about his/his family's suffering either.

No, there are no hard feelings between them. Eren has forgiven Reiner since he has understood the current state of the Eldians and how Marleyans are ( they are humans just like him). But still, Eren will keep 'moving forward' and suffer from his actions like Reiner did (him talking Bertolt and Annie into breaking the outer wall and carrying the burden).

They both know it's inevitable. There is no other option.

Not consciously, at least: both of them came to understand the larger systems and powers at play, and both of them were manipulated as children by them

DO YOU THINK THAT EREN AND REINER ARE EFFECTIVE FOILS TO EACH OTHER? 215 Responses

The vast majority (88.4%) seem to agree with the notion of Reiner being a foil to Eren, be it a complete or partial foil. Some others dissent and argue that there’s no comparison.

They mirror each other, they have different reasons but they did the same things and had I believe very similar baseline motivations

I had learned that a foil is defined as a character who brings light to another character's traits or motivations through the contrast between the two. So if Eren and Reiner were foils to each other, then they would have had opposite personalities, as how foils are used. But Eren said 'I'm the same as you' and they do indeed share a lot of similarities. The only significant difference is that Reiner is at the point of giving up whereas Eren still keeps moving forward. So, no, they are not foils I believe.

I think they're more like tragic, star crossed lovers (minus any romance)

aren’t they parallels of each other? can they be foils and parallels of each other simultaneously? or i guess just don’t be know what either term means

SO, WAS THE DECLARATION OF WAR EVERYTHING YOU HOPED FOR? 219 Responses

Overall reception of the execution of the Declaration of War was positive, with 47% stating they were “quite pleased” with it, and another 33.8% barely being able to contain their hype at all. There are some who felt a little overwhelmed by it for one reason or another, stating it could have been better but also wasn’t bad. Others think MAPPA did the animation well but didn’t pair it with the right kind of music. A small percentage were just disappointed in it, period.

It was pretty much a 1:1 from the manga, so it was great.

Absolutely incredible, while the last music choice wasn't the best (it isn't a huge deal tho, it still fits), the rest of the episode was marvelous (direction, lighting, voice acting, music for most of it, animation) and managed to make justice to the manga chapters

i really don't care about the declaration so i wasn't hyped for it either way

It was great though music was a bit too triumphant for me (though ruined is way too strong)

I feel like such high expectations were held upon this chapter, so we're really critic about it. I would've liked a more intense music build up and manga-like animation of crushing the stage.

I loved the music choice throughout the episode, but for the declaration itself it could have been a bit more horrorish. Still loving it. No hate for the studio, they are doing great!

I wasn’t too happy about it at first but it’s grown on me so quickly that I think it’s well on its way to being my favorite episode out of the entire series.

The build up was amazing. Sure we hoped for more actions, but Mappa couldn't have organized the episode in another way. It was really well executed and the final scene simply left me breathless

It was perfect, but I'd have preferred having either the coordinate/attack on titan/S4 trailer theme playing but music choice didn't ruin at all the experience

BACK WHEN WILLY ACCUSED EREN OF WANTING TO INITIATE THE RUMBLING, DID YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT WAS EREN’S GOAL WHEN YOU READ THIS CHAPTER FOR THE FIRST TIME? 212 Responses

Are we still allowed to say “hindsight is 20/20?” The majority of the fandom had more faith in Eren back when these chapters were first published, with 25.5% saying they had a suspicion that he might, but didn’t want to accept that possibility and believed in the better of him. 19.3% felt that Willy was genuinely full of crap just for the sake of demonizing Paradis, and 14.6% felt that though the Rumbling would happen, Eren wouldn’t be the one at fault. On the flipside, a smaller amount of voters fully saw this coming, with 14.6% believing this to have been Eren’s goal, but with the hope that he wouldn’t make it a reality, and 11.8% now having the pleasure of saying, “I told you so.”

At the time i just thought it was willy's assumption he used to get the other nations to side with his agenda

I cannot even remember what I thought... too long ago

I didn’t think the rumbling was gonna happen at all, actually.

When I read the chapter the rumbling had happened

I already knew the Rumbling would happen before I read the chapter, so I don't have an opinion on this other than Willy ended up being right, even if it's only because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I sadly had that plot point spoiled :(

At this point, I genuinely did not think the Rumbling would happen at all.

I thought that Willy and Eren were playing along for the sake of "common enemy - unites the world". With sacrifice on both ends.

WE’VE GOTTEN A SNEAK PEAK OF YELENA IN THIS EPISODE. NOT SO MUCH THE DESIGN, BUT MORE SO THE VOICE. IT’S QUITE LOW. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? 217 Responses

When it comes to Yelena’a introduction, it’s about as mysterious as it was in the manga. The difference however is the inclusion of a voice. The reception came out to be overwhelmingly positive, with people deeming it fitting, sexy and cool (in that order). Some others (24%) thought that it was as low as it was now only because she was imitating a soldier. Just a little over 10% simply didn’t care.

I assume it's low right now because she knows Pieck will recognize her, but also Yelena could sound like a literal elephant and I'd still want her crazy beautiful ass to step on me

I didn't hear it well.

Reminds me of the voice actors in Claymore. It was perfect.

ANNIE STILL HASN’T REUNITED WITH HER FATHER, DO YOU THINK SHE EVER WILL? 217 Responses

In spite of both Annie and her father coming back to the forefront in recent manga chapters, they still haven’t been reunited. A plurality believes that they will. Just under a third thinks that it’s a possibility. Finally, a little over 20% don’t think that the meeting will happen.

THE NOTABLY IMPORTANT SCENE BETWEEN WILLY AND MAGATH RIDING IN THE CARRIAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 100 IS MISSING IN THIS EPISODE. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO IT? 214 Responses

When it comes to the rather important scene between Willy and Magath and its lack of inclusion in this episode, most people (57.9%) came out thinking that the next episode will open up on that exact scene before transitioning into Willy’s death. Some others believe that it’ll instead be shown either sometime in the next episode or just before the arc ends. On the flip side, 20.6% believe that the scene was simply cut and that’s that.

Either it's completely cut or will appear in a flashback again

Has to be shown at the start of episode 6 otherwise that's a colossal fuck up on Mappa's part and will affect how I view this episode

Much of it was implied through the fear on Willy’s face the whole episode.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM - THE MUSIC. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CHOICE AT THE END OF THE EPISODE? 218 Responses

The music choice for the climax of the episode wound up being very controversial, as many had different expectations than what MAPPA’s final product delivered to us. Though, it seems that overall the majority weren’t bothered at all by the music direction. 28% felt that it worked well with the scene, 22.9% very much enjoyed the music direction. 17% didn’t even notice the music much, being more immersed in the animation and overall development. Some felt let down, but realized in hindsight that maybe they expected too much for certain tracks (new and old) to be utilized. The rest either don’t care about the music or were massively let down by the execution overall.

It felt like Tyburs orchestra was playing them throughout the episode. It felt immersive.

Dude it was bloody brilliant, what's everyone on about?

Not a let down, but I found it kinda funny that they chose that one. It seemed too... intense, upbeat, I'd say. Though if I was an anime-only I probably wouldn't care, because I wouldn't know what Eren was really gonna do.

I imagined *that track* behind this scene since reading ch 100 years ago so it was weird to hear different music, but as I rewatched the ep a couple of times I changed my opinion: the music they used fits just as well.

What I cared about most was proper execution of the scene, not the music. They could have used no music at all for all I care. I seriously can't believe some "fans" were so bitter about them not using YouSeeBigGirl for the declaration of war that they personally attacked the director and made him feel bad. Have we already forgotten that if it wasn't for MAPPA, we wouldn't be getting a season 4 at all?! The ungratefulness and toxic criticism is something else, man.

I was waiting for intense music, I didn't care which, but I was let down by the lack of intensivity build-up for me.

My month is ruined

It could've been better, but fuck the assholes who harassed the director over it.

During the whole speech it was just perfect, you can really feel that growing tension. End music could be better though

If they had just synced up 2volts explosive chorus right as Eren busts through the building in his titan form, then I think it would've worked out so much better. But yeah, I think I just over anticipated a different OST for the scene. Overall, it's okay.

It was ok, an 8/10 choice of music

While watching I was so focused on what was happening that I didn't even notice the music so when I saw the complaints I was shocked. Keeping that moment low key until the very end with no musical signals of what was to come was perfect! Anime audiences (you know, the people this is actually for) were completely caught off guard by Eren's transformation. They legit thought Eren was befriending Reiner in that moment by lending him a hand. Having musical cues would've ruined it.

WHEN WILLY TYBUR NOTED THAT HE WISHED FOR THE EXTINCTION OF ALL ELDIANS, THE MANGA SHOWCASED A PANEL OF ZEKE, FORESHADOWING HIS ULTIMATE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE. IN THE ANIME, THIS IS JUXTAPOSED WITH REINER’S SUICIDAL PLEAS. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CHANGE? 213 Responses

MAPPA seems to be keeping the audience even more in the dark about Zeke’s motivations than Isayama himself did in the manga… by excluding just about everything hinting at him having any motivations other than pure loyalty to Marley. In episode 64, the opted to juxtapose Willy’s speech with Reiner and Eren, leaving Zeke out of the equation. 43.2% overall were disappointed in this decision, with 24.9% feeling let down by the lack of foreshadowing of Zeke’s plan, and the other 18.3% feeling saddened by the lack of narrative contrast between the Yeager Brothers. 17.4% are hopeful for some anime-only foreshadowing.

i don’t really care about the juxtapositioning because i think the average anime only would not pick it up. but i am disappointed that the scenes that made zeke more enigmatic and suspicious were cut

Didn't even notice

I never noticed this detail in the manga, but i feel like it was better being left out to keep it as a secret.

I found it to be an effective way to make Zeke's motives even more mysterious. I also didn't mind the scene being juxtaposed with Reiner's scene because it serves as a reminder of Reiner's guilt and brainwashing from the past. Both of these things have torn him apart mentally.

It works either way for different reasons

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 218 Responses

The majority (52.3%) were most looking forward to Eren’s fight with the War Hammer Titan. 19.3% were hyped for Eren’s initial emergence from his titan form during the fight. 9.6% were looking forward to the Survey Corps throwing Pieck and Porco off guard, 8.3% were looking forward to Eren’s assault on the military and the remainder were looking forward to seeing Udo and Zofia die. Magath got a very tiny sliver of the pie.

Can't wait to watch Eren giving them the deaths they deserve again

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

I felt tense most of the time, just like when I was watching most episodes of s3 pt. 2 :')

The suspense truly killed me!!! Even tho I knew what was to come!

....I just want to know if miss tybur gets a goddamn given name already... but considering how long it took for us to get “Pieck Finger”? Dx

I likes the addition of the marley soilders approaching where eren and reiner were talking, it gave it an extra bit of intensity.

Was on the edge of my seat for the entire episode despite knowing what would happen. The VA's also delivered some of the best performances of the entire series so far.

I absolutely loved the whole episode, the overall atmosphere, the tension building during the speech, and of course the soundtrack was excellent imo, I was not even expecting YSBG myself as I don't watch SoulMadness' videos, so in my mind that scene played out to some botched mental version of Counter Attack Mankind instead... :P

I may have known what was happening... But the music made it so much better and intense.

Also I wholeheartedly believe those professional and experienced directors know better than randoms on the internet who never directed anything. I never thought such a thing could be so controversial. :) - Ryuuhime (I lurk on reddit but almost never post)

Amazing aside from the ost at the end and the lack of direction for the transformation

We should thank Mappa for the amazing job thus far!

Intense. Somehow even more intense than the manga at times.

People really need to shut the fuck up and just be grateful that such an amazing studio is giving us what we never thought we’d see in a thousand years. Mappa has been going above and beyond to give us a great season and so far it’s taken the top spot of my favorite season, knocking Season 2 down to my second favorite. The voice acting, the added scenes, the directing, the animation, the character designs, I’m just grateful we’re finally seeing all of these things in the quality we haven’t gotten since Season 2. Bless Mappa 💖💖💖

Okay I'm kind of hoping we'll get the big panel of Eren emerging in the next episode cause that was pretty sick, but s4 is looking awesome so far and I think MAPPA is doing as well as they can- and exceeding expectations IMO considering WIT did so well and we all thought whoever took up SnK was gonna flop.

Fantastic adaptation. There was a lot to love. People need to calm down about the ost.

It was rushed and lost some of its impact from the manga, but it was an otherwise excellent piece of anime storytelling when detached from the manga experience.

Isayama probably got a say in the play's direction. It was amazing.

I genuinely enjoyed watching this episode! I don't really understand all the hate towards it.

Overall, phenomenal and everything I had wanted it to be.

AMAZING Episode. Wished for a better ost at the end but the current anime version is growing on me

Very well done, the next one's gonna be fire! 🔥😎

talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it.

Not as strong of an adaption as other episodes, but great because the source is great.

I was so hyped for the declaration of war that I forgot that most of the episode would be dialogue. A LOT of it. Uyy. Next episode will be better.

The songs are very important on a scene, but i don't think that justifies hating on the anime just for that, the episode was great, and Mappa is doing just fine.

It pisses me off how ungrateful this fandom can be. I'm not saying we cant criticise, because that's important and valid. But seeing a vocal minority, harass the director over a song choice (which had been well made, 2Volt was great for the moment as well as the OST throughout the episode) to the point where he locked his twitter account just takes it too far. People should remember that the Anime is made for anime onlies in the first place, and I have seen VERY few anime watchers complain about the episode, next to none, actually. It's always some of the Manga readers. We literally got a perfect episode, what else do you demand? Without Mappa we wouldn't have AOT. I'm just happy we finally get the story animated.

Pretty good overall. It felt really well paced compared to the previous episodes that seemed hella rushed to me. I understand the music complaints, but otherwise a good episode :)

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 199 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again next episode!

#snk poll #snk polls #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot #snk spoilers #snk s4

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penhive · 3 years ago

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Notes Upon an Imaginary Book

The book is a soul’s sojourn with the tryst of destiny. The book is a positive ray of hope. The book is a novelette of a dying opera. The book is destiny’s magic talisman. The book lives with the hope of future. The book is a phantasmal mirth of joy. The book is an elixir of prose. The book gambles with the vein of hope. The book is Prospero Prometheus seek new pastures of prosperity. The book is the veins charisma of morn’s dew. The book is raw musk of love’s passion. The book is a meditation of thought. The book is metaphor of thought. The book loves music. The book is a fiesta of joy. The book lives in Epicurean Nirvana. The book is the song of hope. The book loves twilight robes of the sun blazoned in reddish, pink, purple and orange hues. The book is a fiction of art. The book is a language of music. The book draws upon the nature and the mystery of life into a fictional caricature. The book is Karma, the paradox of making choices. The book contradicts Sartre’s and Camus philosophy that life is meaningless, purposeless and chaotic, monotonous and repetitive. The book builds the philosophy of existentialism on the foundation of love. For the book existentialism is the preciousness of life and the meaning of existence lies in the celebration of life. Life is a free gift of preciousness from God the creator. For the book the meaning of life is a cathartic process of affirmation and negation. The book’s philosophy of existentialism is preciousness and the given gift of God and the meaning of existence is celebration of life. Life unlike Camus Sisyphus is not prone to being a repetitive task of rolling a boulder uphill only to find that it has rolled down again. The book’s philosophy of existentialism lies in processual ontology. The creation of meaning is the celebration of life. The book is passionate to answer the meaning of literature. Yes, what is literature? Literature is the creation of beautiful artifacts. True literature stems from the watching of nature. The teacher nature is a great artist. Yes, for the book the cry of a wandering bird, the caress of colours of twilight, the tumultuous rolling of waves, the garden of blossomed flowers, the walk with the nature all are innate experiences of aesthetics. Literature is also the poetry of bed and the pleasures of the bed are the fondest forms of music. The book believes in the positive affirmation of existentialism. The book has become fascinated with Derrida’s deconstruction and in it, deconstruction is the critical reading of literature as privilege and margins. From Derrida’s deconstruction, the book has coined the term Binary fusion from Derrida’s binary divide. Binary fusion is a text that does not marginalize of privilege anyone. For example, Jazz as a music as been given by the blacks to the world and it’s a privilege of gift of love given to the world by the blacks. So also, is rap and hip-hop. Christian philosophy of love, the gift given by the creator Christ is a synthesis of binary fusion. So also, is Ahimsa, the philosophy propounded by the saint Mahatma Gandhi. And Gandhi’s ahimsa is an example of binary fusion. So also, is Nelson Mandela’s struggle against apartheid. Binary Fusion in a text is a text that does not privilege nor marginalize anyone. The book is fascinated with Plato’ theory of forms also known as the Allegory of the cave. There is a dark cave and in it, men are groping for light and a shaft of light is emanating from the outside. What Plato meant was beyond the sensible world there is an ideal transcendental world. The book is addicted to the love of Christian Pacificism. Christ has been the greatest gift of mankind, a man who has not done any crime but sentenced for crucifixion and through which he paid the price of man’s sins and thereby giving the guarantee of eternal life. The book has placed love, hope and faith and trust, Christ the eternal. The book is a fictional self of existence coming into being. What is a fictional self, the book asks? The book is fascinated by Borgesian labyrinths, the streams of consciousness of James Joyce, the existentialism of Camus and Sartre. The book wonders at the origin of consciousness. The book is a cosmic jungle of words. What is the fictional self of the book? It is the many women that the book has loved, the many places that the book has visited, the clove cigarettes of Indonesia, the boose and the weed that the book has taken. The book is a lover of hope. The book is a passionate dream of poetry. The book is grateful to his father who has initiated him to the love of philosophy, art and music. The book is also grateful to his mother for having spawned the love of literature in him. The book is a narratology of hope. The book is grateful to the philosopher Foucault for the archaeology of knowledge. The book writes fiction in the manner of Picasso churning out his cubes. The book is a rendition of Picasso abstracts. The book is also a surreal manifesto akin the Dali’s persistence of memory. The book feels excited at the streams of consciousness of James Joyce. The literature of the book is one of poetic epiphany. The book is an epic of prose. The book is a carnival of rhythms of prose. The book renders poetic justice to words. The book is a consciousness of a carnival. The book seeks to merge the fictional self with the real self. The book is a dialogic interaction of many texts. The book seeks to weave yarn with the magic realism of prose. The book seeks a better world to live in. The book is a texture of phantasmal mirth. The book is fascinated with the wisdom of king Solomon. The book seeks the bright world of hope. The book is a mystery to fathom. The book is a dialogic interaction of many texts. The book loves the Philosophy of Roland Barthes and in it the studium and the punctum. The studium is the cultural, linguistic and political interpretation of the photography whereas the punctum is the literal meaning of the photograph. Let’s take an example of Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March. The punctum meaning of the Gandhian March is a man adorned in loin clothes marching to the sea. The studium meaning is that the march was political and it was an attempt to make salt out of the sea in protest against the harsh salt taxes and laws made by the ferocious British colonialistṣ. The book is the bed of the poetry of the passion. The book loves to ecstasy in the poetic orifices with love. The book is the singing of psalms. The book is fascinated with Hegel’s thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The book would like to cite an example of it. Post World War 1 Germany was humiliated with the treaty of Versailles and that’s thesis and then this resulted in the rise of Hitler and that’s antithesis and this led to the second World War which becomes the synthesis. The book is a labyrinthian meander. The book is pellucid and mellifluous prose. The book lies submerged under many texts. The book stems from being to a becoming. The book has been made in the image of God. The book loves patience and kindness. The book is the earth of humility. The book is an oasis of passion. The book is a totem of inscriptions. The book is an enigma to solve. The book seeks interpretations of meaning. The book is the song of the bird. The book is a full moon bloom. The book is an ecstasy of a blossomed flower. The book is sentience gratified. The book is sapiential metaphor. The book is a store-house of emotion. The book is passion exemplified. The book is fascinated with the philosopher Julia Kristeva’s semiotic and the symbolic texts. For Kristeva, the semiotic text is a one that lacks grammar and punctuation and it is a text of streams of consciousness narratives, dance and music. The symbolic text is the one in which traditional rules of grammar and punctuation apply. For example, medicinal and legal texts are symbolic textṣ. Some texts are a merger of semiotic and symbolic elements. The book is a poetry of music. The book is an ocean of hope. The book lives with the life of meaning. The book is a meander of prose. The book is a tissue of quotations. The book is seasonal and cyclical. The book is words of music. The book is a musk of elevation. The book synchronises the rhythms of nature. The book is an erotica of poetry. The book feels guilty of having done adultery. The book is ashamed and guilt ridden. Adultery for the book was a marvel of songs. The book seeks forgiveness from sins. The book is a voyage of Sinbad the sailor. The book questions Freud with the circumcision complex. Circumcision complex is the coming to maturity. The book asks the question to Freud about how a person can desire the father or the mother. The book is a corpse of circumlocution. The book is fantasy edified. The book is a seed that has scattered semen in many orifices.

#Notes upon an Imaginary Book #Art #Aesthetics #Literature #Drabble #Flash Fiction

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norahastuff · 5 years ago

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Damn this season man. I mean I’ve been loving all of it, but this last stretch of episodes from 15x08 till now has been particularly epic.

I’m going to start with how satisfying it is to see Dean’s growth so far this season. Dean’s always felt that he had to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. No matter how much he talked about how it was him and Sam against the world, or how many times he told Cas they were in it together, at the end of the day he’s always felt the responsibility would always fall on him and him alone. He had to take care of everyone.

But Dean’s growing this season. We saw that just a couple episodes ago with his confession to Cas. He acknowledges his tendency to cling to anger, almost like a life preserver, to stop himself from being overwhelmed by pain and helplessness. His reasons for using anger as a coping mechanism are complex and multi faceted, but one of the main ones was that he had to be the strong one. Everything would ultimately be his responsibility, so he could never afford to fall apart. First his father gave him the responsibility for taking care of Sam, made sure it was ingrained in him that that was his role. Then came the archangels. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that conversation between Dean and Cas in the hospital room at the end of 4x16 when Dean just falls apart because he can’t handle the new role he’s been given; the role of The Righteous Man.

And who can forget Chuck? Back in season 11 Chuck told Dean he was instrumental to the survival of the universe, he called him “the firewall between light and darkness.” That is some kind of burden to put on any one human’s shoulders.

You know what’s interesting about all those things Dean was told? They weren’t true - at least not the whole truth in any case. John’s orders to take care of Sam also had the hidden caveat of maybe having to kill him. The archangels dubbing him The Righteous Man...well we know how much deceit and manipulation was going on there. And Chuck placing the universe in Dean’s hands, was just another way for him to avoid the consequences of his own choices and continue playing with his favourite characters from a distance. Fortuna even says as much in this episode.

Chuck was annoyed that humans, his creations, weren’t behaving the way he wanted - they chose to worship things other than him. Then he realised he could use this to his advantage and create gods as a way to distract them and draw their attention and rage away from him. Chuck really hasn’t changed his M.O. since the dawn of time.

Anyway to get back to Dean, that belief that it’s all on him is changing. In 15x09 we saw him trust Sam’s judgement on how best to handle Chuck. He acts similarly with Cas. The catalyst for the big “domestic dispute” to quote Jensen (though personally I’d call it a cosmic dispute - it took travelling to a different plane of existence, facing primordial beings and good old fashioned praying for them to start to listen to each other again) was Cas still wanting to help Jack after everything that went down.

And yet now, Jack returns from the great beyond and Dean looks to Cas for the confirmation that everything is ok. He hears that Jack’s been eating Grigori hearts and that Cas let him, and he doesn’t even need an explanation from him. He trusts Cas’ judgement. No question about it.

And that’s how they’re going to win. They’re going to choose not to play Chuck’s game of infighting and drama. They’re going to trust each other and come together. How many times in the past have we heard Sam and Dean say “We don’t have friends. All our friends are dead.” We saw how bad things got in Chuck’s AU stories when they were alone. How broken Dean was about losing their friends. About losing Cas.

It’s what Chuck wants, Sam and Dean alone, because it’s not enough to beat him. He hasn’t considered that they’re not alone. They’ve got allies, friends, family. They have hope.

Some other random thoughts:

Cas is back, facing yet another Grigori (the last one left maybe? I didn’t quite catch that) to save someone he considers his kid. Though honestly his role of father is a lot less complicated with Jack than it ever was with Claire. Jack and Cas have considered each other father and son from the very beginning, and whatever else went down, neither of them have ever wavered on that. Although there were glimmers of a parent/child thing with Cas and Claire, there was too much guilt, pain and history for either of them to truly be able to be that for each other. It’s why as much as I wish we’d gotten another Cas and Claire interaction, I can understand why it never happened. She did keep the Grumpy Cat he got her from the Hot Topical though!

I was going to say I love how Sam has no more fucks left to give but that’s not really true at all. He cares a lot, maybe more than ever, about the important things like saving the people, beating God, checking in with Cas and Eileen etc. But he genuinely has no more patience when it comes to Dean and his nonsense and it is glorious to see. He’s just straight up calling him out on all his bull. Last week it was about how everybody, including Dean, is well aware of how Cas looks at Dean, and that Sam knows that Dean knows it too.

He continues his sassy streak this week with this gem:

Dean: Man, I've been slinging pool cues since before you were born.

Sam: What? When you were 4? Really? What, between nap time and snack?

I love him so much.

#15x11 #spn meta #spn #my spn thoughts #Destiel #dean r.m.h.f. winchester #sam you beautiful moose #oh cas #spn s15 spoilers #supernatural

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smalltragedy · 4 years ago

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* brigette lundy-paine, nonbinary + they/them | you know kirby wormwood, right? they’re twenty five, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, two weeks? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to ring ring by mika like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole balancing acts at perilous heights destined to entertain, jack of all trades master of none, refusal to accept the mortal world as it is thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is december 1st, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( james, 21, est, they/them )

hllo welcome 2 my third character i love them a lot theyre a. remake of an older oc of mine so this is fun <3 sdfhk anyways once again i am asking u. pleathe like if u wld like to plot.

ARSON TW

mini playlist.

wizard ;; lucas lex / ring ring ;; mika / crows ;; clues / sunrise sunset ;; bright eyes / la llorona ;; beirut / no children ;; the mountain goats / might be love ;; the pesky snakes / sax in the city ;; let’s eat grandma.

statistics.

full name: kirby wormwood (currently).

nickname(s): magpie.

birthday: december 1st, 1995.

zodiac: sagittarius sun, aries moon, libra ascending.

mbti & temperament: estp & improvisor / sanguine.

label: the hellion.

hometown: abilene, texas.

sexuality: bisexual.

pinterest.

biography.

alright lets get right into it. kirby ws switched at birth. they cld’ve hd a very like. picket fence trampoline in the backyard. 4 columns cos its texas n it feels right. bt instead they were chosen <3 somewhat unintentionally <3 by dorothea n fawley wormwood, two traveling circus workers who emergency stopped in abilene.

n u know what. growing up in st. pierre’s traveling circus ws kinda fkn awesome? like ok. besides the fact tht they were homeschooled fr like evr n there were a sparing amt of children 2 socialize with? it ws p cool idk.

it ws kinda like everybody ws their parent n also not at all bc they were all very casual. bt they grew up learning hw 2 maintain the circus (n also like. normal school thingz bt i dnt think kirby hs ever cared abt school like ever) n whenever they hd a show kirby wld facepaint or handle tickets until they were old enough 2 start learning like. the Real fun things.

fawley hd a lot of his own weird odd little like superstitions n beliefs n practically raised kirby on them like n they dnt rly <3 make a lot of sense. lots of made up philosophy. very much like. nothing defines u. u cn b anything or anyone. n kirby ws like ok cool. n then developed a god complex.

names didnt rly stick 2 kirby when they were a kid like. nothing satisfied them or felt worthy fr them or simply they just. got tired of a name. this isnt related 2 them being nonbinary BUT it did help ease some of the. pressure of exploring gender identity. theyve only hd one name tht stuck genuinely n tht ws magpie n. thts bc everybody hd their own bird name n it felt very. like community. like a role. usually the names they used during performances bt. anyways KFHDSGLKKHL

theyre Kirby bt answers 2 most. neutral nouns.

honestly. they were also a rascal as a youth. ws like. oh. i learned sleight of hand? cool. time 2 pick pockets. wld throw popcorn into the hair of other kids n b like. omggg what was that ... became a mime fr a year. it ws a rigorous training.

now a master of charades. bt anyways. they traveled pretty much weekly, maybe bimonthly n sometimes just pure monthly. there wsn’t an off season fr them, when the colder months came they’d travel south and when summer rolled in they’d go right back up again. it ws easy to switch personas almost daily n just. never reveal ur true self. totally not saying tht’s what kirby did bt thts what they did. it nvr made them lose sight of themselves it ws more like. acting. tricking ppl fr fun.

anyways all good things come 2 an end and when kirby ws like. 18. they were like hey ur old enough that we cn trust u with fire. we think. n they started 2 learn fire-throwing n like. they were ok at it bt lessons were painfully slow n kirby ws like. i wld b so good at this if i cld do it all the time. n it ws like. hey kirby, chill. u already know a lot of things.

arson tw // u see where this is going. tents are kind of flammable. kirby ws unsupervised. bad decisions all around. circus is aflame. all the animals n all the circus workers got out fine bt like. st. pierre’s ws efficiently out of business. arson end of tw //

n kirby fkn booked it they just. ran. pure fear. nvr looked back which is like super traitorous of them 2 do bt. sometimes they meet up in secret like. sunglasses n all at a coffee shop. not all of them just like. fawley or someone else. theyre like. ur family u cld burn down a thousand circuses n we’d still love u. n kirby is like yeah i know bt i’ve rly committed to the bit now. n they dnt reunite.

anyways. since then kirby hs just been. a traveler. nvr rly staying anywhere fr super long n driving around in their shitty little van tht’d been used as housing back at st. pierre’s.

they’re in irving n theyve been there fr almost. suspiciously long. compared 2 their average stays. when asked abt what they do or why theyre there theyll just. give a vague answer or spin a long tale tht usually involves a burning circus.

theyre staying at uh. abernathy creek rn bc of course they r they fit in so naturally. welcomed with wide arms. might b soul searching rn might b on the hunt fr their birth parents might b just vibing ... whose to say ..

personality & facts.

has a Big personality tht attracts others fr better or fr worse. either super likeable or the most despicable person on the earth. no in betweens. n honestly tht is a talent in itself

has no off button is constantly. spinning tales or performing a dance or getting kicked out of bars fr whatever nonsense reason.

honestly they prob think tht nothing bad cn ever happen to them even tho like. bad has literally happened 2 them before? love the optimism here. KLFGDLKFSDHGF

acts a bit like u’ve known them fr ur entire life they r oddly warm in tht way bt they themself r so distant tht its like. oh nice ok ...

both honest n yet dishonest like. yes they will hustle u out of ur money bt they will also tell u their opinion straight up.

probably smart bt they r just like. prime thembo? flowy pirate shirts n cropped tshirts n pants tht r never tight. dresses like they do still work n live at a circus.

likes 2 instigate things between others n then stand back n just watch it happen while taking like zero accountability. loves a good small town drama. avid milf hunter.

does not hv any faith in the american healthcare system at all n will straight up refuse 2 go 2 a hospital if they get hurt theyre like. i cn do it myself im like practically a professional. they r not a professional.

bt does hv like. a thing abt apples. fkn loves them.

uuuhhh cn play instruments bt all very badly. only knows one (1) song tht isnt made up n its wonderwall by oasis. they play it at parties. they expect fr tomatoes to b thrown at them at any given time.

very nimble. agile. granted its frm. learning circus tricks frm a baby age bt they hv impeccable balance n cn sneak up behind anyone without a single noise. uses this 2 their advantage in order 2 scare ppl. chaotic neutral.

loves having the attention on them i wont fk around here. will go to drastic measures to accomplish receiving it. my other muses r capable of taking things srsly bt kirby just. is not. they do not take a single thing srsly they barely even took. st. pierre’s destruction srsly n they caused it. maybe.

likes being able to just. be unknown so the amt tht ppl know abt them is actually very. little. i dnt think they even tell others their last name. sometimes not even their first. just hs so many aliases n nicknames. i know i didnt list any bt thts simply bc Any cld.

probably acts out to compensate fr the. underlying guilt they hv bt thts okay. i mean it isnt bt.

will probably show up if u call them fr help bt they lose interest in people p quickly n r always moving onto the next shiniest person. bt when they do they give them like. all their attention. if u wrong them in this period they will just. ignore it. bt when theyre bored then its like. u werent even friends at all? very odd.

perhaps it is commitment issues bt <3 ya. thts them. they do not claim favorite colors or movies or. most interests. probably bc theyre very very disconnected frm pop culture i think they learn everything thru twitter n google.

i wld not call them a good person bt i also dnt think theyre like evil horrible nasty awful they just. think abt themself a lot more than they think abt others n also refuses to face consequences ever and also .. anyways.

wanted plots.

part of the bird’s nest ;; honorary bird honorary circus member. u hv to be very well regarded by kirby to earn a bird name bt i feel like tht doesnt feel like a lot considering theyve only been here fr like. two weeks KDGDSHKGK. the catch is tht u cn only refer 2 them as magpie frm then forward.

hand in unlovable hand ;; theres comfort in being terrible ppl together n it may not last bt it doesnt hv to anyways. its just them n the like. vibes. n knowing tht its smth thts nvr gna b long term. cld b anything ur character just hs to be also a little evil. KHDSGFDS

one jester ... wht abt ... TWO jesters .. ;; hoo boy. ooh man. unstoppable force and immovable object combine forces n just become. the worst of the worst. ultimate jokesters. epic pranksters. absolute clowns. chaotic energy unmatched. always nonsense.

n also ;; ppl they’ve stolen frm, ppl who hv caught them in that act, ppl who’ve maybe seen them in the circus a very long time ago, Found Family Trope, real family shenanigans, kirby just asking everybody if theyre their dad., mortal enemies if they see each other its an instant duel 2 the death, etc.

#( kirby wormwood. ) about. / sunrise sunset.#irvingintro #arson tw

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