#there's definitely some culture shock attached but ultimately it's a case of him not being so different from Akari

[franstastic-ideas]

This is a highly personal opinion of mine, so feel free to ignore this if you disagree with it (please), but...

I really do wish that Volo's title of 'Wielder' would ultimately turn out to not be as big of an issue as it may seem on the surface. During my first playthrough of LA, my belief was Wielder is simply an old world term from his Celestican background that is more or less the equivalent of Trainer.

The fact Volo also refers to the protagonist as a Wielder supported this belief in my mind. I loved that, because it felt like he was sharing a piece of his culture in that moment. He actually wasn't so different. Perhaps the Celesticans did see their Pokémon as weapons as well, but can someone not sincerely love their weapon? Can Volo not love his Togekiss as Link does the Master Sword??

Also again, this opinion is highly personal, but... this word, Wielder, that is implied to be from Volo's culture, which is established as being important to him, being framed as primitive and wrong in comparison to the modern Trainer when Volo clearly loves his Togepi, I can't help but feel that has some... unfortunate connotations.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Some Riven x Musa x Layla Headcanons

That Just Won’t Leave Me Alone

I accidentally developed the idea of this OT3 a while ago and the feels hit me today so I decided to write out some headcanons. They are not “explicitly” together by the end of it as I did it more in a way that would have been possible to portray on the show as well. But you can fill in the more overt parts for yourselves. ;)

- Layla and Riven stay up all night watching over Nabu’s grave after his funeral. They aren’t exactly sure why they do that, both of them hoping that it will all turn out to be a nightmare and he’ll come back but both of them knowing that that is a foolish hope to voice so they just stay behind after everyone else has left and spend the night there in silence.

- The two of them have several nights over the summer where they will just get together and drink themselves into a stupor. Neither of them wants to talk about it so the other is the perfect company in which to drown their sorrow. Musa is getting worried about them but once Tritannus happens, they stop their drinking routine because they need to have their heads in the game.

- That seems to have a negative effect, however, since they are both more irate and antsy after losing their grief outlet. Layla has her family to worry about now that Tritannus is threatening them all and Riven is worried about both Musa and Layla (and the other Winx but his focus is more on the two of them) because they are constantly exposed to danger. Layla doesn’t mind (unlike with Roy) because she knows what feelings Riven is putting into his protective actions. She would give anything to be able to protect her family and her planet as well as the rest of the universe from Tritannus and she can use his help as well as that of the rest of her friends.

- Musa makes them both playlists that reflect on their relationships with Nabu to help them get through it and show her support. She is dragged back into her own feelings of loss over her mother’s death and she understands how hard it is on them. It is hard on her, too, and she wants to help but talking just doesn’t feel like an option so she turns to music instead. Riven almost destroys the whole dorm room while listening to the playlist but it helps him get out his feelings. Layla cries herself to sleep for weeks on end while listening to the songs but they do have a therapeutic effect on her and make it a little easier to hold herself together when she is hit with a bout of grief over something little someone says or does that reminds her of Nabu.

- The three of them spar together whenever they have time. Winx are busy with the Sirenix Quest but Layla and Riven both get frantic if they have to spend a day without intense physical activity so they find the time to spar together even if it is in the middle of the night. Musa sticks with them, mostly to help bring them both down and ground them in a more peaceful atmosphere once they are done. They don’t hold back while sparring but neither of them has hurt the other seriously despite that and they all agree that those sessions are both productive and relaxing for them.

- The first time he meets Roy, Riven grabs him while no one is looking and threatens him to leave Layla alone until she has processed everything and grieved Nabu properly at the very least unless he wants to disappear forever. Layla told Riven about Roy being sent by her father to protect her and how it made her feel (she understands her father’s concerns but she hates being treated like she’s fragile and Roy’s apparent fascination with her doesn’t help). Roy backs off after that on the romantic front but still tries to get to know Layla - and Riven - and he actually starts finding his place in the group.

- Riven turns to Layla when he wants to write and compose a song for Musa to show his appreciation for everything she’s been doing for him and his support for her while she’s dealing with her own emotions. Her encouragement is invaluable to him and she keeps things from falling apart between him and Musa while he is busy working on his guitar skills and actually writing the song. Layla helps him a lot with the lyrics and melody of the song to the point where he asks her to play it with him. Layla is on the drums while Riven and Timmy play guitar and Layla sings with Riven (and Musa) during the chorus. It turns out that Roy also plays the drums and he and Layla find another thing they have in common on top of their love for surfing (and sports in general) and their similar fighting styles.

- The budding connection with Roy helps Layla a lot during the summer while she is dealing with the aftermath of Tritannus’ actions. Roy knows a lot about Andros and helps her come up with strategies to restore the realm back to how it was before Tritannus started his attempted reign of terror. Roy is being a lot more respectful towards her feelings on the losses she and the entire realm experienced now and the two of them make a great team. Layla feels comfortable spending time with him even outside of their formal responsibilities.

- Meanwhile, Musa is on Melody to help the planet adjust to the consequences of the cultural shock that the attack on the Singing Whales and the Pillar of Balance was. She also spends a lot of time at home just absorbing the atmosphere and trying to capture it into her music in case something happens to her childhood home. She didn’t feel it right to bring her mother back but she can’t bear the thought of losing all the memories their house is imbued with in case it gets destroyed so she attempts to weave them into her music, even using magic to ensure the success of that endeavor. Music is her safe place after the shocks of losing Nabu and trying to help Layla and Riven through their grief and trauma while also dealing with her own losses and the scars that the near ruination of her whole realm caused.

- Riven is on Zenith helping Tecna with whatever there is left on the planet to fix after the clash with Tritannus. Zenith is pretty organized and efficient so there isn’t that much to do but Riven is relieved to be with Tecna because she doesn’t insist on talking about his feelings and he has a lot of those. He is terrified of what almost happened to both Musa and Layla while he wasn’t there to help them and he resolves to train harder to be able to protect them and all the rest of his friends. He wouldn’t bear to see any one of them suffer any more, not to mention lose them. Tecna helps him strategize to improve his efficiency in battle and she is the perfect embodiment of Zenith after her wish for empathy. Her quiet but friendly presence is soothing for Riven while the whole planet seems to warm up. It is the perfect atmosphere for him to work through his feelings.

- Musa and Riven soon fall into their usual dynamic of misunderstandings and lack of communication when Musa needs his moral support but refuses to actually talk to him while Riven spends all his time training because to him it is more important to ensure that Musa will be safe and he will be able to protect her. Layla is sorting out her own emotions and even though she tries to be there for them and help them resolve things, she has her own issues and it is not her job to babysit them and their relationship. They have to figure it out for themselves while she does her best to support both of them.

- Layla has strong opinions on Nex when they meet since he reminds her a lot of the impression Riven left in her at first, only - a worse version. She decides to give him a chance anyway because getting closer to Riven actually revealed other sides to him but she only ever regards Nex as a potential friend. He isn’t quite as bad as she originally thought him to be but he also definitely isn’t someone that she would want to be in a relationship with. She is spending a lot of time with Roy and she really likes him but, ultimately, she knows that she isn’t crazy about him. Being with him is comfortable but she is deliberately not letting herself get attached to him too much and that very fact tells her that he isn’t the right one for her since if she really loved him, she would have allowed herself to do so fully like she does with all of her friends despite the constant risk of losing them that she faces every time they have to fight a threat of universal magnitude. She tells Roy it would be better not to see each other.

- Musa and Riven break-up because they both feel like they are holding on so tight to each other for the wrong reasons. They are terrified of losing the other but they aren’t doing such a great job of appreciating them exactly because of those fears. So they decide to separate - meaning absolutely no expectations and demands towards the other - and do some soul searching. Riven actually keeps in touch with Roy since they started getting along decently and he knows that Roy is now the most removed one from the group while he is also on Andros so he may have more up-to-date information on how Layla and Musa are doing than the media (he is not spying on them, just telling Riven things he’s heard on Andros). Riven wants to keep his distance from the friend group but still wants to know how they’re all doing and Roy occasionally has news on the rest as well from when they visit Andros.

- Musa and Layla both spend a lot of time on their home worlds whenever that is possible and there isn’t an ongoing crisis and try to process their emotions while navigating political matters. Musa loves spending time on Andros with Layla and helping her out with her duties as heiress to the throne and Layla (and the other Winx) accompanies Musa during all of her concerts when Musa signs a record label as a single artist since they all agree that the band is just for fun and coordinating it along with all their other responsibilities will be nearly impossible. Musa truly opens up her heart and pours it all out into her music and she becomes a rising star on top of coming to terms with who she has become during her journey. The songs (and all the dancing routines that the two of them come up with together) help Layla make her peace with her trauma - both over Nabu and that from her childhood - as well.

- Riven comes back and proves to have done a lot of work on himself and he feels ready to love Musa now - feelings which she reciprocates. The two decide to settle on Andros to be close to Layla and help her out with everything she needs. Riven actually rises to the head of Layla’s personal guard and Musa has tours all over the Magic Dimension so she’d be on the move a lot whether she’d live on Melody or on Andros. Riven worries about her when she is on tour and he can’t go with her while he’s busy protecting Layla but he’s personally trained the bodyguards he hired for Musa and he trusts her to take care of herself so he settles for only calling her several times a day when she’s away and watching her concerts live on his devices together with Layla whenever the two of them can’t be there to see the show in person.

- Layla does not feel ready to get married or even be in a relationship with anyone besides Musa and Riven but she does want kids, especially after she proudly becomes an aunt to several children with Stella and Bloom going ahead and becoming mothers soon after their weddings. She is also supposed to make sure that Andros has heirs to the throne so she decides to adopt. She talks to Daphne, who adopted children as well, and even Vanessa to learn about their experiences and ask for advice. She wants to adopt at least two children because she doesn’t want her kids to be lonely and wants them to have someone they can always count on. Along with her, Musa and Riven, of course.

- Both Musa and Riven have big reactions to the news. They are supportive of her, of course - heaven knows the high society and the officials of Andros have already busied themselves enough with being critical of her decision - but they also have their own feelings to handle. Musa has to deal with the knowledge that she will adore Layla’s children (as she does with Bloom and Stella’s) and she will worry about them. That is the reason she still hasn’t thought about about having children herself. Or rather, she has been doing her best to avoid it while spending some of the best days of her life with Bloom and Stella’s children. She is scared of leaving the children orphans if anything happens to her and/or Riven (and that is always a possibility in their line of work). She knows that the rest of Winx will take care of her children if something happens to her but she has been through the pain of losing a parent and she doesn’t want her own kids to go through the same even if she managed to move on and pick herself up after her mother’s death. It is still a thing she carries with her every day and she does not feel confident in raising children with the heightened risk for her life.

- Riven totally panics because he doesn’t know anything about children and he will have to interact with them and take care of them. Not just because of his job as the head of Layla’s security, but also because he wants to be there for her and help her raise the children since it wouldn’t be easy for her to do it as a single parent. So he does the only thing he can think of and actually goes to Sky and Brandon asking for advice and a crash course on things he needs to know to be of help to Layla.

- Riven also picks up audio books on parenting and him and Layla both listen to them while jogging together or traveling towards the venue of a royal event. Musa is about as enthusiastic about shopping for the kids as Stella is and she’s also ready to write lullabies specifically for them (in case they are at an age where they will listen to lullabies). They both do everything they can to help Layla prepare herself and learn how to do things right themselves because they want to be there for her and be a part of the process. And they are both enthusiastic about doing it.

- In fact, their enthusiasm rapidly turns into conversations about having kids themselves - which makes Layla (and the other Winx) ecstatic because she is looking forward to helping them out as well - and it isn’t that long before they decide to make that step in their relationship despite not being officially married. They also talk about adopting as well as having their own children because they want to give a home to a kid that needs it. So the three of them end up raising their kids together and the children all think of each other as siblings and stick together no matter what.

[the-horae]

tbh i want to know the answers to all of the warden questions but if you don’t feel like doing that then 1 & 2 for each companion? pretty please

Bless!! I’m so excited to do this!! I think I’ll stick to the companion questions just for brevity’s sake :) 

Zevran

1. How did your Warden react to Zevran’s failed attempt on their life? Were they amused? Angry?

Having grown up in the circle, Rowan wasn't accustomed to the concept of mortality, simply because she was raised in such a sheltered manner. I think that she failed to see the seriousness of the situation, and thought it was hilarious that she- an elf from the circle- was considered important enough to assassinate. 

2. Did your warden match Zevran’s lighthearted attitude or were they more serious? What sort of relationship did they have?

Rowan isn’t serious by any stretch of the word, and meeting Zevran helped to save her from being around the doom and gloom of Alistair and Morrigan (she loves them too, but Zevran brought a levity that she needed). They became fast friends, and grew a close bond. Though Zevran did flirt with her on occasion, their relationship always stayed one of deep friendship grounded on mutual respect and admiration. 

Alistair

1. What sort of attachment did your warden form with Alistair, if any at all? Were they close due to their shared experiences as Grey Wardens?

Rowan loves Alistair desperately, in a way that encompasses both romantic love and deep friendship. Since meeting him at Ostagar, she formed a habit of standing really close to him, almost hiding behind him. Even though she served as a leader for their group, she clung to him for comfort and support, which he gladly supplied. They are easily the closest of their rag-tag band, and never seem to leave the other’s side. 

2. Did Alistair’s parentage surprise your warden? How did your warden’s feelings on the nobility affect their relationship with Alistair?

Rowan wasn’t really surprised to hear of Alistair’s royal lineage. She told him once, just after Ostagar, that he bared a great resemblance to King Cailan. Of course, he said they both just had big noses and that was where the resemblance ended, but Rowan never let that thought go. When he finally told her, she simply smiled at him and playfully shoved his shoulder. “Ok, prince-y. Let’s go kill some corpses.” She had said, and Alistair just gaped at her as she skipped off. Rowan never made Alistair king, and favored Anora for the throne so his parentage didn’t affect them much in the end, much to Arl Eamon’s displeasure. 

Wynne

1. What did your Warden think of Wynne’s views of the circle? Did they have different experiences regarding the circle?

Rowan had known Wynne since she was a little child, and had many fond memories of her. Seeing her at Ostagar actually made her cry with relief at a familiar face, and every soul there was subjected to the sight of a tiny elven mage nearly tackling an old woman in what looked to be a bone-crushing hug. As for Wynne’s views, Rowan always thought that the circle was too restrictive, and they seem to agree on that front. Although, after awakening, Rowan became more and more angry with the circle, and the events of Dragon age 2 completely turned her against it. However, during the events of Origins, Rowan and Wynne agreed for the most part. 

2. How did your warden respond to Wynne’s comments if your warden romanced someone? Did they tell her it was love or that the relationship was purely physical?

Wynne was the closest thing Rowan had ever had to a mother, and so she hung on to every word she said with deep conviction. When Wynne voiced her skepticism about Rowan’s relationship with Alistair, Rowan was crushed. She was angry at first, asking why Wynne would doubt her like she was, but she soon understood that Wynne was just looking out for her. Once Rowan confirmed that what her and Alistair had was real love, Wynne softened to them and eventually gave them her blessing. 

Leliana

1. What was your Warden’s view on the chantry? Were they wary of Leliana due to her religious beliefs or lack thereof?

Rowan doesn’t dislike many things, but she is certain that she dislikes the chantry. Years of learning the chant in the circle failed to make her devout, and succeeded in fueling her skepticism. She studied the chant thoroughly, and the more she studied, the more she disliked it. Rowan was also a history buff, and the contradictions in the chantry throughout history only made her more distrustful. The Chantry was the reason that the elves suffered so greatly, after all. As for Leliana, Rowan was infatuated with her the second she saw her. She was too distracted by her lovely red hair and mirthful eyes to notice that she was wearing the garb of a chantry sister, and so she accepted her into her party without a second thought. As they got to know each other however, it became clear that they believed different things. Even so, the fact that Leliana actively criticized the chantry helped to earn Rowan’s trust, and they eventually became dear friends.

2. Was your warden curious about bards? If they had the opportunity, would they choose to become one?

As a mage, Rowan couldn’t become a bard, and she wouldn’t want to. After hearing all of Leliana’s stories, she knew that she didn’t have what it took to become one. Despite this, she never said no to a good bard story when Leliana offered.

Sten

1.Had your warden ever met a Qunari before sten? What did they expect?

Rowan, being the history buff that she is, had known about the ongoing war between the Qunari and Tevinter, and so she had done a good amount of research on Qunari before meeting Sten. Meeting Sten was one of Rowan’s favorite moments, mostly because she thought he was utterly fascinating, but also because she manipulated a Revered Mother to set him free. She knew that Qunari were exceptionally tall, but she was not prepared for the quality of Sten’s skin. She knew that Qunari skin contained different properties which made it hard like leather, but she was still fascinated by it. Once she and Sten grew close, he would let her research him through posing for anatomical sketches. He acted like it was an annoyance, but he secretly found her enthusiasm for learning endearing.

2. What did your warden think of Sten’s beliefs that people’s roles were determined at birth? Did they agree?

Rowan didn’t necessarily agree with his beliefs, but she certainly respected them. She would ask him the occasional question about his culture, always making sure to be respectful, and Sten would provide an answer. Even though Rowan didn’t share his beliefs, she often wondered what it would be like to have such certainty in your role in life. 

Oghren

1. What did your warden think of Orzammar? Were they impressed or did they become disillusioned with the city, like Oghren did?

At first, Rowan was fascinated by Orzammar. She thought it was beautiful, and the history attached to it was amazing to her. However, once she became more acquainted with the politics there, she realized how deeply flawed the city was. She ultimately sided with Bhelen, only because he would dissolve the caste systems, which she held a lot of disdain for. 

2. What were your wardens feelings of berserkers? Were they frightened by them? 

Like anything unconventional, Rowan loved the idea of a berserker. She would often grill Oghren about the practice, eyes sparkling with intense interest. She wasn’t afraid of them, most likely because she never truly grasped the concept of mortality, but she did hold a deep respect for them. 

Morrigan

1. What was your warden’s first impression of Morrigan? Did they trust her or were they cautious of her? 

Rowan liked Morrigan the second she laid eyes on her in the Korcari wilds. The idea of a mage living outside of the circle their entire lives fascinated her, and you can guarantee that she bombarded Morrigan with questions every chance she got. She instantly trusted her, maybe despite her better interest, but she held too much respect for the witch of the wilds to not trust her. 

2. Did your warden agree to help Morrigan kill Flemeth? Why or why not?

Rowan absolutely helped to kill Flemeth. It was a win-win situation, she could help her friend AND fight a dragon. Also, the joy in Morrigan’s face when she was presented with Flemeth’s grimoire made any dragon-related injuries worth it. 

Loghain (Rowan did not allow a war criminal to enter her party, and simply asked him to kindly die by her blade)

Shale

1. Was your Warden interested in golems upon meeting Shale? Did they think of golems as weapons or sentient beings?

Rowan was enchanted by Shale upon meeting them, and was constantly writing notes about Shale’s experiences. She believed wholeheartedly that Shale was a sentient being, and loved chatting with them whenever she could. She would also go out of her way to find new crystals for Shale to wear. Shale also allowed Rowan to sketch them, but only when they had their nice crystals on.

2. Did the realization that Shale was once a living dwarf surprise your warden? How did that change their views on golems?

Rowan was definitely shocked to find out that Shale used to be a dwarf, and after going to Orzammar, Rowan made it her duty (after the blight had been ended) to seek out any living family members of those who gave their lives to the Anvil of the Void. Her views on golems changed from fascination to feeling conflicted about them. In Shale’s case, they gave up their soul willingly, so Rowan did not pity them, and instead loved them as they were- a big, stony colossus. 

Dog

1. Who’s a good boy?

Chunk is the goodest boy to have ever lived.

Wow this was long but so fun!!! Thanks so much for asking about Rowan and her companions :))))

[squeeb100]

Dec. 30th episode, 8min 4s. Danganronpa act 3 guesses, spoilers under the cut

Could Hifumi the sculptor have faked his own death in order to kill Taka (his rival for Alter Ego’s ‘love’), then taken the “body” away before they got over the shock and realized it was fake? In this scenario, he was attacked and seen by Celeste, disappeared, killed Taka, then showed back up, injured, and asked everyone to leave him in the infirmary. When he was alone he was  killed--why didn’t RJ kill Hifumi right off the bat, but came back to finish the job later? Because he was Hifumi’s alibi, created by Hifumi, a pop culture fan who also “had been calling” the character Robo Justice while its initials are RJ. A stretch, but I felt like Mondo was a stretch, and the game’s insane logic definitely could have had something like this go on.

Celeste also seems awfully suspicious in that she’s the one responsible for all the distractions and all the “oh I see him over here! oh, Hifumi’s body is gone!” but she also was upstairs when Hifumi died (or ‘died?’). She has been shown to be a flawless liar (and the ultimate gambler has an ultimate poker face), but students have no incentive to work together and she hasn’t been in the right place at the right time. UNLESS whoever was the killer offered to pay her part of ten million dollars for being a distraction. Could she be working with Hifumi to pull off the ruse (would explain her hanging around with the camera).

And Kyoko (who is not the murderer because she, like Sakura, Hina and Makoto, has an alibi) said there was a 3rd person who stole Alter Ego--not Hifumi or Taka (she might be pulling a Byakuya and causing problems on purpose, but idk why she’d lie about that). The other missing person, who Alter Ego was not watching out for, is Hiro. Dan will be heartbroken if Hiro was the killer in this scenario, but he was my initial guess before my insane Hifumi/Celeste theories. He would have killed both Hifumi and Taka in this scenario because he saw them as threats to Alter Ego, who he has some kind of relationship with or attachment to. 

Or someone could have done it for the money. These are my ideas before seeing any additional clues--Celeste JUST said Hifumi’s body was gone. I’ll be adding to the post when my ideas change because I like to look back and see how wrong (or right) I was lmao. My ideas get more insane as this game gets more insane so we’ll just see how this goes

EDIT 22:47

Arin my LOVE could you please check the locker in the rec room which seemed very suspicious and important when you first looked at it several episodes ago

Also yeah in fitting with my insane theory Celeste could have called them down to distract them while Hifumi ran up to hide Taka’s body. Hiro is a red herring like Byakuya was last case, there is NO WAY the game would give you the answer like that. Hifumi may have just been laying there pretending to be dead since there’s no drag marks for his body while there were for Taka’s (thanks Dan for spotting that), and because his body was ‘moved’ so quickly, but I think there was some way they confirmed that he didn’t have a heartbeat? OH IT WAS THE BODY DISCOVERY ANNOUNCEMENT. So either that really was Hifumi’s dead body, or two people discovered Taka right before that announcement played (Kyoko and Hiro are fucking WHERE at this point???). That’s a real problem that the body discovery announcement played BUT the fact that the game focused in on it and explained it again makes me think that yeah just maybe it wasn’t for Hifumi. Also it didn’t play right when they discovered him, I think they had a little discussion before Monokuma came on. This one’s a stumper though. 

There’s probably much more to it than this theory because the trials always add huge convoluted twists that I couldn’t have guessed lmao 

Also if Hiro shows up like “ahhh sorry I slept innnn” I’m losing my shit. What’s up with Alter Ego disappearing though? 

EDIT after 12/30 episode

Oh I truly HATE waiting for the next episode. Some new ideas though: Hiro is definitely NOT the killer. Hifumi is suspicious as FUCK and nothing concrete has really come up to contradict my initial theory yet. Dan noticed that the hammers were missing, obviously taken and painted, so that’s another point for Hifumi who makes models and shit all the time and was initially hanging out in the art room. New theory about who took Alter Ego: Hifumi in a mask he made (RJ?). 

What I cannot figure out is the body discovery announcements. A new one played when they all got into the repository; was that the discovery of Taka’s body? Didn’t several people initially discover him? And NO announcement played, if I remember correctly. Okay, so that makes sense if he was the body the first announcement played for (Monokuma said he would wait on it though so maybe he decided not to). Hifumi wasn’t dead the first time anyway, since he magically woke up in the repository. Maybe the announcement plays again when they REdiscover a body? But aaaasdfasdjlfkasdf didn’t Celeste and Byakuya (and Sakura and Hina) already rediscover Taka? I dunno that Celeste would count since she may know about it, but I can’t think of any other reason for the announcement to play only when Makoto got there. Was Taka not dead yet when they first found him? I have a lot of questions about the body discovery announcements and I know nobody is reading this but if somehow my other guesses are miraculously correct this should be the point at which you realize that I truly have never played this game

EDIT 16:48 12/31 episode

I think I'm actually right??? And the bodies were discovered at the same time which explains the announcement. Celeste locked and unlocked the repository door. Hifumi got up and walked himself everywhere, but they had to use the dolly for Taka. I'm not sure who actually came up with this, but it may have been Celeste. She's using Hifumi's love of Alter Ego to get him to help. Being content at the school may have been an act, or she may just want ten million dollars. She's probably who Monokuma called the "true blackened."

EDIT after 12/31 episode

Okay Hifumi locked the door. The grumps are catching on that Hifumi may not be innocent here. I strongly suspect that Celeste was the brains of the operation and was the distraction so Hifumi could move around so much. He used the blood packets on himself which is nasty. Very obvious that he's not dead. Too obvious for him to be the blackened. It's Celeste. Hifumi may have killed Taka but it's Celeste. And we're framing Hiro but the handwriting isn't gonna match. I am having so much fun.

[okietokiee]

Fic: Söt (Ch. 1)

Summary: Skwisgaar comes to terms with some extremely un-metal, disgustingly mushy feelings he has for the new kid. (Pre-Klok, right after the audition)

Rating: Teen

Chapters: 1/5

Pairings: Skwisgaar Skwigelf/Toki Wartooth

Notes: This is my first Skwistok fic and it’s basically an excuse to make Skwisgaar suffer badly over the fact that he finds Toki insanely, irredeemably fucking adorable and he can’t stand it LOL 

Also, apologies for any mistakes! 

Skwisgaar Skwigelf was not a man known for being overly emotional. He was an absolute charmer to the young and old groupies alike, but he kept a definite distance between himself and his bedmates, ever the polite, handsome, closed-off gentleman that always sent off his multiple lovers with a suave kiss to the hand and a non-committal wink, hinting at a second round that was unlikely to ever occur.

His blase, cool-tempered nature did nothing but draw even more blushing ladies to him, each more provocatively-dressed and seductive than the last. Even the GMILFs often primped themselves up a bit for him, wearing their silkiest, shiniest nightgowns and bonnets.

But no matter what, Skwisgaar kept a certain air of nonchalance around him and he knew exactly how it drove the ladies wild.

Skwisgaar would’ve been content living his days like this forever; known as the golden, emotionally-constipated adonis that could fulfill every woman’s ultimate fantasies, as long as those fantasies included nothing about a relationship or commitment.

He’d never even felt much emotional pull towards anyone in his life, not even the sexiest groupies that loitered around after a show.

Skwisgaar attributed it to the fact that no one was interesting enough to catch his eye in any way. He was a God of guitar and sex, and regardless of how much the groupies’ skimpy outfits and embroidered aprons tugged at his loins, they never tugged at his heart.

At least, that used to be the case.

Hell, it would be so much easier for Skwisgaar if it would stay that way because he’s extremely happy with his life, thank you very much. He’s a handsome, collected gentleman with refined tastes and raunchy habits.

And these are the reasons he can’t fucking wrap his head around whatever it is he’s started feeling whenever he’s around his band’s new rhythm guitarist.

The audition for the new rhythm went a lot more unpredictably than he’d originally expected, and he ended up going against his own whims and hiring some kid on the spot.

And that’s the perfect description for the guy. He couldn’t be older than 16, which was practically a child in Skwisgaar’s opinion when compared to his 25 years on earth. Toki was his name and he was young, naive, and as hilariously out of touch with American culture as Skwisgaar once was when he first immigrated.

The kid normally wouldn’t even cause a blip in Skwisgaar’s radar, let along change his course completely. Now, in the comforts of his small, dingy room in his tiny, rundown apartment, Skwisgaar rapidly fingerpicking his guitar, questioning his sanity.

He wouldn’t lie and say that he was completely oblivious to his reasons though. Shocked and appalled, yes, but regardless of what his broken english suggested he was not completely daft to the inner workings of his own mind. The kid had something about him. It wasn’t just ambition and it wasn’t just talent. There had been plenty of those types who had auditioned before him that Skwisgaar completely blew out of the water. Boring mechanical techniques and overconfident arrogance was no match for the brilliant and dexterity Skwisgaar could exhibit with his eyes closed.

No, the kid was special somehow. And it was driving Skwisgaar crazy trying to put his finger on what, why, and how this Toki seemed to shine brighter than a blazing star when he played. He can honestly say without a doubt that he’d never felt that intoxicating burst of pure energy while playing in his life.

The guitar is his heart and his music the blood that flows through it and keeps it beating. It’s the only thing that he can say, with no hesitation, brings him pure unadulterated joy and satisfaction.

The feeling of playing his music was a feeling he never thought anything in the world could top; the best drugs or hottest groupies in the world would never best the feeling of his explorer in his hands, creating the godly music that effortlessly flows through his fingertips

He never thought it could possibly get any better. At least, until that kid showed up and showed him exactly what it meant to rise to the highest precipice of his art, experience the exhilarating speed of music pouring out of his soul, and for once in his life, experience this with a kindred spirit, the first person he’s ever met who could so closely match him riff for riff. Regardless of Toki’s abrupt downfall, Skwisgaar was still awestruck at what the boy was capable of.

The fact that this short, half-starved runt that looked like he’d been living off the streets can just waltz in with his beaten up Gibson and push Skwisgaar to higher limits he did not even conceive as possible; it was infuriating and intoxicating all in the same breath.

This young boy with his familiar accent and friendly demeanor. His big, blue eyes and his soft chocolate hair.

Fuck, his existence alone was doing something to Skwisgaar and he couldn’t stand it.

Those eyes were just too blue! He’d never seen anything like them before, even in Sweden, he didn’t remember ever seeing such big, icy eyes that did something to him he felt too disturbed by to acknowledge.

Suddenly, Skwisgaar was interrupted from his pensive musing by a hesitant knock on his door.

“Comes in.”

Slowly the door opened and the pair of blue eyes driving Skwisgaar mad with something he can’t explain peeked through.

“Um… H-hellos Misters Skwisgaar, Nathans told mes I shoulds asks you if I can sleeps in here tonights... Is that alrights with yous?”

Toki, the poor lad, was tensed up and visibly nervous, bracing himself for a rejection and scolding for bothering Skwisgaar after strict instructions to leave him alone and find something to entertain himself with the rest of the band in the living room.

Skwisgaar was exhausted after a long day of battling mediocre guitarists, he wanted some reprieve from everyone and everything. If any of the other members had bothered him when he was in one of his moods, that would be grounds for a litany of angry, barely-understandable curse words, but this was different. Skwisgaar sat up from his bed, setting his Gibson down next to him, and gave Toki a slight, indifferent nod.

“Fines. Just donts be makings too much of the noises. I’m tryings to write a new solos.”

“Yes, Misters Skwisgaar! Toki will be quiets! You won’t evens knows I’s here!” Toki smiled widely, making a move to presumably leave and retrieve his meager belongings.

“Toki.”

Skwisgaar spoke too fast to stop himself. Toki gave him a confused look and Skwisgaar was internally facepalming.

“Justs… calls me Skwisgaar. I’m nots a olds grandpas yet!” He tried to laugh off his mistake.

Toki’s smile brightened even more, something Skwisgaar didn’t think was possible. “Yes Skwisgaar! Tank yous!”

And with that he was off.

It was apparent that Nathan had decided to pawn off the new kid to Skwisgaar for tonight and likely every other night in the foreseeable future until they can figure out a better living arrangement.

Out of every member of the band, Skwisgaar was the only one who had his own place. It was a ratty one-bedroom on the bad side of town, but it was his. Pickles and Nathan rented a considerably nicer place together as roommates, where they did most of their recordings, and Murderface crashed (lived) on their couch more often than not.

After they discovered Toki was basically homeless, it made sense Nathan would lump them together. The two matching Scandinavian guitarists, of course Nathan would force them together like two peas in a pod. Didn’t mean Skwisgaar couldn’t complain about it.

“Tsk. Fuckins racist.”

“Whats you say Skwisgaar?”

Skwisgaar was startled up.

“Eeuugh! Toki, don’ts comes in without knockins.”

Toki looked sheepish. “Sorries… I just wants to says I gots a sleepinks bag from Pickle! It’s… uh… okays if I sleeps now?” Toki stumbled through.

This made Skwisgaar pause. He took the moment to give Toki a long, hard look, something he hadn’t done since the kid completely changed his perception on guitar playing completely. Looking closely, he saw the obvious signs of exhaustion on Toki’s face, his sunken cheeks and dark, baggy eyes. Skwisgaar assumed its been a while since Toki had a comfortable place to sleep and a roof over his head. And a shower too now that he thought about it, seeing Toki’s clean hair and skin which was hidden under a layer of grime just a few hours ago. Did he eat? Surely the rest of the guys would’ve gotten something, though Skwisgaar was prone to skipping meals. Because the kid was definitely in desperate need of a meal-

“Skwisgaar?”

Snapped out of his train of thoughts, Skwisgaar forced himself to regain a mask of indifference.

“Yeahs, go aheads Toki. I was abouts to bes sleepinks too.” Skwisgaar waved to a plush white rug parallel to his bed to signal for Toki to take that spot. “Turns off the lights.”

Toki happily obeyed and curled up on the soft faux fur rug Skwisgaar was oddly attached to.

A few minutes ticked by in complete darkness and Skwisgaar was tense in the dead silence. Then, all too abruptly, Toki broke it.

“Ah… Skwisgaar?”

Skwisgaar forced himself to relax and apathetically replied, “Yes Toki.”

“Toki just wanteds to says… tank you. I am sos happies I mades it to the audiktions. Toki promiskes you won’ts regrets this. Good nights.” Toki said gratefully with an obvious smile in his tone.

Skwisgaar was speechless. And he remained speechless, until he heard Toki’s soft snoring fill the room. Of course he deserved to be thanked. He was the lead guitarist of Dethklok, a master of his craft. It was an act of true goodwill, him letting this runaway kid join them. Hell, Skwisgaar didn’t need much to fill his ego and he expected all mere peasants to be grateful for whatever he deans to give them.

But this was different. What Toki said, those innocuous, meek words, they didn’t fill Skwisgaar with the usual self-importance. They made him feel strange. Like there was a twisting in his gut and a disturbing pit in his chest that almost felt warm and mushy. The shit normal people probably feel when they see a newborn kitten. Not Skwisgaar though, he was the stone-cold adonis, even kittens didn’t soften his heart. Regardless of how soft their fur is, or how big and beautiful their eyes are, or fuzzy their tiny little paws-

“Euugh!” Skwisgaar let out an involuntary sneer which he quickly quieted. He chanced a glance at Toki’s still snoring form and breathed a sigh of relief.

Yes, fine, maybe kittens had certain characteristics about them that were pretty nice, but Skwisgaar was confused at his train of thought. Whatever it was that Toki made Skwisgaar feel, it was reminiscent of the yucky, gooey emotions small animals inspired in him as well.

Skwisgaar had no clue what to do with that fact, but his exhaustion was finally catching up with him. With a sigh, he rolled over, and fell asleep to the rhythmic snoring of one Toki Wartooth.

[loyolafilmcircle]

“There was an idea...”

by Renzo Guevara

edited by Anna Cayco

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) is the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a franchise that has been relatively consistent in terms of quality and vision for the last 10 years. It’s the massive culminating event that has constantly been set up with the three phases of movies with each of the individual heroes’ adventures leading up to this film.

But Marvel’s massive reputation and cultural impact was not as prominent as it is today. They sold some of their most recognizable characters’ movie rights to other companies such as the X-men and the Fantastic Four to 20th Century Fox and Spiderman to Sony. Their first movie, Iron Man (2008) was a risk to say the least. The concept of an Avengers movie was merely just a thought but never an actual legitimate vision. A fun little innocent scene was placed at the end of the credits, showcasing Samuel L. Jackson’s now iconic character Nick Fury showing up to talk to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark about the Avengers initiative. Conversations about this scene grew until Marvel Studios revealed its plan to produce more superhero movies to lead up to an Avengers film. Thus, the MCU was born.

The first real culminating event was 2012’s Avengers directed by Joss Whedon. To say that the film was a success is an understatement compared to how exactly fans and critics responded to it. It featured breathtaking action sequences, entertaining interactions between the characters and a carefully crafted three-act structure that successfully combined all the elements that were set-up during the standalone movies. Included in Phase 2 was its sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), which featured new characters such as Scarlett Witch, Quicksilver and Vision. Unlike its predecessor, it was met with mixed reactions between the audience and critics. Some commended it for the sheer spectacle on display and seeing our heroes assemble again but in time people soon accepted the fact that the film had a disjointed narrative, a disappointing villain and a few unlikeable characters.

Regardless, these first two Avengers films successfully assembled the heroes and characters we’ve all come to love. It’s not wrong to say that some of us may have garnered some sort of attachment to them that naturally makes us care for what happens throughout the series, especially in Infinity War where stakes are at an all-time high with talks of possible permanent deaths and ending of contracts of certain actors.

What could possibly have created this attachment to this universe is how these movies always tried to set themselves apart not just in their tonality also in the production behind it. The directors the studio hired were not your typical action filmmakers but were more story, character and comedy focused. And it’s also not uncommon to see the MCU go with the recent trend of giving blockbuster projects to directors who mostly made a name for themselves in the indie scene or in television. Filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo, who were mostly known for the TV series Community (2009-2015), were hired for Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and then for Civil War (2016). Both films were met with commercial and critical praise. With engaging plots that were grounded in reality setting it apart from the rest of the MCU, it was a clear choice for Feige to call upon the Russo brothers again to work their magic. And boy did they deliver with Infinity War.

The 3rd Avengers film features an incredible roster of every hero that has been established alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy. This feat has been so monumental in scale and scope that it has often been regarded as the most ambitious crossover event in cinematic history and if I’m being completely honest, it definitely earns that title.

Immediately, the film starts off incredibly strong with the chilling rightful introduction of the main event, Thanos. Gone are the days of post credit setups or small cameos, here we are placed face to face with him alongside his team who are not to be messed with. Thanos as a villain is truly an achievement for the film. You would think that him being a purely CGI creation would make him feel weightless and absent but that’s far from the case. Josh Brolin gives a hauntingly calculated performance that was beautifully motion captured as real emotions were seen, and true terror was felt whenever he was on screen. The MCU has always faced criticism about its villains but recently they have been nailing it in that department especially with Thanos. When people say that Infinity War is a Thanos movie instead of an Avengers one, it’s a valid statement to say. This is ultimately Thanos’ story and the Avengers are simply background characters. Some could even look at them as the real antagonists of the story as Thanos’ actions may be grim but once you deconstruct his motivations, they actually present a proper argument to a certain extent.

A massive cast is something that’s unavoidable with this being a culmination of 10 years’ worth of movies. At times, the film, struggles with the weight it has to carry as it tries to give each character their own individual adventures that all come down to stopping Thanos. Despite this, it doesn’t feel overly bloated. Each of the heroes get a decent amount of screen time. Some may shine more than others, but this can easily be forgiven given that this is technically a two-part storyline and the film was already nearly three hours long.

Considering the run time, the film is still a rollercoaster ride that rarely lets you take a breather. Just from the very first shot all the way to the last you will be left speechless and in pure state of either awe or shock. If in previous MCU movies, the stakes were rarely felt and a sense of danger was minimal, Infinity War turns this over your head and whacks you with it continuously. I wouldn’t say that there were certain throwaway scenes that could’ve been left on the cutting room floor but there were definitely some moments where I was more invested in than others. This can mainly be due to personal attachments to certain characters or just a simple desire to get back to the action. Character moments between our heroes are highly entertaining with the filmmakers and writers taking advantage of each of their quirks and antics that play off of each other. But what’s more impressive is that in its core, the identity of its characters remains intact. When the Guardians are on screen, it feels like a Guardians movie and so on.

But it’s also worth noting that some characters may not act the way we were accustomed to them in their solo movies. This should be expected given the difference of directors and writers and visions towards what and who they are. None were too different to the point where it’s a complete 180 of a character trait but just subtle enough to be noticed a bit or can be argued as part of their arc.

The action sequences in Infinity War are spectacle in its purest form. The Russo brother’s first two films in the MCU, The Winter Soldier and Civil War both contained amazing action scenes but most of them would regularly use quick jump cuts and an overly reliance on shaky and handheld camera work. Infinity War is arguably their first “fantastical” movie as their previous projects in the Captain America franchise were mostly grounded in reality. Thankfully they improved their craft in this one utilizing mostly wide shots and steady cams. The fight choreography and the breathtaking visual effects that supplement them invoke an epic feeling that is so much more emphasized with the familiar iconic score of the Avengers theme. One moment in particular near the climax had all these elements come together to create one bombastic moment that had the entire theater screaming in delight.

On the topic of the Avengers theme, Alan Silvestri’s score for this film also deserves much praise for what it accomplished. Although it should be expected given that the Avengers score is one of the most recognizable themes today, Silvestri’s new pieces in this film are as memorable and impactful as the scene themselves. The action sequences are injected with auditory adrenaline rush coupled with the masterful sound design and mixing but even the slower, more emotionally driven moments in the film contain some of the best scores to come out of the MCU.

All in all, it really was incredible to witness the development of the MCU franchise from its humble beginnings with Iron Man all the way down to Infinity War. All the stories the directors have told and all the elements they had to set up all coming into fruition in this one epic cinematic event. The Russo brothers deserve all the praise they could get for accomplishing this monumental task. Many have tried and failed to launch a cinematic universe such as the DCEU or Universal Studio’s Dark Universe, but it’s with the MCU that truly believes in its own vision and in the stories they tell.

All the beats in Infinity War hit when they need to. Wonder and spectacle alongside tension and emotion jell together for one massive sweep that generally satisfies majority of the hype that developed over the years. A global cinematic event that deserves to be seen and a proper payoff to all those years of excellence. Infinity War is definitely up there with the best of the MCU and it cements itself as one we would be talking about years down the line. The future of the franchise looks bright and with the continuation of the storyline scheduled to release next year, it’s only a matter of time till we see our favorite heroes assemble once again.

Photo sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6

[tastethegrace]

Analyzing “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”

I don’t often post things as they’re having their cultural moment.  However, this song by Lil Nas X, a rap/hip hop/pop artist, who is famous for his song “Old Town Road” a few years ago, has caused quite the stir.  On one side of the fence is the LGBTQ+ community, who touts this song as an anthem to the artist’s sexual identity.  On the other are the Christians, many of whom have posted warnings on social media, urging fellow believers to “wake up,” guard their children, and many calling down the name of Jesus against the Satanic imagery associated with it.  The music video for this song sees the artist depicted as Eve in the garden of Eden, being seduced by the serpent.  He is then on trial, then descends into hell, where he himself seduces the Devil.  The artist has also partnered with street wear brand MSCHF to produced what many are calling “Satan shoes.”  These shoes apparently have contain one drop of human blood in the soul, have a black and red color scheme with pentagrams painted on the soul and attached to the laces.  

So first off, the reason I’m writing this post is to critique the Christian reaction to this song and its associated media.  It’s important to understand this right off the bat, as I will not be analyzing this song on its artistic merits.  Instead, I will attempt to analyze the artist’s intent behind the imagery and symbolism he chooses to use.  

If there’s one thing that I have grown to understand, it’s that the American Church has a fundamental misunderstanding of how believers are to interact with culture.  We have been stuck in the same culture war for decades, with this idea that we must enforce our beliefs on others, affect change through politics and protests, and fear all that is antithetical to the Christian belief system.  This latter point is the most significant, and one that many of my Christian friends may dispute.  

Let me explain here.  In the age of social media, everyone judges and reacts quickly, posting their affirmations and protests for everyone to see without putting much thought into what they’re actually critiquing.  Sadly, the American Church, most of the time, has followed suit.  Rather than choosing a different way to interact with the world on social media, it has become a leading reactionary voice -- a more intense version of what already exists in the mainstream.  It has so become the case that the world looks on and mocks.

As a younger Christian, I went with the flow, just as everyone else did.  But as a I grew up, and especially in college, I learned the importance of questioning, of slowing down, of considering the ins and outs, the truths and lies present in our everyday world.  I believe this process gives insight into the presence of God in our everyday lives, presenting us with his truth and beauty, present even in the darkest of places.  It also gives us the ability to, like Jesus, call something what it actually is, diminishing its power, and responding to it with the importance/weight it deserves.

Now understanding this context and the process by which I will move forward, let’s talk about this song.  First of all, the lyrics explicitly discuss the artist’s encounters with one specific person, a male in this context.  There’s a couple of levels to this song.  The first, that many in the LGBTQ+ community point out, is that he says that his partner “lives in the dark,” while he himself “cannot pretend.”  This refers to the fact that his partner is a closeted gay man, while Lil Nas is out.  As for the rest of the lyrics here, Lil Nas discusses his attachment to this man and the sexual experiences he has and wants to have with him.  He mentions the use of drugs to illustrate a hellish environment.  On a deeper level, evidenced even more clearly in the music video, Lil Nas is using this situation as a metaphor to reach out to his former, closeted self.  

In the interest of digging for the truth, I would go one step further here.  While it is obvious that the artist wishes to affirm his former self and encourage a lifestyle that is honest, at the very least, he also confesses what he wants very clearly.  All of the explicit imagery here is true to his experience.  So what does he want?  He wants deep connection, intimate experiences, and he’s ultimately willing to go to “hell” to get it, even if his partner won’t come out.  

Why is it important to understand this?  Am I trying to affirm how Lil Nas gets what he wants?  No, but that’s also not the point.  Understanding the artist’s questions are just as important as understanding his answers; in my opinion, even more so.  In order to make any sort of true judgment of merit or integrity, either subjective or objective, it’s important to understand fully how the artist is coming to his conclusions.  

Moving on to the music video, I’m going to use an analysis posted by reddit user margarita_atwood, as she discusses much of I what I found myself.

Everyone is going to have an opinion on this video, whether that opinion is heavily in favor or disfavor...Later, I’ll talk about why the negative opinions about this video don’t really matter and actually play right into LNX’s plans.

Lil Nas as every character: Through the miracle of CGI, LNX plays every single character. Some people might interpret this as LNX making love to himself in some scenes, but I think it has more to do with the Jungian concept of the Shadow Self (explained some in this video). There’s definitely some interesting psychology behind LNX playing all the parts. He’s talking to himself, seducing himself, running from himself. And I don’t think it would have had the same impact if the main characters were played by anyone else. He’s definitely being a little narcissistic, which he winks at with his own face on a Narcissus flower (daffodil) that I’ll get to next...He also says in the intro: “Welcome to Montero”, which is both this fantasy land he is creating for us in the video, and introducing us to his real self, saying welcome to the real me.

Scene 1- Garden of Eden: In the first scene. We’ve got the temptation of Adam by the snake/Satan in the Garden of Eden story mixed with Greek classical architecture motifs (sans Eve, as LNX raps “If Eve ain’t in your garden/ You know that you can/ Call me when you want”). In the reaction video I mentioned earlier, LNX talks about how growing up gay in a black church (or any church for that matter) made him repress and feel ashamed about his budding sexuality as a young adult. So while the lyrics are explicit, all of the themes in the video are very pointed allegories about how he’s dealt with his sexuality. He runs away from his tempting snake-self, meanwhile running past a Lion King-esque Mufasa cloud featuring his fate/destiny, and Narcissus flowers AKA daffodils (in the Greek myth, daffodils grew where Narcissus drowned after staring at his own reflection for too long), only to be caught by his temptation in a scene that gives me a ton of Labyrinth vibes. After his literal fall with possible Paradise Lost references to this perceived “sin,” we nearly see his alien-snake-self fellate his Adam-self. Finally, we close in on a shot of Greek writing on a tree. Some people smarter than I were able to find out that this is an excerpt from Plato’s Symposium which reads: “So in the beginning when they were cut in two, they yearned for each other’s half.” Symposium is basically a bunch of Greek philosophers telling metaphorical campfire stories about love (let’s ignore once again problematic themes of statutory rape in some of this). The excerpt in the video in particular is a part where one of Plato’s students Aristophanes gives an account of the origin of soulmates. Originally people were joined as two people to make one whole person. In this story, there were male/male, female/female, and female/male pairings and the gods became jealous and split them in two. The Montero excerpt is explaining this splitting of soul mates where they’re doomed to long for their other halves to become whole for eternity. Lots of allegories there regarding LNX trying to seduce a possibly gay man who is still in the closet.

Scene 2- The gladiator’s Colosseum: LNX then is taken as a prisoner in chains to a Greek colosseum, also full of LNX judges in Marie Antoinette wigs and faceless LNX mob spectators. I believe his character in this scene is supposed to be a Ulysses-type as his pink, fur shawl he’s wearing has a ram’s head broach...the blue LNX jury sentences him to...jail, and he gets literally stoned to death... Ulysses-LNX presumably dies and his soul is being lifted up to the heavens. An angel awaits him above, with a lot of Creation of Adam motifs (which was also hinted at on LNX’s IG). But just before he reaches his guardian angel.... a stripper pole rises up from the earth...and he rides that b**** all the way to the seventh inner circle of h*** in some thigh-high boots, tricking all the way down.

Scene 3- Twerking on the devil: And now we get to the biggest scandal. LNX said to those of you who think gays deserve to go to hell, watch me go to hell and give Satan a lap dance....he’s one-upping the shock factor in each part. Think it’s scandalous to go down on myself? Just wait. There’s some trolling of Illuminati/Satanist conspiracy rumors in the motifs. Honestly, the purpose of this scene is that he knew religious types would try and metaphorically crucify him over the lyrics. So he said let me beat you to it. He’s trolling the religious hater that I’m sure made his life growing up a proverbial hell already. And hey, the more times they stream and react to the song out of anger, the more money he makes from their anger. And then he goes and pulls a mafia hit, killing Satan after seducing him, and taking his horns of braids and becoming the fallen angel...

While perhaps not stated the most eloquently, and obviously from a more approving light, the OP gives us some insight into the symbolism used in this video.  On first glance, the believer might gag at how biblical imagery is used and twisted here.  However, I would encourage that believer to be patient and consider for a moment a few things.

1. If we let our gut reaction to this imagery become our public reaction, we prove the artist’s perspective of believers correct in the eyes of the world.  

2. If we consider the symbols and imagery used, it is obvious that this piece was intricately planned by Lil Nas to suggest his conclusions through the subversion of cultural norms.  This is not a new technique by any means, and it is important to acknowledge this.

3. Remember that Lil Nas was raised in the church.  His use of biblical imagery is intentional here.  If you detect a hint of bitterness in the twists he uses, that’s because there is, and not without reason.

See, I think that if Jesus looked at this video and gave us his reaction, it would not be a warning to us to guard our hearts.  That’s common sense.  I think it would be sadness that Lil Nas has not experienced the true intimacy and connection that he so desires in a healthy context, but also that he would be so bitter as to use the imagery as a “F*** You!” to the church.  Granted, this is all speculative, but when I look at Jesus in the gospels, I never see Jesus trying to separate or isolate his disciples from sinners.  He sees right to the heart of why sinners sin, and urges his disciples by example and speech to have compassion.  It is the the Pharisees and teachers of the law who he preaches against, urging his disciples to guard their hearts against them.  

Finally, there’s the even bigger deal being made in Christian circles of the “Satan shoes.”  Let me set the record straight here.  This company put out “Jesus shoes” a couple of years ago that claimed to have holy water in its soles.  This was a stunt by the artist for the very purpose of causing controversy.  It was done out of anger.  The imagery only has power if we let it be something other than what it is.

I have seen so many people decrying the use of this imagery as an act of devil worship.  That’s not what this is.  Is Lil Nas believing a lie?  Most certainly, as all humans do every day.  But this should not be shocking.  We must look behind the symbols to what they’re really pointing to.

In conclusion, I felt that it was important to share my feelings on this, as the social media chatter is a prime example of how the American Church has lost its way.  However, on a more personal note, I have a lot of history and connection that helps me to deeply understand what’s happening in this song.  That drive for connection, that willingness to put myself in horrible places to find it, the feeling of dirtiness and the running away from it...and especially the now often used intimate metaphor “call me by your name,” referring to the book/move of that title...I’ve been there.  I even embraced it for a time.  So more than most, I am more inclined to have compassion on those who are in that place, even if they don’t see the fruitlessness of it.  The Lord has been good to me.  He was with me in that place, just as he is with me now.  It is important for all who call themselves Christians to remember that before we judge, we must seek empathy and compassion, fullness of understanding, and most of all, the heart and mind of Jesus himself.

[booksong]

Top 10 Books Read In 2016

Bringing this back again this year (and yes I realize March is now almost over, I’m a little late oops), because I really enjoyed putting together a list last year, and one thing I always love in a new year is looking back on the great experiences I’ve had with reading, and hopefully lining up some new recommendations from others to look forward to in the rest of 2017!  

2016 was a rough year, but as with so much of my life, books were there to provide comfort, knowledge, escape, and new friends and perspectives.  Here are my 10 best titles of them, in no particular order (long post warning as always because it’s me talking about books):

1. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks

The experience of sensing things that aren’t really there has long been considered a hallmark of the crazy and overemotional.  And yet hallucinations have been startlingly well documented in all types of people, and neurologist Oliver Sacks has compiled a wide range of anecdotes, personal accounts and sources, and scientific studies of the various forms they can take.  Vivid, complex visual and auditory hallucinations by the deaf and the blind, near-death and out-of-body experiences, phantom limbs, unseen 'presences', supernatural-esque encounters, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations induced by surgery, sensory deprivation, sleep disorders, drugs, seizures, migraines, and brain lesions--Sacks takes all these bizarre (and occasionally terrifying) case studies and conditions and approaches them with an attitude of fascination, curiosity, and clinical appreciation. 

I came into this book expecting to hear mostly about things like LSD trips and schizophrenia, which honestly are probably most people's touchstones for the concept of hallucinations. And while there is a single chapter devoted to drug-induced hallucination (with compelling and pretty eerie first hand accounts from the author himself), Sacks barely touches on schizophrenia, setting it aside right away in his introduction in order to focus on other altered brain states I'd barely heard of but found deeply engrossing. One of the things I found most personally fun about this book was that you get tons of potential scientific explanations for a lot of strange phenomena that have puzzled and frightened humans for centuries. Why might so many different cultures have similar folklore about demons and monsters that assault or suffocate people in their beds at night? You find out in the chapter about hypnogogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis. What about things like guardian spirits, demonic presences, the 'light at the end of the tunnel', or historical figures hearing voices from God(s)? There are case studies about them not just in history and theology, but medical science too. Instances of people seeing ghosts, faeries, balls of light, moving shadows in the edges of their vision, or even doppelgangers of themselves? All touched on in this book as part of various differences, injuries, and misfires in people's brains, brain chemistry, and neural makeup. It's really, really cool stuff.

2. Captive Prince trilogy by C.S. Pacat

Prince Damianos of Akielos has everything.  He’s a celebrated war hero, a master sportsman, and the heir to the throne, utterly primed to become king.  And every bit of is stripped away from him in a single night when his half-brother Kastor stages a coup and ships him off in chains under cover of night.  Just like that, Damianos becomes merely Damen, robbed of his power, freedom, and identity—the newest slave in the household of Prince Laurent of Vere.  Trapped in an enemy country that shares a bloody history with his own, surrounded by people and customs that confuse, disturb, and disgust him, and under the total control of the icy, calculating and seemingly unfathomable Laurent, Damen has no way of knowing that the only way to return to his rightful throne and homeland will be through strange alliances, brutal battles and betrayals, chess-like political maneuvering and negotiation, and the fragile, complicated, impossible bond he will come to forge with the man he despises the most.

I knocked out this entire trilogy in about two weeks, and it would have been much, much shorter than that if I’d been able to borrow the last book from my friend any sooner (thanks again @oftherose95!!). The second book, Prince’s Gambit, even traveled across the Atlantic and around a good portion of Ireland with me in a black drawstring backpack, and was mostly read in Irish B&Bs each night before bed.  The series was the best of what I love in good fanfiction brought onto solid, published paper (and I mean that as the greatest compliment to both fanfic and this series); it had unique, complicated relationship dynamics, broad and interesting worldbuilding, angst and cathartic triumph in turns.  It’s a political and military drama, a coming-of-age and character story for two incredibly different young men, and yes, it’s an intensely slow burn enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance full of betrayal, culture shock, negotiation, vulnerability, power plays, tropes-done-right, and some of the most memorable and delightful banter imaginable, and it will drag your heart all over the damn place because of how fantastically easily you will get invested.  Yes, be aware that there are definitely some uncomfortable scenes and potential triggers, especially in the first book (and I promise to answer honestly anyone who’s interested and would like to ask me those types of questions in advance) but in my personal experience the power of the story and the glorious punch of the (ultimately respectful, nuanced, and well-written) relationship dynamics far outweighed any momentary discomfort I had.  A huge favorite, not just of this year but in a long while.

3. Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye by Marie Mutsuki Mockett

After her beloved father dies unexpectedly, the author returns to the Buddhist temple run by the Japanese side of her family, not far from where the Fukushima nuclear disaster claimed the lives of many and made the very air and soil unsafe.  She initially goes for two reasons: to help inter and pay respects to her Japanese grandfather’s bones during the Obon holiday, and to find some kind of outlet and solace for her grief.  But during her travels she finds more than she ever expected to about Japan, its belief systems, its values, its rituals of death and memory, and the human process of loss.

There are actually two non-fiction books about Japan on my list this year, and they’re both about death, grief, growth, and remembering.  It’s a coincidence, but seems oddly fitting now looking back on 2016.  Part memoir and part exploration of Japanese cultural and religious traditions surrounding death and its aftermath, I was fascinated by the line this book walked through the interweaving of religion and myth, respect and emotional reservation, and most of all the realization that there is no one single accepted way to mourn and to believe, even within a society as communal as Japan’s.  It’s something I find constantly and absolutely fascinating about Japan, the meeting and often the integration of old and new traditions, and of outside influences. Probably one of the most thoughtful and uplifting books about death I’ve ever read, and a great one about Japanese culture too.

4. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

When Mia Corvere was a child, her father led a failed rebellion against the very leaders he was charged with protecting. Mia watched his public execution with her own eyes, the same way she watched her mother and brother torn from their beds and thrown into Godsgrave’s brutal prison tower.  Narrowly escaping her own death, completely alone and a wanted fugitive, Mia now has only two things left—an ability to commune with shadows that has given her a powerful and eerie companion shaped vaguely like a cat whom she calls Mr. Kindly, and a desire to join the only people who can help her take revenge: the mythical and merciless guild of assassins called the Red Church.  But even finding the Church and being accepted can be life-threatening—graduating from their ranks will mean more sacrifice, suffering, revelation, and power than even sharp-witted and viciously determined Mia could ever imagine.

Let me preface this by saying this book is probably not for everyone.  Both its premise and execution are undeniably dark and graphic: the cast is necessarily full of antiheroes with unapologetically bloodthirsty aims and a range of moral standards and behaviors tending heavily toward the ‘uglier’ end of the spectrum.  The violence and deaths can be brutal, emotionally and physically, and despite their pervasiveness they never seem to pack any less of a punch.  But I’ve always looked to books as my safe guides and windows into exploring that kind of darkness every so often, and this book did so extremely well. Kristoff has a way of writing that makes Nevernight’s incredibly intricate and lovingly crafted fantasy universe feel rich and seductive even with the horrors that occur in it (the dry, black-comedy footnote asides from the nameless chronicler/narrator are a good start, for example).  On one hand, you don’t feel like you want to visit for obvious reasons, but the worldbuilding—with its constant moons and blood magicks and fickle goddesses—was so fluid and inviting it caught my imagination like few other books did this year. I absolutely got attached to many of the characters (especially our ‘heroine’ Mia), both despite and because of their flawed, ruthless, vulnerable, hungry personalities, and I found myself fascinated by even the ones I didn’t like.  This was one of the books this year I could literally barely put down, and I can’t wait for its sequel.

5. Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard

Ever since the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and ended WWII, the name of the city Hiroshima has become synonymous with the tragedy.  Nagasaki is almost always mentioned second if at all, almost as an afterthought, the city bombed three days later that was a second choice target.  But 74,000 people still died there, and 75,000 more were wounded or irreparably affected.  In this book, author Susan Southard tells the story of not just the day of the Nagasaki bombing, but the months and years that came afterward: of suffering and healing, protest and denial, terror and hope, interwoven at each stage with the painfully intimate and powerfully humanizing interviews and life accounts of five hibakusha survivors.  

This was definitely one of the heaviest books I read this year (in length and content), but it also felt absolutely necessary and was luckily very readable, thoroughly researched, and respectfully told.  You can tell just through the writing how much the author came to like and respect her subjects as people and not just mouthpieces for their stories, and dear gods the stories they have.  Nagasaki is definitely graphic, and horrifying, and achingly sad, as you would expect any book that details one of the worst tragedies in human history to be. But ultimately the stories of the hibakusha and Nagasaki’s slow but constant recovery are ones of hope and survival, and much as when you read memoirs from Holocaust survivors that urge you to remember, and learn, and walk armed with that new knowledge into the future, this book also makes you feel kind of empowered.  It’s been seventy years since the bombing happened, many of the survivors are passing on, and nuclear weapons are now sadly looming large on the political landscape again, so while it’s not an easy book, it was without a doubt one of the most important I’ve read in recent memory.

6. Front Lines by Michael Grant

The year is 1942.  World War II is raging.  The United States has finally decided to join the struggle against Hitler and the Nazis. And a landmark Supreme Court decision has just been made: for the first time, women are to be subject to the draft and eligible for full military service. Into this reimagined version of the largest war in human history come three girls: Rio Richelin, a middle-class California girl whose older sister was already KIA in the Pacific theater, Frangie Marr, whose struggling Tulsa family needs an extra source of income, and Rainy Schulterman, with a brother in the service and a very personal stake in the genocide being committed overseas.  But while women and girls are allowed to fight, sexism, racism, prejudice, and the brutality of war are still in full effect, and the three girls will have to fight their battles on multiple fronts if they’re going to survive to the end of the war.

I think this is probably one of the first non-fantasy historical revisionist series I’ve ever read that worked so incredibly well.  There are probably a million places author Michael Grant could have easily screwed up executing this concept, but I was extremely and pleasantly surprised to find my fears were pretty unfounded.  Grant (husband of similarly clear-eyed Animorphs author KA Applegate) has always been a writer who doesn’t shrink from including and even focusing on uncomfortable-but-realistic language, violence, sexuality, and real-world issues of prejudice, and he brings all these themes into Front Lines and places three teenage girls (one of whom is a WOC and another who’s a persecuted minority) front and center without letting the book feel preachy, stilted, or tone-deaf toward the girls’ feelings, motives, voices, and flaws as individuals.  It’s also obviously well-researched, and there’s a whole segment in the back where Grant shares his sources and the similarities and liberties he took with historical events in order to tell the story.  Especially in today’s political climate, it’s a powerful and engrossing read. And what’s more the sequel just came out not long ago.

7. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

In the year 2044, a single massive virtual reality interface called the OASIS has got most of the declining Earth’s population hooked into it, living out all kinds of video game and sci-fi fantasies.  But some of the more hardcore players, like Wade Watts, are exploring the OASIS on another level—hunting for the easter egg clues to a massive fortune its eccentric developer left behind after his death.  But no one’s been able to find even the first clue, let alone begin solving the weird and difficult puzzles and challenges that might follow…until one day, Wade does, and draws the dangerous attention and greed of everyone inside and outside the virtual world to himself in the process.

I’m honestly not that big of a gamer, or even someone particularly attached to or affected by pop culture nostalgia. Everything I know about most of the references throughout Ready Player One was picked up through cultural osmosis, and some I’d never even heard of—and I still thought this book was a blast, so take note if that’s what holding you back from picking it up.  The book has a lot of the raw thrill anyone who loves fictional worlds (video game or otherwise) would feel upon having a complete virtual universe full of every world, character, and feature of fantasy and sci-fi fiction you could ever dream of at their fingertips.  But it also explores, sometimes quite bluntly, a lot of the fears and flaws inherent in the whole ‘leave/ignore reality in favor of total VR immersion’ scenario, and in the type of people who would most likely be tempted to do it.  All the different bits and genre overlaps of the novel really come together very seamlessly too—it’s a little bit mystery, a little bit cutthroat competition, a little bit battle royale, a little bit virtual reality road-trip, a little bit (nerdy) coming-of-age.  And despite how much world-building is necessary to set up everything, the book rarely feels like it’s info-dumping on you (or maybe I just loved the concept of the OASIS so much I didn’t care).  Probably the most unashamedly fun novel I read this whole year.

8. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

In the 1980’s in Northern California, a little Hmong girl named Lia Lee began showing symptoms of a severe and complicated form of epilepsy.  The hospital the Lees took her to immediately began issuing their standard observations, treatments, and medications.  But her parents, first generation immigrants with their own complex cultural methods of interpreting and caring for medical conditions, didn’t necessarily think of epilepsy as an illness—for the Hmong it’s often a sign of great spiritual strength--and were wary of the parade of ever more complicated tests and drugs their daughter was subjected to.  Lia’s American doctors, confused and then angered by what they saw as dangerous disobedience and superstitious nonsense, begged to differ.  What followed was a years-long series of cultural clashes and misunderstandings between Western medical science and the rituals and beliefs of a proud cultural heritage, and the people who tried with the best intentions (but not always results) to bridge that gap.

I had never read anything you could classify as ‘medical anthropology’ before this book, and I’m kind of mad I didn’t because it was fascinating. Using her firsthand interviews and observations Fadiman creates an entire case study portrait of the Lee family experience, from their life in America and struggle with Lia’s condition and American doctors to the history of the Hmong people’s flight from Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos and their experiences as immigrants.  And as the best anthropological works should be, there’s also a very compassionate and analytic line walked that criticizes, explores, and accepts both cultural sides of the issue without assigning blame or coming out in favor of one over the other.  By the end of it, I think my strongest emotion was hope that we might embrace a new type of medicine in the decades to come (even though it might look grim right now); something holistic that can find a way to mediate between culture and science, doctor and family and patient, so that maybe everyone ends up learning something new.

9. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

Crowley has a pretty good life for a high-ranking demon living on Earth.  He can cruise around in his monstrous Bentley, and do assorted evil deeds here and there to keep from getting bored.  He even has a pleasant frenemy in the fussy, bookshop-owning Aziraphale, the angel who used to guard the flaming sword at the gates of Eden a very, very long time ago.  But then the various denizens of Heaven and Hell get the word from their higher-ups that it’s time for the Antichrist to come to Earth and the End Times to begin.  The extremely unfortunate baby mix-up that ensues is only the first step in a very unusual lead-up to the end of the world, which will include the greatest hits of Queen, duck-feeding, the Four (Motorcycle) Riders of the Apocalypse, a friendly neighborhood hellhound, modern witch hunters, and a certain historical witch’s (very accurate) prophecies.

Reading this book was long overdue for me—I’ve read and enjoyed works from both these authors before, and had heard a ton about this one, basically all of it good.  But I only finally picked it up as part of a ‘book rec exchange’ between me and @whynotwrybread and I’m so glad I got the extra push.  Good Omens has a dark, dry, incredibly witty humor and writing style that clearly takes its cue from both Gaiman and Pratchett; it was really fun picking out their trademark touches throughout the novel.  Couple that with a storyline that’s tailor-made to be a good-humored satire of religion, religious texts, and rigid morality and dogma in general, and you’ve got a pretty winning mix for me as a reader. It’s endlessly quotable, the characters are extremely memorable (and very often relatable), and despite the plot using a lot of well-known religious ‘storylines’, there are enough twists on them that it keeps you guessing as to how things will eventually turn out right up until the end.

10. Scythe by Neal Shusterman

At long last, humankind has conquered death. Massive advancements in disease eradication, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence means that not only can people age (and reset their age) indefinitely, but they can be revived from even fatal injuries.  And a benign AI with access to all human knowledge makes sure everything is run peacefully, fairly, and efficiently.  In order to deal with the single remaining issue of population control, a handful of those from each generation are chosen to be trained as Scythes, who selectively mete out permanent death to enough people each year to keep humanity stable.  And when Rowan and Citra are selected by the cool but kindly Scythe Faraday as his apprentices, neither are exactly willing, nor are they at all prepared for what the life of a Scythe will come to ask of them.

Neal Shusterman always seems to be able to come up with the coolest concepts for his novels (previous examples include getting inside the mind of a schizophrenic, two kids trapped in a very unique version of purgatory, and the Unwind series with its chilling legal retroactive abortion/organ donation of teens), and not only that but also execute them interestingly and well. They always end up making you really think about what you’d do in this version of reality, and Scythe is no different.  Would you be one of the Scythes who gives each person gentle closure before their death? Glean them before they even know what’s happening?  Divorce yourself emotionally from the process altogether so it doesn’t drive you mad?  Embrace your role and even come to take pleasure in it? You meet characters with all these opinions and more.  It doesn’t lean quite as heavily on the character depth as some of the author’s previous books, which gave me some hesitation at first, but the world was just too good not to get into.  And the fact that it’s going to be a series means this could very well just be the setup novel for much more.

 Honorable Mention Sequels/Series Installments

 -Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (‘No mourners, no funerals’—as perfect a companion/conclusion to the already-amazing Six of Crows from last year’s top ten list as I could have ever hoped for)

-The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (one of the most unique and magical series I’ve ever read comes to a powerful and satisfying close)

-Morning Star by Pierce Brown (a glorious and breathtaking battle across the vastness of space starring an incredible and beloved cast kept me pinned to the page until the very last word—this was a brutally realistic and totally fantastic political/action sci-fi trilogy)

-Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (I rec’d the epistolary sci-fi novel Illuminae last year and this was an equally gripping sequel to it—can’t wait for the third book out this year!)

-Bakemonogatari, Part 1 by NisiOisin (the translated light novels for one of my all-time favorite anime series continue to be amazing!)

If you made it this far, THANK YOU and I wish you an awesome year of reading in 2017!  And I want to remind everyone that my blog and inbox are always, ALWAYS open for book recommendations (whether giving or requesting them) and talking/screaming/theorizing/crying about books in general.  Or write up your own ‘top 10 books from last year’ post and tag me!

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #377

Top Ten Character Reveals in Movies

You only get one chance to make a first impression, unless you’re a movie version of a comic book character, in which case they’ll probably retell your origin story every seven years. But generally speaking, movie characters emerge onto our screens fully-formed and eager to show us their stuff. Sometimes this is a slow-build affair; sometimes a single frame is enough to give us an insight into their character. Often with a confident performance and excellent cinematography, a character can become iconic almost instantaneously, sometimes with little or no dialogue. This week I’m celebrating ten such characters, whose first appearance in the films in question is a marvel to behold. And – hey! – only one of them is actually from Marvel. Ain’t that a surprise?

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2001): as much as I’ve cooled towards Depp in recent years, and as much as the Pirates films lost their way once their superlative first instalment sailed off the screen, no one can deny the majesty of this character introduction. Looking amazingly cool and confident, Jack Sparrow glides across the screen, seemingly standing astride the mast of a great pirate galleon. It is only as the camera pans wider that we see the boat is almost entirely sunken, with just the mast visible. This in itself is a perfect distillation of Sparrow – equal parts pirate rock god, master tactician, and clumsy drunken oaf – but the icing on the cake is that the sunken mast deposits him directly onto the shore at precisely the moment it disappears beneath the waves. Piratical perfection.

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981): Indy is a character introduced in silhouette and close-up: the image of him, broad, leather-jacketed, fedoraed, walking through the jungle, is the first thing we see after the famous dissolve from the Paramount logo to a real mountain. After that his hands do the talking, examining arrowheads and assembling a map, before he whips out his, er, whip to disarm a treacherous guide. Only then does he finally step into the light and we see just how pretty Harrison Ford is. And it’s even later than that before he finally speaks. But Indy is already an icon: resourceful, robust, a sexy swarthy man’s man, a take-no-shit hero, and clearly incredibly competent and intelligent. And very, very pretty.

Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988): speaking of pretty… the joy of Jessica Rabbit’s introduction is partly in subverting our expectations (or, at least, watching Bob Hoskins’ Eddie Valiant have his expectations subverted). Roger Rabbit is cute but chaotic; Jessica is a bona fide sex bomb. Sultrily singing a bluesy number as she flirtatiously struts around the Ink and Paint Club, she is the antithesis of the family-friendly Roger, a busty pin-up model, all legs and curves and – vitally – the full-throated voice of Kathleen Turner. Quite frankly it’s rather shocking in a Disney movie from the director of Back to the Future.

Darth Vader (David Prowse, Star Wars, 1977): the opening scene of Star Wars is all tension. A small craft is abducted by a larger one; on board, two droids flit about whilst angst-faced soldiers await a boarding party. The subsequent firefight is short and rather brutal, efficiently directed by George Lucas, and leaving the corridor strewn with Rebel dead. And then, unheralded, out of the smoke emerges Darth Vader, beautifully framed, his vast black frame exquisitely contrasting with the white interior of the Tantive IV (and the “fascist white” of the Stormtrooper uniforms, according to Lucas’ own screenplay). He barks orders definitively in James Earl Jones’ baritone rumble, before hoisting a Rebel officer into the air by the scruff of his neck. He instantly oozes not just evil, but strong evil. He’s a Big Bad and no mistaking. Even without the depth and nuance afforded him by subsequent films, we know from frame one that he’s a really, really big deal.

Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman, Leon, 1995): Stansfield is one of 90s cinema’s greatest villains. A whirling dervish of tics and eccentricities, beautifully orchestrated by Oldman. The first thing we see him do is rattle a small tin before removing and consuming some narcotic, which he swallows in almost orgasmic fervour, before mowing down an entire family with a shotgun (mum in the bath, teen girl in the back). But it’s his shark-like entrance through a beaded curtain that sticks with me, all cool malevolence and forward motion.

Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen, Toy Story, 1995): one of the beauties of Toy Story is how it presents its fantastical world – a world of living toys, but one which follows a very strict hierarchical structure – so efficiently. As such, the arrival of an exciting new toy into Andy’s bedroom is an incredibly tense event, portrayed mostly through sound and shadow. The symbolic nature of Woody, Andy’s favourite, being knocked off the bed but still trying to keep his optimism, is neatly done. And then we get the reveal: a slow pan up Buzz’s form, his slick plastic limbs giving way to his stern jaw and proud face. The subsequent scene, in which Buzz’s pomposity and assurance is quietly mocked but ultimately used to puncture Woody’s desperate and fragile self-belief, culminating in the “falling with style” scene, is a masterpiece of economic, witty script-writing, world-building, and character development. It also makes terrific use of nascent computer technology to deliver something that was, in 1995, a visual set-piece the likes of which we’d never seen.

Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca, 1942): like Indiana Jones (who was, presumably, inspired by him to a certain degree – or at least that typical Bogartian old-fashioned manly-man), Rick is a character introduced in his absence, other characters reacting to him in a way as a note is passed through his club and into his hands. His hands are the first thing we see as he signs off on a note of credit and lifts a cigarette to his lips. We can tell from the surroundings, the money, the reactions of others that this is a man with some degree of power; we can tell from the weariness of Bogart’s performance that it’s man with some degree of past.

The Borg Queen (Alice Krige, Star Trek: First Contact, 1997): the Borg were not meant to have a leader; the Borg were not meant to have individuality. To have the Borg as the villains in a movie felt like an obvious, inspired choice; after all, they were essentially the “big bad” of the Next Generation era. But how to give face to the faceless, how to give character to a legion of identikit drones? Creating the Queen is as elegant a choice as I think you could come up with, and Krige’s performance is all sensual menace, her bio-organic appearance almost giving off an air of Cenobitian S&M. And she speaks before we see her, so we get a little bit of darkly seductive exposition as she touts the Borg’s accomplishments to a captive Commander Data. But it’s her first appearance that sticks in the mind, if only for the technical chutzpah on display: Krige’s head and torso is lowered from the ceiling in one long panning shot, before being attached to her waiting body, all whilst she delivers a speech. Krige’s performance might be what makes the Borg Queen linger in the memory, but Jonathan Frakes’ direction, and the wizardry of First Contact’s FX team, is what made her stand out from frame one.

Quint (Robert Shaw, Jaws, 1975) Quint is introduced through one of the greatest uses of sound effects in movie history. During a tense, argumentative, and loud town meeting to discuss the killer shark of Amity, a horrid screeching noise is heard. Fingernails down a chalkboard. The culprit: Bartholomew Marion Quint (who I’m fairly certain is only ever called “Quint” in the film). From his appearance and accent we know this a salty old seadog, a man of the open ocean. He delivers one of a number of Quint monologues that have gone on to anchor a place for themselves in popular culture; the assured speech of a man who has no time for bluster or politics, a man who gets down to business. “You all know me,” he begins, “You know how I earn my livin’.” He grabs attention with the shrill finger-trick, he holds it with his stern but wry delivery. “For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn fish.” He then disappears for an hour of film time, but we know he’ll be back; the film circles round him like a boat in a whirlpool.

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, Iron Man, 2008): I’d heard rumours. Sam Jackson was, apparently, going to play Nick Fury, following on from Bryan Hitch using Jackson as the basis for the character in The Ultimates. Art imitating life imitating another form of art; nice symmetry. But there was no confirmation; indeed, at this point, Marvel was treating the possibility of an Avengers crossover movie as a pipe dream, a wish only fulfilled if they’d done their homework and the audience was interested. So I didn’t even bother staying for the end credits. God, I wish I had. Because following on from Iron Man’s spectacular, hilarious final line, its continuity-baiting desire to move beyond simple comic adaptation with these characters, to see the world expand so explosively is really something to behold. Cocksure, arrogant, always-right Tony Stark has just announced to the world that he’s Iron Man; venturing back into his sexy cliffside mansion, his elaborate technology – showcased to winning effect throughout the film – is on the fritz. Lights don’t work, computer-Jarvis is popping and crackling. And then it comes: that distinctive Jackson baritone. And one of the most important lines in any movie, a line that shaped the next decade of cinema history, but a line that – at the time – just felt like a cool, somewhat badass thing for Jackson to spout: “You think you’re the only superhero in the world?” We knew he wasn’t; we knew the Hulk was around, that Captain America was frozen up north somewhere, that Thor was still on Asgard. We didn’t know that the Ancient One was over in New York, that Rocket, Star-Lord and the rest were up in space, that Carol Danvers was out there somewhere, that a small boy from Queens would one day be bitten by a spider. We didn’t know that Thanos was searching for Infinity Stones, that SHIELD had been infiltrated by HYDRA for years, that Hank Pym had had his company stolen out from under him. Everything got smaller and bigger all at the same time, all because a really, really cool dude in an eye patch and a long coat stepped from the shadows. Welcome to the Avengers Initiative, indeed.

There were others, as usual. Ones that I honestly thought would be included. I almost traded Fury for Thanos. There’s Harry Lime, of course. Trinity. Heath Ledger’s Joker (really, he fell by the wayside because however good the opening scene of The Dark Knight is, the best Joker scene is when he does his pencil trick, which is technically his second introduction). I even thought of doing Batman’s initial appearance from his 1989 film. But, y’know, ya gotta draw the line somewhere. These ten seem as good a place as any.

[newmediawhodis-blog]

Memes As Cultural Artefects

“I had a meme” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Continual social interaction by means of digital technologies, like the Internet, is changing the way we view ourselves, as well as how we transmit information. A common form of modern communication and message propagation is the meme. Thanks to the Internet; memes now possess the ability to encourage debate, form communities, and persuade larger groups of people to engage their thoughts and opinions through the agency of sharing. Moreover, they have the capacity to provoke certain internet users into negative reactions, through a practice known as trolling. This blog post will look at the notion of the meme, as well as that of trolling; and will consider, using various examples, the extent to which these two terms are interrelated.

The emergence of digital technology and the Internet has cultivated a novel kind of cultural media – the Internet meme (Chen 2012: 7). The term 'meme' was originally coined by Richard Dawkins (1976: 206); to explain the innate human spreading, reproduction, and adaptation of culture and ideas. Dawkins (1976: 206) suggested a “substantial evolutionary model of cultural development and change grounded in the replication of ideas, knowledge, and other cultural information through imitation and transfer”. According to this definition, a meme can basically be any conveyable type of information (Chen 2012: 7). However, as a result of the mechanisms of digital technology and the Internet, memes are now generally considered to be exceptionally infectious and humorous facets of online culture that can occasionally produce enough public excitement to break into mainstream popular culture (Chen 2012: 7). Nowadays, countless memes exist online and are typically presented as printed text, gossip, images, jokes, videos, or web pages (Fichman & Sanfilippo 2016: 89).

The Internet essentially manufactures digital memes, and enables individuals to instantly and accurately disseminate them to other users; via email, instant messaging services, online forums, blogs, and social media platforms (Wang & Wang 2015: 265). Individuals who more often than not are members of online communities; therefore generate, source, and share memes with the rest of the Internet (Chen 2012: 7). The online meme can be deemed to function as a practically effective unit of culture, as it contributes to moulding the mindsets and significant types of conduct of a social group (Knobel & Lankshear 2007: 199). In essence; a meme uncovers a factual reality about something, and allows that fact to be expressed and applied to different contexts (Zittrain 2014: 389).

Additionally; trolling is the practice of purposely annoying or angering others on the Internet, through cunning and often provocative means – so as to evoke disgruntled reactions, as well as to unsettle social equilibrium (van Reenen 2014: 153). They typically create anonymous profiles on social media websites for the mere intent of harassing, bewildering, and exploiting individuals who seem vulnerable (Giraldi & Monk-Turner 2017: 118). Memes are judged as being strongly linked with trolling; as trolls not only troll memes, but they incorporate memes into their trolling activities as well (Fichman & Sanfilippo 2016: 74). Like trolling, memes do not demand much time to produce or consume; and they promote a sort of constant interaction, based on the progression of particular inside jokes or common knowledge (van Reenen 2014: 157). Furthermore, they are useful tools for anonymously transmitting meaning in an online setting (van Reenen 2014: 157).

THE MCCANN'S

Madeleine McCann is a girl from England who vanished at the age of three, whilst on holiday in Portugal with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann (BBC News 2007). The disappearance occurred in 2007, and she has not been found to this day (BBC 2017). A faction of so-called Twitter trolls – commonly identified as the anti-McCanns – operate chiefly under fictitious names, and are accountable for posting aggressive and harassing messages on social media, aimed at both Kate and Gerry McCann (Synnott et al. 2017: 71). Many of the McCann trolls change their profile pictures to photographs of Kate and Gerry – typically favouring images of the couple grinning after Madeleine’s vanishing, in order to underpin the articulated group belief that they were in some way responsible for their daughter's disappearance (Synnott et al. 2017: 74). The trolls also frequently propagate memes and insulting imagery, in an obvious attempt to trigger a reaction from users who are supportive of Kate and Gerry McCann (Synnott et al. 2017: 74). These memes usually depict Kate and Gerry with massive amounts of cash, and features captions like “Abduction! All this is ours Kate” and “It’s not about the money, but please keep donating“ (Synnott et al. 2017: 74). This instance is indicative of the fact that memes and trolling often go hand-in-hand. In my opinion, the act of trolling through the use of memes, holds the capacity to defame individuals, even if the messages being expressed are not necessarily the truth – hence, hurting people unnecessarily.

BILL COSBY

Over the past decade, countless women have come forward to accuse Bill Cosby, a 78-year-old esteemed comedian, for sexually assaulting them at some point in their lives (Oliver 2015: 1131). Most of these women have also alleged that Cosby drugged them until they lost consciousness, before taking advantage of them in their helpless states (Oliver 2015: 1131). This controversy began gaining widespread public attention when, in late 2014, comedian Hannibal Buress repeatedly called Cosby a rapist during one of his standup shows (Pickert 2014). Shortly afterward, a snippet of Burress' accusatory statements was posted on YouTube and went viral within days (Pickert 2014). This encouraged the Daily Mail to publish a more comprehensive report of the accusations of Barbara Bowman – one of the several women who had initially accused Cosby of sexually assaulting them in some manner (Pickert 2014). Bowman's accounts have since provided up to 50 other women with a sense of courage to come forward with their personal stories of sexual abuse at the hands of Cosby (Pickert 2014).

Less than one month later, Cosby ignorantly tweeted a link to a '#CosbyMeme Generator' and openly invited his Twitter followers to create as well as share memes about him (Dyce 2014). Cosby's followers responded by trolling him with memes that savagely pointed out his sexual assault allegations, ultimately painting him as an inhumane rapist (Dyce 2014). Among these memes was a photo of Cosby in an odd-looking shirt, flashing a grin while giving the audience a "thumbs up". Its caption reads "Look at this wacky shirt I'm wearing. Also I am a serial rapist" (Keating 2014). This example goes to show that not only are memes frequently linked to trolling, but they can also be utilised to fashion and propagate societal perceptions regarding public scandals of this nature.

STEVE HARVEY

At the end of the Miss Universe final in 2015, host Steve Harvey made a shocking blunder by proclaiming the incorrect pageant contestant as the winner (Campbell 2015). Ariadna Gutierrez (Miss Colombia) was mistakenly told by Harvey, that she had won the beauty contest (Campbell 2015). Immediately following the announcement, the crowd erupted into applause, as a teary Gutierrez received her sash and bouquet of flowers while the winning crown was placed on her head (Campbell 2015). However, Gutierrez was in the midst of making her way to the edge of the stage when Harvey reappeared with a sombre expression on his face and explained that an awful mistake had been made, as the real winner was actually Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (Miss Philippines), with Miss Colombia as first runner-up (Campbell 2015). Wurtzbach then awkwardly walked up to a horrified Miss Colombia, who bent down so that Miss Universe 2014 could remove her crown and place it on Wurtzbach's head instead (Campbell 2015).

Subsequently, Harvey publicly apologised in tweets addressed to his fans and all those he had disappointed – including the two beauty pageant contestants involved in the incident (Webber 2015). However, despite Harvey's sincere tweets, the harm had already been caused and – not long afterwards – several memes trolling Harvey for his error quickly went viral (Webber 2015). One of Harvey's trolls was famous singer Justin Bieber (Ricci 2015). The Star took to Instagram to post a meme which makes reference to his recently released hit song, 'Sorry' (Ricci 2015). The meme in question comprises of a photo wherein Harvey's face has clearly been photoshopped onto Bieber's body, with the lyrics "Is it too late now to say sorry?" printed near the top (Ricci 2015). Moreover, Bieber also addressed a tweet to Harvey, in which he attached a link to the 'Sorry' music video, and sarcastically reassured him that the mishap "could [have] happened to anyone" (Ricci 2015).

In conclusion; this blog post has individually explored the concept of the meme, as well as the idea of trolling. It has also examined three different case studies in which both of these notions are present. Upon analysing each instance in depth; an inference has ultimately been made which suggests that memes are connected to trolling, whenever they disrupt social equilibrium through some sort of targeted harassment.

REFERENCES

BBC News. 2007. Mother in Plea Over Missing Girl. Retrieved October 10, 2017 from the World Wide Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6631255.stm.

BBC News. 2017. Madeleine McCann: Police Still Pursuing 'Critical' Lead 10 years On. Retrieved October 10, 2017 from the World Wide Web: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39706194.

Campbell, K. 2015. Steve Harvey Accidentally Names the Wrong Winner of Miss Universe: Watch. Us Weekly. Retrieved October 10, 2017 from the World Wide Web: https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/steve-harvey-accidentally-names-the-wrong-winner-of-miss-universe-watch-w160106/.

Chen, C. 2012. The Creation and Meaning of Internet Memes in 4chan: Popular Internet Culture in the Aage of Online Digital Reproduction. Habitus. 3: 6-19.

Dawkins, R. 1976. The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fichman, P. & Sanfilippo, M. R. 2016. Online Trolling and Its Perpetrators: Under The Cyberbridge. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

Giraldi, A. & Monk-Turner, E. 2017. Perception of Rape Culture on a College Campus: A Look at Social Media Posts. Women's Studies International Forum. 62: 116-124.

Keating, L. 2014. Bill Cosby Learns That Asking People to 'Meme Him' Was Probably Not the Best Idea. Tech Times. Retrieved October 8, 2017 from the World Wide Web: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/19972/20141111/bill-cosbys-viral-memes-reignite-rape-allegations.htm.

Knobel, M. & Lankshear, C. 2007. A New Literacies Sampler. New York: Peter Lang.

Oliver, W. M. 2015. Bill Cosby, the Lustful Disposition Exception, and the Doctrine of Chances. Washington University Law Review. 93: 1131-1141.

Pickert, K. 2014. Here's Everything We Know (and Don't Know) About the Bill Cosby Rape Allegations. Time Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2017 from the World Wide Web: http://time.com/3592547/bill-cosby-rape-allegations-timeline/.

Synnott, J., Coulias, A. & Ioannou, M. 2017. Online Trolling: The Case of Madeleine McCann. Computers in Human Behavior. 71: 70-78.

van Reenen, C. 2014. From Trolling for Newbs to Trolling for Cheezburger: An Analysis of the Transformation of Trolling. In Fisher, R. & Howard, L (eds.), A Digital Janus: Looking Forward, Looking Back. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 153-163.

Wang, J. & Wang, H. 2015. From Aa Marketplace to a Cultural Space: Online Meme As an Operational Unit of Cultural Transmission. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 45: 261-274.

[roarroads-blog]

Working away

Hey, hey, hey,

Since we left Auckland in February, we have been changing our location all the time. We haven’t really stayed anywhere for longer than eleven days. We have slept in the car for weeks; we have slept in an old caravan, nice hostels, shitty hostels, beautiful houses, you name it. We’ve had all types of accommodation one can possibly imagine.

In May, for the first time in a while, we had a place to stay for more than a week, and it felt good. We were in Dunedin—one of my favourite cities in NZ—working in an okayish hostel for accommodation. The deal was three hours of work per day in exchange for a bunk in a six-bed dorm. We had two double beds in our dorm which kind of made it an eight-bed room. So yes, those days I was living like Snow White with her seven dwarfs; the only difference was I had six men sleeping in the same room with me instead. The room stank sometimes so we had to keep the window open even if it was freezing cold. New Zealand is similar to Malta in terms of central heating, it just doesn’t exist here. Anyway, Dunedin was fun, we made friends with the guys who worked there with us and had plenty of time to enjoy the amazing Otago Peninsula with its sea lions, penguins and albatrosses. It was also an ultimate couch potato time for us, we watched two entire seasons of Gotham, for example. As to the work itself, we mainly did housekeeping (cleaned the kitchen, rooms, toilets, did the beds) but also took part in renovation works, which was much more interesting. 

We arrived in Wanaka two days ago; the plan is to stay here for the winter season, so it feels like the right moment to tell you the tale of our Workaway adventures.

Workaway is a great project, really. Everyone benefits from it when it’s done properly. It allows people like us to travel long-term without spending money on food and accommodation. As a rule, you mostly meet other travellers while travelling, which is great, but if you want to mix up your experience a bit, Workaway gives you a unique chance to meet some local people and observe their everyday lives from within. It’s great for the hosting side as well because they essentially get workers for free (it actually doesn’t cost them too much to feed you).

Sheep and beef farm in Pahiatua

Just before we signed up for our first Workaway project, I had a chat with my friend Ilona who was doing the same thing in Greece at the time. Inspired by her words, I convinced Fabushka we should definitely give it a go. I told him we would only work a couple of hours a day, and anyway it wouldn’t be a “real work”, just helping sweet farmers cuddle their animals. At least that’s how I imagined it. 

Our first experience turned out to be slightly different… We worked five hours a day, and the work wasn’t easy at all. In fact, it was much harder than everything I’ve ever done for money. We were hosted by a young family which consists of a 35-year-old Kiwi guy, James, his 37-year-old wife, Stephanie, and their 3-year-old daughter, Elsa. James was raised on a farm; many years ago he left NZ for almost 5 years to travel the world, but after years of wandering, he understood that he wanted to live in NZ. So he came back home and bought his own farm very near to his father’s land. The farm is huge, James has two thousand sheep and a few hundred cattle. Stephanie is French; she arrived in NZ seven years ago and met James when she came to his farm to work for food and accommodation just like us. When we were there Stephanie was eight months pregnant with their second child. Elsa is a funny kid, a bit spoiled perhaps—she cries every time she hears a “no” (how do I know it? We made her cry twice!)—but mainly funny. Stephanie didn’t look particularly happy with her life situation. To be fair, I couldn’t stop wondering what it felt like to leave France and relocate to NZ’s countryside, to live in a huge house in the middle of nowhere (the nearest city is 1,5 hour’s drive away), no friends, no family nearby. Nada. Plenty of sheep instead.

James had a very unusual approach to the whole Workaway thing, he just decided to treat us as free labourers. So instead of having meaningful conversations with our hosts, exploring NZ’s culture and hugging the sheep, we ended up working like slaves five hours a day.

Just to give you an idea, our very first task was to move a bunch of huge sacks full of sheep wool from one shed to another and then to take the wool out of the sacks and equally distribute it on the floor to let it dry. Why was it wet? Because the wool wasn’t quite normal, it was, in fact, the shittiest kind of wool, cut from the sheep’s bums and covered in poop.

Another time we spent an afternoon picking up hay for James’s neighbour. I was the only girl there because the job required a certain amount of physical strength. So it was just me, Fabushka and ten Kiwi farmers. We spent hours repeatedly lifting heavy bales of hay (each of them weighed 15-20kg) and putting them on a trailer attached to a moving tractor. When the trailer was fully loaded with several layers of hay bales, we drove it to a shed where we had to unload it. As you can imagine it was all very hard. After two rounds, they asked me if I could drive a car, and I said yes because technically they didn’t ask me if I had a driving license. Thus they offered me to drive the tractor instead of lifting the bales. It was a great fun as it was also a FIAT tractor. At the end of the day, James’s neighbour tried to give us money since he was paying everyone who helped him out with the hay; we didn’t take the money of course, but it made me realise how crazy James was to ask us to do something which was considered a proper farm work.

We did a lot of other things: fixed and cleaned roofs, pressed wool, picked up dirty tires and dug holes. However, James decided to save the best activity for our last days there. We spent three days drenching young sheep, around 400 lambs per day, and in case you don’t know what drenching is, I will explain it. Drenching is a procedure of injecting a liquid drug into the mouth of an animal using a special drench gun. The drug normally treats a broad spectrum of parasites. Anyway, it’s easier said than done; we had to push the lambs into a small yard, restrain them with our knees, stick our fingers in their mouths and dose them one by one. The lambs were super scared; they were trying to escape and kept shitting and pissing on us. 

At the end of the three days James asked us how it went, and when we replied that it was a bit of an unusual task for us, he said that some things are much more fun after you’ve done them than while you are doing them. Yep.

Sheep and beef farm in Hawke’s Bay

Sheryl and Andrew have a beautiful farm situated in Hawke’s Bay; their wooden house overlooks the ocean. Both of them are in their sixties and manage the farm on their own. Andrew has three sons, but none of them was attracted by the idea of dedicating his life to farming. The youngest son decided to enlist in the Army and is currently serving his time in Iraq. We didn’t speak much about it, but I could see that both Andrew and Sheryl were really worried about him. Sheryl doesn’t have her own children, however, she met Andrew when his sons were still young and helped him to raise them.

Andrew and Sheryl have sheep, cattle, two stunning horses, a sweet working dog, two chihuahuas and a fat cat: a perfect combination of animals. Axel, one of the chihuahuas, is a well-respected dog who deserves some special attention. He made me forget my hatred towards small dogs, I fell in love with him! Sheryl has a huge garden where she grows so many fruits and vegetables that they almost never have to buy any food in a supermarket. Everything comes directly from the farm, including meat of course. 

The work wasn’t hard at all, we were mainly helping out with the garden and doing some small farm tasks. The worst thing I had to do there was to pick up horse manure with my bare hands. Sheryl uses it as a fertiliser as she prefers to stick to the organic way of living as much as she can. Other than that I wasn’t asked to do anything unpleasant. When we told them about our sheep drenching experience they were really surprised and said they would never ask workawayers to do anything like that.

Dairy farm in Taranaki

The third time’s the charm they say and indeed it was for us. We stayed with Leanne, Ian and Jack on their lovely farm in Taranaki for eleven days. Taranaki is an incredibly beautiful region, its landscape is dominated by a lone volcano, 2,518 m high Mt Taranaki, which we got to climb on our last day there. It is also famous for its surf beaches that are among the best in the country.  Mt Taranaki gets enough snowfall to be turned into a small ski resort during the winter season, therefore, the best thing about the region is probably being able to go surfing and snowboarding all in the same day. 

Leanne and Ian own a dairy farm (400 cows), hence every morning we had to clean the cowshed where the cows were getting milked, it was covered in shit, mostly liquid shit, but strangely I wasn’t disgusted at all anymore. It’s funny how drastically your level of disgust towards animal poop diminishes after just a couple of weeks spent in the countryside. The first days on James’s farm left me deeply shocked, but by the time we came to Taranaki I was happy to walk ankle-deep in the shit. Moreover, I must admit that it felt great to hold a high water pressure hose and make all the shit and dirt go away at once. It had a certain therapeutic effect on me. 

Apart from that, we helped Ian with some fencing work, which was an easy and even satisfying task. One day Ian told me not to worry too much about making a mistake, he said the fence was only psychological, and if a cow wanted to escape it could have easily destroyed the fence. I thought it was a very meaningful observation to make, I took it as a metaphor of course. Leanne and Ian are in their mid-thirties, Ian works full-time on the farm and Leanne is a self-employed accountant who divides her time between her practice and the farm. She used to work for a well-known financial company in Sydney, but at some point of her life, she realised that it wasn’t the way she really wanted to live her life. Jack is 19 years old, he lives with Leanne and Ian, works on the farm part time and studies. Jack is in a wheelchair which absolutely doesn’t stop him from being an incredibly energetic and positive person. He is active in a number of sports for disabled people (basketball, cycling, swimming); he participates in various regional competitions and dreams of becoming a Paralympic athlete one day.

It was easily our best Workaway experience. Since the very beginning, we felt that they truly got what Workaway was all about. They treated us very well, the accommodation was fantastic, and Leanne cooked so many delicious dishes for us, every day something different. They shared stories with us and gave us a good insight into the NZ lifestyle. We met other travellers there as well, played games with them and listened to their stories. A German guy who once slept in a paper box on the street because when he arrived in the town, all hostels were fully booked and he didn’t have a tent (my style). And a super sweet French couple, who were in the middle of their year-long trip, Indonesia - Australia- NZ- Tahiti- Thailand. It was an amazing experience.

Hotel in Southland

Initially, our plan was to start looking for a job as soon as we leave the North Island and arrive in Christchurch. However, when you’re travelling plans change very quickly, thus we ended up with another Workaway project, and up until today, we haven’t been to Christchurch.

Our fourth Workaway project was very different from the ones we had done before. First of all, it wasn’t a farm, it was a small hotel/pub in a tiny town in Southland. Secondly, during our stay, we had almost no interaction with the hosts, a couple in their fifties who treated us well but didn’t really care much about spending time with us or talking to us. Luckily, we had a company of other workawayers there. 

We did housekeeping in the morning and washed the dishes in the evening, which was quite boring, but after two weeks of sleeping in the car, we were happy to be bored for a little while and have a bed. By the way, we slept in an old caravan parked outside the hotel. It was cool but not really comfortable.

Several hospitality jobs have taught me that sometimes it’s better not to know what’s happening backstage in restaurants and hotels. What really surprised me was that all the sheets and pillow cases were washed in cold water there. Moreover, the dishes were washed manually in a sink filled with soapy water without rinsing off the soap. Plus I saw a mouse in our lounge twice. Yay!

Sasha