#what if we were all an amalgamation of different sides of the same coin but the coin has infinite sides

[rugwurm]

back to my roots

[rosesfromaforgottenname]

you’re an amalgamation of all you’ve ever loved, and i don’t believe you've ever been kissed—not by human lips, the loving sun or moon, nor the sweetness of genuine connection to a verb or a noun. I can’t blame you, you’re no better than a scared animal, you hurt therefore you hurt in a cycle of self-loathing,

and i’m sorry i couldn’t be the first one to kiss you, the first one to trespass your walls and leap over your boundaries like you did mine, and stay. i will never not feel guilty for all the promises we made and all the secrets and hurt shared before i left, but i honestly couldn’t bring myself to go back. you deserve better than you’ve ever had, which is what i’d say if i understood you, but you can’t ever read a book that refuses to let you cut it’s pages,

and of course, i implicitly understand your violence, your hate, your passionate rage is nothing but the product of pains echoing in your empty, dark, cavern of a heart, i know in my heart you are no different than me, a hurting romanticist, a lover struck too many times in our most vital organ, but your hurt has manifested into hatred, for not just all around you, but you yourself,

and what a difficult thing to love, hate, you can’t look for love and refuse to give it, but i can’t blame you for not wanting to be at risk again, but it’s silly, you’re so willing to play with your life, but not your heart? is it not the same to you? 

you’re so old now, and you still don’t get it? of course, i’m only a little girl feigning sentience and maturity, so my word means little, but you’re still that soft and bruised little boy feigning to be a 70s masculine man, so i suppose we’re two sides of the same coin,

how hard do you need to crush a heart to change a hopeless romantic? despite countless heartaches, i’ve never been pushed to leave like i had with you, you pushed so hard the sides switched, at some point i had turned cold, a miracle truly, you were all i wanted and hated in one repulsively beautiful package, i adored how you understood me and i hated how you were silent still, hated how hateful and how hurt you were, it wasn’t your fault entirely, of course you can’t control how you were treated by others, but you could always control your reaction

you are an icarus, except you never got close to the sun, time and people chipped at your wax, and you burned yourself down, you were a train crash, you were a gruesome disaster in progress, an amalgamation of hate and misconceptions, an example of how prejudice ruins, and its human, you’re only human, but maybe my problem with you was that you were too intrinsically human, too deeply in tune with the passionately hateful nature of humanity, too filled with the rage that drove humanity to develop the history we remember and forget today,

forgive me for not staying, forgive me for not being the one like you swore i was, forget me,

myin

[coolnamegenerator]

OP, I hope it’s ok to hijack your post, because this is some delicious ass shit.

So, for all non-germans (and germans) interested in a little bit of super specific history facts, because I studied local history for a few semesters in uni for fun: What you will see on and around Oktoberfest, Dirndl und Lederhosen, is a bastardisation of Bayerische Tracht (bavarian traditional garbs) which is actually really cool. This style of clothing originated in southern Germany in a region close to the alps as well as the bordering parts of Austria; over all we're talking mountainous regions. That‘s why in real Bayerischen Trachten you will find lots of references to that mountainous lifestyle in regards to local wildlife and plants. For example the Gamsbart in men's headwear (from the back hair of the chamois, an alpine goat-antelope):

Or on jewelry like the so called Charivari you will often find depictions of Edelweiß:

It‘s basically like a charm bracelet, that is worn on the belt for men or the front of the Dirndlschürze (apron) for women, with hunting trophies such as animal teeth or body parts, coins, gems and other little trinkets attached to it. Usually you are gifted an almost empty chain and then accumulate charms over time, and everything is hunted or gifted or passed down, not bought. You can also inherit a complete chain, which can be worth a small fortune. It can be a very romantic gesture for men to gift their lady in favor a piece for her charivari.

An accurate depiction of real Bayerische Tracht looks something like this:

Beautiful, isn't it? Like I said, this type of Tracht (Gebirgsstracht) is typical in the alpine regions of southern Bavaria and originates around the begin of the 19. century in the form we see today. The House of Wittelsbach (a bavarian dynasty) came into power and united different bavarian territories, founded the kingdom of Bavaria and wanted to give the people a collective bavarian identity, among other things through uniform clothing that mirrored various Trachten traditions of all the regions within the bavarian kingdom. An amalgamation so to speak.

Like OP said, Trachten can vary immensely, even so within Bavaria. There is the bavarian heartland (southern Bavaria with Munich, the alps and also parts of Austria, that share many common traits) and then there all the other territories within, that still kind of kept their dialects and identities and so on. So of course, there is not just one Trachten tradition.

I, for example, am from Franconia, a territory within nothern Bavaria, and our Trachten look something like this (look at all these cuties, yes even the grannies). The pictures were taken in my hometown.

Sometimes, the Tracht or certain details thereof can differ from city to city or village to village. You will find, that some elements are similar to what is worn in Bayerischer Tracht, because like I said, it's an amalgamation. But in a side by side comparison there's significant differences. Most noticably, women's headwear in Franconia tends towards bonnets for every day or these super intense metal headpieces for special occasions. The jewelry is more simple and not very on the nose. Same goes for aprons. They are more simple or not even there, whereas the apron on a Dirndl is an important part of the overall look with a lot of decoration and embroidery. Also there are these amazing frilly shoulder shawls that I really love. The men's jackets or rather coats with the big lapels are very obviously from a earlier time period than the bavarian Trachtenjanker (a short wool jacket with no lapel and a stand-up collar, which is more modern). So is the Dreispitz (the three-pointed hat) compared to the Jägerhut or Trachtenhut which is that green hunting hat in the first picture, stemming from the 19. century. Over all, in Bayerischer Tracht or Gebirgstracht there are many elements from hunting culture and mountain hiking in regards to colors and materials and decoration. Franconian Tracht generally lacks the alpine influence because we're sort of midlanders. We're more fruit farmers. You will find elements from the Baroque period though, because it originated around 1600 or a bit later. It got a bit forgotten after the founding of the kingdom of Bavaria, but was rediscovered and is nowadays celebrated even by young people, who seek identity and a sense of belonging and local community more than ever. That's why you will find lots of young people in so called Trachtenvereine (accosiations for the preservation of traditional garments).

Catholic Trachten here are more colorful than the evangelical ones, but overall tend towards darker colors like black and saturated gemstone colors like deep purples, emerald greens and blues and especially red for men.

From the pics, I can only guess that OP is probably from Thuringia or maybe Saxony (????). Local traditions can be so very rich and interesting, especially because Germany has not always had the borders of today. There's a lot of cultural exchange with the bordering peoples and countries and regions, like France and Poland and Austria and Switzerland, Bohemia and in the north even Scandinavia and the Baltic states. But all you ever see abroad is that damned Oktoberfest, which I, by the way, have never been to, even though I live a 2 hour drive away. But I'd rather drop dead than drink eine Mass für fast fuffzehn Euro (!) in einem schwitzigen Bierzelt, wo es nach Pipi und Schlimmerem riecht und am Ende noch irgendein Arschloch auf mich draufkotzt und dazu gibt's ein furztrockenes Hähnchen, no sir.

(Pictures are all taken from wikipedia except the last two, they are from my local newspaper websites. As you can see, most pics were taken on the open street at regional customs events, mostly annual events where there is processions, like harvest festivals. Man, there is so many cool customs to talk about. I haven't even touched on Kirchweihen ^^)

off topic but since oktoberfest season is over it is my duty to mourn all the non-bavarian trachten that are forgotten in favor of dirndl and lederhosen. because my god do they go HARD

like fuck it i'm not even a woman anymore but if there was an actual occasion to wear these dresses for i'd JUMP. petition to bring them back asap. get our country associated with clothing that actually represents all of its regions and not just one. i wanna see drag queens rock this shit. folk festivals outside bavaria would have stronger hat game than any tf2 match do you see the vision

[shepard-ram]

The Echo in The Mirror

(Angst?, not a request: Hermit!Reader & Dream Smp/Hels!Reader & Hermitcraft. Both reader and Hels!reader are referred to as "you")

(Context: You are going about your day in Hermitcraft while you're doppelganger lives among the war of the Dream Smp. Until one day you both see the other side of the coin.)

----------

This wasn't your home, these people weren't the family you love so dearly. You knew it the moment you saw- everything yet they didn't look confused that some outsider intruded their server. If anything, they seemed anxious that you were stalking around and observing as if you should know this war torn land.

Because you should you realized, they recognized you.

Or at least some shadow of you. A ruthless twist on all things you, someone who was thriving among the fire and crimson. Someone who was feared by those known as weak and respected by those known as strong.

Someone different, yet still you. Maybe someone you could be yourself if you had the company they were fostered in. The same brutal environment you now had to leave. You needed to get back to your home. Surely the Hermits were worried about you.

A new thought soon sickened your stomach. If you're here, then where would your shadow be?

-----

What was this place? Quickly going to clutch your weapon, only to find you were equipped with nothing but your clothes walked around this- town.

That's the only word that you could use to describe this amalgamation of buildings. Some made in the image of objects and animals, others were just normal buildings. But this clearly wasn't your world.

No, these were made with the talent and purpose that war lords could never gather. They were made with the confidence of people who never had their trust shattered the way your people have.

Yet these people weren't stupid or naive. You could tell in the way they looked at you, they had suspicion from the start. They could tell you were pretending to know what "elytras" were and why you weren't wearing yours.

But they didn't shove it in your face, they still showed you the kindness you never give someone you didn't trust. It made you sick with unease, kindness to someone your suspicious of never means good things.

You were stronger and much less rusty in combat than them, but you could tell they all had a bond so much stronger than the brittle allyship that could be rummaged from the ashes of exploded connections. And lord knows your weren't stupid enough to fight that.

You didn't have a place here, you didn't belong here. They knew it as well as you did. You had to figure out how to get back. And maybe return the person who did belong while you're at it. Maybe not out of kindness, but you do not want to learn how much damage an entire server could do when they all have one enemy.

----------

(Sorry if you expected an actual plot, we talked about this idea over on the discord and I just wanted to properly word vomit it)

[nikethestatue]

Why is Elain’s book the next book?

Because SJM wants to write it. That’s it. That’s the reason. 

She wants to write the Archeron Sister Trilogy. With each sister telling her own story and living through her own story.

She is not writing a Gwyneth Berdara story, before she writes an Elain Archeron story. 

She is not skipping Feyre’s sister for the sake of a secondary character in Nesta’s story. It will not happen.

I am going to venture a guess that Nesta has never been SJM’s favourite character to write, to delve into. Hence, the results were....scattered. She got what she wanted to give Nesta--a sense of purpose, alternative family, Cassian, a healing arc. Nevertheless, I don’t see SJM needed to write another Nesta-centric story, because of course Gwyn is associated with Nesta, and at this point, I feel that they will both remain present, but on the periphery. 

Elain, is different though. It’s the same Elain that SJM claimed would be her best friend. Elain, it seems, is someone SJM actually likes and WANTS to write. 

The same Elain whose story has been in development for years. At least 3-4 years by now, and will be 5, by the time the book rolls around. SJM is not giving up 5 years of planning, drafting, writing, just to switch it, for no reason what so ever.

Elain, who is the only one who still retains her Cauldron powers. Elain, who is a Seer. Elain, who can locate the 4th Trove. Elain, who is connected with numerous Courts--Night Court, potentially Hewn City, Spring Court, Day Court, and even the Human Lands. Elain, who is a mate to a High Lord’s son (technically, TWO High Lords), and who is the object of love and affection to one of the central characters in all the books. That character, just like Elain, is loved by the writer herself. And despite what anyone says, the bottom line is, those two characters are getting each other. Because SJM wants them to be with one another. 

Both of those characters have been intertwined throughout the narrative in various ways, and furthermore, both are still very unknown, to this day. It’s obviously done on purpose. The revelations would occur side by side. As we learn more about Azriel, or Elain, we’ll understand how they are amalgamated within the tale, and how their powers and their backstories, as well as their journeys, connect further. Because they do. Again, arguments aside, both Azriel and Elain are two sides of the same coin--light and dark, death and life, both veiled in shadows right now. 

Btw, as a side note, SJM never brings up male-to-female oral sex without that couple being endgame. Sorry, that’s just how it is. Feysand, Nessian, Elriel--they all follow the same sexual pattern. If he doesn’t want to eat you out, he is just not into you. SJM always places great emphasis on female pleasure and males being wild and hungry for that specific act. If a male is not wild and hungry for that specific act, then it’s a problem. 

Now, people LOVE to bring up Chaol. Well, look, Chaol got his own book!

Sure. But Chaol was there from the very first TOG book, even before Rowan or anyone else. Hence, Chaol, in some ways is akin to Lucien, or even Tamlin. Hence, following this pattern, Lucien will get a book first, before we move on to secondary characters. What’s more, Chaol had a specific task assigned to him, as well as his injury to cure. Chaol already had a built-in story.

Elain, of course, has a built-in story, as well as Azriel. We already know that Koschei has an unhealthy amount of interest in our beloved shadowsinger. Elain is brimming with undiscovered, unrealized powers. We already know that Rhys is primed and ready to use Elain and her power for whatever he needs. We know that she is willing and ready to delve into them, and use them for however he needs her to.

Rhysand is not sending Gwyneth on a mission. Not when she can’t even leave the Library. Not when she doesn’t report to him in any manner. Azriel is not taking Gwyneth on a mission either. These books are still Rhysand’s books--the last book will still be Night Court-centric, dealing with his last brother and his last sister-in-law, and the last (for the moment) bad guy, Koschei, and the last (for the moment) war potential.

Now, what to do if you love Gwyn Berdara?

I suspect that she will play a role in future books. Because, SJM knows that this world is a money-maker for her, and I think that she enjoys writing it. She also sees Gwyn’s popularity. I would vouch that she is setting up a new generation of characters for future books.

The Valkyrie will have to be realized and they have great potential. But, let’s face it, they are not ready. By the time the next book rolls around, Nesta is not charging forth, leading an army. Neither is Gwyn. But, they will. 

Also, since potentially, Gwyn MAY BE related to either Tamlin and/or Lucien, she will probably solidify her role in Lucien’s book. 

Nyx is too young to be of consequence right now, so SJM can’t build any stories around him. Therefore, for future books, she needs a new new crop of characters, which are new, but not too new. Maybe more priestesses? Balthazar? Other characters that will certainly be introduced. They will have further stories to tell, but not before Elain is the main character. Just like Chaol, or Lucien, within the next two book, Gwyn will a built-in story as well. 

This is not a pro- or against- anyone post. It’s about narrative logic. 

This very long post is in response to the same question that I get frequently--why is Elain’s book next? Why isn’t Gwyn’s book next? And other versions of the same inquiry. So this is the answer, as I interpret everything we know so far.

[anicocat]

I've always thought katos intentions with amber were good , even if the execution was poor. But it all falls down bc the script is weak. I just have an impulse to say everything is utter garbage bc the writers screwed up so badly that it's a struggle to isolate single clips for doing a good job when the whole season around it is fallen to pieces

Tbh I think the only relationship that makes some sense in this season is the one between Amber and Kato. On the surface they could be like opposites, Kato is the “perfect”, confident girl, while Amber is the insecure, “imperfect” girl, but in reality they’re the two sides of a coin. 

They want to have the perfect appearance, the perfect family, the perfect everything... They’re so insecure that they thrive under approval and also share the same negative traits (Like racism). I never thought about this tbh 🤔I wonder if Kato is supposed to be an amalgam or extension of Amber. Maybe that’s the reason they thought making Kato the main could be accepted, since we’d already learned to “tolerate” Amber/Vilde, after all, we felt bad for her and her insecurities in S1 & S2 despite her racism towards Yasmina/Sana and her “betrayal” to Jana/Eva. Also, wasn’t Vilde supposed to have her own season? She was even the side-main in Skam España and nobody was against it. 

For those reasons, maybe wtFOCK writers probably thought it would be okay but... They handled the things in a very foolish, insensitive way. 

1. They baited us into believing we would have Moyo season.  2. They put a white character season above two (possible three if they had written a new character) POC seasons.  3. The writing is really bad, making difficult getting to know Kato or feel something for her.  4.  Kato is some new, random character nobody cares about. Also she’s little relatable, since she’s an influencer.  5. They made Kato a really, really mean and insensitive person to the point she seems like some villainess sometimes.  6. After BLM the social/politic climate is different to what it was in April 2020. We’re all more aware and sensible to these topics now. 7. They’re directly tackling racism through the POV of a white person and they’re forcing the POC to teach and forgive her. 8. They’re trying to excuse her racism. One thing is give her some shame or sad story to feel for her, another is trying to connect that to her racism.  9. They’re mocking the fans by hyping up her relationship with Moyo, aware that the fans are angry and upset about this. 

Anyway, I’m sorry I wrote this long testament to your ask Anon!!! But this reflection is giving some sense to wtFOCK actions behind this season... Maybe?  🤔

[silvergeek]

The Tale of Mister Robert “Bob” Gray.

Full fanfiction is located here.

At this time, dear readers, we must take a moment to break away from our narrative at hand. Because, at this time, we need to focus on a different narrative to understand the current story, the stories we've read, and the stories we will, someday, read.

Pennywise the Dancing Clown came from a story widely known – widely loved. But as it were, the words jumped off the pages of that book and landed in a collection of minds – a hive of thoughts. The named “Robert 'Bob' Gray” became a topic of focus, for so little had been officially written about him. The monster took the name, true as gold, and that was the word of God – or rather... that was the word of the monster's creator, Its author. Beyond that name, not much else was known about Mister Gray, and certainly nothing else was ever, or had ever, been explained.

Bob Gray became the start of a question. “Gray” was a query, a thing of mystery that so many desired to solve. Through readers' own suppositions they did conceive various tales about “Mister Gray” – who he was, what he did, and how he became an urban legend.

Mister Gray.

Bob Gray.

Robert Gray.

Each of those whispers, those quandaries, those theories, those amateur fictions... they led to arguments, debates,and essays – but none of them were one hundred percent accurate.

However...

None of them were one hundred percent wrong, either.

A good story is an amalgam of half stories. Tales pieced together like an epic foil ball, containing only the most compelling bits carefully cherry-picked from the bunch.

So this, dear readers, is the actual, true-to-god, story of Mister Robert “Bob” Gray. Would I lie to you? Me? Your storyteller? Why yes – that's what any good storyteller would do. So, as I'd said in the beginning: If you don't trust me... then stop reading. Are we ready? Let us begin...

  The Tale of Mr. Robert “Bob” Gray (better known as) Pennywise the Dancing Clown

 Gray was a man between the age of thirty and thirty-five, and he was a tall man with sandy-brown hair and striking blue eyes. True enough, his hands were large, his fingers long, and his legs put him around six and a half feet tall. He wasn't a heavy man, but by no means was he scrawny – not at his height and certainly not at his age.

Gray was indeed an immigrant from Sweden who had, at the ripe age of seventeen, sailed over to the northeasternmost region of the great United States of America. He did indeed come over to the land of the free with little else but spare change and a willingness to work – even if it broke his back. Now, understand this... his name wasn't Bob Gray back in the old country. No. His birth-given name was Robert Grå. Just like that, with the funny circle above it and everything, or so the Americans said. Hell, it meant the same damn thing between the languages, but those American types sure relied heavily on everything being spelled out in English. And so... Robert Gray it became – or Bob if someone was feeling particularly informal.

By his twenties, Bob had made a name for himself in the township of Derry, Maine. In so much that he was the man you'd call on if you'd needed odd jobs done. Some farm work here. Some machinist work there. And every year there'd be a carnival that rolled through Derry, as sure as rain. The event lasted through a long, summer weekend, and when it was over, those carnies packed up that carnival like stuffing socks in a suitcase. You'd better believe Bob Gray was willing to help out with the odd jobs at this event. It was only for a weekend, but the coin was good.

A carnie – a real leathery fella – by the nickname of Carnie Ron had been the one who'd personally tasked Bob Gray for the right wages. He'd set Bob to work on various chores like fixing things that went broke and restocking prizes, food, and refreshments as they'd been consumed (maybe once in awhile thieved) throughout the weekend. The downside for Bob was that this carnival only came once a year. A man needed to live the rest of those twelve months. Regardless, he took what he could, worked his duties, and collected pay from Carnie Ron.

It wasn't until Bob's third year that things had changed. One of the carnie hands, not Ron, asked Mister Gray to fill in as a clown – something to keep the younger kids entertained while their ma's and pa's drank themselves loose on cheap stout (which made them spend all the more coin for the rest of the night).

And that's just what Bob did. He put on the clown suit, which was little more than a dingy, old pair of men's pajamas, and caked some white pancake makeup all over his sun-soaked face. Then, Mister Gray took a bit of red paint and gave himself a big, merry smile from ear to ear. He looked just like the Cheshire Cat, if that wicked old cat was ever the clownin' type.

“Hand me all those balloons,” Bob had told that same carnie hand, and – boy oh boy – Mister Gray took to being a clown like a duck takes to water. The kids got a dance out of him, silly voices, crazy faces, and each one of them walked away with their own balloon after they'd begged their ma's and pa's (til they were blue in the face, no less) for the extra coin to buy their very own from the clown. Why, Bob even took a paintbrush to the balloons and signed each one of them, like he'd been peddling out his very own autograph. (As if he'd been anything to anyone at the time, but for that measly hour, to those kids, Mister Bob Gray was like a god.) Before he'd signed his first balloon, Bob had to think of a name on the fly. He saw those coins jingling in the youngsters' hands and it just came to him: Pennywise. Pennywise the clown. The clown that danced, even sang a tune or three, and handed off balloons with his signature and everything.

It wasn't long after that day that Bob Gray got to thinking that he could do this for a living. He could entertain, sing, dance, and overcharge for cheap balloons. (And he could do it more than once per year!) So, with the money he'd saved thus far, Mister Gray bought an old, worn down caravan off Carnie Ron. He'd fixed her up and painted a likeness of his clownin' self across her side. Then he wrote the words, as big and as grand as he could: The Great Pennywise – The Dancing Clown. And, sure enough, that had been Mister Bob Gray's modest source of income for years to come.

What Bob Gray hadn't known was ...that in all that time... he was being watched. (And interestingly enough, he'd been watched by two very different sets of eyes.)

The first, and prettiest, set of eyes that'd been watching Mister Gray from afar belonged to Miss Melody Sharp. She was a provocative young woman with a lean build and a face that could charm the skin off a snake. Her hair was thick and golden and often prettily decorated with some ribbons or another. Her eyes were deep and beautiful, like a pair of sparkling sapphires. One look from her and it could melt any man's heart. (Well... almost any man's.) It was true. Miss Melody was a lovely thing, and even lovelier was her soul. She'd help just about any person in need, no questions asked. Miss Sharp was a kind girl with a gentle touch and a soothing voice. Why, her tone was so pacifying that her own birth-given name didn't do it justice. Yes, just about any man in the Derry township could agree that listening to Miss Melody Sharp speak was like being serenaded by a warm, beautiful song.

Now... don't ask me why... but poor Melody, for some unholy reason, had her sweet heart set on Mister Bob Gray. One could theorize that she took to him because he'd been so engaging in his performances. Perhaps he amused her which had, in some way, bewitched the sweet girl. One could also argue that she took to him because, admittedly, Mister Gray was a handsome man with those unconventionally attractive Scandinavian looks. Oh sure – he was tall and strong and his eyes were piercing blue. So blue, in fact, you could swear that god himself plucked two pieces of the sky and stuffed them right in Gray's sockets on the day he'd come squalling into the world.

So, without a doubt, Miss Melody Sharp had fallen for Mister Bob Gray. Unfortunately – because life just isn't fair, even if you are as darling and as elegant as Miss Sharp – the man could have cared less. She came around after his shows while he'd been winding down back behind the caravan, and it was always the same sad story.

“Evening, Robert!” she'd say with the prettiest smile. “I baked you a shepherd's pie.” And little Melody would approach Mister Gray, often times while he was still in his clown makeup, offering the man some painstakingly handmade gift or another. Poor thing. She went a-courtin' after Bob, day in and day out, never quite getting the hint that he was dead set on remaining a lifelong bachelor.

“Thank you, Miss Melody,” he'd always say, without so much as looking at her. His tone was often quiet, unimpressed, perhaps with a hint of eagerness for her to just go away. Now, there was nothing actually wrong with Mister Gray. Nothing criminal about him. He simply wasn't interested. Some folk balked at his persistent indifference to Miss Sharp, and that's how rumors circulated, but – true as gold – Bob only cared about Bob.

Melody didn't see this for what it was. She persisted in her own way, in spite of his antipathy. “There's a dance at the local hall coming up...” That was her usual line when that time of year came around. “Gee, I'd hate to go alone...”

But of course, Bob Gray, with that thick head of sandy hair sitting on that prominent forehead of his would look down at the hopeful, young woman, clear his throat, and say, “I'm sure you'll manage.” Then he'd turn right back around and stare into that mirror of his as he wiped his makeup from his skin.

Melody had taken Bob for a coy man, which was part of her whole denial over the issue. In spite of his day to day vocation, she was convinced he was shy. And that was the long and short of their relationship, if you had the cheek to call it such a thing.

Then... there had been the other set of eyes watching Bob Gray. These eyes were much different from those of Melody Sharp. These had been the devil's eyes. Eyes from another place – a dark place – not anywhere bright enough to be considered another world. It was like an unworld. A void. Nowhere that any man or woman would willingly go. Perhaps it'd been a place that led straight to hell for all one knew. Hell or death. Or perhaps both.

What is known about the Derry township is that a great evil thrived somewhere at its core. This was an unfortunate truth, one that no citizen wanted to advertise, but a truth with which every citizen was all too familiar. Some said the town was cursed. Others said that the evil bore the town, itself. There was no true agreement on the matter, but, true enough, it had been the same evil that plagued Derry in its later years to come. It was the same evil that eventually caused the Ironworks Factory explosion, the same evil that burned down the Black Spot. Hell, it was the same evil that skyrocketed both the citywide death toll and the headcount of missing children at an alarming rate. This evil... It had a mind. It was conscious. It was self aware. And, regrettably, It took notice of Mister Robert Gray.

For a brief time, It merely watched him. It studied everything about Gray – his daily routine, his habits, his apparel, and his performances. It took to him, you see. It took to his likeness. In a way, It envied Gray – how easily he drew in crowds of people. Gray simply saw them as potential meal tickets... easy coin.

But It...

It saw them as potential meals. Plain and simple.

Bob Gray hadn't been too difficult to drive to madness. No sir. All it took were some whispers in his mind, driving his thoughts to dark places, forcing the man to slowly become unhinged. Gray had begun to question his sanity the night he'd seen himself eat a boy. The creature – It – took to shapeshifting into the very spitting image of Bob Gray. It had strut around, looking exactly like him, right before his eyes, causing the man's mind to snap faster than a stale twig.

“I'm you, Bob!” It had said, dragging around the half dead body of a bleeding and terrified boy. That same boy had earlier been part of the paying crowd that gathered to see Gray's dancing clown performance. Gray screamed, night after night, watching a nightmarish facsimile of himself gruesomely eat away at the flesh and bone of one horrified patron or another.

Tragically, Bob Gray – the man – had become convinced that he, himself, was the killer. Such a thing wasn't true, but try telling that poor son of a bitch that after the terrors he'd been forced to see. Becoming unhinged didn't take long. No sir. Gray's grip on reality had long since slipped clean away and he couldn't live with himself any further. After two weeks of watching the other Bob Gray, Mister Gray fastened a rope up to the branch of a tall tree, secured it snugly around his neck, and promptly took his own life.

The creature... It was delighted. With the real man out of the picture, It was able to take over his appearance, his caravan, and his dancing clown routine. It took over his life. It was the new Mister Robert “Bob” Gray, now. It continued to feed off the patrons who came to see Pennywise do his dance – oh yes – like shooting fish in a barrel. Easy meals – and these types scared real easy, too. It ...Gray... made their meat jump with flavor.

The creature went by Bob's name, who frequently introduced himself as Pennywise, just as his muse (now swinging from a tree) had done. Nothing seemed to be standing in his way to endless meals. No more hunting and starving. No more worrying that he couldn't fill his belly before his long sleep. The whole setup was about as convenient as running a farm.

One day, however, after a few weeks of this delicious convenience, Miss Melody Sharp – oblivious and as innocent as pie – went calling on Mister Bob Gray just as she'd always been apt to do. Melody circled the caravan, peeking around for him, but found that, as it were, he didn't appear to be home. The caravan was, indeed, the man's home. She knew this well. He wasn't the type to stray too far from it for too long. However... without warning – without even a sound – Melody almost jumped out of her own skin when she turned to see Bob Gray just standing mere inches from her, as if he'd noiselessly appeared from thin air!

“Robert!” she'd yelped, raising a hand to her heaving chest. “You startled me half to death. That wasn't very kind, sir.” She chuckled a bit, for there was a part of Melody who had been amused by her own shock, and so her chuckle turned into a laugh. Composing herself, she then beamed a warm smile to the tall man staring her down with intense eyes; a man who sported a grin that didn't seem to sit quite right on his comely face. It looked like the smile of the clown, as if it had been glued, indefinitely, to Gray's lips. It did, indeed, give Melody pause before she continued. “I...” the young woman stammered, “I made you something.”

He stared her up and down – she was dressed in a frilly, sky blue dress with white trim. It was warm that day, so her hair was done up in some fancy knotwork to which only pretty girls like Melody knew the secret method. Gray found her... appealing. Just that brief bounce of shock had sent an appetizing aroma to his sensitive nose – like fresh meat simmering in a spicy stew.

Melody handed him a box. It had been conscientiously gift-wrapped, almost too perfect to tear open. “Go on,” she smiled.

Without a word, Gray nimbly untied the white ribbon around the box, then ripped at the shiny, red paper, peeling it away from the parcel. The box was a simple paper cube, likely something she'd found in her attic. Melody's smile widened as she blushed a little. “Open it up, Robert.”

Gray popped and flipped open the paper flap and looked down. Inside, there was some sort of ivory fabric, pleated and lacy, made from some fancy material or another.

“Here,” huffed Melody, too excited to wait for him to take it out. “Let me.” Miss Sharp removed the item and draped it around Gray's neck. “See?” Ruffs. She'd sewn together custom-made, Elizabethean neck ruffs for the man's Pennywise costume. “I hope you like it.” Still smiling and blushing, she awkwardly looked down.

Gray, he ...It... had never been given a gift before. Certainly nothing intended for the indulgence of his (Its) own vanity. He reached to the back of his neck and fastened the ruffs together, spying himself in one of the makeup mirrors. The ruffs, indeed, looked good. And because Gray looked good, he felt a multitude of good feelings wash over him in that instant. He turned to Miss Melody, clutched her delicate hand, stared into her eyes, and said, “Thank you, Miss Sharp. This is a beautiful gift.”

Melody's blushing cheeks reddened even more. “Will you wear it to your next show?” she'd asked. Some part of her expected Robert to tell her no, rip off the ruffs, stuff them back in that box, and send her on her way.

“Oh yes, Miss Sharp. Melody. Yes I will wear it. I will wear it to every show.” He held her hands a bit tighter, now. Just a squeeze. Then, he let her go.

Melody's heart nearly melted. Meanwhile, Gray excused himself, but unlike in the past, he did so warmly, with a tone that seemed to say, “Oh Melody... please do come visit me again...”

And so... she did. Miss Sharp, bless her innocent heart, did not realize the man called Robert Gray – to whom she'd devoted the remainder of her free time on Earth – was truly not the same man as the one that snubbed her again and again. No. She visited nightly with a foul thing. A skinwalker that had been asleep for billions of years, only having recently awoken within the last few hundred. Thereafter, It followed a sleep cycle of twenty-seven years only to emerge, hunt, and eat on the flesh of Derry folk, before returning to Its rest.

Melody was none the wiser, but she sure was tickled to see Mister Bob Gray hungrily wolf down her shepherd's pie for once in her life. She wondered... did his feelings change for her? Had Robert finally warmed up to her advances? And oh how he wore her hand sewn neck ruffs! Each time she caught his act, he'd faithfully had them wrapped round his oh-so-handsome collarbone. Melody was elated. Robert had finally taken to her.

Now, this is the point in our tale, dear reader, where one might think this wicked creature had depraved plans for the likes of poor Miss Melody Sharp. Did the thought cross Gray's mind to plunge the delicate young maiden into her deepest fears and then proceed to eat her alive? Oh yes! This thought did indeed cross Gray's mind – and more than once, assuredly.

But...

Melody had a certain something about her. Even all the Derry men could agree on that. Perhaps even some of the Derry women, if you can open up your mind and wrap your head around such a thing. Sure enough, that certain something, that unconditionally giving nature of Melody's, well... it was powerful enough to transcend barriers even of the dark, extradimensional kind. People like Miss Sharp don't come around all too often. This dark tale goes to show just how much of a rarity she'd been. Perhaps her certain something failed on the real Robert Gray, but... on the likes of this entity... on this creature... it sure hadn't failed in the least. Gray's ability to probe deep into Miss Sharp's psyche and read her every whim had, unbeknownst to her, enchanted a monster. Not an easy feat to do. Sometimes it was what was on the inside that counted... and in this case, it counted for one's very life.

Gray complimented Melody's shepherd's pie each and every time she'd brought it around, singing the utmost praise to its delicious texture and taste. The animal meat within had been seasoned just right, almost enough to rival the scared, savory flesh of a quivering child.

“They say the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach,” Miss Sharp would laugh.

Gray laughed along with her, oh how he laughed and laughed. Sort of a haunting giggle, really, but Melody cheerfully paid no mind.

One night, Miss Sharp came to Gray, very nervous, hoping to ask him the same question she'd asked each year. The dance. She wanted him to accompany her to the dance at the local hall where all of the township would surely be in attendance.

“Will you do me the honor?” she'd asked. “I know, I know. I ask every year, but–”

“What about now?” said Gray.

Melody quirked a half smile. “N-now?”

Gray took her small hand in his, cupping his other hand to her slender waist. “Would you kindly dance with me now Melody Sharp? Out here? Under the moonlight?”

On cue, her cheeks flushed and she smiled. “Of course, Mister Gray.” Miss Sharp couldn't believe it – she had won this man's heart.

Gray pulled her close, swaying gently, leading Melody along with his graceful strides. He rested his chin on the curve of her head as she felt the soothing heave of his chest against her face. For some time their quiet waltz continued, silently but beautifully, beneath the glow of the moon above, until Gray lifted her innocent face to meet his eyes. He leaned downward and gently kissed the young woman on her velvet, soft lips. She tasted as he'd imagined – sweet and fresh. Gray found himself unable to unlock his mouth from hers. Melody pressed against him in her own, eager way – meanwhile her small but firm hands cupped the rugged contours of his jawbone and neck.

Gray lifted Melody from her feet, still embracing, forever trapped in the perfect kiss. And the two eventually found themselves back inside his caravan, clothing off, making love on a bed roll stuffed with down. Melody had never lain with a man in all her life – and as far as Gray knew, she was assuredly his (Its) first, as well. Their lovemaking was raw, but slow, bathed in a soft light provided by a neighboring kerosene lamp.

Gray had hunted the humans... had fed on the humans... but this...

“I love you,” Melody Sharp had whispered against his lips, now wet from her kisses.

It had been a phrase the humans said to each other when their affections had... blossomed. Gray, for all his evil and wickedness, could only hear himself utter those same words back to her.

“I love you too...” Even though this monster had spent centuries playing deadly tricks on people, this was indeed no ruse. The creature that had driven Bob Gray to suicide, stole his life away, and murdered those who paid to see him dance, deeply felt love – of all things – for Miss Melody Sharp.

And as she moaned and panted against Gray as he bucked his hips into her, he resolved to himself that while almost all humans were potential meat – Melody Sharp certainly was not.

Time went on and the two continued their trysts, but as all stories have a beginning, there must come the inevitable end. Whether Melody Sharp knew it or not – she'd trapped the heart of a monster. Not a small victory, which undeniably makes her the hero of this tale. In spite of how everything shall boil down in the end, Melody Sharp was the one who had saved the monster inside of Mister Robert “Bob” Gray.

Now, Gray, for all that he (It) was... had been a cloud of malevolence cast over Derry. Perhaps, Melody did not perish by the wicked creature's hand in of itself – Its influence was still the death of her. Gray's corruption spread like a disease through the hearts of Derry residents far and wide. Murder. Rape. Arson. All accounts of such heinous deeds increased in frequency, namely when the creature's eyes were open.

Gray waited for Melody that night, as he always had each and every night. How he missed her when she was away. But Miss Melody never came to the caravan that night. She'd taken her usual walking path – oh yes – but this time some men had been waiting for the poor girl. They'd been watching Miss Sharp, memorizing her routine over the course of some time. These men knew that the young lady had coin on her and they were, unfortunately, the desperate criminal types in a rush to leave the great state of Maine. Now, be aware they didn't violate Miss Melody – no they did not. As previously stated, they were in a rush. The thoughts had crossed their ugly minds, sure, but the coin was all they wanted. Truth be told, had Melody handed over her purse, then everyone would've walked away in one piece. But Miss Sharp, deep in her gracious heart, was a hero – she was a fighter. And, bless her efforts, she tried to fight off those men, but she lost that battle. She lost it hard.

In fact, it had been in that very moment when one of the men – whose eyes Melody had nearly clawed from his face – stuck his knife deep in her belly that Gray looked up at the moon above and gasped in sync with Miss Sharp's final breath. Those awful men ran off with her coin – they even took her shepherd's pie. All the while, Gray raced across the Derry landscape, moving faster than any mortal man could do. Though he hadn't moved fast enough and, in the end, he found his love lying flat on the wet earth, bleeding red through the center of that sky blue dress of hers.

Gray took Melody in his arms and shushed her as she choked. Blood bubbled from the corners of her mouth and he held her closer, knowing all too well when a human's death was near.

“R – Robert...” she'd managed to say.

“I'm here,” he croaked in reply, his once smooth voice changing under the duress of watching her die. As Melody's life slipped away, all the affection Gray had for her sunk downward, deep into a forgotten place where he locked away his (Its) sensitivities. Gray's affection was replaced with a heavy layer of malice and hatred for Derry. Hatred for the humans. Hatred for their children. Oh how... how... he would make them suffer. Make them scream. Make them into his food forever and always. They took her from him. Miss Sharp could have been the one to quell his urgency to always consume – but not anymore.

Gray hugged Melody's limp, delicate body close and rocked her. He shuddered with grief so fiercely that he began to lose his form. Tendrils inched out from his spine as he arched forward, cradling his love. But... deep down... that affection still lingered. It was still there... somewhere... buried within a monster who wept into the night. Melody Sharp may have died, but her long lasting impression on Mister Robert “Bob” Gray never did.

[aion-rsa]

Frankenstein Adaptations Are Almost Never Frankenstein Adaptations

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In an age of adaptation, we still don't have a faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic genre novel.

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Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein is a story constantly being retold — but almost never has it been retold faithfully. In 2015, we got Victor Frankenstein, the latest in screen adaptations bearing the Frankenstein name, but having little to do with the original text. 

This habit of less-than-faithful adaptations of Shelley's work goes back a long time. The history of Frankenstein adaptations is the history of hodgepodge narrative parts continually being stitched, torn, and re-stitched back together into an amalgamation of what has come before. But, when "before" is 200 years of stage and screen adaptations, source material and inspiration bleed together, and the "original" becomes distorted — like a game of temporal telephone. 

But past the narrative convolution that comes with the passage of time, Frankenstein has seemingly always been a text that eschews faithful adaptation. From the very beginning, on the stage and as one of the first films ever made, Mary Shelley's original vision of a man and the creature he created has rarely been its own...

How Frankenstein Came to Be

For those with an interest in English literature, feminism, or the birth of modern science fiction, perhaps the story of how Frankenstein came to be is as famous as the book itself. The basic tale was first written down by an 18-year-old Mary Shelley (then Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin) in 1816 while she and lover/future husband Percy Shelley were visiting Lord Byron in Switzerland.

Dubbed “The Year Without a Summer,” the eruption of Mount Tambora had the Europe of 1816 in the clutches of a volcanic winter, leaving the idle group with little to do in the form of outdoor recreation while staying near Lake Geneva. 

read more: The Bleeding Heart of Dracula

Instead, the literary colleagues took to reading German ghost stories to one another, leading to the challenge that they each pen their own ghost story. And thus, one of the first works of modern science fiction was born. Frankenstein, as a full novel, would be published anonymously two years later on New Year's Day in 1818.

Do you Know the Story of Frankenstein?

For those unfamiliar with the source material, Frankenstein is an epistolary novel, told in a series of letters from Captain Robert Walton to his sister, as well as in his journal entries (it should be noted that this narrative framing very rarely makes it into screen or stage adaptations).

Glory-driven Walton is on an Arctic expedition when his crew finds a cold and broken Victor Frankenstein. They pull him aboard, and Dr. Frankenstein relays the story of the monster he created to Walton--the monster he is pursuing across the ice.

It is a story of creation and abandonment and family. The Creature is arguably much more of the heroic, sympathetic protagonist here than Frankenstein, whose sin is not in playing God (though some have made that argument) but rather in leaving his creation alone in a confusing, cruel-to-difference world.

Unlike so many of his on-screen interpretations, the Creature of the novel is eloquent, thoughtful, and — at least at first — inspired by the beauty of the natural world. Later, he uses his gift for language to articulate his anguish, telling Frankenstein, "I am content to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?"

The First Frankenstein Plays and Movies

If none of this plot or backstory sounds familiar, it’s probably not your fault. (Well, you could read Frankenstein, which is one of those classics that holds up remarkably well.) Most screen adaptations pick and choose what they want from the original material, more often drawing inspiration from the 1931 movie starring Boris Karloff than Mary Shelley.

read more: 13 Forgotten Frankenstein Movies

But a full two decades before director James Whale made the iconic horror film, Frankenstein was already a movie star — in fact, the story was one of the first committed to film. Frankenstein's adaptation to the screen happened roughly a decade after cinema itself was invented, making this self-admittedly "liberal adaptation" from Edison Productions one of the first movies ever.

Video of FRANKENSTEIN (1910 Edison Production) HD

One of the notable changes form the novel in the 12-minute film is a happy ending for Frankenstein and his new wife, Elizabeth (spoiler alert: in the book, the Creature kills Elizabeth on their wedding night, and Frankenstein himself later dies on the ice. Pretty bleak).

Of course, the decision to make Frankenstein into one of Edison's earliest motion picture productions did not happen in cultural isolation. There is an adaptation path to be traced between the publication of the novel and the creation of films like this 1910 classic and the 1931 version.

According to this Film School Rejects article, 1823 — the first year Frankenstein was adapted to the stage — had five separate plays on the stage. It was these early stage adaptations that first introduced the character of Victor Frankenstein’s assistant Fritz, who would later evolve into the Igor we know from so many later movie adaptations. 

The Boris Karloff film actually drew inspiration from a 1927 stage play by Peggy Webling, rather than the novel itself. And, moving forward into the era of such classics like Young Frankenstein or not-classics like the recently-released Victor Frankenstein, one could easily argue that most subsequent Frankenstein adaptations have more to do with James Whale’s 1931 film — and its 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein — than they do with Shelley’s work.

The Most Faithful Adaptations to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Though many Frankenstein adaptations are more interested in the 1931 film or some action-oriented blockbuster (yes, I, Frankenstein, I'm looking at you), there have been attempts at a more faithful version over the years.

Kenneth Branagh took a stab at a faithful retelling of Frankenstein with his 1994 film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The movie does a slightly better job articulating the nuances of the Creature than most other adaptations, but still falls short of the mark. The film also changes the ending in a particularly jarring way, not only bringing the Creature's bride to life, but giving her Elizabeth's head and memories. Yikes.

David Crow makes a good argument on this site that Penny Dreadful's interpretation of the Creature in the form of Caliban is one of the most faithful versions of the character ever brought to screen.

Everything from the Monster's raven hair to his loquacious love for John Milton was transferred to television in tact. However, if you're looking for an adaptation that not only takes on the iconic character, but the full story, I would recommend the National Theatre's stage version undertaken in 2011.

British film director Danny Boyle brought Frankenstein to the stage starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. The two well-known actors alternated the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature every performance, creating a more literal thematic connection between the two characters. Two sides of the same coin. Two creatures eventually brought down by their guilt, hate, and anger.

The production was a relatively close adaptation of the original novel (with the problematic addition of a rape scene), and was broadcast to cinemas around the world through National Theatre Live, meaning that this adaptation, in some sense, was also a screen one.

However, the performance has yet to be released on DVD and, according to the theater, never will be if the play's creators have anything to say about it. The Powers That Be prefer that the ephemerality of the performance be preserved. One can only hope this means Frankenstein will find its way to cinemas again for more encore performances.

Why Does Frankenstein Resist Faithful Adaptation?

Why is Frankenstein so rarely adapted with a sense of fidelity? One need look no further than the earliest stage adaptation — Presumption: or the Fate of Frankenstein (1823) — to at least partially answer that question. Chris Baldick's book In Frankenstein's Shadow details how the play made great efforts to appease conservative backlash (many found the novel subversive and atheistic).

read more: A History of Frankenstein Comics

The production was nonetheless boycotted by a "friends of humanity" group, prompting the play's management to release the following statement: "The striking moral exhibited in this story is the fatal consequence of that presumption which attempts to penetrate beyond prescribed depths, into the mysteries of nature." 

Furthermore, director Richard Brinsley Peake introduced the Frankenstein's assistant character who "prepares the audience to interpret the tale according to received Christian notions of sin and damnation by telling them that 'like Dr Faustus, my master is raising the devil.'"  

Almost two centuries later, Daniel Radcliffe plays an incarnation of this character designed to explain to the audience how they should feel about Frankenstein's playing God in Victor Frankenstein. 

The Importance of the Female Perspective

As the daughter of anarchist philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (who died 11 days after Mary's birth), Mary Shelley was a fascinating woman, one with much to say in a culture not-so-interested in what women had to say about it. 

One of the reasons Frankenstein so endures is because of its examination of the arrogance of man and the failings of a world without empathy — a theme that, of course, can be explored by anyone, but one that doesn't seem to get a lot of play in works undertaken by privileged white men.

It seems important to note, at this point, that most of the Frankenstein adaptations (though certainly not all) have been undertaken by men who are perhaps less culturally-motivated to consider the more traditional way life is brought into this world. After all, due to the limitations Western society places on both genders, while science has historically been a man's domain, child-rearing has, historically, been a woman's.

Journalist Sady Doyle recently responded to Victor Frankenstein director Paul McGuigan's recent assertion that Mary Shelley's original work is "dull as dishwater," by outlining the convincing theory that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a sort of revenge for her sister Fanny (given name: Frances), who was abused for being illegitimate and eventually killed herself, writing in her suicide note: "You will soon forget there was ever such a creature as..."

There are many interpretations of the Frankenstein story — many of them autobiographically-based. This is one of the reasons it is such a good story. But a parent's neglect and the toll it plays not only on the child, and everyone in his life, is certainly a central one. And one that is often neglected in Frankenstein adaptations in favor of exploring the themes of science, nature, and man's hubris specifically in relation to his work. These interpretations are not mutually exclusive, but the latter is often valued over the former.

It is perhaps easy to look at Frankenstein, and its two male protagonists, and to adapt it with little attention to the importance of women and other socially-devalued characters in the story. After all, they are all periphary characters. But they are the characters who suffer the most. Or at least the ones who suffer the most with the least amount of power to change their fates.

Victor and his Creature are constantly suffering, but they have created their own suffering and have many chances to alter their own destinies. Elizabeth and the Creature's female companion are never granted that same power.

The Future of Frankenstein Adaptations

As this Den of Geek article points out, faithfulness does not equate to quality. Some of the most faithful screen adaptations of books are the worst, while some of the least faithful adaptations can become something better. There are too many variables involved, too many possible permutations to make sweeping generalizations. And, in the world of Frankenstein adaptations, for example, Whale's 1931 film remains the classic, one that continues to influence culture in its own important ways.

However, it would be nice to get a modern Frankenstein adaptation that is more readily available than Danny Boyle's stage version and more complete than Penny Dreadful's Creature — if only for all the high school English teachers who need something to show when they are out sick.

Sadly, as far as I know, there are currently no faithful Frankenstein adaptations in the works. What is happening in the Frankenstein adaptation world? Recently, a whole lot of biopics about Mary Shelley. In 2017, Elle Fanning played the author in Mary Shelley, a conventional biopic that told the story of the relationship between the young author and Percy Shelley, as well as the ways in which Mary Shelley felt out of step with her time. The film boasted a female writer, Emma Jensen, female producers, and a female director, Haifaa Al-Mansour (Wadja).

Elsewhere, HBO Max has ordered a series called The Shelley Society from Riverdale/Sabrina showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The series will depict a young version of Mary Shelley, who moonlights as a hunter of monsters and supernatural threats (including a manifestation of Mary’s own literary creation, Frankenstein’s Monster).

Perhaps a continued interest in Mary Shelley's fascinating life will eventually drum up some excitement for a more faithful retelling of her most famous story. In the mean time, we'll have to make do with what we've got: one of the best genre novels of the last few centuries.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature

Books

Kayti Burt

Nov 21, 2019

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

Boris Karloff

Horror Movies

31 Days of Horror

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[papatonyinsandiego]

Non-Verbal Communication, Part Two:  Distancing Mechanisms and External Validation

Part One Can Be Found Here...

Pretty Privilege

In the gay Leather/Kink/Fetish community, just as in any other culture or subculture, there are the “👍 WINNERS! 👍” and the ….losers…  

Are we all sick of that?  I sure am.  My experience is that 100% of gay kinky men are done with being judged on externals that we have no control over.

It’s a primate-ape fact of life that desirable features make us more fuckworthy.  They can also be a trap.  I want to talk about it from the other side.  Pretty Privilege DOES exist in our Tribe.  I have made use of it myself.  

Back when I was young, virile and FINALLY getting a lot of approval from men, I attended a lot of five-star, crowded “elite” parties, both clothed and naked.  It felt GREAT to be “New Meat” and highly-desirable.  

If the gloriously beautiful men around me were bitchy and insecure, then I guessed I would try that on for a while.  I got way too good at it.  I am ashamed of my behavior back then.  A lot of the virtuous acts that I have performed since those days are my atonement for how I fell into bad behaviors for a while.

After a while, though, I noticed something odd.  The vast majority of men in my life had no interest in who was inside the pretty exterior.  I realized that I was just a mobile dildo to that crowd.  

In fact, I got picked-on if I stepped out of bounds in some way.  It was like trying to balance on a tightrope of other peoples’ expectations.  Fall off, and you would never get back on.  It was conditional approval.

The clincher for me occurred after a big fuck-party, when I showed up at Sunday brunch in a Hawaiian shirt, flip-flops and shorts.  My brunch companions refused to eat with me, unless I changed back into full black leather.  That was the last time that I associated with them, and with that subculture.  I happily stepped into a much, much slower lane.

At age 25, I gave up using my privilege at others’ disadvantage.  I chose a different path of seeking real and useful wisdom.

Assertions And Declarations

I assert that I am more than what you can see.  

There are depths to me that are worth knowing.  

I am an amalgam of many flavors, good and bad.

I am not just a single, obvious musical note.  I am a symphony.  

I assert the same about YOU.  There is majesty, worth, and a valuable contribution to the world inside all of us.  I take that attitude with me wherever I go, treating everyone as my favorite brother or sister.  I am rarely disappointed.

External Validation

Being given approval of any kind is delightful, so we work hard to get more of it.  We can spend thousands of hours every year, pumping up bigger and bigger muscles.  We can have our teeth straightened and whitened, along with hair-removal and spray-tanning, $3,000 leather outfits, and darkening that gray beard.

We may have experiences of all of those attributes and many more.  They can bring on flattering and pleasurable reactions, and allow us to “win” on some level.

No matter what, sooner or later, the crash arrives.  Age, sudden disasters, infirmity and gravity work against our following the same path forever.  That’s when we will be needing the emotional growth that we may have allowed to dwindle while we were otherwise occupied.

To this day, I still go to the gym several times a week, but I ALSO work on my social skills, and provide value to my circle of true friends.  My biggest struggle is with humility.  I’m still trying to figure that one out, and I am open to suggestions.

Distancing Mechanisms

The other side of that same coin has to do with keeping others at arm’s length.  Let’s start with WHY we would want to protect ourselves from others.

We are all born perfect, trusting and uninhibited.  We learn to be otherwise, when we receive wounds along the way:  

• “NO, STUPID!  The OTHER way!”  “People think that I’m stupid?”

• “Don’t talk to me, ugly!  Take those big ears somewhere else!”  “What’s wrong with my ears?”

• I’ll give you something to cry about!”  “It’s bad for me to cry?”

These wounds cause us to make decisions that we hang on to, long after they have become obsolete.  We may use ever-growing musculature to keep others at a distance. Or five layers of leather. Or whatever else helps us to keep possibly stressful interactions at arms’ length.

Those same predicaments can also create new, pleasurable possibilities, but we have to be OPEN to that idea in the first place.  

Cynicism protects our tender hearts, but it can also prevent us from noticing when the Real Breakthrough Opportunity shows up.

One decision that I still struggle with can be expressed as “I’m not going to let you reject me.  I reject you FIRST!”  That’s on a very deep, early level, but I am not being driven by it so much any more, now that I consciously recognize it.  Eventually.  I no longer feel that my foot is nailed to the floor, while I go around and around the same problem, doomed to repeat it.  Therapy helped.

I now laugh about my flaws as a personal foible.  At that point, I clean up my mess:  “Oh, there I go again.  Sorry.  I am glad that I caught myself.  My anger does not belong to you.  I’m not doing that any more.  Let’s start over.”

Attitude Queens with a Capital “A”

So when you see that gorgeous man who seems to have everydamnthing going for him, moving through the crowd with a fixed look on his face that says “Don’t bother me,” spare him some loving sympathy.  He is just as damaged as you are, despite external appearances.  He’s just expressing it in his own way.

He’s lonely too.  He is misunderstood.  He struggles with finding unconditional love and deep friendship, just like anyone.

If I see somebody who is broadcasting on that channel, I get right past his defenses, 99% of the time.  I do it by treating him as a good-hearted man, with value as a possible friend.  Like any human being, he is starved for honest respect and affection.

Our Brains React Differently With Objects of Desire

Recent MRI-scan tests have shown that our mental processes change radically when we meet a politician, a celebrity, or a porn actor.  We put them on a mental pedestal.  Star-Fuckers, World’s Biggest Fans and Celebrity Stalkers can be a real chore for someone who just wants to walk down the street unmolested.

Think of the porn actor who is making some extra money as a go-go dancer on an elevated box at a big dance-party.  He has drunks pawing at him like he was a piece of meat.  They are making his privates very public.  No matter how much he can rationalize this (”It’s all part part of the J-O-B”), he can also get pretty tired of it.  Feigning enthusiasm can be a tedious chore.

That's why I always do one, specific behavior with every go-go dancer:  I bring him some ca$h to stuff into his shorts, but I only do it in the area between his hip and his dick.  I am not going for the gold.  I smile in an honest, happy way, look him in the eye, and tap my cheek with two fingers.  He smooches me on the cheek, and throws his arms around me with honest pleasure.  I take that chance to express some honest compliments about his dancing, and then we disengage affectionately.

I gave him a Warm Fuzzy - A moment of sweet, honest human interaction.  As a result, I am loved and respected by that man, forever afterward.  I looked for the good in him.

The Calendar-Signing Party

I attended an event that turned out to be well-stocked with extremely handsome, muscular men.  They were in town to promote a charity calendar, and I was politely interested in knowing more.

After about an hour, a man came up to me.  He was the husband of the calendar’s creator, and he was curious to know more about me.  He had watched me speak to every one of the calendar models, and had noticed that they all dropped their shields around me in seconds, and were at their ease.  They didn't feel the need to be “on” with me. They all hugged me, as their own idea.  I almost never ask for hugs.  I prefer to earn them.

I get a lot of hugs.

The Bottom Line

The point that I am belaboring is that we can rise above our easy and obvious biases.  We can choose to let go of physical external appearance as a point of reference.  Those are just what we can see.  If we open up our own hearts to the possibility that somebody is a good man, then he may pleasantly surprise us.

I am VERY rarely disappointed.

[libertarianbarbarian]

United State Wars Troopers

United Starwars Troopers

   Facts:

- https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Galactic_Empire/Legends#Government_and_politics

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Loyalist

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Galactic_Republic#Organization

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sector_Governance_Decree

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Delegation_of_2,000

 - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Petition_of_2,000

 -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers#Militarism

 - https://www.amazon.com/Expanded-Universe-Worlds-Robert-Heinlein/product-reviews/0441218830?pageNumber=2

  OPED WARNING

“My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop the Fire Nation.” Oh yeah, I’m going to get that dorky with it today!

So, here’s the spiel, we’re divided as ever. The left hates the right, liberals hate “nazis”, or “fascists”, or “racists” …or whatever the hell it is now and days. But there’s something to be said about coming together. I’m sorry but no matter what news source you look at whether it be CNN, or Newsmax…or Fox News, then you’re inevitably going to come up with one conclusion. We’re divided. The only real thing that you’re going to see is the source of the division from network to network.

I know, I know, you’re tired about hearing all of this bullshit by now. Got it, and I am too damn it…but hear me out on this one. This is classically, no comically standard procedure, and probably something that all of us have seen before. One look at my FACTS section and you’ll know where I’m going with this. I personally thought about it for a moment and started laughing my ass off about the whole thing myself!

So yeah, Star Wars, and Starship Troopers. Something everyone knows, and probably loves to hell. Well if you take a close look at everything you start to see a pattern. Back when “Lucasfilms” came out with the prequels of the series that everyone, except my goofy ass, hated they tried to explain how the galaxy was as fucked as it was. Back in the beginning of everything, regarding the prequels, it was kind of calm and had the normal shenanigans going on in politics. You know, a little corruption here, a lobbyist there, special interests for specific politicians popping up all over the place, normal stuff.

Well the biggest thing that popped up was the clone wars. I understand that it didn’t really kick off until episode II but stick with me on this. There was major upheaval. One man, spoiler alert…if you didn’t already know, Senator Palpatine rose through the ranks to prominence. In the background he was manipulating something that they call “the outer rim”, or a special group of planets in the galaxy that weren’t part of the “Galactic Republic”. Think of like a foreign interest’s type of thing. Not to long after that war broke out between a group in “the outer rim” and the “Galactic Republic” called the clone wars.

Yes, we’ve got little Anakin Skywalker, emotional little shit bag, and Padme Amidala as the protagonist’s along with young Obi-Wan Kenobi. There’s something to be said about the main political shit going on around the same time and the division it caused amongst the masses though. Basically while the “Clone Wars” were going on you still had senators going “rabble rabble” in one big hall that represented their planet and then Senator Palpatine inching his ass in to the Supreme Chancellor spot…or I guess their version of a president? Anyways slowly but surely, he started to use the war itself as a springboard to slowly limit the powers of the individual citizens, then BAM! Out comes the “Galactic Empire” that we’re all familiar with and the still evermore moody Anakin Skywalker now Darth Vader.

Ok, I think we’re all caught up now. The reason why I say that there was a major division going on here that made me laugh is that this all sounds vaguely familiar. Right now, as it is, we have a group of elites in Washington D.C. that are pretty much dictating what and who we are as individuals along with what we say socially. Take a look at the news I’ll wait. Are you back yet?

Alright, the real big thing that I looked in to as hard as I could was what the main doctrine of the Galactic Republic had as its backbone. I couldn’t find it exactly so I had to pull some crime show forensic shit to figure out what the hell was going on, and why was it so easy for that form of government to be broken up. Well looking at it they did have a “constitution”, but from everything I could find it was basically weak as hell. Point one for America right there.

It was nothing during a time of war for Palpatine to just waltz right in and declare himself the Supreme Chancellor. He still had to divide the senate and get them to argue amongst each other. Cause a little chaos here, question the morals of a specific candidate. Ahem…call in to question the freaking Supreme Chancellor Valurum, the guy before him. There ya go, bad guy in office for the movies to continue.

The part that really started to get me laughing though was the way everything was set up after I started to do my research for this blog. They had almost the exact same set up we did. “Office of the Chancellor”, “Galactic Senate”, “Judicial Department”. If you ask me that kind of sounds like the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Well I think that one might be a draw…maybe. Hold up, all the power was easily transferable to the Galactic Senate, because red tape. Yup, they put out all this shit that pretty much made it easy for them to grab power from anyone and everyone they wanted to through bureaucracy. As a matter of fact, Palpatine our good old Sith buddy here added more on to it.

One thing that I’m pretty sure everyone else knows, even though we’ve got a shit ton of red tape going through our own government here it’s damn near impossible to do that from any one of our three branches. They try, they always do, but because of the constitution of the United States of America, ahem, “You will fail!” I’m sorry that was just way to damn easy not to do.

So to say that we’re close to but not quiet like the Star Wars franchise is kind of funny. Yes, we are. We’re not exactly like space traveling ninjas that can do some pretty cool looking Dragon Ball Z stuff, nor are our two governmental systems EXACTLY alike, but we have something that they have and it’s political officials causing both division and derision with in our own society.

Palpatine isn’t just one specific person with in our own in real life society. Hell no! Instead he’s an amalgamation of several different things and groups we have going on right now. Social justice warriors, the ones that want to sit there and tell you that we have to accept the what is told to us by their community because no matter the situation they are right and we are wrong and that’s the way we’ve set it up for, I don’t know, millennia now. There’s the politicians that placate to the exact same kind of bullshit that’s been reiterated by the social justice warriors and those who are from the opposite that lets be honest here kind of issue the same rhetoric and year after year slowly increase government power and their paychecks.

There’s also, and you know I don’t like these folks here, big tech. I’m all for a company growing in the free market. I’m all for it becoming a big conglomerate of sorts. What I’m not for is that company monopolizing the market that it’s in, nor am I for that company not obeying the laws of its country of origin. Oh! Yeah almost forgot, here’s the liberal in me if you want to put it that way, I’m also not for these companies blatantly censoring those of a creed, race, political choice, religion, or country of origin. We should all have freedom of speech and be willing to accept the consequences of our actions no matter what caused them. All of those factors and groups are our Palpatine.

One thing that my ass is definitely going to talk about here is the Galactic Republic a little more. If you take a deeper dive in to the Star Wars franchise, you’ll notice something as well. Doing research about the whole Galactic Republic, and then the Galactic Empire there was a promise that further divided people. The promise of safety.

Granted everyone wants to be safe. Hell, I want to be safe, but there’s something to be said about HOW you are safe. Call me heated now because damn this is going to be a touchy one. Are you anymore safer if you relinquish how you are safe? Are you any safer in your very free mind if you have someone forcibly tell you how to be safe? I’m sorry but my answer is always going to be no. As should yours. The Galactic Republic, much like our own government, slowly eroded its own power through bureaucratic policy after bureaucratic policy. Even in the movies you can blatantly see them do this in the few scenes that they hold in the movies. Hell, one of the most famous movie quotes is “So this is how liberty dies…with thunderous applause.”

I’m sorry but there’s always one sure fire way to be able to get people to commit to that, make them afraid then divide them. We see it play out plenty of times a day here in our own country. The news reports things out of context, or completely false on both sides. Legislatures and other government officials will add more laws to try and cover up what we as a nation had as one of our founding documents. Then the radicals from either side will sit there and either fight against it with their utmost or tell the general population that there needs to be more.

It’s not right. Now there is a flipside to this coin. Militarism. And here’s the little gobblety goop that caused me to take pause and add in Starship Troopers to this whole mess. This whole series started off as a book that was written by Robert A. Heinlein. Don’t ask, I don’t know how to seriously pronounce his name. But I’m pretty sure that not many of my readers will know who the hell that is. I’m pretty sure that my readers would know more about the comical movie that was made in the nineties. I sure as hell didn’t know that there was a book written before the movie.

Now I say “Militarism” because that’s pretty much what Starship Troopers is all about. And it sure as hell mirrors other things that are going on now and days as well. The left has been militarized to form groups like “Antifa”. The right now has groups that won’t start a fight, nor are they racist, but sure as hell will finish a fight like “The Proud Boys”. Don’t get me wrong I have no issues with the proud boys, however I don’t think that their answer is quiet the right one. Some of the things that both groups do that could end up looking like some engagement on “Klendathu”.

Basically, though, in the 1950’s this writer Robert A. Heinlein wrote a sci-fi critique of what he believed was wrong with the U.S. at the time. He’d been stated for “glorified the military…Specifically the P.B.I., Poor Bloody Infantry, the mudfoot who places his frail body between his loved home and the wars desolation-but is rarely appreciated…he has the toughest job of all and should be honored.” Cool so he’s a fan of the military right? Well not so fast there. I, as a veteran of the Army, wouldn’t stand for the bullshit in the movies that he put out.

You’re only a citizen if you’ve served two years in the Starship Troopers military. Only citizens can vote. Only citizens have the right to apply for a license to procreate with their partner. I’m sorry but that would be more towards the right side of things. I can’t name a single military veteran that would actually be cool with that. Yeah democrats getting into our highest position in the executive offices would absolutely mean budget cuts. Oh, and that means that they end up drawing back on forces or start kicking out soldiers for the simplest or pettiest of reasons. No that’s not a way to go ahead and start doing things either.

See the thing about Heilein here is that he had a very crazy view on things. He looked at the way that the U.S. was at the time and thought “hey we need to hand out more ass whoopin’s.” I’m sorry what? Yes, that’s right, the guy who wrote Starship Troopers thought that there wasn’t enough corporal and capital punishment now and days.

Now if you said something like all around I might could get around that if we were talking a little less harsh corporal punishments than used to be passed around back in the day. The women suffrage movement should have been an example for just women, but for everyone. We don’t need a repeat of the “rule of thumb” for the next poor soul that fucks up in a way that’s irredeemable to their partner. No, I’m down with corporal punishment if it’s with less severe crimes than the big ones. You know rape, child molestation, man slaughter, stuff like that. I think that we can all agree that child molestation needs to be more punishable than “three squares and a cot”.

But one thing that we’ve shied away from what we use to be, and it caused us as a nation. I’m not suggesting that we all of a sudden put Rico on the stocks and start whipping him. It was negligible homicide, and he didn’t know what he was doing leave the poor kid alone. No, if you really want to keep people together first you have to start with a set of minds that things need to be more punishable than they are. Go ahead and call the child molester out and sentence him to death. It’s been proven that its more cost effective to our jail system anyways, and who in their right or left mind wouldn’t want to protect their own children?

No people, one less murderer is still one less murderer. Make sure there’s a time period where they do a more in-depth investigation to make sure that we’ve got the right guy. Make sure that there weren’t any false allegations handed forward against the person you say is a child molester. But if you’re caught selling drugs to someone that you know are illegal and could get the person addicted then you should absolutely not be a seamstress getting that “three squares and a cot”. No hell no, but the person’s ass to work, make them take responsibility for what they did. Put their ass to work like we use to with chain gangs, there’s plenty of substantive materials that we could use the jail systems help on producing.

Of course, the libertarian in me is going to cry out…right…about…now! There’s something to be said though about repealing other things away. No direct profit for any given company in regard to the labor put for by the “chain gang”. Give the profit nation wide to those we put to labor, have them reap some sort of reward. You commit to A form of corporal punishment and rehabilitate them at the same time. Win, win.

Now that I’m off of my little pulpit there’s something that goes back to topic here. In Starship Troopers there’s one agreement that I can make with author. Some conflicts have to be resolved by force. One thing that I will absolutely agree and disagree with at the same time. We didn’t need to go to Iraq, but we did need to go to Afghanistan. There were terrorists that were wreaking havoc on the whole of Afghanistan and in order for those people to chose for themselves what and who they want to be we needed to weed that shit out. No, we didn’t go there to do that originally. Yes, we went there to get Osama Bin Laden. But it was something that once we found we couldn’t stand for as a nation.

So yes, I agree that if we have an incursion against us, like 9/11, then we have to retaliate just like we did or what happened in Pearl Harbor. But when we find further injustice and the people cry out, well fuck if they ask us for aide then it’s our responsibility to answer. Hell, no should we be looking for “WMD’s”. We all figured out what the ploy was there real quick. Yes, they had a dictator that was gassing them pretty much every day. But the responsibility belongs to those countries around them to take refugee’s and protect them.

So, there’s absolutely an answer to all this division we have…and yeah, we see it all the time in our media. We have to sit on our high horse as a nation and as a people and first cut the division bullshit and then stop being like “Star Wars” or “Starship Troopers” and agree to disagree. I parrot this bullshit all day long and damn near every freaking blog. We need the third party, libertarians, to go ahead and help things along so that the two warring political parties we have right now don’t divide and conquer us. We see this all the time in our movies and books. We have a choice, do we still want looting, rioting, and others reaching across the isle to call each other names and censor them…Or do we want to be like Palpatine and start the first “Galactic Empire” and make everyone fear us?

[monkeyandelf]

The cosmic gardeners who created our humans

Millions of years ago, the Formatierras, the most evolved race in the galaxy, decided that the Earth was appropriate to carry out a galactic-level multi-species reserve experiment, like a cosmic Noah’s ark.

Thus begins this exciting story. The conclusions will be only yours. Let’s continue .. The planet was prepared and began to “sow” a multitude of plant and animal species from different parts of the galaxy. Within the format of the formatierras was the creation of an original and dominant species, built with the genetics of at least three extraterrestrial races, plus the one corresponding to the predominant planet. After many tests and studies it was decided that the root species from where they would take the primary chromosomes for the new species, was that of the great saurians that inhabited the Earth and that perfectly adapted to the planet and its purposes. The person in charge of the creation of the new species destined to evolve as human on the planet was Wotan (take it as a representative subject), creating the original Manu from the genetics of the reptiles that inhabited it. A long time later, Enki and Enlil arrive and create the Lhulu from the Manu for their particular purposes. Then the Lhulu breeds with the Manu and the Lhumanu is born. Thousands of years later Baphomet (take as representative subject), representative of one of the races whose genetics was used to reinforce the root chromosomes in the creation of Manu, enters the scene by signing the pact with Moses. This breed is the Alpha Draconis Reptilians. Then we have Wotan and the Nordics in charge of the creation of Manu, and whose genetics were used for it. On the other hand Baphomet and the Reptilians, whose genetics were also one of the other two used together with that of the formatierras, and in the middle of the Annunakis, Enki and Enlil who returned to manipulate the original Manu to create the Lhulu, and then , as they crossed each other, they began a new race, the Lhumanu. Therefore we have four races as possible claimants of our possession, the Formatierras, the Nordics, the Reptilians and the Annunakis. What is the value of Lhumanu as a unit of Carbon? His multi-species genetics. The inactive genes of our DNA, (the considered genetic garbage), are those corresponding to the species that were used for its creation, and the active ones are the consequence of that extraterrestrial amalgam, we Pasú.

We have the certainty of this story, but we have no proof. Only time will confirm or discard it. Let us now see what Wotan and Baphomet represent in subjective reality. These real and almost mythological Beings, object of adoration and pleitesia, more than specific subjects they represent, energies, civilizations, ideas, paradigms and archetypes, alternative realities and universes of subjective reality. It is as if we were talking about Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, Nazism and capitalism, the people and the crown, freedom and oppression, the extremes of the same body. Wotan represents the root of civilization, the primitive and pagan, the primary knowledge of humanity, the hyperborean, the closest to the origin. Baphomet represents change or evolution, the modern and Christian, the insubstantial knowledge of society, the southern, the furthest from the origin. Primitive man pure, innocent and wise against the present man corrupted, sinful and ignorant. Both one and the other are still two sides of the same coin, the thirsty masters of power behind ideas. One sharing knowledge in exchange for idolatry, order and indoctrination, the other hiding knowledge in exchange for manipulation, chaos, pleasures and fortune. Lights and shadows of the same body, the matter of the 4 × 4 matrix space. Which would you choose if you had no other option? Undoubtedly to Wotan. How do we understand Wotan and Baphomet from the point of view of energies? For that we have to withdraw to the previous article, to the substrate “e”, the mother space not yet defined by a matrix, where the lights and shadows move before being manifested in the matter. As we said, nothing happens without it having happened before in mental MS and etheric MS. The primordial Merkaba de vaet (0-) is the mother cell of matter and energy, whose charge is neutral, not by equilibrium, but by absence of polarity, that is, it is the only thing in this reality that is not composed of positive charges and negatives themselves. Although its vaet (temporal space angular vector) is (0-), zero vaet (without orientation) and negative in space (lack thereof), it only takes shape and load when they come together, giving space and time according to matter and energy. Since everything is energy, and matter is condensed energy vibrating at a very low frequency, we could also assume that all energy is matter vibrating at a very high frequency. Therefore we can postulate that everything is matter. Following this reasoning, mental MS and etheric MS are as material as this 4 × 4 MS, only outside the range perceptible by our senses. As we need more subtle energies to subsist, such as those produced in our body by food, by the air we breathe, by the sun that warms us, by the emotions and feelings that rejoice us, the lights and shadows also need energies more subtle, obtained, in this case, from the passions of the pendulum ends. A football game releases as much energy from its fans and fans as from a concentration camp in World War II. It does not matter the circumstance or the act but what is obtained by it. How do you think a cow feels in the slaughterhouse, or a bull in the sand? Who consumes that energy produced by stress and released by the animal? Yes, he succeeded, you in the etheric plane. Why? Because you can’t eat a steak or a hamburger the way you eat it in the Matrix Space 4 × 4.

As you will see, everything is relative to the matrix space that you inhabit, be aware of it or not. Every time a ritual is done in the name of Baphomet, either directly or implicitly, the energy released by the participants is consumed directly by it, it is their private banquet. A Catholic mass, a Masonic course, a prayer chain where an image is asked or prayed, etc., etc., etc., are private agapes for the lights and shadows of this game. Wotan feeds on positively charged energies, and Baphomet on negatively charged energies, who defines the charge? Our selves on duty. For example, in a Catholic mass positive and negative energies are released depending on what conscious or unconscious thinking we have at the time of the ceremony. Fulanita asks for Menganito’s health, positive energy. Menganito apologizes for what he did to Zutanito, positive and negative energy. Zutanito went to Mass by obligation, negative energy. In a single ceremony he fed the lights and shadows unconsciously, and the sponsor consciously because he is the representative and intermediary between the producer and the consumer. But as the demand for food is great, because the armies are also great, it is only necessary to possess the selves so that they commit the acts of thoughts, words and deeds that release the energy demanded by both Wotan and Baphomet. Meanwhile, we are drained as piles, and we cannot retain enough energy to nourish our Being and that it manifests freely and fully. If we free ourselves from the lights and shadows, all the energy will remain in us and the path to liberation will be much faster and easier. We cannot get Wotan and Baphomet out of this reality, but we can get them out of our interior. The million dollar question is why does the Do allow them to feed on us? And the answer is very simple, because we allow it for what is stated in the article “letter from an initiate.” We decided to fulfill that role in the game of creation, we decided to continue being lambs and food, so that the pendulum continues to move. Only a few really want to change roles, stop being lambs and become wolves, attentive and owners of their energy and food. Meanwhile Wotan and Baphomet continue to dispute the Lhumanu, not only for the food it generates, but for being a holder of an alien genetic bank rarely seen and something they want since our creation, something so precious to them that they sacrificed their own evolution for to get it. Today, Wotan and Baphomet are no longer strangers and cannot hide so easily within you, because they have known your face and will recognize you when they take hold. The only difference between Adolf Hitler and you is that he was aware of who he fed and who he wanted to feed. Since he could not free a whole race of light and shadow, he could, however, try to give him the best choice within the limited duality. Sean Ser and they will get Wotan and Baphomet to throw them out of their mouths because they will no longer serve as food, they will be able to free themselves in particular, and perhaps tomorrow, the Human race will only feed the Human because they will be vaet (0-) the mana of the Do that feeds to the crystallized Being that lives within the Virya. Read the full article

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Series 12 Review Part 5/10: Fugitive of the Judoon

Air date: 26 January 2020

The Doctor Who fandom is in further meltdown this week as we deal with further bombshells on top of all the bombshells from the series up to this point.

My spoiler-free thought for this episode: “We’re gonna need David Tennant back at this point to explain what is going on.”

At this point, I have caught up with the last three episodes. Weekly posting of reviews will continue from next week. Spoilers continue after the break. Make sure you’ve watched the entire series up to the end of this episode before you continue on.

That big bombshell

Before the series started, we did get confirmation that the Judoon would be returning. That was a pretty good cover for this episode.

This week, we saw the debut of a new Doctor played by Jo Martin. Talk about representation, amirite? Look, in all honesty, I’m not too worried about this being an SJW red flag over this being something that could potentially rattle the status quo of Doctor Who. John Hurt as the War Doctor did do that, but eventually, we came to understand that it was because of three reasons - there was a discrepancy between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors in that there was no regeneration, Christopher Eccleston was unable to return for the 50th Anniversary and Steven Moffat wanted to explore what would happen if the Doctor used up all twelve regenerations.

On a side note, Jo Martin is pretty good as the Doctor. It should also be noted that she is the first black Doctor in the series (maybe not actually the Doctor depending on how this series turns out). What are the chances that this was done for fanservice because people were expecting a more radical choice for the Thirteenth Doctor (as if Jodie Whittaker being female and a feminist wasn’t radical enough)?

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of Chameleon Arch stories. I think that if you (forcibly) conceal yourself as a lesser species despite having superior powers, abilities and knowledge, then it demeans who you really are and makes you look like a bit of a coward. John Smith put it best in The Family of Blood when he was struggling over whether to open the fob watch and become the Doctor again as it meant that this John Smith wouldn’t exist anymore. In the end, he didn’t stand up and insist on staying John Smith, thus making him a coward either way.

So, upon becoming the Doctor again and learning that 13 is also the Doctor, Ruth (we’ll call her this from now on) surmises that the Doctor is from her future, yet the Doctor doesn’t remember being Ruth. Given the design of her TARDIS and her not recognising the sonic screwdriver, I’m surmising that Ruth is based on the classic series Doctors. Let’s take a look at three possible theories I’ve come up with.

Theory 1: Parallel universe/Alternate timeline

This seems to be the most popular and easy-to-explain theory among fans. It would certainly explain the Master’s reappearance and it doesn’t change the status quo too much. However, Chris Chibnall said that Ruth is “definitively the Doctor” (how that sentence even makes sense I don’t know) and that there is no parallel universe involved, which could potentially jeopardise everything.

The Doctor Who Wiki documents many incarnations and alternate versions (including non-canonical versions) of the Doctor other than those we have seen onscreen. However, the fact that Ruth might come from a parallel universe would be too simple unless it’s part of a bigger thing in the story arc. I’m foreseeing a Dimensional Merge thing going on.

(If Peter Cushing actually ends up being acknowledged as canon or an incarnation of the Doctor onscreen, then I’m going to be pissed)

Theory 2: The Valeyard

The Valeyard, a villain from the Sixth Doctor’s Trial of a Time Lord series, was seemingly forgotten until it was mentioned twice in the Moffat era, during The Name of the Doctor and Twice Upon a Time. The Valeyard is apparently an amalgamation of the Doctor’s darker sides from between his twelfth and final incarnations - in terms of the Doctor’s first set of regenerations, it would technically be between the Tenth (post-Journey’s End) and Eleventh Doctors. However, now with the Doctor’s new regeneration cycle, people seemingly like to stretch it out to after the Twelfth Doctor’s era, so anything goes at this point. It would explain Ruth’s darker side during the confrontations with the Judoon and her willingness to bear arms when the Doctor opposed it.

Theory 3: Pre-Hartnell Doctor

This would be the most dangerous theory because it would drastically change the status quo of Doctor Who. During the Moffat era, the show seemed to reinforce the fact that all and only all of the Doctor’s incarnations up to that point were the Doctor. The child we saw in Listen was basically the First Doctor.

The details of the Doctor’s birth and upbringing are very conflicting because different Doctor Who-related media seems to have their own interpretation of it. The 1997 Virgin New Adventures book Lungbarrow details how The Other, one of the original founders of Time Lord society alongside Rassilon and Omega, would reincarnate himself into the loomed Doctor. I don’t like the idea of the Looms, though, so things might be questionable for me if they are canonised. Chris Chibnall has said in an interview around the start of Series 11 that he had not been able to find a copy of Lungbarrow, but chances are that whatever happens will be even more complicated than whatever I’ve theorised.

The return of Captain Jack Harkness

This was another surprise in this episode. As such, this makes Jack the first companion from the revived era, or more specifically, the RTD era, to reappear in the series. Sadly, the return of Jack Harkness may have been fanservice as well as Chibnall also said that he won’t be appearing again in Series 12. If you’re going to have fanservice in order to advance the story, then the fanservice should be more involved in it, like Rose Tyler in Series 4. With the announcement that the Cybermen would return in the Series 12 finale, I would have expected Jack to return then.

So what did Jack warn Graham, Ryan and Yaz about? He had them tell the Doctor to “beware the Lone Cyberman” and not to give it what it wants. He also mentions that an “alliance” sent something back through time and that somehow because of it, the Cyberman empire is in ruins. What this and/or Ruth have to do with the Timeless Child we have no idea yet, but I’ll be sure to keep watching.

Other general thoughts

Since the term was coined in the 2017 Free Comic Book Day comic The Promise, the fob watch portion of the Chameleon Arch has been known as the biodata module. The fire alarm in the lighthouse acted as Ruth’s biodata module; having it in a stationary location does make it harder for it to be noticed, particularly if perception filters are involved.

In the next time trailer for this episode, I thought that Ruth was Grace. And people say all Asians look the same.

Why didn’t the Doctor ask more questions to Ruth if she was confused at whether she was her or not?

Ruth gives the Doctor five points for guessing how she disguised herself on Earth. We haven’t seen the points system for a while now. For those of you keeping track at home, Yaz is on 10 points (S11E5), Ryan has a gold star, which I presume to be 10 points (S11E6) and the Doctor is on 5 points. Way to underestimate.

Following this episode, the next two episodes are also co-written by Chris Chibnall. Whether they will have more details to build onto the story arc is unknown yet.

Summary and verdict

No tokusatsu references in this episode. There was a big SJW red flag, but that was overshadowed by the story arc. Regardless, Ruth and Jack served as mere fanservice to advance the story and I expect to see them again soon.

Once again, I’ve finally caught up on the episodes now, so we will be returning to the normal posting schedule next week. I didn’t complete all the reviews for the last three episodes all in a day - my mind gets tired whenever I’ve done something big.

Rating: 8/10

Mid-series review

Compared to the same period in Series 11, the first half of Series 12 was definitely more dramatic than Series 11. We had a two-parter reintroducing the Master, a story about climate change and an Edison vs. Tesla episode. I thought there weren’t going to be a lot of SJW red flags, but Episode 3 alone proved me wrong. Still, the SJW agenda is less of a problem for me this year than it was last year (though I’m still going to be cautious).

Here are my ratings for the series so far:

Episode 1: 8/10

Episode 2: 8/10

Episode 3: 5/10

Episode 4: 9/10

Episode 5: 8/10

Mid-series total: 38/50 (76%)

Compared to the mid-Series 11 total of 70%, this is probably the better series for me so far. I think the returning characters and story arc really helped.

Stay tuned next week as I review the sixth episode, Praxeus.

[holmesandhouse-blog]

Fanfiction and Additive Comprehension: The Question of Canon

Fanfiction has been a steadily growing medium, to the point that it sometimes threatens producers’ intent for the original text. Through additive comprehension, fanfiction strongly influences how an original text is interpreted, while simultaneously providing an opportunity for alternative representation within the storyworld. This strong influence brings up questions surrounding the concept of canon, and what that means for the audience. This is specifically highlighted in the Sherlock Holmes transmedial storyworld, in which the fanfiction “Two Two One Bravo Baker” by abundantlyqueer has shifted the overall fan viewing of the BBC’s show Sherlock (especially within the narrative of “A Study in Pink”) in regards to both Sherlock and John’s relationship, as well as John’s military experience.

According to Jenkins, “[g]ame designer Neil Young coined the term, ‘additive comprehension,’ to refer to the ways that each new texts adds a new piece of information which forces us to revise our understanding of the fiction as a whole.” The concept of fanfiction arguable arose from that general definition. Fanfiction exists to add new understandings and fill in missing plot holes, which often leave the readers feeling as though the meaning of the original text has been shifted. The fanfiction “Two Two One Bravo Baker” (which will be affectionately dubbed “221BB” for the purposes of this essay) does just this, by filling in the plotholes of John’s military experiences (albeit in an alternate universe in which Sherlock meets him in Afghanistan) and following Sherlock and John’s relationship to a romantic conclusion. As in all fanfiction, there exists a certain suspension of disbelief within the plot of “221BB,” however the author is quick to try and draw her audience into the pseudo-canon by explaining her artistic choices within the chapter-end notes. The first note, reading “[t]he names I've used for the members of John's section are names of men who fought with notable distinction and died at the battle of Maiwand in 1880, the battle in which ACD's Watson was wounded,” (abundantlyqueer, chapter 1 notes) tells the reader that abundantlyqueer has done her research and, similarly to BBC’s Sherlock, is drawing resources from the original Arthur Conan Doyle canon. It’s the second note, however, which truly begins to make the analysis of additive comprehension interesting. The author writes,

ACD's Watson was attached to the 66th Berkshire Foot, which (after a tortuous lineage of amalgamations) ended up in The Rifles regiment. However, in TGG John wears the regimental tie of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards. There is a point of intersection between the two regiments: in 2009, the Guards’ mission in Afghanistan included supplying reconnaissance and other support to 3 Commando Brigade, which also draws support staff from The Rifles. If John initially served with the Guards and later transferred to 3 Brigade, that would explain the regimental tie and place him equidistant between the ACD and Moffit-Gatiss canons. (abundantlyqueer, chapter 1 notes)

With this additional information, abundantlyqueer complicates the question of the fanfiction’s interpretation. She is explicitly trying to work in both the ultimate urtext (Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes”) and BBC Sherlock’s canon into “221BB,” while simultaneously convincing the audience that it works. And somehow, it does. “221BB” has, since its publishing, become something of a reference for BBC Sherlock fans wanting to know more about John’s military past. This acceptance of the fan text as “legitimate” additive comprehension is largely due to the meticulous research which has gone into the fiction, and the care with which it was molded to fit multiple canons. This, perhaps, is the most important element of fanfiction. The ability to incorporate canon in a way that would be frowned upon in an “official” production. A final example of abundantlyqueer’s melting pot of canon comes from the author’s notes in chapter six. “One of John’s lines, and the good-humored sangfroid of British soldiers under fire, were lifted whole from the documentary Inside Afghanistan with Ben Anderson, which was also the source of John’s flashback footage in A Study in Pink” (abundantlyqueer, chapter 6 notes). With this, abundantlyqueer is technically lifting text straight from the canon, since the footage is included in episode one of Sherlock. This deepens the influence of the canon (and of the fanfiction on the canon) because the flashback is a point of interest for many fans wondering about the context of John’s canon PTSD. BBC’s Sherlock shows this PTSD, but never explains it further, opting for the air of mystery over examining John’s history. “221BB” jumps on this plot hole with abandon, giving us a scene which fits like a puzzle piece into a specific memory, and allowing fans to further cement their belief in the pseudo-canon of the fanfiction.

This cementing of pseudo-canon and additive comprehension allows abundantlyqueer to then have greater control over other aspects of the fanfiction’s influence on the show. A key element in “221BB” (and in many other Sherlock fanfictions) is the relationship and blossoming romance between Sherlock and John. The fanfiction starts out with the base the audience is given in the show; a complicated deduction of John’s life by Sherlock, followed by “‘[t]hat’s - amazing,’ John laughs. / ‘You think so?’ Sherlock frowns, drawing his chin in slightly. / ‘Incredible,’ John grins” (abundantlyqueer, chapter 1). This scene is immediately recognizable to fans of Sherlock as the original meeting scene of Sherlock and John, and the basis of their relationship. However where the show Sherlock only teases the audience with romance, “221BB” dives in head first. The natural flow of an accredited fanfiction such as “221BB” from casual friendship to romantic relationship is bound to influence audience interpretation of the show, especially when the show is already queerbaiting said audience, complete with meaningful silences and soulful eye contact. In fact the argument exists that “[t]he same-sex partners…are already working and living and fighting side by side, so a sexual relationship is all but an extension of the canon. And if it is inherent in the canon, then a slash reading is not resistant” (Hellekson and Busse 79).  By that logic then, it is easy for the fanfiction’s interpretation to be carried over to BBC’s Sherlock without much fanfare. The relationship is explicit within the pseudo-canon of “221BB” because the setting allows it to be so, and if the characters would have a relationship in one setting, then why not the other?

Much of fanfiction analysis still consists of unanswered questions. For example, if a popular fanfiction such as “221BB” has such a large sway over fan interpretation, is there then a possibility for fan texts to truly influence the canon? Referencing back to slash readings as being additive, “[w]hat happens when slash is considered not as ‘resistant’ but instead as an actualization of latent textual elements” (Hellekson and Busse 119)? If we remember the author’s notes in “221BB,” it again becomes clear that the fanfiction can't be canon in BBC Sherlock, because Sherlock and John just simply don't meet in Afghanistan (not to mention the wonky timeline). And yet the information within the fanfiction is consistent and calculated to make the reader believe it could be canon (somehow in both of the very different worlds of BBC and Doyle’s Sherlocks). So while “221BB” is technically an alternate universe, it could still be used to interpret the urtext(s) under the assumption that the only major change in the universe is the setting, could it not? These are the concepts and questions which complicate the additive comprehension of fanfiction, and they are largely still up for debate. The question of what is “true” canon is a difficult one, and is made more difficult within the Sherlock Holmes storyworld due to the original copyright having expired. Technically, one could argue that all fanfictions are canon in their own universes, but what does that mean for a fan work such as “221BB” which has a large and impactful influence on a meaningful subset of the audience? How much do the producers of Sherlock have to accept, and how much can they ignore without repercussions? In some ways, this question has recently been answered. The most recent season of Sherlock has lost both viewers and ratings, and many critics say that this is largely due to a large subset of viewers being upset that John and Sherlock didn’t end up romantically involved within BBC’s canon. Did fanfiction have a part in this? Absolutely. 

One then has to ask a final question: what about works such as House, M.D., which are undoubtedly influenced by Sherlock Holmes? Is this a type of fanfiction? Does it influence the media in the same way? The relationship between James Wilson and Gregory House has certainly been influenced by the additive comprehension brought to the show by fans who see Holmes and Watson as a couple, and one must assume it goes both ways.

In the end, one thing is certain: fanfiction has a significant influence over how a text is interpreted, and allows for representation which isn’t always realized in the urtext. In some cases, such as “221BB” and BBC’s Sherlock, this results in a lasting impact on the original text itself. This topic will be more and more relevant as fanfiction becomes more and more mainstream, and may force producers to more seriously consider fan interpretations when planning their storyworld. Perhaps someday the “alternative” representations in fanfiction will influence canon representations on screen. One can only hope.

Works Cited

abundantlyqueer. “Two Two One Bravo Baker.” Sherlock fan fiction. Sherlock

Holmes/John Watson slash. Archive of Our Own, 04 August 2011.

Hellekson, K. & Busse, K..The Fan Fiction Studies Reader. Iowa City: University of Iowa

Press, 2014. Project MUSE, 2017.

Jenkins, Henry. "Transmedia Storytelling 101." Blog post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan. 22 Mar. 2007. Web. 2017.

Moffat, Steven, and Mark Gatiss. "A Study in Pink." Sherlock. Dir. Paul McGuigan. BBC. 24 Oct. 2010. Television.

[marymosley]

Ethical Jurisprudence: An Amalgamation of Law and Morals

INTRODUCTION The relation of law and morals was one of the subjects chiefly debated by the nineteenth – century jurists. Morals basically apply to “the broad field of conduct evaluated in terms of its aims, ends, or result.” Four stages in the development of law with respect to morals are generally recognized. First, is the stage of undifferentiated ethical customs which is a pre- legal stage. Second is the stage of strict and codified custom. Third is the stage of infusion of molarity into the law and reshaping it by morals. Forth is the stage of conscious lawmaking which implies the maturity of law, in which it is said that morals and morality are for the lawmakers and that law alone is for the judge.

CONCEPT OF ETHICS Ethics is basically the science of human conduct in the society i.e. the way people behaved, how they are behaving and how they should behave in the society in which they are living. Ethics can be divided into two branches : The ideal moral code The positive moral code The ideal moral code deals with the natural law. Natural law in philosophy, is a system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and derived from nature rather than from the rules of society. It simply means a law which is not legislated or man-made but is purely based on moral principles. The positive moral code is directly related to the conduct of the society at a given point of time. Such morals are based on public opinion of a specific society and change according to the change in opinion.

JURISPRUDENCE Jurisprudence is defined as the study of law and the principles upon which law is based. The word jurisprudence is derived from a Latin term juris prudentia, which means “the study, knowledge, or science of law.” Why there is a need to study jurisprudence? One of the importance to study jurisprudence is its fundamental value. It mainly involves research which helps in clarifying the basic concepts of law. The subject is not concerned with the making of new laws but focuses on the existing laws. It not only focuses on primary legal rules , but also talks about the social impact of these laws. It provides the rules of interpretation, as a result it becomes important to study the subject to understand the significance of laws passed by the legislators.

CONCEPT OF ETHICAL JURISPRUDENCE Ethical jurisprudence is a branch of philosophy which studies law based on its ethical or moral significance. How the law should be in an ideal state is dealt by ethical jurisprudence. It investigates the purpose of law and the way in which that purpose should be fulfilled. This area of study brings together morals and legal philosophy. In German , ethical jurisprudence is known as Rechtsphilosophie and in French as philosophie du droit. Legal philosophy must be based on ethical values so that people could be motivated for an up- right living. The salient features of ethical jurisprudence may briefly be stated as follows: Law and justice are closely related. When we talk about justice, it has an ethical essence in it , and law is a means to attain the ends of justice. Therefore, the objectives of justice can only be fulfilled by law. The manner in which law fulfils the purpose of attainment of justice is one of the subject matter of ethical jurisprudence. The study also differentiates between the domains of law and justice. It emphasizes upon the ethical significance of legal conceptions.

Immanuel Kant and Hegel are considered to be one of the main exponents of the ethical school of jurisprudence:

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)- According to him, ethics and law are not one and the same thing. Ethics deals with the inner life of an individual and law on the other hand , regulates his external conduct.

Hegel (1770-1831)- According to him , the purpose of making of law is to reconcile the conflicting egos in the society. He said that various manifestation of social life including law, are nothing but the result of evolutionary dynamic process. This process operates itself in the form of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The human intellect sets a thesis, which becomes a salient idea with time. In the course of time, this idea is surrounded by criticism, thus setting up an antithesis. As a result of the conflict between the two i.e. thesis and antithesis, a synthesis develops to reconcile them. This process repeats time and again as a historical phenomenon.

MORALS AS THE BASIS OF LAW

In earlier stages, there was no distinction between law and morals. Thus, we can say that law and morals have a common origin but in the course of development they became different concepts. Though law and morals are not the same ( which could mean that many things may be immoral yet not necessarily illegal), still the absolute separation of law from morality would be unjustified. This concept can be explained with the help of a case study: Queen vs Dudley and Stephens

Facts of the case: The defendants, Mr. Dudley and the victim Mr. Parker along with two other seamen were cast away in a storm on the high seas and were compelled to put into an open boat that had no supply of food and water. After the group had been without food for seven days, and without water for five days, Mr. Dudley and Mr. Stephens (one of the seamen) killed the victim in order to satisfy their hunger. All the seamen fed upon the body of the victim.

Issue raised: Does the defense of necessity permit the killing of one person to save others?

Principle laid down in the judgment: The answer to the issue raised was No! Necessity can never be a defense of murder. No man has a right to take another’s life to save his own .

MORALS AS THE TEST OF LAW

It is said that if a law overshadow morality, it is not a good law. This view was very much supported by Greeks and Romans. In Rome, law to some extent was made to conform to ‘natural law’ which was based on certain moral principles and as a result ‘jus civile’ was transformed into ‘jus gentium.’ Law cannot be completely separated from morals due to many reasons. The conformity of law with morals is a very important factor. When we talk about a community, law plays a very important role and morals have also got an important place. Therefore, law and morals can be considered as the two sides of the same coin.

MORALS AS THE END OF LAW

When we talk about law, one of the most important terms that comes to our mind is ‘justice’. Aim of the law is to secure justice and justice is very much based on morals in the form of rationality, equity, etc. Therefore, morals can be considered as the end of law.

CONCLUSION

What we consider good in any society at a particular time, may become bad at another time within the same society. This may be due to change in public opinion over a period of time. Therefore some laws are required for the enforcement of certain rules of human conduct. Ethical jurisprudence inspects the conduct of human beings and recommend amendments if required in the present law. So, we can easily relate jurisprudence with the ethics.

Author: Aprajita Chauhan, Legal Intern at Legal Desire (June 2020)

Aprajita Chauhan, student of Himachal Pradesh University Institute of Legal Studies, Shimla. Being a law student it is really important to develop certain skills that will be applicable to future career opportunities, one of my leading aspirations deals with it. I always expect to achieve good results from my work. When I think of my goal , I think of a timeframe maybe 3-4 years from now. I will be looking for opportunities to expand my responsibilities within my present role to work towards my goal. My field of interest includes volunteer work as I actively work as a NSS volunteer. Apart from it I consider myself a good learner. To achieve something, it is important that we should be good learners, for when we stop learning, we stop growing. My success mantras are hard work, determination and never to give up on myself as , ” A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits.”

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[beowulfs-booty-call]

I like to share love, so I'm glad it helps. I believe everyone can find love, and generally what you're describing sounds like my beliefs, though I'm much more a hard polytheist than a soft one. As far as Freya? Lots of potential things, but that's most of the basics. I'm glad that you found confidence though. Self-confidence is one of those things I struggle with, but if it helps I also think you look good too. Was more the emotional/mental side I was complimenting earlier though. :)

Ah! Now I understand, I want to apologize then, on my behalf for not fully understanding what you’d meant at the time! (Unfortunately, I answered your ask at around... 2 AM or so in NY time, so, I really am sorry if you got a whole long answer on something completely else!)

That aside, I really agree with your ideas on that. Everyone can find love, and, they deserve it to, as well in the sense of both the word, and well, love.

The reason I steered more towards... Physical love, I’d say, was mainly because I’m still... opening up in the side of emotional / mental side (in terms of Incubus-focuses and their emphasis of course!). On one end of the spectrum, Incubi / Succubi can have emotional sides rather than an erotic focus, but that’s just their actual representation. They’re amalgamation of human desires put into form, one can say, so to speak. The other, is the more commonly known eroticism as to, in some cultures, “mate with a human and create a foul half breed” (which, if I’m correct was more of the older archetypes. Considering Merlin was prophesied as one of their half children, I think it’s supposed to mean that side of the coin, though... I could be wrong in the context of time here..!)

The emotional / mental side of them aren’t really... always seen to people. In some ways, it’s almost nonexistent, but you’re like... What’s the saying?

“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride?”

That’s the sort of life motto you’re “branded” with, to acknowledge, and to understand. It’s definitely something that is sort of a burden to carry, because there’s times I’d fantasize about just a random person I met in a cafe and think, “Boy... What’d I’d do to wake up to someone like them tomorrow morning...” And then... there’d be more perverse thoughts of course and such, but the emotional side, of commitment, of just hand holding, or cuddling on the couch while reading 3 AM fanfics of your favorite characters... It leads you to believe all you’re really good for, is the eroticism, you know?

Of course, that’s only just what most incubi / succubi struggle with for the time being, and, after a while, I shook it off once I got back into stuff like Sailor Moon and of course Amy Rose from Sonic the hedgehog, and really sort of got the understanding of what love really means. I could harp on, on what you already know, but, it was amazing, to say the least. Not just, saying it in a card, or, valentines chocolates (I will, of course, eat them, if offered) but just... Saying it. With meaning. 

Supporting the people you care about, and showing it in your daily life for them. Always being there to understand and help carry them to their potential. It’s magnificent, to say the least. 

And, I’d like to apologize again, if I misunderstood anything as well, but that’s just my opinion on the emotions of the night folk, besides myself. It’s liberating, yet... Chained. You’re led to believe it’s only the physical side of you that’s meant to be charming, that it must be an aesthetic, a pleasure, a masterpiece if you will, but you’re not happy with it. A lot of the sex demons struggle with that. They’ve gotten lust down, charm, wit, tenacity... But they don't have love. At least, they don’t really understand it.

I want to really thank you for the kind words, honestly. While I’m still working up the courage to wake up every morning, look in the mirror and say, “Hey, rise and shine, today’s going to be wonderful. Can you see it written on your face?” I’ve definitely gotten far enough to not look at things as black and white as before. Before... It was like, all eyes are on you, keep appearances sharp, sensual, and walk with a gait that saunters over with power and grace.

...Now, I’m just... Me! To say the least. I wear my favorite outfits here and there, I splurge on myself to treat myself better, and really, just take care of myself. Of course, the reason I work with Venus / love magic best, is because I’ve well, unrequited love in the sense. There’s someone out there I’m living for, and, while I know it’s not meant to be, they’ve taught me a lot about myself, and about the world. Of course, it doesn’t hinder me or anything, but since I met that person, I think I finally understood what I know now about love, not just in the familial sense Parvati taught me, or the Eroticism Lilith exudes. I’m still learning though, like everyone else.

Still, your beliefs sound so... Unique and inspiring! In all honesty? It’s like a breath of fresh air, hearing about that, especially your bond with Freyja! I’d love to hear about the potential things you have there, someday, if it’s alright, since it seems I got the basics down! But, in all seriousness, I suppose looking back on my own, I don’t really “know” what my beliefs could be classified as. I would definitely say a form of soft polytheism, since Hinduism is a huge on the topic, as well as Paganism (at times). But at best? I’ve dealt with many deities and demons, and while I know they’re different in both persona, and context, I’ve always felt, maybe, they’re who we believe to be, whether it is being comfortable seeing the god of the afterlife as the goddess Izanami in Yomi, or Hades in the Underworld, you know? But, at the same time, there’s also lots of questions I find myself asking, to my own beliefs too. For example, 

- Most Ars Goetian demons were at once, angels, the same for the fallen. Beelzebub was considered at one point, the god Baal, and the other, Bael. If that was the case... Does that mean, one can conjure either form and it would in fact, be Beelzebub / Baal / Bael in the context of nature? Would the separate entities acknowledge their other forms? In a sense, yes, when I summoned Baal for questions on politics and power, (What are the two, how can I use them effectively?) he spoke about his “other” form as being the king of flies and filth and that laying others down to build one’s self up is the nature of man. Things like that, besides his er... “advice”, tends to make me reevaluate what I already “understand”.

- Are the cultures we already know, not anglicized, but perhaps, evaluated in different ways for us to comprehend? It’s a more philosophical question, I admit, but it’s definitely one on my mind for some time. One could argue about the Roman and Greek mythos being near one and the same, but it’s not my place to do so (Considering it’s not my culture, nor... Well, my main interest. I’ve been more so pondering the question to some of my friends who do take up the mythos as their life and such, and we like to ask each other these sort of questions to ourselves. Not just to make fun or poke at each others beliefs, but more so to maybe grip some form of understanding of the things we have faith in.

- Who are we, as humans, and to what are the Gods and Goddesses? It sounds rather... rebellious in a sense, but there are times I question things and wonder, if Parvati is primordial and always in the background of things, yet, we can see her work or Vesta, or even Hera in the world, what are we really? Do we have a purpose that exists beyond their scope of things? And,  what are they, in terms of our human understanding? Mothers? Fearsome entities? Intangible concepts for us to acknowledge, respect, and see to answer that through our work as witches and devotees?

There’s so many questions I have for myself, that, while I don’t lay down myself as really anything but Hindu and Pagan, makes me so excited to see others who think differently. There's a lot to wonder and think about, not just about yourself and the subject matter of what your offerings do to please the deities or the demons we bond with in our every day lives.

So, really, thank you so much for taking the time out and having such a wonderful discussion with me here, like I always say, I’m always open to asks and anything you ever need! But also, thank you for letting me think about myself more, not just in how far I came along, but also how far I know I’m going to go, I can only say the same for you, for really getting your thoughts out to people! As silly as it may sound over .txt, but I offer my deepest gratitude and blessings for you to be as content as can be in your life, no matter where you go, anon. 

Go in peace, and may the (I would say Æsir or the Vanir, however, I’m not sure which pantheon Freyja and Freyr would fall under considering the Æsir had Odin’s side, and the Vanir had the twins born under them, until taken under the Æsir as either hostages or honorary members?) deities make life nothing but grand to you, your problems lifting into the air like feathers in the wind, your freedom bound to no one, and your future enshrined with wonder and joy.

[aion-rsa]

Frankenstein Adaptations Are Almost Never Frankenstein Adaptations

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In an age of adaptation, we still don't have a faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic genre novel.

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Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein is a story constantly being retold — but almost never has it been retold faithfully. In 2015, we got Victor Frankenstein, the latest in screen adaptations bearing the Frankenstein name, but having little to do with the original text. 

This habit of less-than-faithful adaptations of Shelley's work goes back a long time. The history of Frankenstein adaptations is the history of hodgepodge narrative parts continually being stitched, torn, and re-stitched back together into an amalgamation of what has come before. But, when "before" is 200 years of stage and screen adaptations, source material and inspiration bleed together, and the "original" becomes distorted — like a game of temporal telephone. 

But past the narrative convolution that comes with the passage of time, Frankenstein has seemingly always been a text that eschews faithful adaptation. From the very beginning, on the stage and as one of the first films ever made, Mary Shelley's original vision of a man and the creature he created has rarely been its own...

How Frankenstein Came to Be

For those with an interest in English literature, feminism, or the birth of modern science fiction, perhaps the story of how Frankenstein came to be is as famous as the book itself. The basic tale was first written down by an 18-year-old Mary Shelley (then Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin) in 1816 while she and lover/future husband Percy Shelley were visiting Lord Byron in Switzerland.

Dubbed “The Year Without a Summer,” the eruption of Mount Tambora had the Europe of 1816 in the clutches of a volcanic winter, leaving the idle group with little to do in the form of outdoor recreation while staying near Lake Geneva. 

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Instead, the literary colleagues took to reading German ghost stories to one another, leading to the challenge that they each pen their own ghost story. And thus, one of the first works of modern science fiction was born. Frankenstein, as a full novel, would be published anonymously two years later on New Year's Day in 1818.

Do you Know the Story of Frankenstein?

For those unfamiliar with the source material, Frankenstein is an epistolary novel, told in a series of letters from Captain Robert Walton to his sister, as well as in his journal entries (it should be noted that this narrative framing very rarely makes it into screen or stage adaptations).

Glory-driven Walton is on an Arctic expedition when his crew finds a cold and broken Victor Frankenstein. They pull him aboard, and Dr. Frankenstein relays the story of the monster he created to Walton--the monster he is pursuing across the ice.

It is a story of creation and abandonment and family. The Creature is arguably much more of the heroic, sympathetic protagonist here than Frankenstein, whose sin is not in playing God (though some have made that argument) but rather in leaving his creation alone in a confusing, cruel-to-difference world.

Unlike so many of his on-screen interpretations, the Creature of the novel is eloquent, thoughtful, and — at least at first — inspired by the beauty of the natural world. Later, he uses his gift for language to articulate his anguish, telling Frankenstein, "I am content to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?"

The First Frankenstein Plays and Movies

If none of this plot or backstory sounds familiar, it’s probably not your fault. (Well, you could read Frankenstein, which is one of those classics that holds up remarkably well.) Most screen adaptations pick and choose what they want from the original material, more often drawing inspiration from the 1931 movie starring Boris Karloff than Mary Shelley.

read more: 13 Forgotten Frankenstein Movies

But a full two decades before director James Whale made the iconic horror film, Frankenstein was already a movie star — in fact, the story was one of the first committed to film. Frankenstein's adaptation to the screen happened roughly a decade after cinema itself was invented, making this self-admittedly "liberal adaptation" from Edison Productions one of the first movies ever.

Video of FRANKENSTEIN (1910 Edison Production) HD

One of the notable changes form the novel in the 12-minute film is a happy ending for Frankenstein and his new wife, Elizabeth (spoiler alert: in the book, the Creature kills Elizabeth on their wedding night, and Frankenstein himself later dies on the ice. Pretty bleak).

Of course, the decision to make Frankenstein into one of Edison's earliest motion picture productions did not happen in cultural isolation. There is an adaptation path to be traced between the publication of the novel and the creation of films like this 1910 classic and the 1931 version.

According to this Film School Rejects article, 1823 — the first year Frankenstein was adapted to the stage — had five separate plays on the stage. It was these early stage adaptations that first introduced the character of Victor Frankenstein’s assistant Fritz, who would later evolve into the Igor we know from so many later movie adaptations. 

The Boris Karloff film actually drew inspiration from a 1927 stage play by Peggy Webling, rather than the novel itself. And, moving forward into the era of such classics like Young Frankenstein or not-classics like the recently-released Victor Frankenstein, one could easily argue that most subsequent Frankenstein adaptations have more to do with James Whale’s 1931 film — and its 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein — than they do with Shelley’s work.

The Most Faithful Adaptations to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Though many Frankenstein adaptations are more interested in the 1931 film or some action-oriented blockbuster (yes, I, Frankenstein, I'm looking at you), there have been attempts at a more faithful version over the years.

Kenneth Branagh took a stab at a faithful retelling of Frankenstein with his 1994 film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The movie does a slightly better job articulating the nuances of the Creature than most other adaptations, but still falls short of the mark. The film also changes the ending in a particularly jarring way, not only bringing the Creature's bride to life, but giving her Elizabeth's head and memories. Yikes.

David Crow makes a good argument on this site that Penny Dreadful's interpretation of the Creature in the form of Caliban is one of the most faithful versions of the character ever brought to screen.

Everything from the Monster's raven hair to his loquacious love for John Milton was transferred to television in tact. However, if you're looking for an adaptation that not only takes on the iconic character, but the full story, I would recommend the National Theatre's stage version undertaken in 2011.

British film director Danny Boyle brought Frankenstein to the stage starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. The two well-known actors alternated the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature every performance, creating a more literal thematic connection between the two characters. Two sides of the same coin. Two creatures eventually brought down by their guilt, hate, and anger.

The production was a relatively close adaptation of the original novel (with the problematic addition of a rape scene), and was broadcast to cinemas around the world through National Theatre Live, meaning that this adaptation, in some sense, was also a screen one.

However, the performance has yet to be released on DVD and, according to the theater, never will be if the play's creators have anything to say about it. The Powers That Be prefer that the ephemerality of the performance be preserved. One can only hope this means Frankenstein will find its way to cinemas again for more encore performances.

Why Does Frankenstein Resist Faithful Adaptation?

Why is Frankenstein so rarely adapted with a sense of fidelity? One need look no further than the earliest stage adaptation — Presumption: or the Fate of Frankenstein (1823) — to at least partially answer that question. Chris Baldick's book In Frankenstein's Shadow details how the play made great efforts to appease conservative backlash (many found the novel subversive and atheistic).

read more: A History of Frankenstein Comics

The production was nonetheless boycotted by a "friends of humanity" group, prompting the play's management to release the following statement: "The striking moral exhibited in this story is the fatal consequence of that presumption which attempts to penetrate beyond prescribed depths, into the mysteries of nature." 

Furthermore, director Richard Brinsley Peake introduced the Frankenstein's assistant character who "prepares the audience to interpret the tale according to received Christian notions of sin and damnation by telling them that 'like Dr Faustus, my master is raising the devil.'"  

Almost two centuries later, Daniel Radcliffe plays an incarnation of this character designed to explain to the audience how they should feel about Frankenstein's playing God in Victor Frankenstein. 

The Importance of the Female Perspective

As the daughter of anarchist philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (who died 11 days after Mary's birth), Mary Shelley was a fascinating woman, one with much to say in a culture not-so-interested in what women had to say about it. 

One of the reasons Frankenstein so endures is because of its examination of the arrogance of man and the failings of a world without empathy — a theme that, of course, can be explored by anyone, but one that doesn't seem to get a lot of play in works undertaken by privileged white men.

It seems important to note, at this point, that most of the Frankenstein adaptations (though certainly not all) have been undertaken by men who are perhaps less culturally-motivated to consider the more traditional way life is brought into this world. After all, due to the limitations Western society places on both genders, while science has historically been a man's domain, child-rearing has, historically, been a woman's.

Journalist Sady Doyle recently responded to Victor Frankenstein director Paul McGuigan's recent assertion that Mary Shelley's original work is "dull as dishwater," by outlining the convincing theory that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a sort of revenge for her sister Fanny (given name: Frances), who was abused for being illegitimate and eventually killed herself, writing in her suicide note: "You will soon forget there was ever such a creature as..."

There are many interpretations of the Frankenstein story — many of them autobiographically-based. This is one of the reasons it is such a good story. But a parent's neglect and the toll it plays not only on the child, and everyone in his life, is certainly a central one. And one that is often neglected in Frankenstein adaptations in favor of exploring the themes of science, nature, and man's hubris specifically in relation to his work. These interpretations are not mutually exclusive, but the latter is often valued over the former.

It is perhaps easy to look at Frankenstein, and its two male protagonists, and to adapt it with little attention to the importance of women and other socially-devalued characters in the story. After all, they are all periphary characters. But they are the characters who suffer the most. Or at least the ones who suffer the most with the least amount of power to change their fates.

Victor and his Creature are constantly suffering, but they have created their own suffering and have many chances to alter their own destinies. Elizabeth and the Creature's female companion are never granted that same power.

The Future of Frankenstein Adaptations

As this Den of Geek article points out, faithfulness does not equate to quality. Some of the most faithful screen adaptations of books are the worst, while some of the least faithful adaptations can become something better. There are too many variables involved, too many possible permutations to make sweeping generalizations. And, in the world of Frankenstein adaptations, for example, Whale's 1931 film remains the classic, one that continues to influence culture in its own important ways.

However, it would be nice to get a modern Frankenstein adaptation that is more readily available than Danny Boyle's stage version and more complete than Penny Dreadful's Creature — if only for all the high school English teachers who need something to show when they are out sick.

Sadly, as far as I know, there are currently no faithful Frankenstein adaptations in the works. What is happening in the Frankenstein adaptation world? Recently, a whole lot of biopics about Mary Shelley. In 2017, Elle Fanning played the author in Mary Shelley, a conventional biopic that told the story of the relationship between the young author and Percy Shelley, as well as the ways in which Mary Shelley felt out of step with her time. The film boasted a female writer, Emma Jensen, female producers, and a female director, Haifaa Al-Mansour (Wadja).

Elsewhere, HBO Max has ordered a series called The Shelley Society from Riverdale/Sabrina showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The series will depict a young version of Mary Shelley, who moonlights as a hunter of monsters and supernatural threats (including a manifestation of Mary’s own literary creation, Frankenstein’s Monster).

Perhaps a continued interest in Mary Shelley's fascinating life will eventually drum up some excitement for a more faithful retelling of her most famous story. In the mean time, we'll have to make do with what we've got: one of the best genre novels of the last few centuries.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Oct 25, 2019

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