#I mean hardly any build up or introductions like in the book or the film just straight into it with Scott meeting Ramona and hitting it off

[misterbaritone]

Watching this new Scott Pilgrim show almost drove me to reopen the book.

[errantabbot]

On Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Jesus (and Buddha et al.) - Myth, Reality, and Truth Beyond Historicity

I spent the better part of the day yesterday roaming Kansas City, and checking into some of my more recently neglected places of once common frequent. Taking advantage of the unseasonably delightful weather, in the afternoon I took a stroll through the Country Club Plaza, noting the dizzying array of empty and emptying storefronts, amidst a demolished tract of land where an underground IMO’s Pizza location, a Bank of America branch, the better part of a cinema and the parking garage for my place of Zen practice for many years once stood. It was perverse in many ways.

Eventually, we came to the towering three-story Barnes and Noble which was undoubtedly the Mecca of my youth (that is after Borders went out of business and I started reading, almost exclusively, esoterica not routinely stocked in most any bookstore), and it was fascinating to see the dramatic was that it had changed. The lower level of the store which once housed thousands of albums on compact disk, and films in a variety of formats had been rendered mostly an empty shell, with a few awkwardly placed and angled shelves of freshly pressed vinyl (on sale for 50% off) shielding our eyes from the sparsely strewn cases of decades-old movies, and last-change bargain books.

The upper levels of the store were in relatively better shape, though shelves had once again been commonly turned to more space-filling angles and placements so as to hide the thinning stock. Casually perusing a section of shelving where I once spent many hours browsing eastern religious and philosophical titles, I quickly realized that a rather large selection of wedding planning texts had taken up roost in the space. Among the many titles, one, in particular, caught my eye - “The Wedding Officiant’s Guide - How to WRITE & CONDUCT a Perfect Ceremony.” Leafing through the text, much irony was apparent. In a space where hundreds of volumes on religious praxis and myth once stood, a text now shouted to onlookers with instructions on how to legally usurp the previously uniquely religious requirements for celebrating vows of matrimony, so as to build a business with but DIY training in the wedding industry as an officiant. “An astute if not incidental commentary on the state of religion in the global west,” I thought. Scoffing at the book’s contents, I returned it to the shelf, in its outward-facing, highlighted space.

Continuing through the store, the second floor’s periodical, game, puzzle, and memorabilia collections seemed to remain vigorously stocked and equally shopped. Fascinatingly, to me anyway, was the nearly endless variety of Harry Potter-themed memorabilia, which was interspersed with Lord of the Rings themed trinkets, and Star Wars products galore. I am reminded that the first Harry Potter book was published in 1997 (some twenty-four years ago), and while the last film was released in 2011 (ten years ago), fervor for the series has seemingly done little but increase. Millennials and Gen X’ers (together comprising the ever-absent demographics in mainline religious institutions today) continue to spend their hard-won dollars on Harry Potter themed tattoos, jewelry, home decor, and even vacations with the same energy and resources that religious devotees once earmarked for pilgrimages, icons and wall art, necklaces, rings, and awkwardly placed verses of scripture (tattooed or otherwise).

Lord of the Rings (published some seventy-three years ago in 1948) has enjoyed similar devotion, albeit among a typically older demographic, and Star Wars is receiving nothing but new renewed interest as Disney has begun to pump billions of dollars into the production of content for the franchise some forty-four years into its history (debuting in 1977). Each of these fantasy universes too finds life in ongoing conventions around the globe, replete with Live Action Role Playing (“LARPing”) and “cosplay.” In some cases, there have even been somewhat successful attempts at moving beyond LARPing and into the realm of actual religious praxis with the initiation of such movements as “Jedi Realism.” I find it all quite fascinating and wonderful.

There seems to be something about the overt mythic ethos of these aforementioned universes and appendant pursuits that renders them that much more attractive than the literalism that religion frequently seeks to uniquely attribute to its dazzling array of fantastic stories and parables. Indeed, devoid of such literalism, the fantasy worlds of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars render the truths and archetypes present within their myths (beyond historicity) profoundly more accessible and attractive to generations of post-modern seekers of meaning than religion could possibly hope to at present.

I wrote elsewhere this morning that meaning is made and not found, and that wonder and awe (essential components of the meaning-making process) are found and not made. There is, beyond the shadow of any doubt, wonder and awe to be found in the constructs of the fantastic and mythic, both as presented in contemporary fantasy and in ancient religious fable, and it need not be held up as uniquely literal and real to be really accessible, attractive, and meaningful.

Much like human physiology needs vitamin D to make use of dietary calcium, it seems that myth needs reality to make use of its nutrient contents for the mind and soul, at least in the psycho-spiritual physiology of contemporary people.

It’s a shame to me that the most devout religious practitioners of today tend to also be the most literal adherents of religious mythology. Indeed, there is hardly room among such zealots for seekers so inclined to even sit among them so as to inquire as to what truths might be contained and accessible in the ceremony, ritual, and attached stories of a given religion in any authentic way. The older I get the less tolerance I have for such devotion, bellicose as it tends to be.

As the famed scholar of comparative religion, Max Müller once put it, when it comes to religion “He who knows one, knows none.” I would suggest that interested parties start putting in the work to realize that the present devotion to such fantasy worlds as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars constitutes a de-facto form of proto-religion, from which we can learn much should we wish to reform and thereby preserve the wisdom of our inherited traditions, before they vanish into the immaterial realities that their literal conceptions constitute.

I’m reminded of a favorite quotation from the venerable poet and thinker W.H. Auden who once wrote “It is as meaningless to ask whether one believes or disbelieves in Aphrodite or Ares as to ask whether one believes in a character in a novel; one can only say that one finds them true or untrue to life. To believe in Aphrodite and Ares merely means that one believes that the poetic myths about them do justice to the forces of sex and aggression as human beings experience them in nature and in their own lives.”

Truly, we do not need mythological literalism (which in fact can be construed as nothing more than overt heresy) to approach reality and commune with its wonder and awe through the uniquely efficacious tools of religion and myth, so as to derive the tools necessary to construct meaning in enduring and transmittable forms. Those threatened by the uncertainty and mystery that is to be found in surrendering to the innate emptiness of mythological literalism stand not on an unshakable or sturdy ground as it is, and would do well to open themselves to the dis-ease intrinsic to the introduction to existentialist unknowing, so as to sooner than later find themselves made whole in its inexorable vest. In doing so, they might help reclaim the once tangible power of the gods and cosmologies that they hold so suffocatingly dear.

~Sunyananda

[orionsangel86]

Narrative Mirror Characters in Supernatural – An Overview for the Uninitiated.

Mirror characters have always been a classic story telling device. The purpose of a mirror character is to reflect on the main characters journey and emotional state and to provide lessons for the main character to learn. Mirror characters in TV and movies can also be used for foreshadowing purposes and encourage the audience to question the main characters path.

A famous example would be Frodo Baggins and his narrative mirror Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. Gollum is a dark mirror for Frodo in that he represents everything that Frodo could become if he succumbs to the power of the One Ring. Frodo’s present is Gollum’s past as Smeagol, and throughout the books Frodo becomes more and more aware of his fate as he grows closer to Gollum/Smeagol and makes the decision to try to save him as a reflection of his desire to save himself.

Narrative mirrors are everywhere and widely used in all forms of storytelling. To deny them, is to deny basic storytelling tropes. Sometimes the narrative mirrors are extremely, painfully obvious, and other times they are quite subtle and have only a very minor meaning in the greater story.

Supernatural is a series which has used narrative mirror characters quite extensively throughout its long history. It frequently uses mirror characters to provide an additional layer to the emotional journeys of its lead characters to encourage emotional growth. Supernatural also often uses mirror characters to highlight unspoken main character storylines which support subtextual themes as well as foreshadowing potential future plot outcomes.

Supernatural relies so heavily on its narrative character mirrors, that recently in episode 14x04 Mint Condition it gave its viewers a textual lesson on character mirrors straight from its lead characters mouths:

Gif Source: (x) 

DEAN (Pointing at Samantha): She’s like your twin.

[SAM pushes his hair back just as SAMANTHA does the same.]

SAM: What? What are you talking about?

DEAN: Soft, delicate features, luxurious hair. She’s like your wonder twin.

SAM: Yeah.

[A man, DIRK, is crouching in front of the comic book stands picking up comics. He has a lollipop in his mouth. SAM points to him.]

SAM: Well, okay, if that’s me then that’s you over there.

DEAN: That guy?

SAM: Yeah.

DEAN: Yeah, we have zero in common

(The scene then proceeds to show just how much Dean has in common with Dirk)

Following this fun scene, the episode continues to show how much Sam and Dean have in common with their mirror characters in many ways, including a moving moment between Dirk and Dean in which Dirk talks about how important his friend Stuart is to him. (Stuart who was first introduced in this episode wearing a tan trench coat similar to the classic coat worn by Castiel – Dean’s best friend).

From this blatantly obvious in-show commentary, we can infer how the Supernatural creators like to present their mirror characters and how we, the audience, can keep a look out for them. The key indicators are as follows:

Similar clothing - Character clothing choices are very important in this show. The brothers are almost always dressed in plaid and what Castiel would probably call “lumberjack chic”. Castiel always wears a tan trenchcoat, formal attire, white shirt, blue tie. His mirrors are pretty much the easiest to spot. Arguably any side character wearing a tan trenchcoat is a mirror for Castiel.

Siblings – Where side characters are siblings, they are mirrors for Sam and Dean.

Parent/Child pairs – Less common, but also often a comment on Sam and Dean’s dynamic, Dean being the parent to Sam.

Immortal characters with a sympathy to humanity – usually a Cas mirror.

Tastes/interests – Like with Dirk, if a side character appears who the main characters bond with over mutual interests, the chances are they are a mirror for the main character in question.

Storylines; depending on overarching season plots – less obvious, but sometimes the most interesting. Characters that appear in standalone episodes that have an emotional tie to the mytharc plot of the season usually serve to give lessons to the main characters. Those characters will stand in for the main characters when dealing with their own emotional turmoil, which will usually be similar in theme to the emotional turmoil that the main characters are going through. Consider Ed and Harry from 9x14’s #Thinman episode - such a blatantly obvious Winchester mirror that it should need no explaining here.

By taking all these various indicators into consideration when watching any episode of Supernatural, it becomes rather easy to spot the character mirrors and depending on the actions and plot purpose of those mirror characters, we can usually conclude their purpose and the connection to the overall mytharc, or in some cases character development plot.

I’m about to pull out some big examples so you can use those as templates to go forth and find the mirrors! But my main point in this post is to argue that meta writers aren’t pulling this stuff out of our asses. Character mirrors are a story telling technique that is used frequently and with clear author intent. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are seeing things when you believe that characters are meant to be mirrors. It is far more likely that they ARE intended mirrors than not.

I recently came across these tweets on Twitter:

Mark Harris is a former Entertainment Weekly executive editor and author of several books on Hollywood and the film industry.

Brian Koppelman is the co-creator and showrunner of the TV show “Billions” and has worked in the TV and Film industries for over two decades.

I would hazard a guess that both of these individuals have a greater authority on the inner workings of TV show production than YOU or I or anyone else in this fandom about to scream those immortal and highly ridiculous words “yOu ArE rEaDiNg InTo ThInGs!”

But by all means, if you are going to disregard my post as nothing more than a “crazy” fan trying to claim author intent where there is none, perhaps you could first take a look below the cut, because these mirror characters in SPN are hardly coincidence, and the general motto to run by is that if some characters are definitely mirrors, then the chances are that wherever you THINK you see a character mirror, and it makes logical sense, the INTENT was for you to see a character mirror all along. 

So therefore, never disregard a fan interpretation of a narrative character mirror when they see one. 

If you do, you are going to look like a huge jackass.

Please keep reading for glaringly obvious Destiel character mirrors along with some nice brother character mirrors for comparison. We ain’t kidding around folks.

First of all, lets consider some examples where Supernatural has used narrative mirror characters specifically to highlight Sam and Dean’s emotional growth.

A recent and very obvious example is from 14x12.

The brothers interview Eddie, the twin brother of a murdered man in a case they are investigating. Eddie is distraught by his brother’s murder, and he says the following:

“I can’t believe he’s gone. We were close. Best friends. Alan always said he was my big brother, ‘cause he was born first. By, like, four minutes. Losing him is like losing a part of myself. I never knew it could be this bad.”

In this situation, Eddie is a clear Sam mirror character, because his emotional response to his brother Alan’s death is exactly what Sam’s would be if he were to lose Dean. Dean, in this scenario, is the one learning the lesson. He is having to witness through a character mirror the pain that Sam would go through upon Dean’s suicide. This reflects the current mytharc plot in which Dean has chosen a suicide mission of locking himself away with the archangel Michael in order to prevent Michael’s escape.

This is a simple mirror which specifically relates to the theme of the episode. However, other character mirrors have a wider lesson in mind. Another recent episode that used character mirrors for the brothers was 13x12 Various and Sundry Villains.

In this episode, the brothers come up against a pair of villainous witch sisters. The sisters are determined to bring their mother back from the dead and will stop at nothing to succeed. The sisters are dark Winchester mirrors in that they symbolise the lengths the brothers will go to in order to save themselves and their family – putting their own goals above the safety of the world. This episode took place during a season 13 mytharc plot in which the Winchesters own mother Mary was trapped in an apocalyptic universe and the Winchesters were looking for a way to save her (and Jack) regardless of warnings from Death herself that no good would come from jumping universes.

It was also a wider commentary on the Winchesters own toxic co-dependency – a theme that has been running within the subtext of the show since Season 8 which portrays the brothers co-dependent relationship as a negative force in their universe and something that they need to break free of – a theme which has been building quite nicely in these later seasons.

The episode 13x12 ends with the witch sisters horrifically murdering each other whilst under a spell in a scene which symbolically shows just what could happen to the Winchester boys if they don’t free each other from their own toxic relationship.

This was a prime example of character mirrors have a deeper message in terms of their relation to the main characters and their overall character journeys on the show.

Sam and Dean have had mirror characters established in the show since the early seasons. One obvious example was in 1x18 Something Wicked This Way Comes which prominently features a young boy called Michael who feels responsible for his little brother Asher. Michael is an obvious Dean mirror used to emphasise Dean’s loss of innocence at a young age due to the boy’s early introduction to monsters by their father.

Many of the early season character mirrors were used to provide backstory for Sam and Dean such as this one, or to provide dark foreshadowing (like used with Frodo and Gollum) for Sam particularly with the “Special Children” throughout seasons 1 and 2.

In the later seasons, character mirrors are more likely to be used to either provide Sam and Dean with emotional lessons, or highlight their co-dependency as a negative force.

See, its quite simple so far right? Would you actually deny that these characters were Winchester mirrors? You can possibly argue with my interpretation, but you can’t really argue against the mirrors themselves, that much is obvious.

Now is where it gets interesting. Because whilst you may have no problem seeing mirror characters for Sam and Dean in the show, would you feel the same way if I was to present you with an EVEN LARGER mountain of evidence for mirror characters for Dean and Cas? 

Another frequent use of character mirrors within the show in the later seasons is to highlight a potential romantic partnership between Dean and Castiel. This is a controversial opinion and one many viewers of the show either ignore or adamantly deny. However, arguably you can’t pick and choose your meta in this show. If you agree with one set of thematic mirrors, you must surely admit to the same filming techniques being used elsewhere. If mirrors exist between Sam and Dean, they must also exist between Dean and Cas, and sometimes those mirrors are just as blatantly obvious, if not more so.

One prominent example (and probably the most obvious) comes from episode 9x20. Written by the current showrunner Andrew Dabb, this episode was an attempt at a spin off show with a completely new set of characters. One part of this episode included a love story between monster characters David and Violet.

Please refer to this post: http://bluestar86.tumblr.com/post/178577156431/i-cant-recall-where-but-i-read-somewhere-that-a for further detail about this character mirror. Because it’s so obvious its laughable.

The basic mirror is that David is Dean. He is the son of a powerful monster family in Chicago who is pulled back into the war when his brother Sal is murdered. “David” = Dean, “Sal” = Sam. Get it? That’s one clear mirror. The back story alone is obvious enough.

Violet is the daughter of another powerful monster family, one that is actively antagonising the others and supports the war. She spends most of the episode wearing this:

Violet is clearly our Castiel mirror. A daughter of a troublesome monster family that wants to start war, but who tries to prevent that because of her love for one of the other families sons? Its Romeo and Juliet but it is also very Dean and Cas.

The turbulent relationship between David and Violet is told using lines previously spoken between Dean and Cas word for word, but in an obviously romantic way (because heterosexual romance is irritatingly obvious even when using lines previously given to “just bros”). Seriously, go read the linked post and just TRY to deny this mirror.

One of the more recent obvious DeanCas mirrors in the show comes from season 14 between Mary Winchester and AU!Bobby. In the episode immediately following 14x04’s lesson in recognising mirror characters in Supernatural Mary and Bobby show up to put our mirror recognition to the test.

Mary has been used as a mirror character for Castiel and vice versa since she was reintroduced to the show in season 12. In terms of the key indicators, she has often been seen wearing a tan trenchcoat, or a general tan coat with white and blue clothing (her clothing is often coded for Castiel) as well as her emotional journey being tied to his in her struggle to find belonging among her family.

AU!Bobby is a Dean mirror. His story very closely compares to many of Dean’s storylines over the years, including Purgatory and being traumatised by the loss of his son (a canonical fact being that both Sam and Dean acknowledge that Dean raised Sam and was practically his only parental figure).

The romance between him and Mary is still pretty much completely subtextual, and yet people still acknowledge its existence. It has been shown through longing looks and conversations with the brothers where Mary voices her frustrations at her inability to break through the supposed communication barriers between her and Bobby (an interesting storyline which compares extremely closely with season 13’s long running miscommunication theme for Dean and Cas.)

Bobby and Mary’s current story reflects Dean and Cas’s especially in Mary’s frustrations to get Bobby to open up to her about his troubled past. There is an underlying message here which indicates Castiel’s own frustrations at Dean for not being more open and honest with him (again this was shown far more subtly as recently as 14x12 in how Dean keeps things from Cas because they are far too painful for him to address). This mirror is practically undeniable, just like David and Violet. Yet both are romantic. 

The other glaringly obvious het character mirror pairing for Dean and Cas was Cain and Colette in seasons 9 and 10. Just because the story didn’t resolve itself, doesn’t mean the mirror wasn’t intended and specifically catered for Dean and Cas from the start.

Cain and Colette is a HUGE example of a mirror that was practically textually confirmed (and was actually confirmed by Jared Padalecki at a convention).

(x)

In fact, arguably 10x14 called for the audience to notice character mirrors before 14x04 did! Cain constantly reiterated that he was a Dean mirror TEXTUALLY. He told Dean that Sam was his Abel. He very clearly stated how Dean would live his life in reverse - Cain killed Abel first, then he unwillingly killed his wife Colette, before finally giving in and killing his demonic kin - the knights of hell.

He told Dean he would first kill Crowley - his own demonic kin in a sense, then he would kill Castiel - Deans... partner? Before finally killing Sam. How can I make this any clearer? Oh yeah. This:

In fact just got take a look at the source post for those gifs to see all the other ways Cas is a mirror for Colette and watch me laugh at anyone still trying to deny this: http://casclaire.tumblr.com/post/119456988024/and-everyone-you-know-everyone-you-love-they

Those were the het pairings (among many others) but Dean and Cas have also been mirrored to practically every other queer pairing in the show save one (and that was played purely for jokes for W*ncest fans). 

Now the importance of queer representation is something we frequently discuss in fandom. So before some asshat decides to pipe up and accuse me I’ll just add a nice little disclaimer so said asshat can shut the hell up:

Theorising that queer pairings in Supernatural may also be mirror pairings for Destiel does not diminish the pairing or the representation in its own right. To claim it does so is utter bullshit. The pairing is still awesome and should be celebrated because hey! It’s on the show isn’t it? It’s out in the open as a canon queer pairing! YAY for US! Speculating that it could also be a Destiel mirror pairing only ADDS to the awesomeness. It does NOT diminish it in any way...

Unless you hate Destiel of course in which case... well:

So now we’ve got that out of the way:

Several of our best queer pairings in SPN over the years can also reflect Destiel and their relationship.

Charlie and Gilda is a prime example:

Gilda appears in episode 8x11 as a fairy from another realm who has been taken prisoner and forced via magic to do horrible things against her nature by a bad guy. Charlie is able to free her from her “masters” spell.

Sound familiar?

It should do, because this is basically Castiel’s story in season 8. He is brainwashed by Naomi to do bad things against his nature which culminates in Dean managing to break through to him by declaring how much he “needs” him. Isn’t it all so marvelously gay?

How about this awesome gay couple:

(x)

Honestly I could wax poetic about this episode for a thousand years, but I will just stress this: Anyone who tries to suggest that the mirror here is for Sam and Dean is clearly missing the fact that the entire point of this episode was about a BROTHER getting revenge for and mourning the loss of his BROTHER. So the Brother mirror is already well established at the start of the episode. 

But Cesar? Cesar is all Cas. He’s the “foreigner” supporting his partners revenge quest regardless of his own desires. Hell, even their names are similar. Besides, their entire relationship was a lesson for the audience in how to recognise body language. All those shoulder squeezes and longing stares? Destiel was all over Jesse and Cesar. I have no doubt in that.

But if that didn’t swing it for you how about this lovely canon pairing?

(x)

The fandom coined “DreamHunter” pairing between Claire Novak and Kaia Nieves was built completely on famous Destiel moments. Longing looks, pledges of protection, “I’ll go with you”, saving each other, trying to go back for each other, mourning the others death… Dreamhunter was also still completely subtextual until recently when Jody Mills stated “First love strikes quick” a simple sentence, and it was confirmed as canon in the show. 

Here’s a handy post of how dreamhunter was built on a Destiel framework:

http://bluestar86.tumblr.com/post/179549508598/tinkdw-first-love-strikes-quick-to-lose-it

Other than these obvious pairings above, there are literally hundreds of character mirrors used throughout the show’s 300 episode run so far which are put in place by the writers and the crew specifically to indicate some deeper meaning to the overall lead character emotional arcs. This has been common and frequent in the show throughout its long history. The above examples are just the most obvious ones related to either Sam and Dean or Dean and Cas.  Almost every episode of this show includes character mirrors in some way or another. Character mirrors specifically linking to Dean and Cas have been particularly frequent throughout Carver and Dabb era (practically every episode in season 8 had a tragic human x immortal creature love story for example).

So for ANYONE to argue that we are seeing mirrors where they don’t exist? Well, those people are straight up wrong. I don’t care who they are, or whether they have some status within fandom or if they are just some asshole on the internet, unless the denial of character mirrors is coming from the writers or the directors of the episodes, they are wrong.

Which leads me nicely to this:

My reason for writing this long meta post was because of this. Simple enough right? We got three kids in 14x13. One is a tall nerdy boy who just seems to radiate with the same aura as Colin Morgan’s young Sam Winchester. One is a fiery young lady called Max, who wears a plaid jacket and has a shy crush on her friend - she also gets behind the seat of the Impala at one point as if that wasn’t obvious enough. The other girl Stacy we don’t know much about, other than that she is quiet, pretty, with dark hair and clearly the object of Max’s affections.

When I first watched this episode with @tinkdw​ and this scene came up we both didn’t even have to think about it. It was so clear to us. Nice one SPN, we see what you did there. The framing, the characters personalities, the coded clothing... there wasn’t a doubt between us that this was framed intentionally, and in a scene literally moments before Cas comes home to his family.

It was supposed to be simple, no big deal. Yet another Destiel mirror among the mountain of Destiel mirrors the show has already given us. Its not even anywhere near as impactful as one of the character mirror pairings previously mentioned in this post. Yet it was enough to cause such a huge wank storm on Twitter and have BNF accounts start a parade of abuse and blame towards meta writers for even DARING to consider that Destiel mirrors may exist AT ALL in this show, let alone with author intent!

Colour me effing surprised.

If ANYONE tries to tell ANY Destiel shipper that they don’t have a right to see character mirrors in the show, to believe that there is author intent, to SHAME them for seeing those mirrors in queer pairings specifically. You go right ahead and block those people. Because their opinions are their own no matter how much they may scream like they have some kind of authority. They don’t. 

No one has any authority over the way you interpret the media you enjoy. Even me.

Don’t forget that. 

So my point on this post was basically to say this.

You go right ahead and keep looking for character mirrors in SPN, because they have been intentionally included in the show since its humble beginnings.  Destiel mirrors are a huge part of that. You are NOT wrong for seeing them. 

Max and Stacy in 14x13 were just the latest in a long line of Destiel specific character mirrors in a show renowned for using character mirrors to the point that it has textually given its audience A. Lesson. In. How. To. Spot. Character. Mirrors. 

I am not making this shit up.

At the end of the day, by believing the mirrors are intentional, and what makes this post controversial, is that it means I am telling you that TPTB are intentionally providing us with romantic Destiel subtext.

Well, that is exactly what I am saying. Because they are. There is no doubt about this. You don’t fill your show to the brim with romantic tropes, romantic character mirrors and an underlying romantic narrative C plot for at least 4 seasons without having some intentional desire to potentially make this thing an actual thing. 

You just DON’T. 

The writers know what the hell they are doing. They want to keep Destiel an option for endgame, so they keep it going throughout the show. Whether or not they eventually make it textual to a point that a general audience can’t deny its existence is another story, because that’s the kind of thing that need a green light from the CW suits. 

But the writers, the creators of the show, everyone involved to an extent, they all know what they are doing. Anyone who at this stage would deny author intent regarding Destiel loses all my respect because frankly its insulting to the creators themselves. No one is so idiotic that they would make something look unintentionally romantic for 10 years.

The mirrors are real. Destiel is real. The creators of SPN continue to include it so they can keep it an option for endgame because (and this is the part I don’t know for sure but can at least guess because I don’t consider the entire writing team to be asshole queerbaiters) they want to make it canon as much as we want it to be canon.

Whether they actually CAN or not is the issue at this point. The debate on whether or not we “are reading into things” has been null and void since season 12. It was practically null and void since season 8 TBH.

So keep looking out for the Destiel mirrors (and the Sam and Dean mirrors and any other character mirrors you may pick up on) and you go right ahead and post and speculate and tweet and blog and do whatever the hell you want to do to voice your opinion on the topic because NO ONE has the right to police what you see in the show - especially when it has already been proven to be clearly intentional on the part of the creative team.

Finally I will leave you with this humble message from our “overlord” in case my post hasn’t already swayed you away from negative thinking and believing the deniers:

Thanks for reading. :)

[thanksjro]

Eugenesis, Part Four Scene Four: Stay Dead, I’m Begging You

Ratchet and Death’s Head just missed the Quintesson, who got on the lift to the engine room. They pursue.

Death’s Head is a professional peacekeeper (bounty hunter, but don’t tell him I used that term.)

I would like to remind everyone that all it takes to be called a professional is to be paid for whatever it is you’re doing. You don’t actually have to be any good at it.

Since this Quintesson is actually plot-relevant now, I suppose I’ll start using his name. It’s Q-2709. Q-2709 runs off, and our two heroes decide to split up and look for clues.

Death’s Head breaks out all of his tricks- infrared, motion tracking, thermal- and finds the little creep in a matter on seconds. Q-2709’s hurt and afraid, so he didn’t get terribly far. Death’s Head shunts him out of the airlock.

R.I.P. Q-2709. We hardly knew ye.

Ratchet finds Death’s Head and gives him a chewing out for killing the only lead they had on what exactly the Quintessons are planning.

That won’t be an issue for long, though. Soon they’ll be able to ask them themselves. Or they’ll all be dead.

Because the boys on the bridge just woke up, and they were only primed to do that if there was an attack.

Meanwhile at Delphi, Siren and pals are watching the footage Raindance was so kind to bring them. It’s like watching a snuff film. Or the History channel when they aren’t blithering on about aliens building the pyramids.

It’s the Holocaust with robots, is what I’m saying. This entire book is the Holocaust with robots.

Dammit, Swearth’s going to go to complete shit now.

The footage ends, and Siren addresses the men. They know where all this bad stuff is going down, so they’re going to send a team for reconnaissance to the concentration camp- all Micromasters, so they’ll fit in the ducts.

Maybe this is why the ductwork in the Lost Light is so ridiculously large; so Roberts could write whoever the hell he wanted into it, and not be stuck with the smallest of the small. But what will they do with all the information they gather?

Siren doesn’t friggin’ know, don’t ask him.

Let’s check in on Wheeljack and friends.

Nightbeat’s having a fugue state in the corner, thanks to Wheeljack’s aggressive questioning on how the frigging frick Optimus Prime is alive. Wheeljack must be as sick of this plot device as I am.

So, problem: the Quintessons have abducted Optimus. In the future. When he came from a point in the past that if he’s killed, will cause a lot of bad shit to happen- i.e. Cyclonus-corpse-time-rift levels of shit.

But they’ve almost reached the Sonic Canyons, so that’s nice!

Yaaaay.

Yaaaay.

Wait, why the FUCK is Siren of all folks stationed here? How has nobody died? How has everyone not died? Someone’s getting a court-martial for this, I guarantee you.

While the others are trying to figure out how to get into Delphi, Nightbeat makes the declaration that the Prime can’t be dead, because that would mean they’d also all be dead. It makes sense if you don’t think about it, like all time-travel.

Ooh, embryonic- that’s an eighteen-point mechpreg themeing word.

Looks like the Micromasters just left. The Wheeljack crew’s still got to figure out how to get inside, though. I suppose trying to call Siren would be a bit too much trouble, wouldn’t it?

While this is going on, Prowl’s listening to a message Quantax left on repeat for all the Autobots to hear.

OH FUCK OFF. Rodimus is dead as shit. I saw his grayed-out corpse. That’s the rule, right? Aggressive depigmentization. This better be a ploy by Quantax, because if Rodimus is still alive after all this- after the sacrifices, the mourning, the extensive medical paperwork, the (grumble) return of Optimus Prime- bringing him back? Is the biggest cop-out this novel could possibly do.

Kup woke up, by the way.

Kup, clearly suffering from some sort of head trauma, wants to go get Rodimus. There’s best friends, and then there’s suicide pact buddies, and Kup is starting to edge into the latter territory at a rather alarming rate.

And the worst part is he’s starting to rally the troops.

THROWBACK SHUT UP. PERCY THIS IS A NIGHTMARE SCENARIO AND YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO IT.

Prowl orders everyone to stay put, and Kup does the unthinkable. Something that would have made sense two days ago, but no longer does, if he’s the only other option for leader.

He incites the Crisis Act.

Ho-lee fuck.

The rest of the Autobots- all, like, thirty of them- are rounded up to go vote on whether Prowl still has a job or not. Prowl leaves to go stress-clean something.

You remember when this novel had fun little character moments, like Rewind throwing wastebasket free throws? I miss that.

At least Rodern’s having fun. He’s busy blasting the Ark to death in hyperspace. He’s a little manic right now, so let’s just leave him be.

On the Ark proper, it seems that suicide missions are just the theme of the day, as Silverbolt rounds up some flyers to jump out the back of the ship and fight Rodern directly. I don’t know a whole lot about hyperspace travel, but I’m guessing that it’s not really something you want to be exposed to directly.

But, hey, it gets the job done. The Enslaver rolls a critical failure or something, because it winks out of existence, leaving the Ark alone in hyperspace.

Okay, sure.

Back at Delphi, Siren and Nightbeat hug it out. Guess he’s done having a crisis over losing his waifu.

You have no idea, Nightbeat.

After several introductions, it’s time to get to business. They compare notes, also known as The Story So Far. No, Swerve isn’t present for this.

They discuss the Rodimus issue, and they all agree that it’s the cheapest ploy they’ve seen in a good while. The Quintessons clearly just want to draw out the straggling remains of the Cybertronian population.

Then this happens.

He hasn’t even been gone ten pages. Yep, Optimus is back. Again.

[paperclipninja]

Younger post-ep ramble 6x05

If I wasn’t already excited about this episode, discovering that ‘Stiff Competition’ was written by Joe Murphy certainly would have got me there. Maybe it’s because he is a fellow Australian or maybe it’s because in every interview I’ve heard I find him utterly delightful and intelligent or maybe it’s because he is a damn great writer, but one thing is certain after this week’s episode of Younger: J. Murphy, I Stan (there was a time I might have been embarrassed about gushing so unabashedly but now I write weekly essays about fake people so I figure the shame level is zero at this point). This ep had the combination of playfulness, funny, flirty and drama that hooked me into this show in the first place and I feel like we got further insight into a number of characters, broadening our understanding of them and where they’re at. Plus kudos must be given for managing to use the title “Stiff Competition” and make the feature book “The Third Leg” in the same ep (one might even call it a riDICKulous feat…and no I’m not even a bit sorry).

A couple of weeks back I wrote about the Liza and Charles dynamic and how it really thrives on the build and resolution of tension. Up until last season it was the sexual tension and now that’s resolved there needed to be something to keep the fuel on the fire, so to speak. Cue the opening scene of this ep, with the competitive fuel well and truly lit and honestly, this whole scene just rocks my world.  We had the drama building the past few eps with Charles being secretive and while that would’ve resulted in the destruction of the relationship had it been left unresolved, it has been used to transition into this next type of competitive cat-and-mouse style tension that the characters are embracing (at the start anyway) and using to their benefit and, let’s be honest, we all benefit because it. is. HOT.

Walking into the National Arts Club party very quickly establishes Charles as well versed at such an event and I am so into the immediate retort from Liza that feisty isn’t the ‘f’ word she would choose to describe Charles setting up Mercury. That does of course come after Charles introduces her to Michael Cunningham as his girlfriend which is just so bizarre to hear but also YES. Their banter, the competiveness in the art of the schmooze, bringing her A game; the whole thing set them on such equal footing and seeing them as ass-slapping sparring partners was something I never knew I needed and could have watched an entire episode of with its feature film feel (Kickstarter for a spin-off series of nerdy espionage-style escapades but about books and authors and literary events…and maybe the odd murder to keep it interesting). 

While Liza was certainly showing that she can work a room, Charles’ reputation and professionalism was on fine display as authors greeted him warmly and Liza’s introduction of him to Meg Wolitzer as her boyfriend (seriously I’m living for these gf/bf drops) just got more and more awks as Meg and Charles clearly knew each other, Liza snatched his business card from his hand and then asked the photographer to identify him as her ‘guest’ in the pic (loved Sutton’s delivery of this and extra loved Meg’s ‘just pretend you’re talking to me’ to the rando so she could get away from the slightly unhinged antics of the editor she just met). Yet Charles is loving every minute of it and I so appreciate that now the whole Mercury situation is no longer a secret Charles is talking openly about it with Liza, evidenced by his telling her he received a message from Zane (about Mercury being highbrow/brilliant nonetheless).

Where there is highbrow there must be lowbrow (old tv proverb) and unfortunately for Kelsey, the head without a neck aka ‘a floating tragedy’, she has taken prime position in that quadrant of New York Mag’s approval matrix (can we take a moment to appreciate Liza’s ‘well it is a good picture of him’ remark re: Charles? Way to make your friend feel better but also lol and accurate). While I sympathise with how stressful it must be to lose authors, this ep once again highlights that our pal Kels is in quite the spiral. Luckily Liza has managed to pull in Chip and Joanna Gaines, I mean Hayley and Cameron Butler, who are promoting their cringe-worthy new book, ‘The Third Leg’, off the back of their New York Flip success. I heart the way this show parodies real people so hard.

I have said it week after week, but Diana has been such a scene stealer this season (Diana Trout proudly pointing out Shiplap, I don’t know why but this just made me grin). The writers keep bringing it with the lines and Miriam Shor’s delivery somehow magically seems to get funnier and funnier and her heart eyed gaze as she recounts her and Enzo’s third leg(s) (like a centipede…but also nothing like a centipede, speaking of A+ lines and delivery) was no exception. The whole pitch meeting was a bit of a train wreck, with Kelsey’s bitterness about the hot or not list spilling in, Liza’s attempt at diverting resulting in Diana railroading the entire thing and Liza wondering if she and Charles are in fact lacking the third leg (Empiriconda notwithstanding) that two home reno celebs have deemed a necessary factor in a successful r/ship (though theirs hardly seems the picture of happiness unless #relationshipgoals is taking jabs at each other through strained grins).

One relationship I am digging on every level is Josh and Lauren’s and this week’s ep gave us a mighty fine dose. Of course Lauren set up a GemmaLoves Insta and I’m 100% willing to overlook the slight ickiness of her pushing a SM account for the baby without asking Josh because it’s Lauren and she is sublime and also without it we would not have had THE film-worthy (minus the butt plugs) montage. I freaking adore that Lauren is so unapologetic about promoting stuff and getting freebies and Josh’s stance on not letting his daughter be a pusher for consumerism lasts approx. 25 seconds as Lauren points out all of Gemma’s favourite things that she will happily take back (Josh’s ‘but she loves it’ was just too good). Lauren’s declaration that both Josh and Gemma are gonna get free swag ‘and ya both gonna love it’ (the Eleanor Shellstrop vibe is strong and I approve) leads us into the shopping montage that made me want to dance around my lounge room and could sit comfortably in any rom-com from the late 90’s/early 2000’s. From ‘Baby Love’ to Josh and Lauren feeding each other cupcakes to that glorious moment of Josh parading back and forth on the pavement like a chorus boy, I bow down to Younger pulling rabbits like this out of the creative hat six seasons in, it was just such damn fun.

You know what else I adore? That throughout the series we have seen so many different aspects of Diana’s character and we just keep seeing more and more layers peeled back through her relationship with Enzo. I am so enjoying the side of her we see being open about her feelings for him when she’s around others, then the way she is with him; proud of their relationship then honest about her disappointment that they have to cancel dinner, rather than shutting down and pretending she doesn’t care. Enzo offering to buy Diana any necklace she chooses made my cold dead heart swell with the sincerity and sweetness of it all, but Diana revealing that she does not choose her necklaces, they choose her = the revelation I didn’t know I’ve been waiting six seasons to hear. Not to be dramatic but it felt like coming home.

 Side note: I’m finding the parallels between the Diana/Enzo and Liza/Charles relationships really interesting. I don’t know whether it’s deliberate or not but these two couples navigating relationships in their 40’s, trying to strike a balance between career ambition and their personal relationships, I am beyond desperate for Diana to know about Liza’s age and for these two to talk about it all tbh.

Speaking of balancing career and relationship, can we please talk about the dinner date because sweet lawd, my heart was already full from the Diana/Enzo goodness, but then along came Liza and Charles with this whole out together with the authors situation and quite frankly, I’m surprised I survived.  Bringing together the book and the earlier meeting was just so well done and the moment Hayley dropped the ‘and you’ and we discover that Charles had indeed gushed about Liza and their shared love of books as their third leg (still sounds weird and gross but totally worth it for the sentiment and post-dinner tie in), I too was staring at my screen the way Liza looked at Charles, but I was also a little bit deceased because I am romantic trash and him casually rubbing her back almost did me in.

I feel like each ep is adding another dimension to Charles this season and seeing him relaxed and candid outside the restaurant was certainly another insight into this character. The entire interaction between him and Liza was effortless and I love that it went from Liza ribbing him about using their relationship to secure the book to Charles being so frank about where it’s all at and how he’s feeling (and does anyone else hope a little bit that Charles does end up needing that room in Liza’s bed coz I am very on board with the idea of C. Brooks living in that loft for a while for many reasons). Bring on lusty Charles and I kid you not I let out a little scream of delight at Liza noting his excitement and then heading straight for the cab (yes Charles, she is just going to leave you like this). Thank you Joe Murphy for the ep and the book title combo so Liza could remind Charles competition is stiff out there while glancing at his crotch and telling him to take care of the third leg himself, you truly are doing God’s work. And I’m just all ‘round loving seeing these two adults in a relationship being flirty and lustful and open with one another.

I have to put it out there that Liza’s hustle game is so damn strong this whole ep and as she is questioned by Kelsey and Diana about how Charles is getting all these authors, I a) am very glad she does not blab, b) find it interesting that Kelsey assumes that Liza mustn’t know if she hasn’t told her and c) wonder why Liza is the only one who seems to understand that other publishing houses will be vying for books and that Millennial will lose some fair and square. But Liza once again has another potential author lined up in the musical prodigy turned conductor Gloria Rivera, but this is Younger, we’ve had lots of fun, flirty and funny, so it must be time for the drah-mah.

The moment Liza ran into Charles at the concert I think we all knew the competition might have just about run its course, and I had legit second-hand embarrassment as Liza so confidently gloated she had been in touch with Gloria ‘for months’ in response to Charles’ knowing her ‘quite well’, though Charles clearly wanted to explain further as he said he wanted to talk after the show before the lights go down and Liza needs to get to her seat. Insert appropriate amount of unimpressed for both Kelsey and Diana and it all goes south pretty quickly once Diana discovers that Gloria was the recipient of the Brooks family Arts Scholarship so knowing Charles ‘pretty well’ is a bit of an understatement.

Now I get that it must feel like a series of blows and I also get that we need a way for Kelsey and Diana to be at the axe throwing bar so that whole scene can play out, but for them to both bail on Liza and not even try to convince Gloria to sign with Millennial, I mean, you’re not going to get any authors with that attitude ladies. At this point Liza should just bail and start her own damn company, give it a great name starting with ‘M’, maybe Majesty? Mendacity? Or Mitosis and she can just expand quickly and open identical offices all over the place? Either way, Liza had no time for Charles’ girlfriend game post-show (and it is clear here that to Charles it is still just a game and he hasn’t quite clocked that to Liza this is her career being compromised).

While I think Diana and Kelsey leaving Liza to make a last ditch pitch to Gloria solo was a low blow, seeing them together, rage throwing axes while drunk (I both love and am terrified of the idea of people drinking and axe throwing in one place FYI) was pretty damn great. These two are always so messy together and Diana taking off her earrings and prepping only to have such a terrible axe throw was only surpassed by her saying that she tells people Enzo is a surgeon which is why he’s on call and Kelsey offering up that they both wear gloves. LOL. And Diana Trout peeing beside a dumpster is one thing I never thought I’d see on this show, yet here we are and her ‘I don’t know her’ and running away from the cop when Kelsey produces the axe was ridiculous and excellent and a great excuse for some chin-skin holding mugshots.

My one gripe at the mo is the ongoing distrust Kelsey has of Liza, first at the axe bar asking Diana if she thinks Liza is helping Charles land these authors and then when Liza turns up after Enzo has bailed them (can we just pause a moment to appreciate the ongoing mafia jokes since their first date and also Enzo calling Diana a jailbird and her smitten reaction. I heart it all). Seriously, this is just yawn at this point and while I get that Kelsey is scared (and thank you Liza for pointing out that she’s not the only one) surely Liza is over having to prove time and time again how loyal she is only to have Kelsey continue to question it? I know I am. Again, Liza – ‘Mitosis’. Think about it.

Our Maggie moment this ep is of course just prior to the déjà vu of Liza and Josh chilling on the couch with Gemma, a little throw-back to the cacao-induced dream from last season’s finale. But I gotta say, my heart hurt for Charles when he walked into that awkward af loft situation, because while I have no doubt that Liza is solid in her feelings for Charles, seeing your girlfriend in a super domestic looking moment with her ex has to feel like a kick in the guts. I want to bottle the look Liza gave Josh when he said ‘you two seem good’ because if I could whip that out on demand, it would be mighty useful.

The final moments of this week’s ep certainly heightened the drama all round. I feel like this episode really highlighted the insecurity of both Kelsey and Charles, which puts Liza in the interesting position of having to navigate this with two people she loves but also put her foot down for her own sake at some stage. Liza immediately quashes any concerns Charles may have about being in competition with Josh and uses the baby’s inability to talk ergo. steal authors as a way to broach the ongoing company rivalry. As Charles reveals that Gloria will be signing with Millennial, it is evident it is all still a bit of a game to him (though him saying that all he cares about is that he doesn’t lose her, ugh *heart emoji*) until his true take on it all is revealed, that he sees it all as shared victories rather than rivalry. Eeek, I tell you, I get and appreciate the dick theme of this episode but I struggle with the dick line ‘when you get to the bottom line, it’s still all me’ so much. I had an actual physical reaction to how awful this was and it certainly was not something I imagined this character saying. Yet I do think it also gives credence to the type of man Pauline said she was married to.

It felt insecure, like he was trying to talk himself up in some kind of misguided attempt to sound impressive, but it also was a glimpse of the man whose ambition contributed to the demise of his marriage. Pauline herself said that when they got married she thought they would be a team but right away it was all about Charles and she was there just to be his rock (S5E3). The difference now of course is that unlike Pauline, Liza has called him out on it and in the final second, the expression on Charles’ face (it’s gutted for those playing at home) is hopefully one of realisation that he is repeating behaviours of the past and that moving forward, we see that realisation play out and this character develop.

I have no idea how the rest of this season is going to play out but you know what all this drama and intrigue pave the way for? Growth. Liza’s growth as she becomes more sure of herself and her right to decide and demand what she wants and deserves, who she wants, what she will and won’t stand for, Charles to learn from past mistakes and work to redeem those and think about the kind of man and partner he wants to be, no character’s growth has been as glorious to see unfold up until now as Diana’s and I’m sure this will continue and Kelsey...well I’m sure hers will come. We’re almost halfway people and season six is proving to be quite the ride.

[lgcsoho-blog]

맞혀봐

solo performance video solo. future dreams project.  song choice: 23 by IU (concert mix w/ dance additions but minus the lyric change)

she spends hours, days, pouring over songs trying to find the perfect expression of self. the best track to show who she is in all her variability, to capitalize on a vacillating and cheeky personality, to showcase competent vocals and dance alike but to really allow personality and performance to shine through. 

and in the end, what better than a song about a girl, aged twenty three (kr) like she is, straddling the line between maturity and uncertainty, between fox and bear, between child and woman, anxiety and confidence. armed with the perfect song, she sets out to make the video for submission.  there’s nothing she can do, in the end, but show her best self. if they want an incredible singer to hit soaring notes, it won’t be her, no matter what song she chooses. she can only hope her strengths- her performance, passion, personality - align with what they’re looking for. 

PREPARATION // 

getting into the song is the first step.  her youtube is littered with fancams, red lines tracing the bottom of near any rendition of the song she can get her hands on, by the famed singer herself or not. she scours the video late into the night to internalize the mood of the piece, reads interviews where the vocalist discusses the performance aspects, the purpose of the album, her thoughts when writing. she traces the lyrics absently in the margins of her notebook. she lives it and breathes it, thinks it through. she doesn’t want to do the same performance, but she wants it to be organic, as if it were a song tailor made for her. it feels a lot like she does, 

ambiguous, tenuous, balancing on the edges of possibility. between what she is and what she could be, between child and woman, between flighty and versatile, between moody and mercurial. half a fox, half a bear, half a romantic, half practical. 

practice intertwines. she’s plenty of songs to learn right now, from the ones for her training group, to the full group, to those for the other training groups (they’d said to be prepared for group switches, and thus, she was going to be, by god, come hell or high water, come exhaustion or fatigue, ends up in the rooms before the cameras most days, greeting them with soft smiles as she sips her water or stretches out willowy limbs). 

the choreography is largely simple. there’s a breakdown towards the middle added in for the concerts and she takes that into the cut she’s chosen, because it adds an element of versatility to the performance she hopes will pay off. she likes the song for how easy it is to add in little touches here and there, a playful expression, the pout of her lips to illustrate the plaintive confusion of the narrator. she borrows a trick from the singers book and tosses in a more conversational spoken word lilt to the “try to guess?” that follows the dance component towards the end. she experiments with the choreography, where she can add a little more, what she can take away. how she can make it hers. with a relatively simple canvas to work with, it’s easy to kick up the impact just a little bit, while still maintaining the strength of her voice. the last thing she wants is a breathless warble to escape - imagine the humiliation of that? 

the benefit of working alone is that there’s no one to slow her down. while she hardly minds working with a group (enjoys it, thrives on the energy of it) there’s something comforting about the zen of zoning out into the performance, throwing herself into it and only needing to focus on herself alone,  completely in her own control. being in a group, working in a group, requires a level of trust in other people for joint success that makes her just a little bit nervous. maybe she’s a control freak.  

when time comes to film the video, she feels as ready as she’ll ever be. mroe than anything else, she feels ready to show this to someone. this ultimate expression of self, this little thing she’s put together. if any type of music spoke to her the most intensely it was this, if any lyrics breathed from her heart it was these. 

PERFORMANCE // 

as the red light flicks on, a smile draws naturally, instinctively across her lips. preposterously, there is a sense of comfort when she stares down the camera, like a familiar eye into which she has looked many times. she begins with a familiar introduction, equal parts playful and earnest, reintroducing herself, as she has so many times. she never assumes the luxury of being recognized, no matter how many years she’s wandered these halls. 

after finishing her work through the first two songs, she prepares for the solo segment, with a pause. 

“truthfully, this is a song i feel very connected too,” she admits, “in korean age of course i’m twenty three as well. and i feel very much like i can understand these lyrics. i think the playful but also serious tone suits me well, and i think the mischievous and plaintive notes suit my personality as well, too. i hope that it can show you my personality and performance style a little better. please view it nicely!”

without further ado. 

I’m twenty three 난 수수께끼 (Question) 뭐게요 맞혀봐요 I’m twenty three 틀리지 말기 Because 난 몹시 예민해요 맞혀봐 

she begins the song playfully, lilting over the playful question~ with a sweet grin, half mischief and half sweetness. there’s a push and pull with the viewer in the words, claiming to be sensitive, so while they ought to guess they’d better not be wrong. there’s something flirtatious in the performance, but an earnestness - a need to be understood that lingers in the background, as if she’s afraid to say it too sincerely for fear of being let down.  the movements come naturally to her (as they better, given how long she’s been at work on this) and the register of the song is comfortably within her range, doesn’t strain too high or dip too low. 

한 떨기 스물셋 좀 아가씨 태가 나네 다 큰 척해도 적당히 믿어줘요

as she slides towards the building point of the song she tries to let that energy, that wistful uncertainty of youth breathe into her movements. she builds the tension of the dance, the push and pull of a girl trying to be more than a girl, a girl trying to grow into a woman, but still fearing leaving the comfort of youth behind. her voice lilts over the words, dipping and ebbing in reflection of the opposing currents of the song. 

난, 그래 확실히 지금이 좋아요 아냐, 아냐 사실은 때려 치고 싶어요 아 알겠어요 나는 사랑이 하고 싶어 아니 돈이나 많이 벌래 맞혀봐

as the chorus begins to approach, she focuses on expression in her movements, in her voice. there’s a more clear back adn forth here - i like it right now, no, i frankly speaking i want to give up - and for all the levity of the melody and the electrosweetness of the song, there’s something so real there, for her. some terrible fear that lingers in her. aren’t you too old for this stupid dream? isn’t it too late for you? at this age, you ought to be the best at something - so why are you plugging along like your personality will mean anything? the high she’d received from the family concert had renewed hope in her, but at some point, wasn’t her relentless hope that hard work would pay off liable to ground her? wouldn’t she run out of time, lag far behind her peers? it’s too easy to express the push and pull of this, something buried so deep in her own heart, conflicting desires and nagging fears. 

  어느 쪽이게? 얼굴만 보면 몰라 속마음과 다른 표정을 짓는 일 아주 간단하거든 어느 쪽이게? 사실은 나도 몰라 애초에 나는 단 한 줄의 거짓말도 쓴 적이 없거든

  she moves through the first chorus with little difficulty, the second verse to follow. is she a fox or a bear? it’s hard to tell, and she knows it. shows it. the purple crop top and black shorts, the vans on her feet and the choker around her neck, with her hair spilling in long black waves around her shoulders, they speak to a girl that could be many things. when she flashes a well placed smile her features are all innocence, but a change in expression can bring out that mischievous and sultry appeal the song demands, as she continues further on into the lines, 

난 당신 맘에 들고 싶어요 아주 살짝만 얄밉게 해도 돼요? 난 당신 맘에 들고 싶어요 자기 머리 꼭대기 위에서 놀아도 돼요? 맞혀봐

as if to suggest this, the dance break takes on a more sultry tone, still playing with the song in a way that suggests the back and forth of innocence and sexuality, a girl coming to terms with herself, growing into her power. there’s a confidence that spills from her that she barely recognizes. this is where she feels at home, in the performance, when she can express a story with body and words alike. as she returns to the final choruses, her voice lingers over the lines, 

사실은 나도 몰라 애초에 나는 단 한 줄의 거짓말도 쓴 적이 없거든  

Actually I don’t know either At first, I never wrote even a single line of lies

it’s the vocal highlight of the segment, for one thing, though there isn’t anything quite so serious as belting or a soaring three octave masterpiece note. it’s not even that high nor sustained. it’s the words that need to shine. the admission of it. actually, i don’t know either. actually, all this back and forth, this impossible dichotomy, it’s all the truth, and the truth is never simple. and i’m not simple. she breathes this,  feels this, thinks this as she moves to a halt, finishing off the song and holding her position for a moment, before a smile blooms wide and brilliant over her features, bunny shaped teeth on full display and a hand over her chest as she bows to the camera. 

“i hope you enjoyed it!” she laughs out, adrenaline still coursing through her veins. 

INTERVIEW // 

why did you choose this song? 

she pauses in thought, pinching the bridge of her nose. “honestly, it’s so much easier for me to communicate with my performances.” she admits, “so thinking of how to phrase my answers for these interviews is kind of tricky.” she purses her lips in thought momentarily, her head tilting to the side as she considers it, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “i think firstly, i relate very much to sunbaenim’s lyrics. i’m the same age she was when she performed this and i feel very similarly. the push and pull of growing up but wanting to be young, the need to chase your dreams and follow your passion but the fear that it isn’t meant for you. i think that’s a big part of it. trying to understand your place in the world. i enjoy how light and breezy the song is, even as it tackles such an anxious and uncertain message. there’s this feeling of downplaying the seriousness of it, or at least pretending not to be that bothered. i think i feel like that a lot, you know? worried about the future, about if...if maybe following this dream is silly, if it isn’t meant for me. it’s a hard truth, that not everyone can do everything, you know? that it might not matter how desperately i want this,” she blinks a little, a brief exhalation of a laugh at the tears that threaten to spill, “you know? anyway, yeah, i guess i relate to that. to the in between feeling, that sense of being uncertain but still trying to be cheerful about it, a little bit mischievous. i think it captures my personality well. and i think...” she pauses, a little more thoughtful now, biting at her lip. “i think i’d like to create music that helps tell a story like that. one that is relatable, that helps people feel less alone with their worries.” she nods a little bit, before her smile returns quickly. “i think i talked too much just then, right?”

[toonspooks]

Sleepover

A Darkwing Duck one shot, because I love the kiddos

@pharaoh-ink here she is

“Gosalyn, my parents say I can’t spend the night.” Honker said sitting on the edge of his friend’s bed. His stomach felt tight and he had a lump in his throat. He had been dreading this. Gosalyn was gathering up her pillows and covers for the fort they were building in front of the TV downstairs.

“What?! Why?! We have been planing this movie marathon since last week! Why not? Some dumb, impromptu family-bonding-game night?!” She demanded.

Honker stood up and turned his back to her looking down at his feet.

“They say we are getting too old for sleepovers.” He answered.

“What?! That doesn’t make any sense! Tank gets to spend the night over at his friends’ house whenever he wants!” She pressed, throwing down the armful of pillows.

“All of Tank’s friends are other boys.” Honker said, still looking down. His face had begun turning pink.

“Oh,” Gosalyn considered this for a moment. “It’s still not fair!”

“I know.” Honker Pouted.

“This sucks! This sucks out loud!” She was fuming now.

“I have to be home at nine.”

“Nine?! Its six-thirty already! We won’t even get to ‘Terror of the Tera-Firmians III’!”

“I’m sorry.”

Gosalyn was now angrily pacing the floor. She was furious. She had been so excited about this. She had already given a list of the films she intended to watch to her father, as he needed to pre-approve the movies and their ratings beforehand as Gosalyn had rather “mature” taste in cinema. She was elated to see that, for the first time, none of the candidates were disqualified. She liked to imagine that her father was finally beginning to see her less as a baby and trust her judgement for once.

But now this! You think you have one adult under control and two more start acting out!

“Those stinking Mudflefoots! Ah.. no offense Honk-man.”

“None taken.”

“Its just so…so…stupid!” She stamped her foot, “What do they think…? I mean what could they possibly imagine? I mean it’s us! Ya know? Us!”

Honker face was even more flushed than before. He was just about as uncomfortable as he thought he would be. Not that Gosalyn noticed. When she got worked up like this all her attention was devoted to the subject of her wrath.

After a moment of silence, Gosalyn made a decision.

“I’m going to tell my dad!” She started furiously towards the door.

“No! Gosalyn!” He grabbed at her wrist.

“Come on Honker!” She continued on. “He might be able to talk some sense into your birdbrain parents!”

“Oh geez,” he sighed. This is exactly what he didn’t want to happen, but he knew it was no use fighting her and allowed himself to be pulled downstairs.

Drake and Launchpad were busy in the kitchen working on fulfilling all of Gosalyn’s movie night snack requests. Drake furiously pulling items from the pantry while Launching scrambled to catch them.

“….Popcorn, kettle corn, gummy bears, gummy worms, cola, diet cola, and baby carrots!” Drake listed off.

“Baby carrots?” Launchpad asked peering over the stack of snacks in his arms.

“A father can only try to get his girl to eat her veggies Launchpad.” Drake sighed. “A father can only try.”

“Yep, I hear you D.W. Its almost dang near impossible to get Gos to do anything she doesn’t want to do.” Launchpad chuckled. “Almost as difficult to keep her from doing some thing she wants to.”

Just then the two kids burst through the kitchen door. Gosalyn still dragging Honker.

“Dad! You will never believe what th-” Gosalyn started before colliding with Launchpad and sending all the snacks crashing to the floor.

“Gosalyn! How many times do I have to tell you-” Drake started.

“Yeah yeah yeah I’m sorry Dad, but listen,” she interrupted, “ Honkers parents said he can’t spend the night tonight! It a crime!!”

“Ha! I would hardly call that a crime,” Her father chuckled. “Megavolt shorting out the entire cities’ power just as I was about to beat my personal record on Whiffle Boy, now that was a crime.”

“But Dad they have the stupidest reason in the whole world!!”

“The Muddlefoots? Have stupid reasoning? I can’t say I’m shocked. Oh…Uhh.. No offense Honker.” Drake apologized.

“None taken, sir.”

“So no movie marathon?” Launchpad asked disappointedly.

“If your upset about that just wait until you hear why not!!” Gosalyn started.

“Gosalyn, p-p-please-” Honker tried to interject. This was so embarrassing. Exactly what he was dreading.

“They say we are too old for sleepovers now! Just because Honker is a boy and I’m not!” She explained angrily.

The room went silent for a moment. Drake seemed taken a back. Gosalyn was surprised when he didn’t react the way she imagined. Honker and Launchpad exchanged uncomfortable glances. The room was tense for a few seconds while Drake processed this.

“Well, Gos, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think the Muddlefoots might be right.”

“What?!?”

Launchpad quickly decided that this was strictly a daddy-daughter affair and began to gather up the snacks on the floor and putting them in the kitchen counter.

“Hey, Honk-man, why don’t you and me go work on that fort, huh?” He nudged Honker towards the living room.

“Uh…s-sure.” Honker agreed. He was slightly confused, but still incredibly thankful to get out of there.

Once the two cleared the kitchen doorway, Gosalyn turned to her father, intensely staring him down.

“What do you mean?! What is wrong with you? Since when have you ever agreed with anything the Mudddlefoots have to say?!” She grilled him.

“Gosalyn…sit down.I…I just think maybe it’s true. Maybe you are a little to old to have sleepovers with a boy now.” He offered.

“I’m not having a sleepover with a boy!! I’m having a sleepover with Honker!” She argued leaning over at him from the other side of the kitchen table.

“I know he is your best friend, and he is a great kid, but, things change as you get older.”

“But nothing has changed!! What’s the difference between having him spend the night tonight than it was last month?”

“Last month?”

“Last month I spent the night at the Muddlefoots’ for Honkers birthday.”

“Honker’s Birthday? Well, Gos, that’s just the thing. The two of you are growing up. As much as I hate to think about it, especially since it means I’m getting older, which you never really expect, then suddenly you’ve got a kid and a mortgage and it sounds like your walking on bubble wrap when you get out of bed -”

“Dad.”

“Right. Right.” He straightened up. “Anyway, Gos. You know that you and Honker are growing up and a lot of things change.”

“I just don’t understand!” She pressed her hands to the side of her head.

“I mean we could get out the book again..” he offered nervously.

The book he was referring to was “A Bright Bird’s Guide to Her Body and Boys”. A book recommended to Drake by one of Gosalyn’s teachers. Naturally, it was a bit outdated and the illustrations weren’t the most accurate, but he didn’t exactly know where else to look for help. Being a single father of a had its challenges. They had attempted to flip through the book together and it was as horrendously uncomfortable as one could imagine. They got about a third of the way through before it became almost unbearable for the both of the them and Gosalyn assured him that she could finish the book on her own. Drake agreed, relived to be temporarily free from the oppressive awkwardness, but promised her that he would always be there to answer any questions she had (secretly praying she never had any).

“No!!!” She exclaimed fearfully. “Uh… I mean, no, Dad, that’s not necessary.”

“Then what is it you don’t understand?” He asked.

“Why things like this have to change at all. He’s still Honker and I’m still Gosalyn and we are still best friends. That hasn’t changed and….I don’t think it will…or I hope it doesn’t.” She said, her eyes down cast.

“Oh Honey, that’s not what’s changing here! You and Honker can still be best friends, but the rules have to change now that your older.” He reached over the table to try to touch her shoulder, but she shrugged him off.

“What rules?” She grumbled.

“Well…social rules.” He answered.

“Social rules?! Since when have you, the man who dresses up on a mask and cap, flys around in a plane shaped like his own head, and frequently gives himself dramatic introductions to people who obviously know who he is, care about social rules?!” She demanded.

“When you have a crime fighting alter ego, you can get away with pushing what is socially acceptable.”

“But… but…. I mean….” she stammered. “What do you think could happen? Do you really not trust me and Honker? That’s so sick, Dad! Gross times a thousand!!!” She yelled.

“It’s not that Gos-” he tried to interject.

“And he lives right next door! And Launchpad would be with us, and that is almost like real adult supervision!”

“Gos, honey, I know all that. And it’s not that I don’t I don’t trust you or Honker. He is a great kid and I’m glad you have such a good friend in him. Honestly, I don’t really have a problem with him staying the night-”

“So you’ll go over to the Muddlefoots’ and set them straight?” She pleaded.

“No, Gos. Just because we don’t agree with certain social expectations doesn’t mean we don’t respect when others follow them.”

“Even when it’s the Muddlefoots?”

“Yes,” Drake sighed. “Even when it’s the Muddlefoots.”

“Come on then.” He said getting up from the table. “Let’s not waste anymore of the time you too do have for your movie night.”

The father and daughter walked to the living room only to find it empty. Even the fort was gone.

“Where did they-” Drake began to ask, but just then Launchpad stuck his head through the front door.

“Heya Gos! Come check this out me and Honker might have just found ourselves a loophole!” He chimed.

“Launchpad what’s going on?” Drake asked spuriously, with a raised brow.

“Just come on out and see!”

Gosalyn sprinted out the door as fast as she could and raced to Honker who was standing at the edge on the lawn.

“What is it, Honker?! Figure out how to change your parents’ minds?!” She asked, hands tight on his shoulders.

“No, but I did figure out a compromise.” He answered grinning.

“What?”

He turned her around. In her excitement she had not even notice it as she ran past. There was a big white screen set up right down the middle of the two neighboring lawns. Set on top of a stack of old phone books was a projector and beside that Honker’s computer, extension cords ran from the devices to the Mallards’ garage. Pillows and blankets from the previous living room fort were spread out over a tarp with a distinct red line marked down the middle.

Gosalyn stood shocked for a moment. She need a minute to process what she was seeing.

“Is that…”

“The projector and screen from my dads viewing party for the premiere of the Pelican’s Island reboot.” He beamed.

“But..”

Launchpad stepped over to them and patted Honker on the back. “Well we figured you two aren’t breaking any rules if you are camping out in your own yards!”

“Not technically spending the night at each other’s houses.” Honker added. “She that red line down the middle of the tarp? That is the exact property line between the two lawns. I found the neighborhood’s codes online. Also, by the way, your grass in an inch above regulation Mr. Mallard.”

“Keen gear!! You guys this is so awesome!!! But is this okay? Dad?” She turned to her father for permission.

“Well I don’t see anything wrong with two young people who happen to be camping out on the same night and just happen to live next door to each other and just happen to want to watch the same movies.” He smiled.

“What about your parents Honker? Have you run it by them? Are they okay with this?” Gosalyn asked her friend.

“Well it took some bargaining, I have to weed mom’s garden tomorrow and prune the roses, and clean the grill.” He answered.

“And we promised some adult supervision!” Launchpad chuckled pointing his tumb to himself.

“Wow!! This is so great!! This is better than we saw the Powerline laser show at the planetarium!!” She hugged the two of them as tight as she could. “Come on Honker, let’s get this movie night rolling!”

While the two friends selected a film and got comfortable, Drake and Launchpad went back in to the kitchen to retrieve the kids’ snacks. Once they got into the house, Drake turned to his friend.

“Hey L.P, that was a real nice thing you did for Gos.”

“Aw, it was nothing! Besides, it was Honkers idea. He is such a smart kid, smarter than I ever was, or am probably.”

“Yeah,” Drake sighed. “I guess genius skips a generation.”

“I guess so!” Launchpad chuckled.

“So, you are sure you are fine with staying outside with them all night?”

“You kidding!? It’s gonna be great! I haven’t seen hardly any of these old monster movies since I was in middle school!” He assured Drake. “I just hope I don’t get any nightmares like I did back then!”

Outside Gosalyn and Honker were settling in as the beginning credits of their movie started. The sky was that perfect purple of dusk and the crickets were chirping. The two sat close, but far enough apart to were the red line in the tarp could be seen clearly. Gosalyn hugged a pillow and Honker had a blanket on his shoulders. Fireflies soon began blinking, and moths fluttered around the light of the projector, but they didn’t mind. They were getting older, and that was scary. Change always hurts even when it helps us, but tonight they weren’t worried. Tonight they were both confidante that they could handle any kind of change life threw at them. Even if they had to grow up it didn’t mean they had to grow apart.

[thekumama]

"Please, Belle," Belle could not help but stop though Gaston had no firm hold on her, his calloused hands were hardly touching her at all. No, it was his voice and his eyes, both of them were quiet and soft and there was a silent pleading. "Some of us have changed." His voice was low as if he dare not raise his voice in the quiet corner of the village for fear she would pull away comepletely. Belle did not know what to say, words dying on her lips as she stared up at Gaston's worried expression. Was it possible for someone to change so much? Something I probably won't finish. I used another photo (not of Emma or Luke, though there were lots of references used) as a base to start this, judge me all you will. Oh GEEZE. Disney! C'mon. Don't do this to me, UGH! 2017 Beauty and the Beast: I didn't have high hopes for this film, and while I don't hate it or love it, I am just SADDENED by it for 2 reasons. 1. The costumes for Belle. 2. The script/director. The movie itself had so much potential, oh my word, this could have been REALLY good. Like, good, ya know? But this movie suffers from one big flaw- they sat in the middle. They could have done the movie as a complete frame by frame recreation of the 1991 movie and okay, that would have been alright. Or they could have made their own story, added new elements and turns, and that would have been memorable. The biggest problem? They took both ideas and mushed it together and it tears this movie to pieces. I look at this and I just feel SAD for all that could have been! There was a lot of effort put into this and it's always sad to see that someones vision was hindered. The main cast (I feel) was casted correctly, the reason some of their performances seem awkward of bland seems to be due to the checklist of things that this movie was trying to check off. Belle needs to stand out- make her look like a cosplay character. Which, okay, fine! Do that, BUT DO THAT WITH ALL THE CHARACTERS- Emma would have seemed even more spunky and brave if they had MADE HER LOOK like she actually BELONGED in the world, not the VILLAGE, THE WORLD, I get that she is an outcast but not even giving her some sort of head covering when EVERY OTHER WOMAN/CHILD has something is just...dumb! Like, if you hate it so much she could have lost it halfway through with that wolf scuffle or something, which by losing that it would have also removed another barrier between her and Beast like he can finally -see- her differently instead of a peasant girl, and that it is also showing her "shedding" her connection to the village and being more herself. BAM! And okay, fine, don't give her a hat at all but AT THE END OF THE MOVIE she is now ROYALTY and EVERYONE is wearing a WIG- Adam too! But her? OH, NOPE. GAAAAAAAH! The Beast was meh, like...there isn't to much you can do with him? I feel like they should have had more moments of connections with him and Belle- And I don't mean that whole 'Paris' 'Magic Book' stuff or whatnot, I mean like SHOW them having actual dialog that FITS with that era. His character checklist consisted of two things; 1. He's mean 2. He's well animated! ...Whoopdee do. I like Maurice. I like Belle's interactions with him. I don't get why the mom thing was a big deal, my sister and I were just like...but why? Why have this? What does this further? Belle and her dad already have a really good relationship, we see that probably better than any other in the movie. This isn't something the Beast and Belle even need to bond over, they like each other because they realize they underestimated the other and yadda yadda. And how do they show that Belle is SMART? She makes a washing machine? Like? What? Why? That's not...she could have made small things like her dad. She is NEVER seen MAKING anything other then that ONE TIME with that HUGE INVENTION because how else will kids know that she's SMART? Ugh. Make her make small things, and do it consistently, you don't have to spotlight one BIG thing to make your point. How do they show Belle is independant? She argues with the Beast! The arguing is fine but the fact that she has NO fear? Like...girl are you human? I don't feel like this was Emma's acting (maybe?) I feel like it was because, you know how all these re-do Disney movies are, girl power and yadda yadda. Being able to stand up to someone WHILE YOU ARE PETRIFIED is BRAVERY, being un-afraid in a situation that would scare everyone out of there wits is just stupid! It teaches people that if you are afraid when confronting people that you're weak. Gaston, GASTON! Nobody makes me SAD like Gaston~! WHY?! Why Disney, oh WHY?! Why would you develope this man into an ACTUAL PERSON that I feel deserves all the help he can get and then KILL him in the same way like I'm supposed to be HAPPY that he died? NO. N-O. This is HANS ALL OVER AGAIN, why does their HAVE to be a villian? You could have had him scramble away from Beast and just...live. Why does he have to die? I get that he's stubborn but that stupid gun could have very well fell into an abyss and he'd have no choice but to give up. URGH!!! This is due to that whole issue where this movie feels like two scripts torn up and thrown together. They wanted to do new things but because they're Disney they have to make Belle's choice in a guy easier by making one over the top evil! AND HE'S NOT EVEN EVIL! Gosh DANGIT. This man has PTSD! He was TRYING so HARD to keep that part of himself away but he was pushed (Maurice and Belle) and pushed (the sudden introduction of MAGIC into his world and a scary monster who could probably kill all of the villagers and probably enchanted Belle as well, heck, MAGIC EXISTS ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE NOW) so he snapped back into War Gaston mode and there was nothing there to snap him back- he saw inanimate objects come alive and beat the crap out of people! He probably thought he was back IN the war. So, obviously, who gets the short end of the stick through this whole movie? Gaston. Look. He was no angel, I'm not saying he was. All I'm saying is, if you want to have a character that has mental scars like this...let that effect your others characters as well. If you want me to treat him like a villian then why did you turn him into this? You spent more time building up Gaston's character that BEAST'S! Like, UGH! DISNEY! C'MON! What if Gaston's mom or sibling worked at the castle or something and they have NO ONE to greet when the villagers finally remember them? Everyone else has a happy ending, seriously. Everyone else may have suffered for a little bit but in the end? Gaston. Gaston gets nothing just because there was not proper care for him. ANYWAYS! TL;DR, I LIKED movie Gaston, I feel like given time Belle would have seen that he (JUST LIKE BEAST IN THE MOVIE) had another side to him and that they probably could have got along just fine. Heck, this Gaston would probably READ to her if asked, look at him in the movie, he's smitten with the woman! *sigh* This is just me, you have your own opinions. Maybe I have Boromir glasses on, or even just sweet Bard glasses, I can't help it. Sorry for the huge rant.

[zombierunfiction]

Season 2 Side Mission 8: Interview with a Girl Guide

Three days had passed since Archie was killed and Charlotte was still struggling to go on.  Guilt was constantly plaguing her mind and she couldn't shake it.  The Major had given her some time off to 'reflect and come to terms', but she spent most of the time in a haze.  She was sitting in the bedroom of the coms shack just mindlessly listening to Sam guide some runners.  A knock came to the door jarring her out of her haze to see Eugene leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey Char.  You ok?"  He asked as he limped over still getting used to the prosthetic leg Jody had found in a retirement home near the shopping center.

"Not really..."  Charlotte said softly as she held her knees against her chest giving him room to sit down.

Eugene sighed softly as he turned slightly to face her.  "No one in New Canton blames you for what happened to Archie.  You do know that right?"

Fresh tears sprung to her eyes as she closed them trying to block out the image of Archie in that chair.  "I know... Nadia sent a message through Rofflenet.  She told me about her funeral.  She said that Van Ark is to blame and that I tried everything to save her."

Eugene nodded resting his hand on hers.  "She's right.  You and Jamie tried everything to get to her.  Jack and I listened to the mission. You had a 50 50 shot at picking the right building.  You two did your best."

"If we did our best Archie would be alive right now."  Charlotte said bitterly.

Eugene takes a slow breath.  "You remember... when I had you and Simon looking for Jack?  How hard I was pushing for you to find him?"

Charlotte nodded.  "Until you admited it I thought you went a bit bonkers."

Eugene chuckles softly.  "I was.  I was scared, lonly, and desperate to find him.  Just like Jamie was. He did what he thought was right. Just like I did.  You were trying to help both of them.  You fought hard... unfortuantly you lost.  But theres still more that you can do."

"I feel so guilty..."  Charlotte breathed.

"I know.  But let me ask you this..."  Eugene said squeezing her hand.  "Would Archie want you beating yourself up about this?"

Charlotte looked up at Eugene, tears streaking down her cheeks.  "No.  She wouldn't."  She wiped her face with her free hand sniffling.

"What would she tell you?"  Eugene asked softly.

Charlotte took a slow breath as she thought about Archie.  Her infecious smile and never ending curiousity about the world around her.  "She would say something along the lines of keep my chin up and keep running.  Then ramble on about something silly."  She said chuckling slightly.

"Then don't let her down."  Eugene said smiling.  "Besides we've got a run for you.  Jack and I are going with."

Charlotte blinked looking at him.  "You?  Are you sure?"

"Yep. I won't be running any marathons but I can still move around." Eugene said with a smile.

Charlotte smiles slightly.  "Alright.  Can't let you two die out there now can I?"

"It would be very bad if you did."  Eugene said standing up slowly.

Charlotte got up running a brush through her hair quickly before tying it back. She stepped out looking over seeing Sam bringing in the runners. She walked over wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.

Sam looks up smiling slightly pressing a button to mute his mic.  "Hey love... you ok?"  He asked softly.

"I will be."  Charlotte said kissing his temple.  "Thank you for being patient with me."

Sam smiles rubbing her arm.  "That's what a boyfriend does."

Charlotte leaned down kissing his lips sweetly before standing up.  "I'll go get ready for the mission."

"Alright. Jack and Eugene will meet you by the gate."  Sam said as Charlotte stepped out of the coms shack.

Once she was packed up she walked over to Jack and Eugene who were looking over the three bags sitting in front of them.  "Okay, we've got the tape recorder, notebook, pens.  All we need are some spare batteries."  Eugene said.

"Got us triple and double A's from Janine.  We're all set.  Gene, why did you want to do this by the front gate?  Why isn't there anyone here except Charlotte?"  Jack asked before realization dawned on him. "Oh no.  No!  Not this again!  Please tell me we are not going to do another outside interview."

"We're journalists.  We're supposed to go where the story is!"  Eugene stated.

"Not to mention where the zombies are!  It can't be crazy survivalist o'clock again already.  We just did one of them pieces last week!" Jack whined.

Charlotte rolled her eyes walking into the coms shack looking at Sam who was leaning back in his chair with a matching expression.  She pushed her mic away from her mouth before speaking.  "Remember when Eugene was moping around her without Jack?"

"Yeah. Things were a lot quieter without them bickering all the time. Atleast there's no anger between them."  Sam said smiling at her.  "There's talk from New Canton about having a holiday party in a few days."

"Oh? What for?"  Charlotte asked.

"It's a way to celebrate the partnership and according to Nadia is was Archie's wish."  Sam said hesitantly as if mentioning Archie would throw Charlotte back into the room.

Charlotte smiles slightly.  "She left a will?"

Sam nods.  "Apparently she updated it rather diligently.  She included you in it."

Charlotte blinks.  "What did she say?"

"Apparently she remarked in it that you were an exceptionally brave and fast runner.  She had a small book that she apparently used in her crystlogrophy lab.  She wanted you to have it."  Sam explained.

"Atleast it's something useful.  Hopefully."  Charlotte said with a small smile.  "I'm going to miss her a lot."  She said trying to keep the tears at bay.

"I know.  She was a little odd but she was fun."  Sam said taking her hand gently.  "Now you should get back out to Romeo and Tibalt."  He said making Charlotte chuckle.  She squeezed his hand walking back out.

"I would hardly call that guy crazy!  A little unorthoday, yeah, but-" Eugene tried to defend.

"He skinned a pack of zombies and made himself a kilt out of their pelts. I don't know about you, but I've seen films where that kind of thing happens, and they usually end badly."  Jack said quickly.

"Uh, um, is everybody ready?  If everyone's ready, we should maybe get going?"  Sam said to them as Charlotte pulled her mic down.

"This won't be like that.  And look Charlotte's, uh, volunteered to carry all our gear today.  I know how much you hate carrying everything." Eugene said as Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

"Gear? Is that what's in this pack?"  Charlotte asked.

"Yes it is."  Eugene said.

"Do you remember the last time you said nothing was going to happen durring one of these interviews?"  Jack asked pointedly.

"Okay..." Eugene said resting his hand on Jack's shoulder.  "in retrospect, that was a little unfortunate."

"It took my two days to get all those porcupine quills out.  Look, I can't even wear those trousers anymore, you know."  Jack said still seeming miffed.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow wondering what the hell happened with them when Same spoke.  "Is it okay, now?  If I go ahead and tell Charlotte what you're up to today?"

"Go on.  You can fill me in while you're at it."  Jack sighed heavily.

Sam sighs softly.  "Great.  Alright Five..."  He said slipping into his radio operator self.  "Jack and Eugene here want you to escort them out into the field today."

"Figured that."  Charlotte said.

"We heard about your run-in with the Killer Girl Guides, and we want to interview them for the station.  We're hoping once Sam tracks them down, you can do the introductions, maybe put in a good word for Jack and me."  Eugene asked.

"And in the meantime, you can be on the lookout for any sink pits, boody traps, exotic animals trained to main, or whatever it is Killer Girl Guides use for weapons when they've gone full on Rambo."  Jack said making both Eugene and Charlotte look at him oddly.

"Sam, can you raise the gates?"  Eugene asked.

"Thought you'd never ask."  Sam said as the gates raised and after some shots they were on their way.  Charlotte was surprised by how well Eugene could run in his prosthetic that it made her proud that he was able to use it with ease.

After a half hour of running Jack spoke up.  "Any sign of trouble?"

"Mm... you're all clear.  Cleverly, I suggested to Eugene for you to do this just as New Canton has half a dozen runners doing decoy drills to the north.  They're pulling all the zoms their way, almost none left where you are."  Sam said happily.

"See? We're off to a great start."  Eugene said as Jack turned a glare to him.

"I don't think I'm speaking to you at the moment."  He said turning his head away.

"You know, I thought you'd be glad to get out for a while.  Stretch your legs, see the horizon without cement walls and barbed wire in the way."  Eugen said as Jack remained silent.  "Oh, don't be such a mar-"

"A what?"  JAck snapped looking at Eugene who clammed up quickly.

"Nothing."

"It started with an M, hmm?  What could that be?  Marvelously intelligent and understanably concerned partner?"  Jack asked rather snidely.

Charlotte sighs heavily.  "Oh god, not again."  She said softly.

"You were going to say martyr, weren't you?"  Jack asked angerily.

Eugene sighed heavily.  "You can't still be mad about that." Eugene said fast rubbing his head.

"Of course I'm still mad!"  Jack snaps as Charlotte groans softly.

"Five, whilte they're busy, I'm going to have you do a sweep of the area." Sam said as Charlotte nods.

"I thought you'd never ask."  Charlotte said speeding up away from Jack and Eugene.

"Run on ahead, and we'll loop you back towards them every so often to check in.  I didn't get a chance to mention it earlier, but those twenty pound of recording equipment isn't the only thing you're carrying today."  Sam said slowly.

"What else?"  Charlotte asked.

"I burned you a copy of the message Chris - Runner Ten, I mean - had you pick up for his daughter before he... well, you remember what happened to him, I guess."  Sam said sadly.

Charlotte couldn't help the flash of Chris's face when he was begging her to get that message.  "I almost forgot about it."

"He was a funny guy, wasn't he?  Hated to talk about himself, but you remember how his daughter Veronica was on a scout camping trip when the outbreak began?  It's probably a long shot, but maybe your Killer Girl Guides will have some idea how to reach her.  Assuming she's... well, no harm in trying, right?"  Sam said trying to lighten the mood.

"I barely knew him but I promised him I would get that message to Veronica.  We both did.  We will get it to her."  Charlotte said determined as she started to loop back around only to hear more fighting.

"I think you're overreacting."  Eugene said softly.

"No one likes to step on Lego!  No one!"  Jack said loudly as Charlotte continued to run past them sighing softly.  

"Seems like they're still doing alright."  Charlotte said.

"Alright then go ahead and run on again."  Sam said continuing to run.

After another hour of running Charlotte looked into a wooded area before stopping.  "Sam, I think we found something."  She said as they headed towards the trees.

"What? Where?"  Sam asked.

"Over there, between those two trees. It looks like a campfire pit." Eugene said as they looked at the ring of rocks with the burnt pieces of wood.

"Hmm, I can't see.  Can someone bring a head cam in closer."  Sam asked as Charlotte walked over adjusting her headcam so he got a better look.  "Ah, yeah, you're right.  And it's been put out well, too.  You must be on the right track."

"Most of the survivors we've come across don't seem to spend must time on fire safety."  Charlotte said looking around.  "Roasting a few zoms isn't going to keep anyone up at night."

"You know, I hear roast zombie isn't all that bad.  As long as you get the sauce right."  Jack said off handedly.

"You got to be careful on the wine pairings, though.  Rotted flesh just doesn't go with any old vintage.  Especially if there are maggots." Eugene continued making Charlotte look at them oddly.

"Yeah, that's really funny, guys, and can we all stop talking about that? Right now."  Sam said sounding like he was going to be sick. "That firepit - can anyone tell if the ashes are still warm?"

"Sam, do you actually think I'm going to stick my hand in there?" Jack asked seriously as Charlotte squated down by the fire pit.

"Wait, are you worrying about getting dirty?"  Eugene questioned.

"Hey, I'm not- no, no, shut up!  I'm still angry with you, remember?" Jack snapped as Charlotte shook her head holding her hand over the ashes.

"Boys stop with the bickering.  Sam they're still warm.  They've been here recently."  She said standing up.

"Good. You must be getting close, then.  I'll see if the scanners are picking up any activity in the surrounding area.  We should be able to pin - ugh, no.  No, you can't - you told us that - !"  Sam stopped before sighing heavily.  "So, it seems like there's been a miscommunication.  New Canton's decoy run was a bit less thorogh than I was expecting.  I think they were just training up a couple of novice runners, and they got spooked, and now - yeah, they're bringing their guys back in an armored car."

"And the zombies that were following them?"  Jack asked.

"Yeah. Switched directions."  Sam said.

"Coming out way?"  Eugene asked.

"Yeah."

"Big pack of zoms."  Jack asked.

"Yeah."

"And let me guess - "  Charlotte started.  "the nearest shelter is some village miles from here that we'll never reach in time."

"If you can run about three times faster, you should make it.  Probably. Just about... do you think you can?  Run three times faster?" Sam asked.

"Doubt it.  What's the plan of attack?"  Eugene asked.

"You know, this is exactly the kind of situation where one of those little motorized scooters would have came in handy.  I told you we should have got one."  Jack said as they started running again.

"You only suggested that because you were sick of carrying our stuff. Besides, the major would never give us the gas."  Eugene countered.

"No, they're electric, see?  We could have hooked it up to some solar panels."  Jack shot back.

"What? Carry solar panels with us?"  Eugene questioned.

"Hey, uh, look, I don't want to worry anyone or anything, but that swarm is headed your way at a pretty fast clip.  Why am I the only person worried about that?"  Sam asked.

"I'm worried."  Charlotte said.

"We could always climb trees."  Jack suggested.

"We haven't tried covering ourselves in mud yet."

Charlotte looked back at him.  "That is such horse shit Eugene I can't even begin to tell you."

"Would someone come up with a plan?  They're going to be on you in, what - ten, maybe five minutes if you don't pick up the pace!  Aw man, ah! There's got to be something-"  Sam was suddenly cut off by static.

Suddenly Charlie Toddhunter's voice came over their headsets.  "Runner Five, do you copy?  This is Charlie Todhunter.  I repeat, Runner Five do you copy?"  She asked.

"Yes Charlie I copy you.  My two friends can hear you too." Charlotte said.

"Got yourselves in trouble again?"  Jordan said with a smirk in her voice.  "That was fast."

"Jordan!" Charlie snapped.  "Runner five, there's a swarm of hostiles moving on yoru postion.  We might be able to help, but we need you closer.  Stay on course, and come as fast as your able.  We'll do our best on our end, but you've got to move."

"Roger that."  Charlotte said as they running away from the zoms as fast as they could.

After a while Sam was able to get back onto the coms.  "Bad news is, the zoms are still on your trail, and they've found a few friends."

"Well, so much for hiding in the trees.  Trees are still quite a distance away, and at this rate, we're never going to get a chance to see if that plan works."  Jack said as he looked back at the ground of zoms on their tail.

"It's just as well.  Whatever the Girl Guides come up with will make a great introduction to the radio segment."  Eugene said as Charlotte looked back at him oddly.

"I believe you and Jack need to have a talk about your priorities later."  She said.

"Well, I hope you're right, trusting those girls, because we -"  Sam started to fade out with static making Sam growl.  "Oh, of course.  Here we go again."

"Hi, Five.  It's Posey here."  She said excitably.  "Charlie says we're ready to help you, but you and the zombies still aren't close enough to where we are, and the swarm's a little too far to the north - northeast for what we're planning.  We need you to run back and try to steer them more to the north - northwest."  Posey said as Charlotte looked back.

"I guess that's a job for you, Char.  Speed advantage, and all that. Now, you're going to need a noise maker of some time."  Eugene said.

"Look in the bag Charlotte.  There should be some kind of tape player." Jack said as Charlotte reached in fiddling inside the bag for a moment before pulling out a black tape player.  "Good the tape player now reach into the side pocket there should be a tape.  Best Radio Sound Effects, Third Edition - Farm Animals."  Jack laughs softly.  "If you play that loud enough, it should work almost as well as the regular beeps do, right?"

"It's got to be less annoying."  Charlotte sets pulling out the tape putting it in.

"Do I want to know why you brought that?"  Eugene asked.

"Probably not."  Jack said as she started it as sheep appear over the recording.  "Perfect!  Catch back up with us when you're through, and uh, stay safe."

Eugene nods.  "Stay safe."  He said as Charlotte nodded turning up the tape player heading towards the area Posey told her about.

Soon the sheep were replaced by chickens then by cows. "You are doing good there.  I hope the zombies like your cow sounds.  I think they're pretty great, actually."  Posey said with a giggle. "It's been a really long time since I've heard any of these animals.  We get birds sometimes, and Yasmin said she saw an owl last week, but I miss cows.  And pigs and chickens, too, but cows most of all.  Except for horses.  I think I miss them more."  Charlotte looked back seeing the ground was still gainning on her.  "You're going to want to lead the pack back the way you came."

"Got it."  Charlotte said continuing to run.

"Charlotte?" Charlie asked.  "They've taken the bait.  Move away, now. Jordan, is your team in position?"

"Roger. Ready to go on your signal."  Jordan said.

"Charlotte, when I give the command, I want an extra burst of speed from you.  We need you clear of the pack before our operation can go ahead, and we'll have to time it just right."  Charlie said.

"Wow, Charlie, nearly - "  Posey started.

"Just a few more paces, and - go now!"  Charlie said as Charlotte sped up quickly.  "You're going to hear a loud bang in a moment, and I don't want you to stop for any reason!  Keep running flat out, as fast as you can, that's an order."

"Got it."  Charlotte said.

"It's going to be really, really loud, so you can put your hands over your ears if you like.  That's what I'm going to do.  Right, but don't stop!"  Posey said.

"Smith? The operation's a go!"  Charlie said.

"You hear the lady, girls.  Let her rip!"  Jordan said as the sound of something flying through the hair before a loud explosion is heard followed by splatter sounds behind her.  After a few moments of silence Charlotte chanced a look back seeing some of the zombies had survived and were still persueing her but as crawlers.  "Charlie, do you copy?"  Jordan asked.

"Roger that.  What's the situation, Smith?" Charlie asked.

"The blast took out about eighty percent of the pack, and I don't think the ones it missed are going to be moving all that fast with no legs."  Jordan said proudly.

"Charlotte and company, are you still with us?"  Charlie asked.

"That was brilliant!"  Jack shouted happily.  "What was that thing?"

"Yeah, I've never seen an explosion turn that shade of pink."  Eugene said as Charlotte ran towards Eugene and Jack as they met up with the guides.

"It's an, um... 'explosive support weapon'."  Charlie said somewhat embarressingly.

"Oh my god!"  Another girl guide said.  "Are we really using those?"

"Shh!" Charlie said quickly.  "Anyway, your way should be clear for the next while, Charlotte.  Feel free to resume your initial course."

"Actually, we were kind of hoping to talk to you."  Eugene said quickly.

"Us?" Jordan questioned.

"We're journalists."  Eugene continued.

"Actually, we wanted you to pass on a message for us."  Charlotte said pointedly.

"And we wanted to interview you for a segment on our radio show." Eugene said quickly.

"Seriously?" Jordan said quickly.  "You came all the way out here for a chat?  That's, like, the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  Are you all mental?"  She continued looking at them in shock.

"Don't look at me!  He's the one who thought it was a good idea."  Jack said gesturing towards Eugene.

Charlie crossed her arms over her chest thinking for a moment.  "Hmm. Your radio show - how far does it broadcast?"

"Pretty far."  Eugene said.

"I think we might even have a few fans on Jersey, by now.  We think they might be sheep, but we're willing to take the ratings bump where we can."  Jack said.

Charlie looked over at Jordan before nodding.  "Alright.  We'll meet you at the closest village, at the first house on the right.  The one with the blue front door.  You've got half an hour, and then we're moving out.  Clear?"

Eugene nods smiling.  "Roger that."  He said as they ran towards the village that Charlie spoke about.  Once there Eugene and Jack set up the equipment as Charlie and Posey were sitting on a couch that had been left in the house.  The two seemed rather uncomfortable sitting there.  Eugene sat down on a coffee table across from them and smiled softly.  "Can you please say your name into the microphone for me?  Jack just needs to check the levels."  He said holding up a small mic.

"This is Charlotte -"  Charlie started before clearing her throat. "Charlie Todhunter."

"And I'm Posey clark.  Was that good?"  Posey asked.

Eugene nods as Jordan turns around and looks up at Charlotte.  "Charlotte Come help me run the boundary while they do this.  We need to chat." Jordan whispered.

Charlotte nodded as she turned walking towards the door as she heard Eugene and Jack arguing about how to do the interview.  She started to jog with Jordan as she looked at her.  "What did you want Jordan?"

"The way I see it, Charlotte, you owe us.  We've saved you twice, and you only get one for free."  Jordan said.

"I understand.  What do you want in return?"  Charlotte asked.

"I'm going to give you a set of coordinates, and I want you to meet us there in a couple of days.  You come out, and I'll consider you squared up.  If not, you won't be seeing us again."  Jordan said seriously.

Charlotte took a slow breath.  "I'll be there."

Suddenly Posey's voice appeared on their headsets.  "Jordan, where'd you go?  The radio man says he wants to talk to you as well."

"Sorry, Po.  Five and I were just taking a quick look around.  Be back in a flash."  Jordan said before she looked back up to Charlotte. "Remember, the rendezvous is two days from now.  And leave the camera crew at home next time, yeah?"

Charlotte snorts.  "Don't worry about that.  I will make sure I'm on my own."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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Season 1 Beginning

Season 2 Beginning

[watchandtalk]

Blade Runner (1982)

It's been a while since I've updated this blog! In celebration of the release of Blade Runner 2049, I'm going to provide my own (very) personal review of the original Blade Runner (1982) film:

It sucked, and I hate it!＊

＊This is obviously my personal opinion, and I am not hailing it as an objective truth. I also need to point out that I am heavily biased toward the book (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick). I am also completely aware that the film is a loose adaptation of the book, but I will address this further on.

I very rarely ‘hate’ films – it is an intense word, after all. After years of being force-fed overanalyses in high school, however, I feel that the film warrants this. The thing is that in high school, English teachers will tell you that it’s ‘okay to have your own opinion of the film!’ before going on to inspect every little detail that points toward it being a literary masterpiece. Then they go on to say that your opinion must be founded – without offering any advice for analysing it from a negative perspective. Here I am to say that it is indeed entirely possible to both effectively analyse the techniques used as well as show that a film (in this case, Blade Runner) is completely and utterly terrible!

I summed it up quite nicely after very recently (within the past hour) watching Blade Runner with my family in the hopes of inspiring hype for the sequel: Blade Runner is a good film, but a terrible story.

The film:

Good symbolism – the use of animal associations for the Replicants in order to accentuate their inhumanness; the unicorn, as well as the origami; color; motifs associated with implanted memories (phrases, sounds of children’s laughter); fire (a la Prometheus);

The noir feeling – I personally am not a fan of the genre, but the pacing, soundtrack, general atmosphere of the film and the theatricality of the interactions, so to speak, represent the genre well;

You know the rest – intertextual references (Paradise Lost, if I’m recalling correctly; the parable of the prodigal son); world building referencing the context of the film, that being increasing globalisation and the mixing of cultures; Tyrell being short-sighted despite his ‘visionary’ status and the shortness of the Replicant lifespan... I could go on, but that would involve searching for my high school English notebook, which I’m fairly certain I threw away as soon as I was done with it. You’ve heard it all before.

The story:

Bad – thanks for highlighting their inhumanity when the point was that they’re pretty much humans anyway; all it took for Deckard to wonder if killing Replicants was a good idea was a totally unnecessary romantic subplot; I know the ending with Batty was supposed to be symbolic or whatever, but narratively speaking, it makes very little sense that after all he did, he would choose to save Deckard;

The noir feeling – you may have noticed this was in the film section. I personally hated what the pacing did to the film and how it changed the focus;

It’s flimsy, it holds no water, it’s bad.

Again, I need to stress that this is my own opinion, and I am very specifically comparing the film to the book despite the fact that the film is only very loosely based on the book. I do find it significant to address adaptations in general, however, and the consequences of one ‘badly done’.

Loose adaptations, loose narratives

For this segment, I’m going to make reference to the film Edge of Tomorrow (2014). The source material of that film is less well-known (in the West, at least) than that of Blade Runner (being adapted from All You Need is Kill, by Sakurazaka Hiroshi), but nonetheless, there are very significant parallels to be made that can be attributed to the common factor of their being ‘loose adaptations’.

Here’s the thing: I’m not at all saying that adaptations must be 100% accurate or not be made at all. Especially when the source material is cross-cultural, one can’t expect values to translate directly, or indeed the original context of the source material may be vastly different from the adaptation temporally speaking. The message may not even be the same, perhaps being intentionally subverted in order to make a point.

What I’m saying is this:

When one co-opts the narrative of a piece of media, there is a certain point at which one has to be very careful when changing around significant plot points and events.

There is an internal logic that runs within a narrative. Changing an event disrupts that logic. In order to make the event fit, the narrative will have to be moved around, the backstory rearranged, certain elements introduced or removed. If you go around changing things willy-nilly without a care for what it does to the consistency of the story, you end up with: one (1) horrible, no good story.

At this point, I would present a good adaptation for the sake of comparison. Unfortunately, many of the ones I can think of that are good (Fight Club, perhaps arguably; The Silence of the Lambs; The Shining) are ones where I’ve only seen the films for, so on the point of them being adaptations, I am not well informed.

So again, I ask you to think of really bad adaptations. I think we can all agree on the Hollywood renditions of Dragonball, The Last Airbender and Death Note being absolutely horrendous adaptations. We can’t change around ideas without considering the effects or how the narrative must be changed to accommodate this, but thinking about all these other horrid adaptations also suggests that there is something essential to the source material that one cannot abandon. In Dragonball, this may be Goku’s unique personality, or the fact that he’s Japanese. In Death Note, this may be the fact that Light was meant to be a perfect student who was too smart and developed a god-complex. There are things that make the characters who they are and there are things that a story is about, and ultimately tampering with them is something that backfires more often than not.

Let’s go back to Edge of Tomorrow and Blade Runner.

I didn’t like Edge of Tomorrow. Even before reading the source material, I did not like it. There’s first the fact that the consistency is dubious regarding the whole omega/alpha thing; what’s up with him going back in time and the omega suddenly blowing up? The film also introduces a lot of values that weren’t present in the book. This is understandable, seeing as the source material is Japanese and this is a Hollywood adaptation, but that does not mean it was done well; there’s a big emphasis on teamwork and team sacrifice (where in the book, there are two significant characters pretty much), and there’s this weird theme of Cage (white-washing aside for now) going through the loops and slowly becoming this brooding sacrificial hero figure that ultimately becomes better than Rita, who a) had already gone through this before, and b) is a more accomplished fighter than Cage at any given point. This is pretty sexist, as despite her seniority in pretty much every aspect, Rita quickly becomes the film’s damsel in distress, but what makes it the most disappointing is how it compares to the book:

Rita, front cover to back cover, retains her seniority over Keiji at all times. On one hand, this may be because of Japan’s larger focus on social hierarchy and community; this still leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth when the West is supposedly becoming more ‘progressive’ and leaving the damsel stereotype behind. It also transforms the story; in the very end, Rita is the one who figures out what is going on, and it’s through her actions and decisions that the loops finally end. In fact, she dies only because she decided she was going to die – “I finally understood. When I met Rita yesterday, she had decided that she was going to die.” (p.187) Yes, Keiji becomes a hero and is acknowledged as such, but up until the very end, he recognises Rita as her own person, someone he could never replace and perhaps could never amount to. “Red was your color, yours and yours alone. It should rest with you. I will paint my Jacket sky blue, the color you told me you loved when we first met.” (p. 196) All that emotion, that weight? Gone.

The change of her role also creates an awkwardness in the alien hierarchy system. Originally, the Mimics had a server which triggered loops through the antennae, and Rita had been an antenna. The solution is thus pretty simple in the novel. This changes with the introduction of the alpha/omega system, and the transfer of the target from the ‘alpha’ to the ‘omega’, creating that strange maybe-contradictory ending.

But I digress.

The point of that tangent was that while one can understand that yes, of course things are allowed to change, but that doesn’t mean that it makes the narrative better or more cohesive. Betraying the point of the original material is one thing, but doing it badly is something else entirely.

To very briefly sum up the main themes of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?:

ableism, classism, the importance of status in society and how this ties in with the dystopian setting – see Isidore and his being a ‘chickenhead’; how this and classism separates those staying on a war-trodden earth and those who escape off-world; how they separate humans and ‘non-humans’; artificial animals and real animals serving as a status symbol;

emotions, intelligence, and how they make up the human identity – there’s the idea of the androids feeling emotions, which is portrayed in a much more nuanced fashion in the books, as well as the parallel with the Penfield mood organs; the explicit fact that humans and androids have varying levels of both intelligence and emotional capacity, further suggesting the lack of true difference between Replicant and human;

the concept of a machine being either a hazard or a benefit – though Deckard mentions this in the film, it hardly makes the same impact as meeting Luba, who for all intents and purposes enriched musical culture and did not pose a hazard; there’s also the idea of humans having the ability to be just as deplorable as androids supposedly are, as in Resch;

Mercerism – this one is understandably not incorporated in the film (seeing as this is a film, and not a two- or three-part series), but it does add an interesting dimension vis a vis the concept of artificiality and technology as a means of shared consciousness, as well as the willingness of humans to believe in something that is irrevocably proven false.

What it boils down to, essentially, is ‘what makes a human human, good or bad’, as well as the implications on society as being a community of humans. Typical sci-fi philosophical fare, but it very much leaves you thinking that the answer is, ‘well, humans are pretty terrible but also incredibly variable and really is there any difference between humans and androids? No, I guess’.

The first thing that should pop out is that there is a clear mismatch between central themes in the two media. You can argue that the vague idea is the same, but how they go about it is extremely different. Perhaps to an extent this is a given, as there’s only so much philosophising that a film can allow without stretching into the two hours and above section, but the film undeniably displays it in  a much more shallow way. Batty’s dramatics are just that: dramatics, theatrics, all for show. Maybe not strictly accurate, but another word that comes to mind is pretentious. Again, it’s for the cinematics, perhaps part of the genre, but personally I find it difficult to engage with something that is clearly a caricature. Perhaps this is the point, but certainly this was never the point that the novel had meant to make.

What the film tells you about the androids is ultimately very different as well. As mentioned beforehand, all the Replicants have an associated animal – Pris with a raccoon, Batty with a wolf, and so on – which further heightens their inhumanity. What strikes me is that in the novels, there’s no such clear distinction between human and inhuman – the androids are not made into animals and neither are the humans. However, what does happen in the novels is that traits that are considered human or inhuman are shown to be prevalent in both androids and humans. Androids have lower emotional capacity and cannot pass the Voight-Kampff test – but then again, there are many humans that can’t, either, for a lot of different reasons. Androids are portrayed as ruthless, violent, cold-hearted – but then again, there are humans that are, as well. So what makes humans so different? Well, they can think for themselves and have their own ambitions – but so do the androids. But the one thing they can’t fake is emotions, right? Well...

What may differentiate the film and the novel in their portrayals of humanity and inhumanity is their ascription of good and bad to them, respectively. The humans in Blade Runner are assumed to be good because of their humanity – conversely, the androids are assumed to be bad, because of their inhumanity. There are many themes running through the novel, but this black-and-white morality is not one of them.

If we take away this assumed good-or-bad dichotomy, we find that Blade Runner is ultimately a shallow film with no backstory or deeper meaning. Why did the Replicants flee? How did they know each other? With no reason for this, the film is forced to come up with an additional plot point: the four year lifespan. The focus stops being ‘what is human’ and starts becoming a tale about playing god.

The film manages to not only simplify any sort of complexity in the absolute worst way possible, but it also manages to go against the central themes holding the novel together.

And you know what? Blade Runner isn’t unique for this. Plenty of blockbuster films are guilty of the shallowest, most predictable and bland storylines imaginable. But what really takes the cake is this:

The Final Nail in the Coffin

Despite Blade Runner being despairingly simple objectively, despite it being straightforward and not requiring any real critical thinking or philosophising, despite it being an alright film at best and an insomnia-killer at worst, despite all of this, they made us study it for HSC English, and they had the audacity to make it sound deep and complex and made us analyse it as deeply as one would the mysteries of the universe.

I never want to hear about how the fires are reminiscent of Prometheus bringing fire to humanity or how the sight of the sun is reminiscent of Egyptian Pharaohs and a symbol of power or about the intertextual value of Batty’s pretentious spiels ever again. It took me watching the film again, years later, to realise that I absolutely abhor the film, and would do well never to watch it again.

Phew.

Again, as a film? Technical beauty. Easy to pick out techniques and stylistic decisions – probably why it was chosen as a focus in the first place. But hey – so is Gattaca, and that’s actually a good film.

[jshi610]

Reading response week 1

1. F is for Fake

The film is made in both artistically and meticulously way. Although it is cutting and pasting, it requires more focus on each frame- losing attention in one will cause a totally lost in the next. 

True and fake, yes and no are mixed within a lot of rapid changing montage, and the director himself clearly didn't come to the camera for guiding or explaining- he will just make things seem more confused. I think somehow it showed a new trend of documentary film- this kind of technical is widely used right now in editorial work, but documentary is supposed to be ‘true’ and objective. Yet how many truths human once believed were false? Does the final answer for them made the products in the process, such as paintings or books, worthless?

A few sentences catches my attention during the film. The first one will be ‘this world is not a world to make believes’. The reason why I picked it up is: it sounds so postmodernism. Postmodernism art works have the feature that, instead of artist telling viewers everything, viewers need to help the artist complete the whole thing. This film has the same feature. It’s viewers’ imaginations for Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving and Picasso helped this ‘copying and pasting’ of existing materials turns into an experimental new film. The format is consist with blurry video quality, feelings from early this era and all those ‘antique’ small details. For example, the girl watching part is clearly something made out of intentional. However, it is such a common way used in normal documentaries that we hardly questioned about it until now. Once there were news about BBC’s natural documentaries used faked videos, but aren’t they beautiful? Disney’s documentary of Chinese animals used footage of different individual animals but to tell the story of one imaginary snow leopard mother(because they give her a name). It’s all fake.

Then it comes to the next line :’...it's whether it's a good fake or a bad fake.’. To me this idea is simple. I’m actually thinking about Miao Ming and her chinternetplus. To be honest, I don’t like this work. The first reason is, she had this perfect topic but she only touched the surface. The mystery behind counterfeit ideology that have special Chinese characteristic is so deep that diving from any point can get you to that, but not as a thoughtful artistic conclusion. I’ll just leave it here for that, because the second reason is the one involving good or bad fake: it doesn’t look like a finished project. Aesthetically, it’s not good. When I use the word aesthetically I didn’t mean that the work should be beautiful, but it should make a unique system runs only for itself.  A good fake is Elmyr’s fake; it’s close enough to the original in both the format and the quality; and it has such a legendary aftermath. It is also Orson Welles’s good fake; he faked those footage together and forged a new film. In this case, I like the title ‘true faker’ that was used in the film. The word itself may be against instinct; but as long as it can make sense, then it is a meaningful prize.

I still don’t like the idea about ‘fake is as good as a real one, the more the better’. However, I don’t want to make ‘fake’ work doesn’t mean that I don’t want to appreciate ‘fake’ work. No, there is something philosophically and aesthetically very beautiful about it; and I do appreciate this film, along with other materials we have discussed now during this class, to help me see that.

2. The Counter Feats of Elaine Sturtevant (1924-2014)

I have to admit that this essay is so complicated to understand that even till now I’m still not sure if I understand it correctly. It seems to me that I can only make fragments of comment over specific words(maybe not even what the author tried to say in using them in the article). 

One thing I found amazing about this article is that it offers such a detailed and solid theoretical explain to Sturtevant's and all appropriation works. No matter whether readers will agree with some controversial opinions(basically every small title) or not, this is a successful essay in building and arguing with a consistent and self-contained theory. It reminds me how critics, or introducers will affect one’s opinion on the artists. 

Modern art and artists have the dangerous trend of being regarded as products of elitism. It’s not a new thing to be honest- art always has an elitism side, the question is whether it is intentional or not. In Sturtevant's case, her point is about thinking rather than seeing. At the same time, she wanted viewers to look at them again and anew. A simple starting point, but easily to be underestimated. This article itself is somehow showing the power of looking again; just take a look at some of the most powerful sentences:

If culture then is a vast process of appropriation, we might go on to say that mass culture is the process of (massively) appropriating appropriations. 

The image, as we argued in the introduction, is permanently engaged in this practice of intericonicity, engaged with images of the past, images of its own gestation, but also images in its future. 

Artists copy, artists appropriate, culture appropriates, mass culture appropriates appropriations... massively.

the French writer is here relating the impulse to seek another image behind every image to a scene concealed within the human subject, a scene invisible to that subject as it is the scene in which the subject itself was conceived. 

Does the writer just try to make up numbers of words? I don’t think so. In repeating the important keywords from time to time, it will unconsciously leave a deep impression that the reader won’t be able to forget for at least the next few days, if not from now on(depending on whether he or she likes this kind of work or not). 

One last thing is that it is interesting how the writer describes culture culture appropriates in 1.3. It’s so calm and neutral. That’s the way many things should be described as; it’s not as if some specific things are targeted, but all things are targeted. Trying to claim that something is the only victim just won’t help the conversation at all.

[quecomico]

The Roads Essay Themes & Publishing Assignments

• The many Pretty Horse, Cormac McCarthy. This peculiar sanctification with use, in return, suggests that the fabric point initiated a policy of to get rid of clear of its investment reputation. 21 Discover Franklin: “But Ballard’s failure to understand the foundation of the failure, or in other words his / her inability to handle frontward your comprehension your dog reached inside ‘The Subliminal audio Person,’ departs your pet mistaking eliminate capitalism for your conclusion of your world” (103). This is actually the to begin many cases the location where the child retreats into your authority position. In McCarthy’s 1st book, The Orchard Keeper, one encounters an author thus satisfied together with his plainly massive fictional power there’s zero point, on the other hand little, he is not going to test them out with. Although the actual boy has no recollection on the prior globe and it was blessed in a realm of hatred, they continuously exercise religious beliefs.

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Simon Schleusener is really a homework relate along with instructor on the University of Wurzburg’s Us Studies Section plus the Traditions Section of the John F. Even though the work of fiction definitely seems to be operating out of the indistinct no-man’s-land, noted by way of inquisitive deficiency of efforts and historical past, that article claims that it must be in fact useful for you to historicize The Road. A good guide is really a guide that is extensive, and many others. Can there be virtually any hope still left to get a earth where by ethics could mean anything once more or maybe do the man brilliant kid finally combat for a misplaced induce? The day providential to be able to by itself.

7 To get more detailed during this, see the UNHCR’s World wide Fads Record (2016) with “Forced Displacement inside 2015.”

22 See, as an example, Phase 6 around Postmodernism, Or, Your Social Judgement lately Capitalism (1991), “U (. )

14 A person may believe the following of forms of environmental calamities, your long-time negative effects of climate cha (. )

13 Notice Fukuyama: “And as we are now in the position wherever we simply cannot visualize a entire world substantially diverse (. )

21 View Franklin: “But Ballard’s failure to comprehend the cause of the retract, in other words his or her failu (. )

24 View Steven: “Our second falls short of the community for the reason that splintered shards of purposeful living currently have (. )

6 It’s true, however, which in several passages the father describes his / her child as a Lord or even a godlik (. )

In the event, nonetheless, many of us target just how this specific natural environment is really portrayed-seeing this messianic resolution simply as a way with having to pay for the scarcity of virtually any solution-then we’ve been up against the picture of a worldless community, through which simply no wish without gathered sense of the long run is out there any longer.17 With regard to that anti-futurist emotion, The Road‘s almost all stunning touch is actually as a result the picture that contains precisely what is the novel’s cruelest impression: some sort of “charred human infant” cooking on the throw by a group of 3 guys as well as a women, exactly who, apparently, received only granted beginning (Two hundred and twelve). One more moment goodness and faith is seen with the ebook will be during the consequences of the nasty underground room arena. • Our blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy. In the following scene, McCarthy commences a new novel-long metaphorical terminology that synonymizes faith based depravity having dark. What’s noteworthy in relation to The Road, and then, isn’t novel’s night or negativity by itself, however the proven fact that seems like as a way to merely express it is unhappiness while using damaging tendencies in the modern day planet through the relatively conventional eschatological buildings with apocalyptic narrative. The man had been prepared to oppose the belief of non-violence if his or her kid had www.saddleback.edu been included. The Deterioration involving Persona.

2.A person This Man

The chance that rests within this very simple issue offers your tenuous feeling of trust that will is contrary to their mother’s vehement clamors to have an “eternal nothingness” with the exceptional father’s regular struggle from the attraction connected with destruction (p. The Exercise with Mistreatment: Rugged Consumerism around Modern-day Usa Culture. Still, similar to lots of misstatements there is kernel regarding reality towards the complaint involving McCarthy: experienced before writers doing work over the last 4 decades include and so completely minimal them selves to the basic behave connected with supplying things a new variety. Whilst the Daddy goes through any “cold autistic black,” this Youngster is usually forced to increase his / her give to receive a snowflake, just as if this were being an all natural gift, and then he designer watches them break down “like one more variety with Christendom” (r. It truly is identified on the man’s viewpoint that this kid is the hope with this severe entire world. 2 Notice primarily Aglietta (’01). The particular lack of control is actually certain and inappropriate along with the son relates to this realization presently of the novel.

This is the creator whom expressed “I don’t recognize [Proust along with James James]. Symbols really are crucial to individual dialect. A Concept of Naturalist Legislations: The usa Experience. Although audience could possibly read it’s ugliness to be a expression of wild declare, university student Lynda Ur. Zizek and also Media Research. The individual in the beginning does not have any want to harm another dude in reference to his “grey and also ageing teeth. Good fellas are the ones “carrying the actual fire” when “bad guys” are generally communicated while not really, simply because they have got various moral standards; 1 together with meaning realistic look, the other, meaningful relativism.

Electronic reference

Your Boy’s stubborn belief within the presence of different “good guys” is actually established correct in the event the papa perishes, recommending of which within all those few good souls resides a new wish for humanity. Within the terrifying however afraid design in this eldritch being, mcdougal represents the complicated mental health struggles that frequently do-it-yourself torture his protagonists: concern, fearfulness, or even nasty resignation. The actual youngster affects him or her right subsequently wanting to know as long as they remained as eligible to is the “good guys” and calmly makes clear in which, “love can certainly yet stimulate that which might be recognized further than language” (Barrera 1-3). The Training associated with Wrong use: Rugged Consumerism inside Contemporary American Culture. The catastrophe around Children involving Men is definitely none ready down the road, not offers the idea presently occurred.

Part A pair of) Just how do the characters’ fundamental companies connected with “the man” in addition to “the boy” impact the means the reader concerns these individuals? Concentrating on the particular novel’s dystopian “catastrophism,” a article will certainly further more check out it is relation to its temporality, history, and also the potential. Julie Sedivy offers trained linguistics and also mindsets in Dark brown College and the College or university involving Calgary, and is this writer of Words under consideration: A review of Psycholinguistics. The Youngster shows the individual to recognize an aspect with humanness from the wanderers that travel the damaging path, such as the criminal who seem to selfishly will take their particular property rather then demanding assistance. Jameson, Fredric.

1. Introduction

New york city: Scribner, 2002. 8 With regards to initially my dilemma, it is actually thus hardly any sovereign energy within The Road that induce your unsafe reputation connected with refugees moving about; it is vitally our planet by itself, which will seems to be in a state of entire rot, getting lost the majority of it has the methods in addition to possibilities. Cambridge as well as London: Stanford UP, 2012. Cooper additionally recognizes something fundamentally mind-blowing inside the Child, which is a good remedy towards the ubiquitous ashes, some sort of dismal graphic metaphor for your “coalesced suffering” of the world (s. To illustrate, Fisher attracts special focus to Alfonso Cuaron’s sci-fi episode Children regarding Men, a show that will came out in 2006, the identical calendar year through which The Road ended up being publicized.Thirty Naturally, to evaluate McCarthy’s The Road using a film such as Children involving Men is actually difficult for a variety of reasons. He recognizes a plain comparison amongst words like a relatively modern ethnical advent as well as the subconscious as a possible ancient scientific process; the two are constructed from solely different textile, which is the reason, as outlined by McCarthy, the particular other than conscious is definitely “loathe to go to you.” It is “just a novice to supplying mental recommendations and is not content the process,” preferring to talk with your consciousness inside images as well as metaphors.

This wording is within a Inventive Commons license : Attribution-Noncommercial 2.A few Generic Also, water furthermore corresponds to baptism, which in turn even more court warrants the truth that this specific arena may be the “good scene” of which is inconsistent with the actual “bad scene” which emerged ahead of. In this way, the particular miniscule point on it’s own which the consume is actually described by simply the name brand appears useful in the work of fiction containing usually ended up classified by way of the general “namelessness” (Murphet 119) of their people, destinations, physical objects, and in some cases its all-pervasive catastrophe. In reality, a lot more than almost every other postwar article writer he could be identified as the heir of that quintessential Southern hair stylist, Invoice Faulkner; Madison Smartt Gong has declared McCarthy certainly one of not many creators of these studies just to walk in Faulkner’s darkness and also avoid to tell the tale. • Surface Black, Cormac McCarthy. Instead, seems like is the exclusively route left within a devastated as well as aging atmosphere notable by simply lethal physical violence as well as exploitation, causing zero viable cause of trust with no way to avoid.

Essay Theme 1

It’s within. As soon as a chimp has learned to use emblems, it doesn’t explore growing their newly received experience featuring its blogs, in contrast to individuals experience absolutely compelled to be able to. In line with a recently available estimation in the UNHCR, clearance in excess of 65 million people today worldwide are presently moving about, frequently running struggle, assault, lower income, governmental tyranny, or maybe the standard hopelessness contained in this international locations of their beginning.7 This specific to be the best number ever before in the reputation of humankind, that unquestionably seems sensible to see The Road using this backdrop, and thus ascribing them with present-day political significance. The best way Neoliberalism Lasted the actual Economic Meltdown. They ought to be less inconstant when compared with ambitions. The Stop in history as well as Very last Man, his more in depth ebook about the subject, was released around ’92.

Electronic reference

Absolutely, depending on boy’s with the exceptional father’s self-identification because those that “carry the hearth,” there is a wish to retain selected “forms” in addition to “ceremonies” that can help to help at the least support your memory regarding civilized life9-a task, on the other hand, which will turns into more and more challenging to achieve, to get, as being the narrator makes clear, a “names of things [are] bit by bit right after those actions into oblivion” (McCarthy 90). During this world the spot that the daddy inserted the house that has been lived on by way of inmates, the dad did not opt for the enable them to. Related, next, to your mentioning of these two protagonists’ “grocery cart” (McCarthy Three) in early stages within the fresh, the particular might connected with Coca-Cola is an piece which considerably helps the reader’s alignment in time and also living space, reconnecting The Road‘s post-apocalyptic wilderness with all the perspective of late capitalism as well as American purchaser customs. Mostly, The Orchard Keeper is presented with similar stylistic tics that that will Harold Bloom could afterwards commemorate inside Blood Meridian while, to explain, probably the most extraordinary U . Children regarding Men (2006). 18 As part of his study your “practice with misuse” throughout National client traditions, coursework writing service online Raymond Malewitz makes a equivalent controversy.

3 During Usa history, positive photographs plus symbols of movability amount to a key area of ethnic discussion, covering anything from the most conventional national mythology to your desire to have significant possibilities. Sanchez, Do. A kid comes up with them immediately after asking if they remained as qualified for being the “good guys” and gently clarifies that, “love may nevertheless call to mind that which can be well-known beyond language” (Barrera 1-3). Now, he or she is choosing a new postdoctoral undertaking within the cultural and efficient dimensions of the brand new capitalism. Part A pair of) How can a characters’ basic companies regarding “the man” plus “the boy” change the technique you concerns these individuals? Our god was just talked about at the end of a novel (leaving to one side he expressing “Oh God” in numerous moments) in the event the youngster and some women fulfilled: Women as soon as the woman spotted him or her placed the girl forearms about him plus presented them. When he is situated in jail awaiting their phrase, they’re stopped at by way of a fiercely dependable preteen kid exactly who he’s got consumed underneath his / her mentoring, in addition to who is dad he’s unintentionally slaughtered.

2.Just one The particular Man

As the daddy talks about: “Okay implies acceptable. The big apple: Macmillan, 1907. This over stated claims of sophistication this is connected with the bride and groom through the risky ethical geography of the story tends to make The Road fiction with regards to the survival involving strength plus hope-of this soul-rather as compared with of lifestyle themselves. Worldwide Photographs.

2 Find particularly Aglietta (2002).

11 This saying possesses from time to time ended up assigned to Slavoj Zizek, with regard to in the documentary video by 2004 they ohydrates (. )

1 See Trilling’s article variety The Generous Imagination (1950). The term “neoliberal imagination” m (. )

15 Notice Berardi: “A new utopia seemed within the last few years of the millennium that will dependable from the futur (. )

22 View, for instance, Chapter 7 with Postmodernism, Or even, This Societal Reasoning recently Capitalism (1991), “U (. )

13 Observe Fukuyama: “And as we are at this point for a place where we simply can’t visualize a community greatly various (. )

In truth, in every involving his / her twenty novels McCarthy offers confirmed a strong being addicted the exceptional, critical occasions when individuals have the choices that may specify their particular everyday life always. With this fixation about the previous, The Road appears to display Franco “Bifo” Berardi’s prospect of “the finish of the future.” As Berardi clarifies, while using the start of this neoliberal era, this future-orientation of gradual modernity has started to be replaced by what exactly he terms and conditions a new “dystopian imagination” (18), upset just because of the unexplained utopianism with cyberculture, which usually nowadays, on the other hand, features dropped most of it has the future-optimism in addition to destination also.15 Within The Road, it’s possible to remember that period will most certainly not halt, but that the thought of the longer term have just about wholly disappeared. The Summa Theologica with St . Sheehan claims that “although there is a surfeit of non secular allusions submitting a interstices in the book, your problems they boost about religion along with notion acquire a a lot more critically aimed political alignment because the account shows up.” Sheehan takes The Road regarding “Western worries of violence plus fanaticism,” together with latest ideas regarding refugees and out of place people, finding out McCarthy’s dude and youngster to get “refugees, seeking asylum with the soil alone, vainly unsightly pitting by themselves contrary to the deceased seed covering be the depleted biosphere.” James, P.Deb.

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BUYER BEWARE: the catalog for “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” the upcoming blockbuster-to-be from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and motive for Vogue magazine’s “Met Ball,” contains no notes on fashion. Instead, the curators have preferred to talk about the exhibition’s theme of Camp. The catalog is divided into two discrete, mint-colored books, both of which are strapped into a handsome pink leather-bound case. The design is pure confection, as if the macaron purveyor Ladurée decided to extend its reach into the graphic arts. Book I of the set, entitled “Camp,” is arranged in a conventional codex format (pages collated along their left-most edges) and reads like the catalog for a much vaster art historical survey of the Camp concept. Rather ingeniously, the curators have traced Camp’s history all the way back to the classical canon of the beau idéal — the longstanding reverence in Western art for heroic, ephebic beauty — and they then follow the term’s development up until the triumph of Pop Art in the ’60s. As the exhibition’s title makes plain, the catalog’s authors have drawn heavily from Susan Sontag’s influential essay “Notes on ‘Camp’” (1964), which is reprinted at the end of this first volume.

By contrast, Book II of the catalog, “Notes on Fashion,” looks more like a luxury notepad (pun likely intended) than it does a museum catalog. Composed of stiff sheets of cardstock with golden versos bound along their upper-most edges, Book II’s pages contain glossy photos (occasionally as foldouts) of contemporary, ostensibly Camp-inspired garments. In his introduction to this second book, the Costume Institute’s curator Andrew Bolton declares that “Sontag’s voice can be heard more as an echo in Book II [and that o]ther voices of post-Sontagian ‘camp criticism’ can also be heard.” This is a peculiar way of phrasing things, since it downplays how literally Book II makes use of “echoes.” After Bolton’s two-page remarks, the only other descriptive texts found in this volume are image captions, copyright information, and a series of pilfered quotes from Sontag and later critics of Camp, each of which serves as the epigraph for an individual garment or a pair of them. Readers can decide for themselves whether these text/image matchups improve upon the various listicles already available online for free.

One wishes that the exhibition’s curatorial team had been daring enough to match Sontag’s source text with its own “Notes on Fashion.” The ambition alone would represent a marked improvement on Book II’s folly. Like Camp, fashion also bears a minor relationship to the history of art and style, at least as one typically encounters this history arranged in major museums like the Met. This minor status has led to a certain defensiveness on the part of the Costume Institute’s curators, evidence for which can be found in Bolton’s repeated claims on behalf of fashion’s dignity in Andrew Rossi’s 2016 film, The First Monday in May. Bolton’s best shows to date have made his convictions appear as if they were self-evident. For this reason, his real curatorial triumph was not his much-celebrated Alexander McQueen retrospective, “Savage Beauty,” but rather his “Manus x Machina” show from 2016, which presented contemporary fashion as a complex of cultural techniques that were first codified by French philosophes in the Encyclopédie. In this earlier show, the historical gap between the exhibition’s 18th-century source text and the majority of its presented content made perfect sense. Contemporary designers are not just inspired by old-fashioned techniques of feathering and beading. Many still practice them. Haute couture names the prestige of outmoded labor relations.

Unlike “Manus x Machina,” “Camp: Notes on Fashion” appears to hang much more heavily on the enigmatic appeal of its organizing concept. This approach to fashion is, ultimately, a self-defeating one, since it awards clothing with an art historical value extrinsically, as the mute content of style. Without furnishing any explicit criteria for evaluating contemporary garments in relation to Camp, the catalog also leaves the exhibition vulnerable to an uninteresting, yet ultimately fair critique. “That’s not even Camp.” Worse still, it casts fashion in a position of chronic belatedness, with iconographically overloaded dresses functioning as the wearable reception history of some cultural zeitgeist better observed, or, as in the case of Camp, read elsewhere.

What a shame, too, that the catalog offered contemporary designers no space for sustained reflection on Camp’s continued meaningfulness for their own work. At least this appeal to authorship would have saved the exhibited clothing from being reduced to emblems of some cultural critic’s earlier aperçu. Finally, the catalog opens the curators up to accusations of bad faith, of, say, the outsize influence of their corporate sponsor, Gucci, whose designs (at least those printed in “Camp”) appear tailor-made to the book’s own. Readers of this catalog will still be obliged to answer the show’s underlying questions for themselves. What does Camp mean today? And what does Camp mean in the context of fashion?

This leads me to an even more disappointing aspect of the “Camp” catalog: its inability to decide how best to build from Susan Sontag’s legacy. This indecision is apparent in Fabio Cleto’s essay, “The Spectacles of Camp,” which waffles uneasily between an over-identification with the late critic’s “Notes” and a will to establish a so-called “post-Sontagian” criticism of Camp. On the one hand, Cleto’s essay depends so literally on Sontag’s original language that it occasionally fails to recognize its own debts. Here is Cleto, tracing the term to Christopher Isherwood’s The World in the Evening: “In 1954, at the time of the novel’s publication, ‘camp’ […] had hardly ever broken into print.” And here is Sontag: “Apart from a lazy two-page sketch in Christopher Isherwood’s novel The World in the Evening (1954), [Camp] has hardly broken into print.”

On the other hand, Cleto’s essay offers original interpretations of Camp, but does so at times through misrepresentations of Sontag’s thinking. In one telling instance, Cleto claims that Sontag distinguished between Camp as a mode of perception “being prominently ‘in the eye of the beholder,’” and Camp as a conscious mode of performance. But in the passage cited by Cleto, Sontag was claiming that “not everything can be seen as Camp. It’s not all in the eye of the beholder.” Unlike Cleto, Sontag distinguished between a “Camp way of looking at things,” which is wholly (not “prominently”) subjective, and a Camp “quality discoverable in objects and the behavior of persons,” which isn’t. The eye of the beholder is ultimately irrelevant in determinations of “campy movies, clothes, furniture, popular songs, novels, people, buildings.” If they can’t be Camp, then they can’t be Camp. For Sontag,“[t]he Camp eye has the power to transform experience,” but not its objects. Her cited note thus collapses the distinction that Cleto develops between Camp vision and Camp performance. One becomes the conscious execution of the other.

Where Cleto’s essay really shines is in its cultural history of the “camp craze” of the 1960s. His sharp retelling of this period style makes his contribution a worthwhile read. What remains unexplained, however, is why Sontag’s essay remains intellectually (as opposed to just historiographically) indispensable for our current discussions of Camp. My own opinion is that Sontag’s true achievement in “Notes” lies less in her text’s relation to the history of art than it does in its contribution to the history of taste and sensibility, which is to say within a speculative tradition of aesthetics.

¤

The Camp sensibility takes traditional judgments of taste from behind. As Sontag writes, “Camp taste turns its back on the good-bad axis of ordinary aesthetic judgment.” Many readers of Sontag and many of the academic partisans of Camp cited in Cleto’s essay (though, irony this, not many genuine Camps) have since taken this statement to describe a critical ethics or anthropology of taste. Camp, they believe, constitutes a form of parodic subversion. (Think of Judith Butler writing about the art of drag.) Nothing could be further from Sontag’s meaning. “Camp doesn’t reverse things,” she writes, “It doesn’t argue that the good is bad, or the bad is good. What it does is to offer for art (and life) a different — a supplementary — set of standards.” Camp does not challenge judgments of taste. It supplements them.

As a sensibility, then, Camp describes a universal receptivity to aesthetic experience beyond our pre-given sets of standards for judgment; as a style, Camp composes this same aesthetic beyond into works of art (or life); as a taste, which Sontag defines as a consistent sensibility, Camp names a peculiar aestheticist discipline: the formalism of the too much or the well, why not? Camp aestheticism is peculiar because it still entails an appreciation for art’s sake, but does so even in absence of aestheticism’s conventional predicate: art. “[S]eeing the world as an aesthetic phenomenon,” Camp seems to filter the wrong objects or at least too many of them through the Kantian dictate of “purposiveness without purpose.” (Ex: “stag movies seen without lust.”) Whereas we might ordinarily imagine an art critic to face off with a work of art, to deliver his judgment, and then imperiously to strike all offenses to good taste from his consciousness, a Camp finds reason to prolong aesthetic experience, preferring to persist in contemplating so-called bad objects rather than to dispense with them.

A newer cohort of Camp theorists has come much closer to appreciating this sensibility for its passivity with respect to critical judgment. Taking their inspiration from the writings of the late literary critic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, these students of affect have re-construed Camp as a form of individual or collective reparation, as opposed to the earlier model of queer sabotage. Camp, according to Sedgwick, teaches us “the many ways selves and communities succeed in extracting sustenance from the objects of a culture — even a culture whose avowed desire has often been not to sustain them.” Though Sedgwick’s account is no doubt appealing in its rhetoric of care, it is also perfectly mistaken. What could be less Camp, for instance, than the deflating re-description of works of art as “objects of culture”? More troubling still, valuing Camp for its therapeutic vampirism (sustenance extraction) transforms an aesthetic sensibility — i.e., an idealistic and idealizing receptivity to art’s purposelessness — into an expressly weak form of utilitarianism. Sontag knew better. “The dandy held a perfumed handkerchief to his nostrils and was liable to swoon; the connoisseur of Camp sniffs the stink and prides himself on his strong nerves.” A Camp does not extract sustenance from a culture inimical to his flourishing. Instead, he aesthetically refines his own masochistic affections. “Camp,” after all, “is a tender feeling.”

Critical writings on Camp — my own, of course, included — always risk disappointment. Sontag took an even stronger stance. “To talk about Camp is to betray it.” The most straightforward way to interpret this betrayal would be to read Sontag as describing a problem of over-exposure. By mainstreaming a seemingly esoteric sensibility, Sontag would in effect be killing it. However, “Notes on ‘Camp’” offers plausible reasons to reject any reduction of Camp — including, of course, Sontag’s own — to “something of a private code.” Pure Camp, at least as Sontag describes it, is nothing like a game that can be given away because Camp is precisely the art of giving the game away. “The pure examples of Camp are unintentional; they are dead serious. The Art Nouveau craftsman who makes a lamp with a snake coiled around it is not kidding, nor is he trying to be charming. He is saying, in all earnestness: Voilà! the Orient!” The genuine Camp “can only, whatever his intention, exhibit [his sensibility.]” This returns us to the central problem of Book II in the Met’s catalog. Camp fashion requires no critic’s quotes, because Camp is already clothed “in quotation marks.”

And if Camp has nothing to hide, then Sontag’s betrayal must be interpreted otherwise. The more appropriate way to understand the term’s meaning for her text would be to follow the critic’s express intentions and to allow for form to triumph over content. Sontag always considered herself to be a serious writer, which meant for her that her essays ought to be judged first and foremost as writings. “Style is everything.” Nothing would have been more embarrassing than to have criticized Christopher Isherwood’s 1954 account of Camp for its laziness, only to pen an essay of no greater literary distinction. (It isn’t as if Sontag disagrees with Isherwood about what Camp means.) The truly indefensible betrayal of Camp, then, is mediocrity. “When something is just bad (rather than Camp), it’s often because it is too mediocre in its ambition.” Ultimately, Sontag penned her “Notes” in the hopes that her “betrayal [could] be defended.” If she had to corrupt Camp by making too much sense of it, at least she would not do so with middling prose.

The author appears to have suffered from something like the New Critic’s fear of paraphrase, or the skeptical belief that any critical interpretation of art must necessarily constitute an act of aesthetic disloyalty. As a result, she composed “Notes on ‘Camp’” as notes (as opposed to a more conventional essay format) so that she might avoid “producing a very inferior piece of Camp.” However, once the reader begins to compare the critic’s original “Notes” with those various citations of Oscar Wilde that she intersperses among them, it becomes difficult to arrive at any other judgment. Her text achieves almost nothing of her literary hero’s aphoristic concision. Wanting to get Camp just right, Sontag ended up “jotting” down a series of intricate qualifications. (“The ultimate Camp statement: it’s good because it’s awful … Of course, one can’t always say that.”)

In other words, the closer Sontag comes to representing Camp’s logic in all of its nuance, the more her text falls out of step with Camp form. The writer’s “Notes” emerged from a phobic conflict in her own sensibility, which she described as a “deep sympathy [for Camp] modified by revulsion.” She wanted her essay to be edifying — to help herself and her readers come to terms with Camp — but she also rightly knew that this sensibility had no such practical motivation. Pure camp is in essence “a seriousness that fails,” which Sontag the serious writer could never fully abide. With “Notes,” Sontag may have betrayed Camp defensibly by refusing to betray it herself. It’s just too bad that so many of Sontag’s readers lack her same feeling for treachery.

¤

Banner Image: Bertrand Guyon (French, born 1965) for House of Schiaparelli (French, founded 1927). Ensemble, fall/winter 2018–19 haute couture. Courtesy of Schiaparelli. Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019

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Alex Weintraub is an art historian and critic based in New York City. He earned his PhD from Columbia University’s Department of Art History and Archaeology.

The post Betraying Camp appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

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Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #1

I'm genuinely surprised DC didn't fuck up the title and call it "Black Lightening."

Is Black Lightning insulting news weathermen?

I'm not entirely sure what calling yourselves The Weathermen has to do with your mental development being stalled at obvious (and whether or not that actually means anything). Is it because Black Lightning thinks weathermen just stick their hand out of the window and report on what they felt as if nobody else in the local area can do that? So when they say, "It's raining," Black Lightning goes, "Duh! Why did I need you to tell me that!" But they also forecast the weather and that's not obvious to the general layperson, Mr. Lightning! I mean, sure, they're not always right. But when they say storms are expected in three days when it's completely sunny, I wouldn't characterize that as obvious! Maybe I'm just rushing to judgment based on one bad one-liner from Black Lightning. I mean, it's entirely possible that I just don't get the reference. Was there a young adult book recently called The Weathermen about a group of people who were super obvious? Oh! That gives me an idea how this moment could have been improved. The gang could have called themselves The Young Adult Novels because then the mental development being stalled at obvious crack would have made sense! What Young Adult novel in the last ten years hasn't been about a young person who sees through the lie of society and winds up being super special and unique? During the battle, the police watch the criminals blast a hunk of the casino's side off the building so that it will plummet to the ground, endangering everybody standing around filming the incident with their phones. Black Lightning diverts the sign using an "electromagnetic thing" so that the sign falls on a SWAT van instead of on people. The police react appropriately for a comic book (and maybe real life too?):

I didn't know politely and reasonably explaining reality to an enraged police officer with his gun in your face allows you to simply walk away safely. Has anybody actually tried this?!¹

The man behind the Weathermen is Tobias Whale. Not the weird Tobias Whale from DC Universe Presents Black Lightning and Blue Devil. That was his nephew and he's dead now. This is the real Tobias Whale who is really into the whale theme. He has a picture of whales on his office wall, he kills his sister with a model whaling ship, and he has assistants named Queequeg and Pequod. I bet I know what he calls his penis.

Apparently there's a race war happening in the DC Universe.²

Black Lightning's first appearance in town in years is heroic. He helps stop some criminals from hurting people. But as soon as he arrives, the bad guys change their tactics from robbing places to getting back at the superhero. So once again, lazy writing proves that the city would be better off without Black Lightning having come back. Because at least if Black Lightning didn't show, the danger would be over until the next robbery. Now the criminals have come right back out to challenge him or they're going to hurt innocent civilians. I'm beginning to think superheroes should all be more like The Punisher. If you're known for murdering the fuck out of a criminal, the criminals are going to be less likely to call you out. Although being comic books, even that line of reasoning can be flushed down the toilet. I'm sure there are plenty of Punisher stories where the criminal syndicates are all, "Big money for the person who bags The Punisher!" Then war erupts all over New York and thousands of people die but The Punisher isn't one of them. In the end, he kills all of the bad guys who were out to kill him and the reader is supposed to enjoy that ending while ignoring how many innocent people died during a conflict that wouldn't have happened if The Punisher didn't exist.

And there it is! Instead of being an inspiration to the people of the city, the hero is written as a pariah and a harbinger of doom.³

Black Lightning arrives on the scene to help out the cops and to come out of the closet.

I mark the boundary of my loss of innocence as the day I suddenly couldn't stop giggling at the phrase "back door."

Black Lightning takes down the criminals easily but then Tobias Whale's assistant, Miss Pequod, zaps them to death so it looks like he electrocuted them. Everybody believes it immediately and now Black Lightning is on the run. I hope next issue introduces a cigar chomping news editor who wants Black Lightning taken down while also demanding photographs of him in action for the paper. Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #1 Rating: As for the quality of the writing on a technical level, it wasn't bad. But as a comic book that decided it didn't mind using all of the dumb comic book tropes where the good guy winds up being wanted by the non-powered good guys, it also wasn't bad. I mean that if I had to rate it on using those tropes, I'd have to say, "9 out of 10 Stars! It used all the terrible tropes!" But I don't actually mean it that way, do I? I was beginning to have a little hope for this series until that moment when Black Lightning was framed. Why the fuck do comic book creators think the best way to tell a superhero story is to have all the regular good people against the super powered good person? So dumb. ______________________________________________________________ ¹Do not actually try this! Unless you're a white male. And then you don't even have to be polite or reasonable! ²Unless it's a war between good looking people and dumpy, average people. ³I think I have Crisis on Infinite Earths on my brain.