#Main Features of Perpetual Futures

[intelisync]

Unlocking Perpetual Futures Contracts: Essential 2024 Guide for Beginners

Are you ready to take your trading to the next level with a financial instrument that offers endless opportunities and flexibility?

Perpetual futures contracts have emerged as a revolutionary tool in the trading arena, particularly for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. These contracts, unlike traditional futures, do not have an expiration date, allowing traders to hold positions indefinitely. This feature provides a significant advantage, enabling continuous trading and the ability to take advantage of long-term market trends. The funding rate mechanism, which periodically adjusts to keep contract prices in line with the spot prices of the underlying assets, ensures a balanced and fair trading environment.

Leverage is a key feature of perpetual futures contracts, allowing traders to control larger positions with a smaller capital investment. This can significantly amplify profits, but also poses a risk of larger losses, making risk management a crucial aspect of trading these contracts. The real-time mark-to-market settlement process adjusts traders' margin balances continuously, ensuring that gains and losses are promptly accounted for. This mechanism helps prevent sudden liquidations and keeps traders informed about their margin requirements.

Despite the numerous benefits, perpetual futures come with their own set of risks, including market volatility and fluctuating funding rates. Traders must have a solid understanding of these risks and employ effective strategies to mitigate them.

Intelisync, a pioneer in blockchain technology and exchange development, offers advanced solutions to enhance the security and functionality of perpetual futures trading. Explore how Intelisync can enhance your trading experience and provide the tools you need to succeed in the dynamic world of perpetual futures.

Discover how Intelisync can transform your trading journey and provide you with the tools needed to succeed in the dynamic world of perpetual futures. Contact Intelisync today! Ready to revolutionize your trading journey? Contact Intelisync today and Learn more....

[iceunhie]

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ⊹ unexpected development ! ꒱ ˎˊ˗

summary ⁠☆ you get transported into your favorite otome game’s world as a shitty side character with a raging death flag. you try to prevent your inevitable destruction... but it doesn't go according to plan as much as you'd hope.

notes ☆ of course it's another scaramouche fic except this time it's plot is manhwa inspired

“This trashy game!” you curse, watching the pitch black GAME OVER screen linger in your phone. Happy music plays despite the current cg of your character at the hands of the tyrant character slash love interest Scaramouche. You sigh, tapping on the back button. “I was so close to completing his route… stupid, stupid game, ugh…”

Teyvat’s Seven Stars was a new otome game that you'd tried out for fun, bored out of your mind. The amazing art and soundtrack garnered your interest, not to mention the male leads were totally your type!

It had an array of tropes and spared no expense of flowery scenes and fanservicey excerpts that made you play despite its massive cashgrab feature. Heart fluttering near death scenes! Action packed romantic scenes with the main characters! It was consuming you and you loved it.

Even if the Scaramouche route was testing your patience.

You get that he was the most difficult to conquer out of all of them, but really, one! wrong! move! ….and an immediate gameover. Life sucks when he's your favorite character, and when your favorite character was notoriously known for having a horrid and difficult complete clear route that no one has completed yet, of course you needed to complete it, no matter what!

Damn it, now you've run out of love points to restart another run. Fuck you, system! Stupid trashy money grabbing game! You put down your phone, closing it. An immediate heavy weight settles on your shoulders, making you feel sleepy as you clutch your phone to bed.

Tomorrow… you'll complete his route for sure…

[ TEYVAT’S SEVEN STARS SYSTEM ACTIVATED! RUNNING GAME FILE NOW ]

Ah. You should've known what was coming.

—

[ CHARACTER FILE: [NAME] [LAST NAME] - CROWN PRINCE KUNIKUZUSHI’S BETROTHED! ]

What the fuck.

You think you've lost feeling in your jaw when the glare of the system shines bright, mocking you.

“[Name], you're awake!” You turn to the sound, and you face probably the most beautiful person you've ever seen. No, what the hell. You've seen him before.

Beautiful silky dark hair, glossy electric indigo eyes, a perpetual aura of ethereal lightness…. the game descriptions weren't lying after all. yes, you weren't dreaming. This was Scaramouche, or should you say at this point in time… Kunikuzushi?

He immediately clings to you. Oh. Oh. Well fuck. “I… uh.”

Scara- ahem, Kunikuzushi’s eyes are littered with tears and oh no you're a weak hearted person for your favorite character. “I'm so glad you're okay! I'm sorry, my mother- I mean, I'm so glad you're okay.”

The rest of the moments is a blur when your… fiance? betrothed? fills you in on what happened. Your mind is fuzzy and you can only piece together just a rough summary of what point in the game you're in.

So, you are currently three years early from the main story. Unfortunately, you are not either of the main protagonists Lumine or Aether. No, the system apparently hates you for being a hater and gave you the most egregious role.

A side character. A side character who barely even appears in the story, left to be trampled on by the story's plot. What's more, you're in the timeline wherein the current Kunikuzushi doesn't take the name Scaramouche because his Mother, the lone Queen Raiden Ei left him when he could not pass the Inazuma kingdom’s test to be worthy of the gnosis.

He took the name Scaramouche after being trained by the shady organization known as the Fatui, the main villainous force in the game and usurped his mother. In other words, a blackened tyrant character!

...And you were the betrothed his mother set for him - executed in the future because he didn't want any trace of Ei’s influence. Amazing.

The future Kunikuzushi would be an arrogant, tsundere and soft-for-only-one-person type of character, but now, he was like a gentle, tucked away from the world young prince.

Wait…. wasn’t he also gullible before?! Very cute, but it's no wonder he blackened so quickly with such a naive personality!

You, well, technically, the character [Name] [Last Name] ended up in this situation after they threatened to leave Kunikuzushi because he was far too fragile for their taste. A side character who’d contributed to Scaramouche’s blackening and paid for it with their life. That was who you were.

Okay, now you pity this boy a lot. He already had a traumatic childhood with Ei not giving him enough love and therefore a plethora of issues, and he'd even end up being a crazy tyrant who stopped at nothing to get the main protagonist in his grasp! For your death flag not to happen, you HAD to do something about that.

You had no choice.

To survive this horrendous fate, you came up with a plan. And that would be Plan give-kunikuzushi-all-the-love-in-the-word-before-he-meets-the-protagonist-and-turn-into-a-blackened-dark-tyrant!

Okay, lengthy plan, but to plan ahead is to be smart, so you can take care of the name later.

—

So far so good, this plan of yours. Plan get-kunikuzushi-to-turn-into-a-sparkly-prince character and not his blackened self was going well! (You gave up on thinking of a cool name) Thank god for cliche romance novels.

So far, you've increased your proximity to him, including him to spend time with you, showering him with bouts of affection and care. And so far, it's been paying off. The once secluded Prince has become so cute and so sweet!

You have to pat yourself on the back for this. You were doing the protagonist a huge favor that now they had a wonderful love interest in their sights for future reference.

Although, if there was one nitpick you had on your conduct, it would be the fact that Kunikuzushi didn't take kindly to others aside from you, and would even be panicked, utterly devastated if you even brought up the mere mention of leaving.

“Break… our engagement in the future?” if it weren't for him looking shell-shocked and deathly pale, the furrow on Kunikuzushi’s face would've been cute. “No! I don't want that! You aren't planning to leave me, are you?”

He gives you the most horrendous god kneeling look of a plea, and of course you drop the subject immediately.

“It was a joke, of course. I'd never want to break our engagement!” you hurriedly reassure, gently taking his hands in yours.

Kunikuzushi looks at you, all puppy eyes and pink cheeks. So cute. Who wouldn't want to stay by his side? You reassure him, “Whatever happens, I'll always stay by your side, okay?”

He looks at your intertwined hands with an unreadable expression on his face. “Do you promise?”

You nod. “I promise, Kuni.”

He nods, gripping your hands tighter, and his expression rivals a blazing sun, brimming with conviction as he pulls you in for a huge hug.

And of course, who wouldn't turn down an opportunity to hug their favorite character?

Surely this time, you’ll definitely escape the death flag and horrendous side character ending, right?!

You don't notice the shadow on Kuni’s face when the mere mention of being separated from you comes up.

In the back of your mind, you wonder what would happen if your Kunikuzushi met the protagonist. Would he immediately fall for them? you wonder, and an uncharacteristic pang of discomfort tugs at your chest. Ah, what would it matter.

You smile at the gentle, pristine and kind Kunikuzushi that's currently excitedly telling you about how Ei praised his sword skills after he beat his younger sister. Even if the main protagonist would come here, you could keep this adorable Kunikuzushi for yourself for just a little longer.

You kiss his cheek, and he heats up. Yes, the future can wait for now.

How the hell did it come to this?

“You told me you'd always stay by my side, right?” a hand slicked with blood is resting on the side of your face. Electric indigo eyes, these ones now having a ruthless glint to them, stare up at your own. “I've removed everything else that can take you away from me. Now, you have no reason to leave.”

By remove, he meant the man who'd decided to make a move on you after you went to the gardens for some fresh air. Hence the blood on his hands and sword, hence the reason why there's a dead body by your feet.

The once adorable and fair-faced Kunikuzushi still turned into Scaramouche after all, and you failed to prevent his blackening. He was truly, undoubtedly the same game Scaramouche.

But… Why was he acting like this? Wasn't this the exclusive feature only the protagonist should be experiencing?

He presses a kiss to your forehead, then the back of your palm. You blush.

Yes, he is now an extremely dangerous individual capable of executing anyone he deems appropriate to just for the sake of it, and yes, this same man is kneeling before you as you're just about to leave after the main storyline cg act just started. And yes, like the protagonist, you should stay far, far away from him.

But could you really? When he was pleading you with such an expression of longing and yearning? He takes your hand to caress it to the side of his face, eyes haughty and grin unsettling, gosh was he so… so attractive, like that.

“You won't leave, right?” Why was he so…. so sweet? Why was this scene structured as if you were the one he wanted to be with, not the protagonist? “You promised me, after all.”

….And why on earth did your heart leap out of your chest when he said he wanted you to stay?

(It was hard to pretend you didn't know why when the smile on your face said otherwise.)

1.5k words, only the real ones know that ive been planning a cliche otome game au since day 1 I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO ME WHEN I WAS WRITING THIS FIC 😭 might turn this into a series if people like this though <3

@ MHIIEEE : do not repost, copy or plagiarize or claim my content or work as your own.

[catt-nuevenor]

The Future

Time to establish what's going to happen from this point forwards.

The vast majority of you have been exceptionally patient this last year, and for that you have my deepest thanks. You've given me the time to not only write a book, but edit it, and send it off to literary agents, something I would have long given up on doing without the continued support of those who enjoy my writing.

Now that the book is off doing the rounds independently, it's time I got back to Myrk Mire.

Originally Myrk Mire was built in ChoiceScript, a scripting language created by the Choice of Games company. Choice of Games control what is done with their script, understandably, they own it. This does pose some restrictions. I can't, for example, release any paid material built using ChoiceScript unless it is directly through their publishing label. If I do publish under their label, I maintain IP or Intellectual Property Rights, however I also grant them the exclusive rights under perpetual license to publish the multiple choice game 'electronically'.

Source: Choice of Games.com

As you can see from the outline above, they do make exceptions for stories published in non-competing formats, and for sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. However, traditional publishing houses might require stricter control over IP, distribution, and exclusivity. It will only become more and more complicated as things progress, and being locked into a perpetual license agreement of any nature is not a decision to make lightly.

As some of you may be sensing from the tone of all this so far, I'm going to be moving Myrk Mire away from Choice of Games and ChoiceScript, and into a new medium/format.

After tinkering, and trialling with a few alternatives, I've decided to go with Renpy. Renpy, while largely used for visual novel style games and stories, provides a very workable framework for interactive fiction, and is an Open Source script, it isn't beholden to publishing contracts, licence cost, or exclusivity.

I'm not going to be diving into transferring Myrk Mire right away, it's a huge piece of writing, in an entirely different scripting language, and as previously stated, there are a lot of changes I want to implement with the cast. Instead, I'm creating a trial story: One Háḟest Day. My Patrons have been aware of all this for about a month or so, and have already seen some previews.

One Háḟest Day takes place in Aldmirham before the events of Myrk Mire, around the time the Main Character and the Wanderers first arrived in town. The reader will have the choice to follow one of the romanceable characters through a single day, with opportunities to explore their lives and relationships before the Main Character and Child come along. I hope it will provide a proving ground for the changes that previously caused debate, and an opportunity for people to try out the new format and interface.

My plan is to distribute One Háḟest Day through Itch.io, working with their early access framework and voluntary payments for such as soon as one of the character routes is ready to play from beginning to end, updating regularly with the other characters as they too are completed, and with additional features as required. Once the full game is complete, I will release a separate full build with a set minimum price that can be discussed with the community as we move forwards.

At the second, I'm aiming for a web hosted format and a desktop/laptop downloadable format, with phone compatibility to come later down the line once things are stable.

I will post production updates and info when I can to tumblr, though a lot of what I'm doing now is very python coding heavy, so perhaps not that interesting?

I've included some screenshots below of very early development, featuring a Character Log and Word Log that I hope will allow readers to more easily navigate the story. I'm toying with the idea of having a Mysteries Log as well that will keep track of snippets of information gleaned from each character's route, but that can be a tinkering feature for now.

Let me know your thoughts, concerns, or excitement, though do keep all messages objective and polite.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Left: A 1944 map by geologist Harold Fisk charts a 40-mile stretch of the Mississippi River from Friars Point to Gunnison, Mississippi. Fisk used aerial photos and maps to estimate the past and then-present channels. Right: By comparison, a map created using lidar shows shifts over the past 75 years. Erosion and changes in flow caused the channel to widen in the middle of the image and migrate toward the south. Source; https://www.nationalgeographic.com/.../mississippi.../

[Geomorphological Features]

* * * *

“My vessel is launched on the boundless main and my sails are spread to the wind ! In the whole of the world there is nothing that stays unchanged. All is in flux. Any shape that is formed is constantly shifting. Time itself flows steadily by in perpetual motion. Think of a river: no river can ever arrest its current, nor can the fleeting hour. But as water is forced downstream by the water behind it and presses no less on the water ahead, so time is in constant flight and pursuit, continually new. The present turns into the past and the future replaces the present; every moment that passes is new and eternally changing.”

― Ovid, Metamorphoses

[twistedtummies2]

The Price May Be Right - Number 19

Welcome to “The Price May Be Right!” I’m counting down My Top 31 Favorite Vincent Price Performances & Appearances! The countdown will cover movies, TV productions, and many more forms of media. Today’s choice might be a bit confusing. I give you two performances for the price of one, with Number 19: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”

The names of Vincent Price and Edgar Allan Poe are practically synonymous, at least in cinematic circles. While Price made many, MANY movies in his long and storied career, arguably the ones for which he became best well-known were the special movies produced by AIP for what is now referred to colloquially as “The Corman-Poe Cycle.” This was a series of eight films, all directed by Roger Corman for the company, which were based – some more loosely than others – on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Vincent was the nominal star for seven of the pictures within the octology. The only one which DIDN’T feature Price was the third film of the bunch, “The Premature Burial.”

Most of the movies in the series were treated as more or less straightforward horror films of the time. However, the one exception was the movie inspired by the great author’s most famous “Poe-m” (I am so sorry), “The Raven.” The original poem is easily one of Poe’s greatest pieces of work, telling in short verse the story of a lonely man, mourning the loss of his beloved wife, Lenore. He receives a visit from a mysterious raven, which turns out to be a supernatural harbinger of doom and despair. It’s a tragic, ambiguous, deeply perturbing poem, and still a classic to this day. Corman’s 1963 movie interpretation, however, eschews much of the pathos, as the film is actually a horror-comedy, with emphasis on the latter half of that equation. In essence, the picture is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek spoof of all the others in the eight-part series, which is sort of a clever idea. In the film, Price plays the main protagonist: Dr. Craven, a physician and ex-sorceror who, like the narrator in the poem, has seemingly lost his precious Lenore. Also like in the poem, he is visited by a talking raven…but this is about where all similarities cease, for the raven turns out to be a fellow dark wizard, by the name of Dr. Bedlo. He reveals to Craven that Lenore is apparently still alive, and in the grasp of their shared nemesis, the evil Dr. Scarabus. The two magicians thus set out on a quest to confront Scarabus, so Bedlo can get revenge on him for past humiliations, while Craven ascertains if his wife is, indeed, still breathing…and if so, what she is doing with the evil wizard. Much like “House of the Long Shadows” would do many years later, the film acts as something of a “Who’s Who?” of classic Gothic horror pictures. Not only does Price play the lead role, but the perpetually-drunk Bedlo is played by Peter Lorre, while the redoubtable Boris Karloff tackles the part of the slimy Scarabus. Future Joker and star of “The Shining,” Jack Nicholson, also appears in an early role, playing the part of the romantic interest for Craven’s daughter, who is played by the much-less-famous (but no less talented) Olive Sturgess. It’s more fun than frightening on the whole. Price’s Craven is an interesting protagonist for the story: despite being very gifted in magical arts, and coming from a long line of distinguished warlocks, he’s a very mild-mannered individual, most of the time. The film gives him a story arc of essentially growing more of a spine, as he learns to fight more fiercely against the injustices around him, and accepts his destined place in the world: an atypical hero’s journey.

All this is well and good, and the movie is definitely worth checking out, if only for the novelty of the adventure and its stellar cast. However, this was not the only time Price would tackle Poe’s Raven onscreen. Many years later, Price would get a chance to theatrically perform a reading of the original poem for a Halloween Special during the 1980s. Unfortunately, I cannot remember what the name of the special was, nor the exact year it came out: I actually tried to look it up, since I DID learn that information…but I can no longer find the source, and I sadly never wrote it down, dummy that I am. Whoops. Whatever else is in the special in question, however, it’s hard to believe much could top Price performing Poe’s greatest poem the way it was always meant to be performed.

In my opinion, Price’s reading of The Raven is the definitive interpretation of the poem. He brings the right amount of melodrama and emotion to the work, giving the Narrator a sense of both decadence and dismalness befitting the story as it happens. From his tragic nostalgia to his wonder at the appearance of the talking bird and even to his moments of desperation and spooky loss, he runs the whole gamut of the poem’s emotional breadth with marvelous aplomb. Others, such as Christopher Lee and James Earl Jones, have done masterful interpretations and readings of the poem in their own rights…but for me, Price is the eternal voice of Edgar Allan Poe’s work, and no single take on the poem has ever matched his reading for me. Bottom line: whether it’s the movie or the poem, when I think of “The Raven,” I think of Vincent Price. End of story. Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 18!

[rachelkaser]

The case for a female protagonist in Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red

Assassin’s Creed has hemmed and hawed on giving its games a solo female protagonist. Codename Red might be Ubisoft’s chance to go all-in -- if it takes the plunge. Here’s how it could work and why the developers should do it.

You know the expression, “The opposite of love isn’t hate but indifference?” The point of it is to demonstrate that lack of care is the greatest sign of love’s absence. But turn it on its side slightly, and what it’s also telling you is that love and hate can exist in the same space. I have seen no surer proof of this idiom’s truth than my own feelings towards Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series. I love it . . . oh, but how I hate it, too.

For those of you just joining us, I am a fan of the series, but I am also very critical of it. I have loved this series for almost half of my life, but its evolution and overarching story is messy at best and insultingly incoherent at worst. I accept and embrace the series as it is, while also despising it for its unrealized potential.

With that being said, and since I’ve mentioned unrealized potential, let’s talk about the future of Assassin’s Creed -- specifically, the upcoming game currently codenamed “Red.” This might be the ideal time for Ubisoft to introduce something Assassin’s Creed has avoided like it avoids the modern day storyline: A starring female protagonist. Not only are conditions for this “bold” move ideal, but I would argue the company has to do it. Let’s talk about it.

Let’s Talk About the Female Assassins

Before we go on, I know I should address the series’ existing heroines, lest anyone accuse me of not thoroughly covering my material. I’m aware that Assassin’s Creed has given us a few heroines already -- they’ve even said that the female characters are the canon leads.

However, as we talk about it, I think you’ll notice a common theme with all of these characters. I call it the Not So You’d Really Notice It effect. We’re told they’re definitely the canon characters and are important to the history of the series . . . but Not So You’d Really Notice It.

Evie Frye

The ninth game, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, was the first in the main series to feature a playable female character. Syndicate follows the adventures of twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye, who are attempting to retake London from Templar control. Now, according to the developers, Jacob and Evie were supposed to be equal co-leads in the title -- but Not So You’d Really Notice It. Jacob dominated in all of the marketing, and Evie’s story in the actual game is static and boring compared with his. She has fewer story quests -- should the player so choose (some missions you can select which twin to play), they only have to play as Evie for about 30% of the game.

To be fair, this is not just because Evie is a woman -- another factor is that Ubisoft was trying to marry its two different kinds of protagonists into one game. I mentioned this when I first reviewed the title, but traditionally AC protagonists fall into one of two camps: They’re either reserved stoics with a temperamental streak (Altair, Connor, Shay) or charismatic, flirtatious extroverts (Ezio, Edward, Arno). Ubisoft has always been better with the latter, rather than the former -- or rather, the games in which the extroverts star seem to be better received.

Ubisoft knows how to write a story starring a character like Jacob. They don’t know what to do with stiff-upper-lipped Evie besides make her perpetually irritated at Jacob. Her brother gets to undergo a whole character arc, while Evie doesn’t really get the same treatment. To reiterate, I don’t think that’s just because of her gender -- but I’m also convinced that was at least part of it.

Syndicate also hides its most interesting character in what amounts to a mini-game: Lydia Frye, a WWI-era British Assassin spy who worked alongside Winston Churchill. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better hook for a character anywhere in the series, but Lydia is only in about an hour of the game, total. I would love for Ubisoft to make a game about her, but I know how likely that is to happen.

Aya, a.k.a. Amunet

In the next game, Origins, Ubisoft decided to change up the formula slightly by making the protagonist an older, married father. Bayek is himself a breath of fresh air, having a different motivation than other protagonists and not really fitting the previous templates. He’s assisted in his quest by his wife, Aya. She’s supposed to also be pursuing vengeance for their murdered son . . . but Not So You’d Really Notice.

Hold onto something, because this might just give you the vapors: Aya was originally supposed to be the main playable character in Origins. According to a Bloomberg report, the original plan for the game was to sideline Bayek early (it’s not exactly stated how) and for Aya to take over. However, if this Bloomberg report is to be believed, Aya was slowly pushed to the margins over the course of development.

You can see traces of this in the final game, as there are a few sequences where you play as Aya. She’s off on her own quest to avenge her son’s death, at least at first. One problem with her diminished role in the game is that her motivations are incredibly difficult to follow. She’s out for revenge, up until the moment she meets Cleopatra, with whom she becomes smitten and flips on a dime. She’s given some more screentime in the DLC, which I assume was because the higher-ups were no longer paying as close attention.

Kassandra

Out of all the female characters in Assassin’s Creed, Kassandra is probably the best-received. I’ve yet to hear anyone say they dislike her or, worse, are indifferent to her. While I only have anecdotal evidence, I’ve heard that some people who’ve never played Assassin’s Creed before jumped aboard because they wanted to play as this dry-witted, badass Amazon woman.

According to the aforementioned report, Odyssey was also originally conceived of with a solo female protagonist -- Kassandra. Her brother, Alexios, was in the game, but he was presumably consigned the role of villain Deimos. Eventually this morphed into the version of the game we have now, where the two are interchangeable protagonists, and whomever isn’t selected is Deimos. According to Ubisoft and Odyssey’s novelization, Kassandra is the canonical Eagle-Bearer -- but Not So You’d Really Notice It.

To be clear, the Assassin’s Creed meta-narrative is that a modern-day person is reliving the life of an historical figure via genetic memories. Having two distinct people who could be the protagonist doesn’t really work... at all. It’s not the only concession Odyssey makes in an effort to be more like an RPG, but it’s probably the one that requires the biggest break from established series conventions.

Eivor

This brings us to the most recent game, Valhalla, which once again features a man and a woman sharing the throne. In this case, they’ve ditched the idea that they’re separate people and just made them a single person named Eivor. You can choose to play as a male or female version of the character.

Eivor is a Viking warrior who departs Norway with their brother Sigurd and founds a settlement in England. They’re eventually drawn into the apparently eternal battle between the covert forces of chaos (the Assassins) and the oppressive forces of order (the Templars). It’s not helped by mysterious stranger (and future protagonist) Basim attempting to manipulate both Eivor and Sigurd.

Just like Kassandra, Female Eivor is the canonical character. Male Eivor is actually the Norse God Havi. Eivor is his reincarnation and thus shares his DNA. Once again, you can tell that the female character is supposed to have been the lead here: Eivor is a female name. The in-game character selection gives players the option to “Let the Animus decide” which makes Female Eivor the Viking-era protagonist but Male Eivor the Asgard-era protagonist.

WTF, Ubisoft?

As you can see, Ubisoft has come very, very close to having a female protagonist lead one of its titles. But every time it’s come close, it’s choked at the concept stage, throwing in a male protagonist as a preemptive tonic. Why did this take place?

Apparently the directives to change all of these games from women-led to shared adventures or male-led came from the marketing department or Ubisoft CCO Serge Hascoët. Both claimed that games led by female characters wouldn’t sell. The report doesn’t say whether that same thought process applied to Valhalla, but I think I can assume so.

To be fair to Ubisoft, that presumption may not have been too far off. According to director Scott Phillips, the majority of Odyssey players chose Alexios, though he added that their popularity was about even in playtesting. But I take that with a grain of salt -- the entire games industry has historically been gun-shy about female protagonists and gives them much less marketing than they might otherwise receive.

I’m not even going to dedicate much space to Assassin’s Creed: Chronicles, which gave separate episodes to some peripheral Assassins of history. The China episode is led by Shao Jun, but I can’t exactly give Ubisoft props for that -- for one, she’s sharing the spotlight with Arbaaz Mir and Nikolai Orelov. For two, Chronicles is an offshoot game that got precisely zero marketing compared with the mainline titles.

The only character in the franchise so far who has carried a game entirely on her own is poor Aveline de Grandpre, the protagonist of Liberation. Honestly, Liberation is so unusual compared with the rest of the series that I have to believe it was a fluke. It had to have been made while Ubisoft higher-ups were looking the other way -- and given that it was originally a PlayStation Vita exclusive, I wouldn’t have blamed them for not paying attention.

Also, I want to be clear that I bear the male protagonists in these games no ill will at all. Jacob is a glorious himbo; Bayek is complex and original; Alexios has some of the series’ best voice acting; and Male Eivor is an awesome Viking warrior, and we can never have enough of those. I love this series’ badass men. I just want them to stay in their own games to give the badass women a chance to shine.

Forward to the Past

With all of this history, let’s talk about what the future holds for Assassin’s Creed. We already know that the next game in the series is Assassin’s Creed Mirage, set in 9th Century Baghdad. It’ll star Basim, the mysterious stranger from Valhalla. No female counterpart, but he will have a female mentor character, a Persian Hidden One (precursor to Assassins) named Roshan. Funnily enough, Roshan got almost as much focus in the reveal as Basim, most likely because she’s voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo.

Other than Mirage, Ubisoft is working on games codenamed “Jade” and “Hexe.” Jade is a mobile RPG with a customizable player character set in ancient China -- doesn’t interest me much, seems designed to capture the Chinese mobile audience. “Hexe” is a cipher, and we have no details about it from which I could speculate on what kind of story to expect.

The game I wish to focus on is Codename Red, which Ubisoft announced during its big show earlier this year. Codename Red is the fulfilment of a longtime fandom wish: An Assassin’s Creed game set in historical Japan. Players have been asking for this because its such an obvious fit for the series mandate: The fictional Assassins and the historical ninja are obviously simpatico, and Japan has a number of points in its history where the traditional Assassin vs Templar narrative would fit perfectly.

So far we don’t know much about the game. According to the trailer, it’s set in “Feudal Japan” (which could be anywhere within a roughly 500-year period), it’ll have the action-RPG gameplay of Odyssey and Valhalla, and it’ll let players live a “shinobi fantasy.” That’s all we’ve got to work with, outside of rumors.

Now let me explain why this game should have -- nay, cries out for a female shinobi to lead.

The Land of the Rising Sun

Ubisoft has used Japan as a setting in the expanded AC universe, most notably in the French novel Blade of Aizu and in Memories the card game -- yes, Assassin’s Creed had a digital card game. The latter revealed that the Assassins established a Brotherhood in Japan during the Sengoku Period by allying with the country’s ninja, including Hattori Hanzo.

Let me paint a picture of the kind of female character we’d have if Ubisoft actually moved forward with this idea. We’ll call her “Akane” for reference. Suppose that we start in feudal Japan -- perhaps slightly before the age of Hattori Hanzo, but still within the Sengoku Period -- and Akane is a young merchant, perhaps someone who participates in the burgeoning trade with newly arrived Europeans. One day something happens that almost makes her a casualty in this time of upheaval -- I leave it to those who are more well-versed in Japanese history to say what.

Akane obtains a Hidden Blade, either from one of her European friends, or perhaps a member of the Chinese Assassin Brotherhood (Shao Jun would have been active around this time). Determined to keep the common people from being wrapped up in the machinations of those in power, Akane swiftly begins growing a network of spies across the region, participating in several covert assassination missions, and essentially starting an Assassin’s bureau all by herself in Japan.

I don’t have the requisite academic background to speak from authority on the subject, but even cursory research shows that female spies, assassins, and warriors were not rare in Japan. In fact, one such historical figure, Mochizuki Chiyome, recruited an entire spy network of female shinobi. She’s a character in Memories, albeit working for the Templars and opposed by Hattori Hanzo. There is historical precedent aplenty for this “Akane” character, and I’m excited just at the idea of what Ubisoft could do with her if they really cared enough.

Having said all that, I’m not going to bother giving an historical justification for a female protagonist in this game. I am not going to address them directly, but the misogynistic fuckwits who oppose the concept of a female protagonist on principle (or the illusion of principle) often use “historical accuracy” as a flimsy shield for their real intent. I don’t want to even give the impression that I’m meeting them on their level. Because here’s the fun thing: Historical accuracy could not possibly matter less in the Assassin’s Creed series.

Nothing is True...

If we’re being very honest with each other (and we always are here in my house), AC’s pretentions to historical accuracy have always been shallow at best. For the last few years, the developers have tried to position AC as some kind of portal to a proper history education, which is commendable and also kind of adorable given how little their series resembles real world events. (Those Who Came Before, anyone?)

But leaving aside all of that, the entire conceit of the series is that history was not as we’ve been taught it. Major forces in the world have deliberately obscured or buried historical facts and figures, and the version that we’ve been taught is a sanitized version palatable to the Templar overlords. If you played Black Flag and spent any time in the modern day (though if you avoided that, I wouldn’t blame you), you’ll remember that the entire point was that Abstergo is Templar-washing the historical people who’ve opposed them.

Connor became a brutish savage. Ezio became a deranged serial killer. Altair became an arrogant heretic. Aveline was lauded, but they notably cut off her story around the time she pretended to join the Templars, making it seem that she did come around the “right” way of thinking. I found that part of Black Flag surprisingly clever -- while we, the players, know that’s not an accurate view of their lives, we can also see how Templars can paint that picture with just a slight twist of the facts. When it comes to history, it matters who tells the story.

My point being that this is the most elegant venue ever to tell a story about a person who may not have a whole lot of historicity. Oh, you don’t think women could have feasibly been warriors and assassins at this time and place in history? That’s what the Templars want you to think! Especially when you consider that the Templars in the games are traditionally the rich and powerful, while the Assassins recruit from society’s oppressed and downtrodden. Seriously, I could not create a better stage than this to tell this kind of a story.

...Everything is Permitted

One thing I have not yet addressed is why it might be in Ubisoft’s best interest to put a woman in the lead of this game. Three words: Ghost of Tsushima. Let me expand.

Players have been asking for a Japanese Assassin’s Creed game since the series began, but Ubisoft never delivered on that. AC3 creative director Alex Hutchinson once said, by way of explanation for why they weren’t considering it, “People on the internet suggest the most boring settings. The three most wanted are WWII, feudal Japan and Egypt. They're kind of the three worst settings for an AC game.”

He later added, “Feudal Japan would work as an Assassin's game, for sure, but I feel like it would start to look like 'oh, have I played this?' You know what I mean - 'oh, I've been a ninja before, I've been a samurai before'." Well, if the problem was that ninja and samurai were too common for Ubisoft, then they’re really not going to like the market into which Codename Red will launch.

In terms of a quasi-historical fantasy game set in Japan where players are a sneaky anarchist people’s hero trying to topple a militant regime, we’ve got Ghost of Tsushima. And it was both a great game and hugely successful -- enough so that I’m not sure Ubisoft should try to beat it.

To make matters more unfavorable, Ghost of Tsushima 2 is heavily rumored to be in the works. Team Ninja is also working on Rise of the Ronin. Honestly, if even one other “Japanese historical fantasy” title launches in the same year as Codename Red, then it’s going to be in trouble.

So if Ubisoft really wanted to stand out, they could do something I’m quite certain the other games won’t do. It’s a really easy solution, too: Make the protagonist a woman. The historical background is there, insofar as Ubisoft has ever needed it to be. They’ve come very close to doing it many, many times. Now I want to see this franchise grit its figurative teeth and take the plunge of actually giving a woman the starring role.

Appendix: Reality Check

Having said my piece, I wanted to add that I’m aware just how remote the possibility of this actually happening is. While female game protagonists are not as rare as they once were, and studios are becoming slightly less reluctant to greenlight a game with a woman in the lead role, the chances of Ubisoft finally giving in and making a female Assassin-led title are smaller than I’d like.

In part, the problem is Ubisoft. The company’s alleged culture of hostile, noxious masculinity was only revealed recently, and I’ve seen no sign that it’s made significant enough improvement to give me hope. For one thing, TheGamer recently reported that devs are actively avoiding Red because director Jonathan Dumont allegedly has a history of being verbally abusive, particularly to women.

The other part of the problem is that, as optimistic as I am that there’s a sea change in the industry, a game with a female lead character is still a Big Deal . . . and not the kind of Big Deal that publishers want. And Ubisoft is not just any publisher -- it’s a publisher that has proven, time and again, that it’s not willing to put a woman in the spotlight all by herself.

I can’t lie: That makes me very sad. Having a female character should not be a Big Deal. It should not be something that requires extensive rewrites in order to shoehorn in a male option to steal her thunder. I can promise you that, when a Ubisoft creative pitched Mirage to his higher-ups, no one responded with, “Hmm, Basim, really? Not sure about that. Don’t you think we should make Roshan playable too, just for the people who want to play as a woman?”

In any case, we’ll likely hear more about Assassin’s Creed Red at some point in the near-future. My fingers are crossed, but my hopes are summarily tempered. I can still dream, can’t I?

[starry-fantasies]

A Glimpse into Cloud's Mentality in Advent Children

This is kind of meant to serve as a companion piece to my three-part series on Cloud's psychology in Final Fantasy VII. I haven't addressed Advent Children Cloud yet, who arguably has an entirely different set of psychological problems to deal with. While OG Cloud was certainly driven by trauma, trauma was not his primary demon. Yet I often hear people say that AC Cloud definitely has PTSD or disorder XYZ. So, I thought I'd use my clinical background to break down what happened in Cloud's head during AC. I will not be discussing disorders here, since I'm saving those for another post.

Trauma

I know I literally just said trauma wasn't OG Cloud's primary demon, but that's why I specified OG Cloud. AC Cloud is in an entirely new context with a new set of problems, part of which involves how trauma affects his life after the main conflict is over. So to start, let's first answer the question of "Why does trauma stay with a person even after the cause of the trauma is no longer there?"

Think of the traumatized brain as a brain stuck in survival mode. It learned from a past traumatic experience that you can't afford to turn off this survival mentality, that you need to constantly be on alert. This is part of the primitive fight, flight, or freeze response that humans have, and for someone who is in a traumatizing situation, that response is absolutely necessary for coping with it. But, when you are finally safe and no longer in a dangerous situation, the traumatized brain may not know how to turn survival mode off. Therefore, it continues to provide a trauma response even in the absence of danger. This kind of mentality exhausts you and is why traumatized people still struggle even after they've been removed from their traumatizing situation. It's not that they don't realize they're safe now, but it's that their brains are stuck in this pattern of survival.

Although I wouldn't necessarily describe Cloud this way, this is still a great framework to explain what happened to him. During the events of FFVII, Cloud was in a perpetual state of survival. Once the planet was saved and Cloud could finally settle down in a place to call home, he was no longer in a state where he needed to constantly fend for his life. Cloud might still travel the planet for his delivery job and defend himself from monsters on the road, but the difference post-Meteorfall is that he now has a safe and secure home to return to in Edge. On the Way to a Smile: Case of Tifa even clarifies that Cloud was hopeful for the future right after the OG ended, that he had optimism towards the prospect of starting his newly peaceful life. Yet, he becomes unsettled by this peace partly because he was too used to surviving for so long. His trauma mindset couldn't turn off properly even when he wanted to relax and enjoy the peace he's earned, setting Cloud down a path of cognitive distress.

Oftentimes, when someone who has experienced trauma finally has the opportunity to process it, he is prone to something called rumination. In clinical terms, rumination can be described as a maladaptive perseverative cognition, or in simpler terms, a repetitive focus on distress. It's typically connected to catastrophic thinking (pondering about the worst possible outcomes/scenarios) and a fixation on loss. The American Psychological Association describes it as "obsessional thinking involving excessive, repetitive thoughts or themes that interfere with other forms of mental activity." Another working definition of it from the National Center for Biotechnology Information describes it as "a detrimental psychological process characterized by perseverative thinking around negative content that generates emotional discomfort" (Sansone & Sansone, 2012). The key to rumination is that though it can be self-reflective, it more often resembles brooding. Rumination is a feature of many different disorders, but most commonly associated with anxiety and depressive disorders.

Part of what sent Cloud spiraling was a pattern of ruminative thoughts in the absence of immediate external threats. He's living a peaceful life, but his survival mentality can't shut down easily. He has the time to ruminate on his past failures to the point of interfering with his ability to enjoy his life. If Cloud had used this rumination to put more effort into his job and his family, then he would've been using self-reflection. However, what he's fixated on is his own regrets, which created a pattern of brooding and pessimism. This type of regretful thinking surrounding death even has its own term.

Survivor Guilt

Survivor guilt used to be a diagnosable disorder in the DSM-III, but the DSM-IV reconceptualized it as a symptom of PTSD and the DSM-5 removed it as a symptom entirely (Murray, Pethania, & Medin, 2021). I believe it's because survivor guilt isn't a well-defined or well-researched phenomenon, currently putting it in an undefined territory between a disorder and a symptom. Once there's more empirical research in the field exploring survivor guilt, it may be reintroduced into the DSM, but otherwise it's an open avenue of continuous exploration. Regardless, this doesn't make survivor guilt any less significant or valid in the field of mental health, especially since it is often a part of complex trauma and grief.

Despite the grayness surrounding survivor guilt as a term, I can't think of a better one to describe what Cloud went through. Definition debates aside, survivor guilt generally applies to people who "survived" a traumatic event when others did not. Even though guilt is already a common symptom of PTSD, people with survivor guilt usually feel responsible for another person's death or injury, even when they never really had any power or influence over the situation. Cloud ruminates over Zack and Aerith's deaths due to survivor guilt, and he explicitly states his survivor guilt over Aerith's death in AC. Though neither death was directly his fault, he feels responsible for them in different ways.

For Zack, he felt helpless about how his mako poisoning left him completely dependent on Zack. Zack didn't have to save Cloud. He didn't have to carry him across the world for a year, only to die when they nearly reached their destination. Cloud's guilt surrounding Zack's death is very much in the thought of "it should've been me." Cloud should've been the one to perish, or if Zack simply abandoned Cloud, perhaps he would've made it to Midgar alive.

For Aerith, Cloud feels a greater sense of responsibility for her wellbeing. Their dynamic was established with the notion of Cloud being her bodyguard, as someone whose job is to protect her. Yet, he hurt her at the Temple of the Ancients, and he almost struck her when the party finally reunites with her at the Forgotten City. He was doing the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do. To cap it off, Sephiroth impales Aerith right before Cloud's eyes. Was Jenova preventing him from moving forward to try and save her? Or was Cloud just too paralyzed in the moment to act? Cloud would probably never truly know the answer.

Even when Tifa urges him to think of the present, Cloud feels weighed down by the past. He also asks Vincent if sins can be forgiven, showing that he feels deeply responsible for the deaths he could not prevent. We know that neither Zack's nor Aerith's deaths were Cloud's responsibility, yet he shoulders them anyway as though the blood was on his own hands. Survivor guilt is tough because it always concerns something that happened in the past that can't be changed. It's a product of rumination, of thought patterns stuck on the what-ifs and should-haves.

Grieving and Healing

The reality is, Cloud will very likely continue to struggle with this guilt throughout his life. He will never be able to answer the what-ifs, and never know what the should-haves could've done to change the course of history. If Cloud's going through a particularly tough emotional patch, he might fall back a bit into his old pattern of rumination. The dual process model of grief, depicted above, portrays how healing from grief is not a linear, one-way process. Rather, it can be a lifelong process where Cloud must grow around his grief, rather than letting it become a fixture in his life.

So, how do we know that Cloud is truly on the way to healing at the end of the day? At the very end of AC, after all the credits have rolled, we hear one final exchange between Cloud and Denzel.

Denzel: Is this somebody’s grave? Cloud: No. This is where a hero began his journey.

If I'm not mistaken, this may be the first and only time we've seen Cloud truly acknowledge himself as a hero. While this line can also refer to Zack ("Would you say I [finally] became a hero?"), this also clearly refers to the moment that Cloud took on Zack's legacy, therefore his hero's journey by extension. This is a far cry from "I'm not fit to help anyone."

The other beautiful aspect of this final scene is that it visually shows up how Cloud dealt with his guilt and grief. Look at Zack's final resting place at the start of AC compared to after. Before, Zack's grave was more or less neglected. The buster sword was left to rust and the ground is completely barren. The wolf, meant to represent Cloud's guilt and regret, is present there. Afterwards, when Cloud took the buster sword away, flowers bloomed in its place. The wolf is also no longer present. I like to think of this as a representation of how Cloud made the transition from guilt over Zack's death to celebrating Zack's life. Celebrating the life of a loved one who passed is one of the key ways to work through grief over loss in a healthy way. Rather than fixating on the what-ifs and regrets, grief work focuses on how to honor the loved one and keep their memory close.

The final shot then, with the buster sword placed in the tranquil Sector 5 church, is nothing less than a memorial to Zack and Aerith. The buster sword is clean again and free of rust, now in a sheltered place surrounded by Aerith's healing rain. It is now surrounded by life, in the place where Cloud was welcomed back by his loved ones and resolved to move forward. He can now think of the beautiful parts of Zack and Aerith's lives and cherish their memories, rather than ruminate on them. I can't say that Cloud's journey is a pinnacle example of healing from guilt and grief, but it certainly has a beautifully symbolic depiction of what healing looks like.

[chamerionwrites]

"American democracy is dying. There are plenty of medicines that would cure it. Unfortunately, our political dysfunction means we’re choosing not to use them, and as time passes, fewer treatments become available to us, even though the disease is becoming terminal. No major prodemocracy reforms have passed Congress. No key political figures who tried to overturn an American election have faced real accountability. The president who orchestrated the greatest threat to our democracy in modern times is free to run for reelection, and may well return to office.

Our current situation started with a botched diagnosis. When Trump first rose to political prominence, much of the American political class reacted with amusement, seeing him as a sideshow. Even if he won, they thought, he’d tweet like a populist firebrand while governing like a Romney Republican, constrained by the system. But for those who had watched Trump-like authoritarian strongmen rise in Turkey, India, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Venezuela, Trump was never entertaining. He was ominously familiar.

At issue was a classic frame-of-reference problem. America’s political culture is astonishingly insular. Turn on cable news and it’s all America, all the time. Other countries occasionally make cameos, but the story is still about us. (Poland is discussed if Air Force One goes to Warsaw; Iran flits into view only in relation to Washington’s nuclear diplomacy; Madagascar appears only in cartoon form, mostly featuring talking animals that don’t actually live there.) Our self-obsession means that whenever authoritarianism rises abroad, it’s mentioned briefly, if at all. Have you ever spotted a breathless octobox of talking heads on CNN or Fox News debating the death of democracy in Turkey, Sri Lanka, or the Philippines?

That’s why most American pundits and journalists used an “outsider comes to Washington” framework to process Trump’s campaign and his presidency, when they should have been fitting every fresh fact into an “authoritarian populist” framework or a “democratic death spiral” framework. While debates raged over tax cuts and offensive tweets, the biggest story was often obscured: The system itself was at risk.

Even today, too many think of Trump more as Sarah Palin in 2012 rather than Viktor Orbán in 2022. They wrongly believe that the authoritarian threat is over and that January 6 was an isolated event from our past, rather than a mild preview of our future. That misreading is provoking an underreaction from the political establishment. And the worst may be yet to come.

The basic problem is that one of the two major parties in the U.S.—the Trumpified Republican Party—has become authoritarian to its core. Consequently, there are two main ways to protect American democracy. The first is to reform the GOP, so that it’s again a conservative, but not authoritarian, party (à la John McCain’s or Mitt Romney’s Republican Party). The second is to perpetually block authoritarian Republicans from wielding power. But to do that, Democrats need to win every election. When you’re facing off against an authoritarian political movement, each election is an existential threat to democracy. Eventually, the authoritarian party will win...

That leaves American democracy with a bleak prognosis. Barring an electoral wipeout of Republicans in 2022 (which looks extremely unlikely), the idea that the party will suddenly abandon its anti-democracy positioning is a delusion.

Prodemocracy voters now have only one way forward: Block the authoritarian party from power, elect prodemocracy politicians in sufficient numbers, and then insist that they produce lasting democratic reforms.

The wish list from several democracy experts I spoke with is long, and includes passing the Electoral Count Act, creating a constitutional right to vote, reforming districting so more elections are competitive, establishing a nonpartisan national election-management body, electing the president via popular vote, reducing the gap in representation between states like California and Wyoming, introducing some level of proportional representation or multimember districts, aggressively regulating campaign spending and the role of money in politics, and enforcing an upper age limit for Supreme Court justices. But virtually all of those ideas are currently political fantasies."

[bridgertonbabe]

omg this sneak peek made me completely obsessed with this au, i need to know what happens next

how do we go from here, to when everyone is in different time periods, Lucy has lost her memory and Sophie is looking for Ben while he’s depressed in the countryside???

i love this so so much, i’m so invested 🤩

(also, i’m italian and it was so funny and literally unexpected to read cazzo cazzo ahahaha)

can’t wait to read more about this au, you’re so talented 🫶🏼

Ps. i’m a fashion student and i loved your met gala opinions☺️

What happens next is that the time warp trio manage to travel back in time to about three months before the absolute bedlam they first stumbled into occurs. They're back in the alleyway but fortunately London is still in one piece and yet to be invaded. They follow Sophie's instruction to find the Minimax Fire Extinguisher Company, though it takes them a couple of days just to locate the building and when they do they're not quite sure why Sophie told them to go there. After a few hours of skulking around, wondering what a fire extinguisher company has to do with anything, a gentleman exits the building and does a double take of the three men. He beckons them to follow him at a distance and though apprehensive they go along with him and end up at his flat where upon the stranger's features shift and the woman now in front of them tightly embraces Gareth.

Sophie is relieved that they're finally there and Gareth quickly informs her of the scene they came across when they first landed from their time travel, a scene that will take place in three months time. She is left stunned by the insight as she tries to wrap her head around it and asks several questions though the trio don't have much information to provide her with other than the fact that England is three months away from having an atomic bomb dropped on them. Sophie's frustrated that her future self didn't give them much else to work from but Colin points out that there was only seconds to go before they were nuked.

Gareth then questions why Sophie's working for a fire extinguisher company and she reveals that the building she had come out from is actually the main operating base of the Secret Intelligence Service. She explains that ever since she landed in the past four years previously that she's been working tirelessly to track down everyone, and by going undercover within the SIS she hoped they'd be the first place to receive reports of anyone with superhuman abilities. Her logic paid off and as a result she knows that the majority of the Umbrellas and Bridgertons are currently present in the time period they now find themselves in (and shows them a board she has made up detailing everyone's movements and sightings etc), however there are still a few unaccounted for. There's nothing about Penelope since following the events that led up to the time travel she decided to stop using her powers altogether; no sign of Lucy due to Gregory taking her powers as well as her amnesia; and much to Sophie's perpetual dismay (as well as her unstable appearance) there's no trace of Benedict whatsoever. Gareth tells her that seeing as all three were present three months from now that they're either going to land soon enough or else they're already present in 1940s London, which at the very least cheers her up momentarily before remembering the severity of the stakes they're up against.

Colin questions how events could have changed so drastically for the world war to have turned into the rest of the world being against Britain. Sophie pours herself a drink before launching into an explanation. Several major events in WW2 never took place due to interference from the Umbrellas and Bridgertons; though the main one is that Hitler has been dead for two years. Anthony, Simon, Kate, and Hyacinth worked together to assassinate the biggest player of the war and whilst it was a positive outcome, their blatant show of their superpowers coupled with the bravado they flaunted on a world's stage has led to fear among other countries. Great Britain is armed with what appears to be the most powerful weapons; human beings with special powers who would appear to be able to cause plenty of damage if they so choose to, and it's struck international fear as a result. At the moment things are tense between governments and the world is on edge for what is to come and while Sophie wasn't sure what they were bracing themselves for, it would appear that in three months time the rest of the world is planning to invade the country they see as a threat and in case of defeat, the atomic bomb will suffice as backup.

Now armed with what the future holds if they don't do something about it, Sophie and the time warp trio decide to round up the Umbrellas and Bridgertons in order to return to their original timeline and prevent the country from being nuked; however there's going to be several speed bumps along the way as they try to track down and regroup the two sets of siblings.

[amid-doesart]

undefined

Appendix 3

So currently I am working on a few arrangements of popular songs, and I have almost completed a bossa nova version of Declan McKenna's Brazil. This audio contains an early sketch of me playing the main guitar riff in 6/8, and I had planned on arranging the whole track in 6/8 so that I could use more interesting rhythmic patterns and some syncopation. I ended up arranging the track in its original time signature of 4/4 and decided instead to create a 2/4 feel by accenting certain pulses and rhythms.  

I had decided to make this change because common time, or cut common time is much more typical in Bossa Nova music, and I felt that if I had used a compound time signature, I would have been perpetuating the common misconception of Bossa being in compound time like other similar genres.    

Samba is a similar genre that has been credited with having a considerable influence on bossa as it was stated that ‘’ Bossa Nova was a new type of samba in which the genre’s rhythmic complexity had been pared down to its bare essentials, transformed into a different kind of beat. It was full of unusual harmonies and syncopations...,” (McGowan & Pessanha, 2009 p.55). 

Since I lacked knowledge of percussive elements in Bossa Nova and was more knowledgeable of harmonic content, I conducted research on similar or influential genres like Samba, and I used some features from them in order to fill in gaps in my knowledge while trying not to stray from the genre that I was intending to write for. In the future, I would like to arrange pieces with little to no genre overlap, so that I can create pieces that are truly authentic to a specific genre. 

[phantasmaw]

♢* — 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐰 - semi-selective / sporadic activity / written by lain!

An oc multi-muse focused on unfolding stories, the macabre, the esoteric, and everything in the liminal between. Modern-adaptable and Gensh1n Impact verses available. Occasionally runs on queue. CURRENTLY ON HIATUS.

【 For the foreseeable future, this blog is on permanent semi-hiatus! 】

♢* — 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 - due to current life endeavors taking up much of my time outside work, this blog will be on permanent semi-hiatus with a primary focus on inbox prompts & plotting but will still be thread-heavy.

♢* — 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 - as of 10/1/2023, I am migrating select ocs from my now archived horror-focused blog @carnivorarium. Their info can be found HERE.

♢* — 𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 - 18+ only, semi-selective, multi-verse, selectively multi-ship (muse dependent), and follows standard rp rules. Mature themes present; all potentially upsetting or triggering content will be tagged as #trigger cw. Open to plotting, winging it, or anything in between. When it comes to content, what I look for is the understanding that your fictional scenarios are someone else’s nonfictional experiences. If there's active promotion of transph0bia/t3rf rhetoric, ped0philia, or nonc0n on your blog, it's an instablock.

♢* — 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - Features main, secondary, and horror-heavy ocs. While most are fantasy and/or folklore-oriented, I'm more than happy to accommodate for any setting necessary! Slow with writing but also always enthusiastic about current & future interactions!

I don't have a google doc or a carrd available; I apologize for the inconvenience that may cause mobile-bound users.

♢* — 𝐦𝐮𝐧 - Hello! I'm Lain; agender (they/he/she), perpetually tired but excited at the same time. Currently working full time & undertaking a few different side-gigs, so activity will be sporadic. Nonetheless I'm always looking forward to fun to be had with my rp partners! Discord available on request. (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡

[theworldwalkerswols]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ~THE UNHINGED ZONE~

I am Old and full of debaucherous thoughts. You have been warned/curate your experience appropriately!

Follows, Likes, and Replies come from @theworldwalkersdiaries

To those of you who reblog/like my original stuff, I see u, I offer u a great big /DOTE ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE NOTE

The tags that used to house my creative work, other than #scribbles, for fic and writing, should now be empty due to tumblr's cooperation with generative AI. I plan on using them again when I have access to Glaze and/or Nightshade.

Post from staff here | Twitter thread about it here

If you do not want your work or anything you've shared to be scraped, YOU MUST OPT OUT. THEY DEFAULTED EVERYONE TO OPTING IN.

Instructions on opting out here

And, for no reason in particular,

Glaze | Nightshade | Cara App (integrated with WebGlaze)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PSA

I am not here to yuck anybody’s yums! Interpretations of canon, headcanons, ships, kinks, etc.: you do you! I like interpreting and analyzing and contextualizing things I like. That does not mean my takes are good or correct or right for you. I like seeing other people’s takes because all of us bring our own lens to the things we interpret.

Our mileage will vary. This is fine. Chase your bliss. I am here to vibe and collect things like a little Anxious dragon.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Links for Browsing

Stuff I Made (disambiguation) | Drawings & Visual Art | Writing & Fic

DEBAUCHERY | Haurchefant Leather Kink Truther Files

FFXIV Screenshots | Headcanons | WoL Questions

Art I Commissioned | Ask Games | Ask Responses

Best Videos Archive

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OCs & Ships

WoL!Kyler Drake | WoL!Zane Drake | Klynrhot "Rhot" Hyltklinsyn

Kyler's NPC Polycule | Playlist: The Warrior of Light and his Loves

Kyler & Cherry | Amrielle & Zane | Kyler & Wesley

Want more? My WoLs have their own website, because I'm that person. It's perpetually under construction, please pardon the dust etc etc

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OC Boundaries

SFW visual Fanart: Yes! I will cry (positive)! Want to depict our OCs being friends? GO FORTH, I WILL CRY MORE (VERY POSITIVE)!!

NSFW visual Fanart: Maybe! If it's something depicted in my fics, go for it! Anything else, please ask!

Writing: Please do not write my OCs unless it's a brief cameo. Please feel free to ask though!

RP: Not right now. I used to RP a lot, and still do from time to time, but my social anxiety often renders RPing a negative experience for me unless I know my RP partner(s) already. Who knows? This may change in the future.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fic Corner

I write a lot of XIV fic, much of it featuring my main WoL, Kyler Drake. Some of it I'm even rather proud of. If you are interested, I made a Reading Guide as a place to get started! As always tho, you do you and mind the tags! ♡

Although I know there is no fully preventing it, I have locked all of my ao3 works to guard against AI scraping. NEVER use anything of mine with AI.

Please never hesitate to absolutely obliterate my notifications, regardless of platform. In Ao3's case, I hoard every kudo and comment like a serotonin- and dopamine-starved dragon. They really make my day!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...and of course -_-;;

I am fundamentally against monetization of every skill and passion and art form, but unfortunately I live in a capitalist hellscape. So if for some reason you like my work and wanna kick me a tip, you may do that here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll edit this post as I want and as time allows. Thanks for stopping by!!

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

If roses are red, and violets are blue, then grab yourself a copy of this dark prickly fantasy right now so it can enchant and madden you, too. What a magical read! What a wonderfully cursed, heart-stopping debut! I love fairy tales with sharp thorns and edges, always have. Just as I love stories that feature characters who are vindictive, selfish, prideful, ambitious, duplicitous, and cold enough to freeze hell with their attitude, so what enthralled me most about this book is that I was gifted all of that and more. Nothing was black and white in this universe. Nothing. Not only was there a curse that was purported to end in either salvation or damnation, but everything and everyone in the kingdom of Auveny dwelled, sometimes sunk, in shades of gray. Violet, for instance, the antiheroine, is a seer and a liar, and a compelling one at that. She's cold, acerbic, and unapologetic about it, caring more about acquiring the respect and power she wants than being liked. She's also cutthroat, conniving, and selfish. Her main goal is to preserve her position in the royal court by whatever means necessary--even if it means lying for the king. Even if it means going toe-to-toe with Cyrus, the resident Prince Charming and perpetual thorn in her side. Even if it means keeping her visions of war and bloodshed and disaster to herself. As a character, she's unreservedly flawed, no doubt about it, but while she does commit a few heinous mistakes, her heart is torn about it. She struggles. She wavers. She reevaluates. She, like so many of us, hits hard against a wall where hope, love, trust, and faith in other people becomes integral for her growth and survival but, if she's not careful, may also lead to her doom. Is she willing to sacrifice herself to save someone else? That is the question. (The answer? Well, it's still outstanding, if you want to know the truth.) Cyrus, too, her rival and potential love interest, is no less morally ambiguous. Sure, he may be able to doll out charm and charisma like it's second nature, with all the ladies of the kingdom swooning into puddles of tulle every time he smiles, but there's calculation behind his words. There's manipulation behind his actions. He puts on one perfect princely face for the world yet wears an entirely different one when he's behind closed castle doors. I enjoyed seeing his facade crinkle away, being privy to the burning hate and unquenchable attraction he felt toward Violet, as well as witnessing how he attempted to thwart his prophetic fate. Let's just say the man knows how to work a room! As a pairing, Violet and Cyrus definitely put the COMPLICATED into "it's complicated." They were enemies to lovers gold with their combustible unresolved tension, their bickering, their goading, their backstabbing, and their childhood "I saved your life" backstory, which worked in a two-fold fashion because neither one of them would be where they are today without the other. Cyrus wouldn't be next in line for the throne because he'd be dead. And Violet, despite her magic, despite her prophetic gifts, wouldn't be Seer because no one would've plucked her from obscurity. Did I love them as much as Jude and Cardan? No. Not quite. But they're close, mighty close! They have a precarious "will you kiss me or kill me" quality to their dynamic that dangles their potential romantic future on the edge. And given what happens toward the end..never has there been a finer line between love and hate! The fairy tale nods that are sprinkled throughout are also a delight. There's Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Tinkerbell (because of all the fairies), and even a dash of Maleficient. More than that, they're all implemented with twists, tangles, and turns that make them feel fresh. Novel. Unique. And of course, magical. So yeah, consider me enchanted. In fact, if the Evil Queen wants possession of my heart while I wait for the second book in this duology, then she can have it. No strings attached.

(Pssst, Camilla: be sure to save a kiss for me!) Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for my review.

4/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

[where-the-flash]

"The Golden Touch": Walt Disney's Actual Folly

Have you ever been tempted to own DVD sets, not strictly for their contents, but for the appeal of their packaging and presentation? Have you ever been tempted to own DVDs that were enclosed in a sturdy aluminum tin case, like they emerged from a cold vault buried thousands of feet beneath the earth's crust? Have you ever been tempted to fool your fellow schoolyard chums by placing these tin jalopies in a mini fridge and handling them with sterilized tongs like they were ancient jade necklaces that you sold on the black market? Have you ever been tempted to wave the DVD's 'certificate of authenticity' in some stupid nerd's face and tell them this is only one out of a limited 150,000 copies?

These hypothetical queries were directed toward myself and I answer all of them with an emphatic "Yes"!

These DVDs that I am belaboring-ly alluding to are the Walt Disney Treasures. The brainchild of film critic/perpetually well-groomed beard-man Leonard Maltin, the Walt Disney Treasures were a collection of historic (and even rarely seen Disney content). It covered pretty much all the bases: old Mickey Mouse cartoons, World War II propaganda, and TV shows like The Mickey Mouse Club, Walt Disney Presents, and Davy Crockett.

One of these Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets that I owned and (I suppose) cherished were the Silly Symphonies, the musical-oriented Disney shorts that were made between 1928 to 1939. Beside the fact that these shorts were delightfully frothy bon-bons made for quick consumption, they were a sort of experimental testing ground for future Disney productions (Disney's ground-breaking work with the multi-plane camera would prove useful in their first full-length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarves). They also provided a refreshing diversity of form and style. Audiences in the 1930's probably wanted a change of pace from the Mickey Mouse content they were subjected to monthly at the local movie station house.

(This is my copy of the Silly Symphonies DVD set, though I seem to have inexplicably lost the tin case, unfortunately exposing its contents to all manner of elements, including that red pepper flake lodged between the doubles L's in SILLY.)

I'd spent many hours watching Silly Symphonies as a young child and I've been revisiting them recently just to see if they still retain their, shall we say, symphonic silliness. And as I was watching old King Cole prattle on about how he was, indeed, a merry old soul and how a merry old soul he verily was, I reflected on how I use to frequently spin the Silly Symphony disk on the DVD turn-table and I suddenly remembered the first short I would watch as the needle dropped onto the disk, and that short was The Golden Touch. And, frankly, I'm not sure why. There were definitely better shorts than The Golden Touch, both visually and musically. But why did I gravitate toward this one, so much so that it was a first priority watch? Was it simply an aperitif before the main entrees of, say, a Music Land, or a Three Little Pigs, or a Who Killed Cock Robin? Or was it more than that?

The Golden Touch is an adaptation of the Greek myth of Phrygian monarch Midas (the son of Gordias, inventor of the most excessively over-tied rope knot in antiquity), who makes a wish, to the Greek deity Bacchus (also best known as Dionysus), that everything he touches transforms into a yellow-orange-colored soft metal with an atomic number of 79 (Midas is granted this request after he saves Dionysus' drunken satyr of an adviser, Silenus...actually, that's a lie....Midas found him passed out in his rose garden and politely drove him back to his Bacchic abode; no harm, no foul....at worst, a speck of vomit on the rose petals). Midas revels in his new gift, but later has the harrowing, if not unsurprising, revelation that comestibles of any kind can turn into gold as well. Unless his stomach doubles as a foundry furnace, he can't very well pass gold through his digestive tract and get any meaningful nutrients out of it. Fed up with this inconvenience, Midas decides to wash his hands of the whole thing...literally washes his hands in the Pactolus River and that's it.

That's the original version recounted by Ovid, author of the Metamorphoses (according to Edith Hamilton in her landmark 1942 text Mythology). It wasn't until Nathaniel Hawthorne came along that the fable developed a tragic angle by giving Midas a daughter that he accidentally turns to gold (from his 1852 children's book A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys). For the purposes of brevity and a desire to not be a harsh vibe-killer for ten minutes, Walt Disney chose to stick to the safer self-preservation angle of the original.

The myth is iconic in its own right. The name "Midas" is synonymous with irresponsible, unchecked greed and its consequences....wait, is it? "Having the Midas Touch", is a common phrase that, ironically, obfuscates the tale's cautionary moral with a more generic definition of easy success. There's even a company named after that greedy bastard that installs car mufflers and they tell us to "trust the Midas touch."

I guess we haven't learned anything from this myth, have we? My guess (I almost said "theory" but that would imply that I'm smart) as to why there's still so much greed in this world is that there haven't been any real substantial King Midas adaptations in popular culture. How can we learn when the masses have not been exposed to this important myth by way of a giant, money-making blockbuster? Timothée Chalamet in a fat suit laying waste to nature and his fellow humans with garish CGI effects, throw in a couple of songs, and pad out the running time with a giant battle at the end with a golden terraforming laser shooting out of the sky and you have yourself a flop...I mean, a hit!

As much as movies, television, and pop culture in general have confronted the myth's themes of greed and isolation, direct wholesale adaptations of the myth itself are few and far between. The only half-way substantial adaptations I could find on YouTube (ones that were not cheap educational kid videos) was an episode of Mythic Warriors, an aggressively mediocre late-nineties Saturday morning cartoon show that retold Greek myths, and a fairly impressive stop-motion short film from the fifties (produced by none other than stop-motion animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen). TVTropes.org lists some animated series that have dedicated episodes to the Midas concept (Hercules: The Animated Series had an episode that depicted Midas as a Bond villian and there's an episode of Yogi Bear that has Yogi blessed with "The Pik-a-Nik Basket Touch"). And if you've ever frequented a elementary school library (assuming you were, at one point, a child), you'll probably remember seeing that horrifying book cover for The Chocolate Touch, where a young boy pecks his mother on the cheek and her upper torso turns a shade of cocoa-brown. Let's also not forget the middle school play that I co-starred in called "King Midas and the Touch of Gold" (written by Vera Morris, published by Pioneer Drama Service, the leading name in easy-bake, royalty-free community theater/primary school theatrical productions since time immemorial) where I played the pivotal role (or at least that's how I delude myself into thinking it was) of Prince Ajax, Midas' future son-in-law.

Disney's The Golden Touch, as far as I can tell, is the most well-known adaptation of the Greek myth (or at least the only one with a Wikipedia article, which is its own form of legitimacy), despite it also being one of the lesser known Silly Symphonies, one that was willfully obscured by its creator and director, Walt Disney. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is often given the ironic moniker of "Disney's Folly" due to the fact it was a risky venture that was predicted to fail, but ended up being the highest grossing film of 1937. That's all fine and good and hopefully you get pats on the back for relating that anecdote at a future cocktail party, but if there is a project that could rightfully be deemed Disney's actual folly, it was The Golden Touch.

It was the first cartoon that Disney directed in five years (his last being 1930's The Cactus Kid, though he technically directed a couple of little things here and there, like Parade of the Award Nominees, a tiny short specifically made for the 1932 Academy Awards). There are varying interpretations as to why exactly Walt Disney returned to the director's chair. One of them was that he wasn't satisfied with his animators' work so he felt the need to show them a lesson on how it's really done. Another was that one of his head animators left and decided to take it upon himself to fill that space. Or he wanted to make important movies with strong social messages. I don't know. Who knows? So anyway, he utilized only two animators for his production (Norm Ferguson and Fred Moore) and it took about eight months to finish. And it flopped.

It was such a flop that Disney's animators would often use it as a riposte to any of Walt's nagging complaints. The animators could just say The Golden Touch and the sound of bellowing airhorns would pierce the air as a plum-faced Walt Disney left the room in silence.

And that was the last time Walt Disney directed anything. Ever.

It is not a highly-regarded short, though I would argue it gets way too much of a bad rep, which is why I will defend it in my typically over-rigorous way. Let's take a look, shall we?

(Keep in mind, this adaptation is set in a medieval setting, so don't expect Mount Olympus looming over the horizon.)

We open on a wide shot of a dungeon that serves as King Midas' treasury/counting room. The floor is covered with bags and chests of gold coins. Midas is at his desk, counting each individual coin (with no aid of abacus or feathered quill to keep track of his slow progress) as a black cat, wearing an Elizabethan ruff around its neck, looks on, rhythmically curling and uncurling its tail. The location is dour, with grey stone walls and a barred window casting a solitary shaft of light on our lone protagonist (one of the bars on the window is suspiciously bent, giving the scene a more sinister cast than is necessary). There's a garish sign over the stairwell passage that proclaims, "IN GOLD I TRUST", the kind of vulgar display you'd see displayed unironically at Mar-A-Lago. The gloomy mise-en-scène is starkly contrasted with the merry counting ditty Midas sings as he stacks each coin into unorganized piles.

One billion, two million, twenty-five-thousand, nine-hundred-and-eight,

One billion, two million, twenty-five-thousand, nine-hundred-and-nine,

One billion, two million, twenty-five-thousand, nine-hundred-and-ten,

One billion, two million, twenty-five-thousand, nine-hundred-and....

Before he can say eleven (cheekily nodding that eleven would break the syllabic count of the meter), he mightily sneezes, knocking over all the piles. He notices the camera, tips his crown to the audience, and launches into an introductory song about himself.

Before he starts singing, let's take a moment to describe King Midas' appearance (or at least Walt Disney's interpretation of him). Imagine the kind of fat, middle-aged slob you find haunting the dog track, or the local OTB, adorned in slovenly dress and a cheap stogie clamped in his teeth (narrow it down to a less lovable Uncle Buck). The kind of long shot loser that, if you even emerge within his eye-line, will chatter your ear off about how great a handicapper he is and how the so-called "experts" don't know jack-shit. A red drinker's nose, a bald dome with clownish tufts of black hair on the sides of his cranium, flabby arms, large hairy man-hands, and a stringy mustache that reminds one of a hairbrush if its bristles were made of insect-legs, all ensconced in a hourglass-shaped head. Top it off with a Jughead-like crown askance on his noggin and a ratty, oversized robe purchased from a thrift costume shoppe. It's a comically grotesque character design, like a lazy court jester posing as a king. It's like if the real king took the week off and handed off the reins to his shiftless, dead-beat brother-in-law.

The song goes as follows:

I'm known as rich King Midas,

And when you look at me,

You see a king who knows a thing

About his treasury.

I've never cared for women.

I've never cared for wine.

But when I count a large amount of money,

It's divine!

(giggle)

Gold, gold, gold!

I worship it! I love it!

Gold, gold, gold!

I wish I had more of it!

My love for shiny gold is such

That I could never have too much.

I wish that everything I touch

Would turn to gold, gold, gold!

(laughs uproariously)

It's not a good song and Midas is not a good vocalist, but it fits his boorish character and it's an efficient introduction. Being someone who is not musically inclined, it's the kind of song I would come up with in an unguarded moment.

Just then, a little man appears out of thin air. The stone walls turn golden, giving the room a warmer cast. The little man is a stereotypically androgynous elf character with bald head, big ears, pointy nose, green tights, and a feather in his cap. I'm reminded of those Santa's helper elf dolls my grandma used to stick in her Christmas tree.

A startled Midas cradles his gold doubloons and asks, "Who art thou, stranger?" The little man introduces himself as Goldie. Midas replies, "What do you want? My gold?" Goldie claims gold is "chickenfeed" to him. "Behold!" Goldie proclaims as he delicately places an index finger on the black cat's head. The cat, frozen in place, transforms into a golden statuette (an 18 K designation embossed on its torso). Midas' crown does a back flip. Seemingly unconcerned about the cat and its possible demise, Midas flicks the statuette for authenticity and it "dings" in reply. Midas begins to salivate. The Golden Touch!

There's a lovely moment of acting from Midas here. Midas lasciviously grabs the statuette but Goldie stops him. Goldie wags his finger like an adult scolding a child. A look of petulance, followed by a cocked eyebrow of suspicion clouds Midas' features. Then, he reluctantly lets go and sits back with this helpless expression on his face as Goldie snaps his fingers and claps his hands, and voila, the cat is back to normal. When the cat runs away, Midas looks briefly disappointed. In a performance dominated by broad strokes of acting (his performance is mostly ham-and-cheese with a side of big hairy mitts wildly gesticulating), it's easily the most humanizing characterization of Midas we get throughout the whole short. He's a fat, stubborn child, but not so stubborn to where he won't listen or be guided by a little reason. Underscored by Frank Churchill's lilting string section, it's a moment that gently nudges towards Midas' redemption.

Midas offers his gold and his kingdom for the Golden Touch. He even takes off his robe (leading to a funny reveal that he's not wearing a regal gown so much as a regal undershirt, exposing hairy, liver-spotted shoulders). Goldie warns of the perils of the Golden Touch, but Midas won't hear of it ("Fiddlesticks! Give me gold! Not advice!"). Goldie relents and blesses Midas with the Golden Touch. He hoots a little "toodle-oo" and disappears into the invisible ether from whence he came, the room returning to its original gloomy state.

Midas twiddles his large sausage fingers, now containing a terrible power. What can he test it on? Why, the cat, of course! This rotund fool chases the kitty around the castle, with his index finger stupidly pointing out in front of him.

When the cat runs out into the courtyard, we finally get to see the extent of Midas' kingdom. It's completely devoid of humans. No servants, maids, courtiers, or jesters in sight. It's emptier than the Queen's kingdom in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. At least she had a burly huntsman and a creepy mirror to keep her company.

The cat climbs up an apple tree, which Midas collides into headlong. The tree transforms into gold, as golden apples (due to the the sheer weight of this miraculous alchemy) fall on Midas' head (though some of the apples still retain their red hue, which never made sense to me. I presume Midas' initial collision with the tree shook some of the apples off the tree before the alchemy took effect). Unfortunately, the cat is transformed into gold as well. Midas, delighted, grabs the stiff tail of the golden cat and lifts it up like a scepter, proclaiming, "It works! It works! Whoopee!"

Midas launches into a giddy dance, holding up his robe like a maidens' skirt (why doesn't his robe turn to gold?), and sings a mindless ditty that seems, much like the first song, shot from the hip in a passionate moment:

The Golden Touch!

The Golden Touch!

The Golden Touch!

The Golden Touch!

La La La La!

La La La La!

La La La La La La La!

Midas touches the flowers, each flower (well, they're golden flowers now) sounding like a tinkly bell in rhythm with the song. He approaches a bird fountain and twirls his finger in the water. Somehow, he is able to twirl the water upward as it turns to gold, creating what looks like a pile of excrement with a curlicue pig tail on top. The birds appraise it like studious art history majors.

He approaches a water fountain, places a hand atop the gushing water, and an avalanche of gold coins spurts out (the visual of this moment, coupled with the sound effect of the coins, reminds one of a big cash payout at a video slot machine). Then he turns the fountain into gold, mid-gush.

Then he turns two pan-flute-playing satyr statues into gold (you begin to feel the creative vitality of this sequence winding down if two boring satyr statues is Walt's idea of a victory lap).

Midas prances through a hallway before approaching a big mirror. Since he is a lonely monarch, he talks to himself. More specifically, he discusses the possibility of turning the whole world into gold. His reflection becomes a separate entity and applauds the king's lofty ambitions (a overused visual gag, but it's fine). The king smiles and gives himself a golden tooth.

After a long morning of touching things, Midas treats himself to a full banquet of food. This scene is the revelatory moment when Midas discovers the foolhardiness of his wish. He attempts to eat grapefruit but as he dips his spoon into the pulp, a stream of coins shoots into his face. Midas takes it in stride at first, affecting an aristocratic manner, using a gold coin as a mock monocle. Peeling back a banana, he gets a pile of coins rather than a sweet fleshy treat. He grabs his goblet. Mouthful of coins,

Midas is starting to get worried. He forks a succulent roast chicken from across the table. Just as his teeth touch the skin, the chicken is now a golden chicken. In petulant frustration, Midas touches all the dishes before flipping the entire table.

(The sound design is also quite interesting: throughout the short, when Midas turns things to gold, there's a tinkly, quavering bell sound that emanates. It's frothy and angelic, echoing Midas' glee at his newfound power. Now, when he's touching all the dishes in the throes of hunger, the sound is more hollow and cacophonous, evoking the gold's now chilly uselessness. When he's biting the gold-plated chicken, it sounds like someone hammering a slab of metal.)

Midas is pulling his hair out and laughing maniacally. He approaches the mirror from earlier and asks his reflection, "Is the richest king in all the world to starve to death?"

His reflection, now a golden skeleton, nods in assent. Frightened, Midas tries to flee the castle. Unfortunately, his long shadow serves as the veil for a giant golden Grim Reaper blocking the door. The sound that comes out of Midas is.....is it possible to call one's frightened gasp 'blood-curdling'? It's a gasp that has 'fatal coronary' written all over it. The skeleton makes a slashing motion across his throat and the king runs away. Probably my favorite moment in any cartoon.

A shaken Midas returns to his treasury and pleads for Goldie to return, all the while crying like a infant. Goldie, indeed, does return, mocking Midas' vanity. Midas begs Goldie to erase "this golden curse". He offers Goldie his entire kingdom for one "hamburger sandwich" (charmingly redundant phrase). A pretty drastic offer: a complete enunciation of all materialism and power, all for a sandwich whose existence would cease after three masticatory cycles of the lower jaw (it takes me three bites to finish a hamburger, a pleasant sight for anyone whose ever eaten in my presence). Being the maniacal sadist that he is, Goldie teasingly asks him, "With or without onions?" Midas says plain is fine. Goldie "toodle-oo's" back into the eighth dimension.

We get a wide shot of the dungeon treasury (if you notice, the desk is not centered in the shot like it was in the opening and the ceiling is way higher. Mainly because it's about to be used in an upcoming match cut where we see the massive dirt pit that was once the treasury, to show the overall scale of the castle's evaporation) as the castle begins to implode. Debris is falling and there's this putrid gold filter that flickers on screen (like a strobe effect) to simulate the implosion. It's not great.

Midas is now standing in an open pit that was formerly the treasury. His kingly robes disappear, replaced by a Depression-era railroad bum outfit with polka-dotted undershirt, striped boxers, and a tin can as a replacement crown. Then, as promised, a hamburger sandwich appears out of thin air. Midas is ecstatic, but hesitant. He slowly and nervously touches the hamburger sandwich (covering his eyes in the hopes that...well, his hopes won't be dashed). It remains a hamburger sandwich. He looks under the bun and exclaims with a toothless smile (the gold tooth is gone...little details do not go unnoticed), "With onions! Whoopee!" Midas voraciously gnaws at his hamburger sandwich. La fin.

So, why is The Golden Touch considered such an ugly duckling in Disney canon?

Backlash towards it, at least from the perspective of the animators, was either a case of expectations being raised too high (considering that Uncle Walt was behind it, you would think it would be the most amazing work of animation to have ever been farted out of that blessed studio), or just plain old schadenfreude (Walt was known to be a prickly pear, so animators rejoiced at this supposed "failure").

I don't have an opinion on what makes The Golden Touch strong or weak from an animation standpoint (I'm not an expert on the finer details of animation). You can't really go wrong with Disney in terms of technical craft, so all I can is say is that I like the animation. It's good....except for that palace destruction sequence.

A common criticism of The Golden Touch are that the characters are unlikable, with Midas being a loud man-child and Goldie being a snide rogue who harbors no sympathy for the king. It's also criticized for not being terribly effective as a fable either, with Midas' redemption hinging not so much on a moral realization of gold's inherent evil, but rather on the self-preservation instinct that starvation inspires in desperate, selfish people. Sure, Midas' hunger for gold is extinguished, but it just ends up being replaced by a different kind of hunger. And judging from his rotund physique, his whole existence is driven not by any sort of human compassion (since there's no one around for him to be compassionate towards), but rather by satiety. You could argue the ending has a Depression-era populist moral, relating to the common man and how to be content with little, but it doesn't seem to point in any hopeful direction in its otherwise hopeless protagonist.

And also, people didn't find it funny (well, Disney shorts were never that funny; they were just clever in a smirky way) and thought it was too long (The Golden Touch is ten minutes long, the longest of the Silly Symphonies). But that's subjective.

And if we want to be shamelessly nitpick-y about it, we could say it barely qualifies as a Silly Symphony. It only has two songs, and they're easily disposable. It leans more on the "silly" than the "symphony" and it falls short of the mark of being both at the same time and that's probably irritating for anyone who is that much of a literalist.

These are understandable criticisms, but they're also rather narrow readings. It's being judged too much through the lens of "meaningful fable" or "typically whole-hearted Disney fare".

The Golden Touch, at least to me, feels more like a farcical condemnation of privileged wealth. Its flippant tone and irreverent disregard for easy morality is more akin to a Warner Bros. cartoon. It doesn't have the same snide mean-spiritedness as Bugs Bunny torturing an opera singer, but there's a noticeable lack of sentimentality, especially compared to other Disney projects. This tonal flippancy can be seen as a failure of intent, but if it is, its unintended effect still works. It felt different from other Disney shorts and probably why I gravitated towards it the most. It had...edge. Well, about as much edge as a butter knife, but relative to other Disney shorts, it manages to draw a pink mark on the studio's lily-white skin.

I like King Midas. Midas is a larger-than-life clown whose childishness and slimy charisma are engaging in a mildly acidic way. This is all due to Norm Ferguson's amusing character design and Billy Bletcher's gargantuan baritone. It's a well-realized interpretation. I can't say the same for Goldie, who is basically a squeaky-voiced dime-store leprechaun with a mischievous countenance, but it's serviceable.

It's enjoyability is also enhanced by its visuals, especially when Midas is turning everything into gold. The golden touch is, obviously, the short's creative weapon and I'm still entranced by its various visual gags. The sequence when Midas is prancing around in his garden has a playful tone that is acerbically contrasted with his casual destruction of nature. The sequence with Midas at his banquet table is funny while also being palpably tense (you cam feel Midas' panicky frustration at not being able to eat).

The ending itself is a pretty bold reimagining of the blandly happy ending that often bookends the Midas myth. It often just ends with Midas learning his lesson and retaining all his worldly goods. In Disney's The Golden Touch, Midas literally loses everything. Sure, it's based on Midas' impulsiveness (he doesn't even think twice about what he's saying when making that fatal deal with Goldie; he's just an mindless animal blurting things out in desperation), but that impulsiveness and recklessness is just punishment for a man who has no business ruling over anybody, or anything for that matter. Uncle Walt is a much harsher critic of Midas than Ovid or Hawthorne ever were.

I also like The Golden Touch simply because I like the dark, suggestive undercurrent of the tale. The myth itself is already bathed in frightening implications. The eerie uniformity of a kingdom glazed in a dull sheen. And not being able to do...anything, let alone eat. It's crippling and isolating and would send even the most stalwart soul into the fetal position.

Granted, The Golden Touch doesn't morosely dip its head into the widening gyre of its scenario. It is ultimately a silly, harmless cartoon at its core, but it's the suggestion of that darkness that matters. It's only a ten minute short and yet, its conveys its world with brisk efficiency and surprising creativity. And though it might not feel wholly satisfying in its brief running time, it managed to fire up my young imagination.

Even its inconsistencies are engaging. Like, when he touches his cloak, why doesn't it turn to gold? When he touches the apple tree, why are some of the apples still red? When he forks the big chicken, why doesn't the chicken turn to gold right there since the chicken is touching the fork that he's holding? Why does the chicken turn to gold when it touches his teeth? Is it implying that other parts of his body have the golden touch? If that's the case, then why don't his slippers turn to gold? This infinite regress of nitpicks, far from being frustrating, are actually tantalizing and fun. It gives the viewer license to wrap their head around the thorny practicalities of having such a curse. Like, I'm just imagining one of Midas' servants (if he has any) dangling from a rope and dropping pieces of chicken into Midas' mouth, in the vain hope that none of the meat turns to gold if it touches his uvula.

Also, I like the golden skeletal specters of death near the end. It's always nice when a cartoon aimed for children reminds me of the finite time I have left.

Would it be trite to compare King Midas to Walt Disney for the purpose of a sassy put-down ("It only goes to show that not everything Walt Disney touched....turned to gold." cue the sad trombone)? Yeah. I'm sure one can't help but make that comparison. Were they both somewhat controlling bastards who got a taste of their own medicine? Sure. But that's just symmetrical poetical thinking.

If anything, I could almost see the short as being self-deprecation on Walt's part, playfully imagining himself the way he thought other people saw him. He purposefully created a demon so others could slay it, and hopefully inspire confidence in his animators to outdo themselves. But that's symmetrical poetical thinking on my part.

The simple honest answer is that Walt Disney sincerely tried to direct a short, and nobody liked it, and he remained wounded about it ever since. But I think ol' Walt might have been a bit hard on himself. The man tried and I think it worked. It was a noble attempt at something different after multiple cartoons tackled such tried-and-true subjects like cats, birds, flowers, trees, mice, pigs, kittens, bunnies, insects, fish, and other assorted nursery rhyme miscellany. Walt tried to tackle the inner darkness of mens' souls, and he did it with the kind of palatable whimsy that we can expect from the man. It's good. I like it.

Now, I will end on my own sassy critic blurb: "The Golden Touch? More like The Silver Touch."

Thank you.

Further Reading

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton (the classic, go-to source for Greek and Roman mythology, although her section on Midas is listed in the section entitled "The Less Important Myths", which frankly kind of undersells my rigorous, pain-staking scholarship on the subject; how am I to be taken seriously on Tumblr with that kind of attitude, Ms. Hamilton?!?)

The TVTropes page on the Midas Touch provided examples of the myth's impact on pop culture; not an exhaustive list, I imagine, but it definitely answered my persistent queries on whether there have been any substantial adaptations of the myth.

When Walt Laid a Golden Egg by Jim Korkis https://www.mouseplanet.com/10214/When_Walt_Laid_a_Golden_Egg

Lastly, an interesting little article about the history of the short in question.

[ainsoftseo]

How to Choose the Top ERP Software for Your Business

Choosing the top ERP software is a critical decision for businesses looking to enhance operational efficiency and profitability. With ERP implementation significantly impacting business continuity, it demands a strategic approach to mitigate risks and ensure seamless integration into current business processes. The right software not only manages day-to-day operations—from accounting and project management to compliance—but also serves as a centralized repository for real-time data across all business divisions, making it essential across various industries such as healthcare, nonprofits, and education

Optimizing for the top ERP software requires understanding how it streamlines workflow and provides real-time data access, which in turn helps a company operate more efficiently and work smarter. This endeavor must consider key factors, including the software's ability to integrate with existing systems and its scalability to meet future needs As we explore how to select the top ERP software, our focus will be on aligning business requirements with software capabilities, ensuring the best fit for your organizational needs and budget.

Understanding Your Business Requirements

Define Specific ERP Requirements

Identify Core Functionalities: Ensure the ERP software covers essential financial management aspects such as General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, and Payroll. It should also handle complex processes like Order-to-Cash and Inventory Control

Assess Technical Needs: Review the architectural functionality, including the programming language and application architecture, to ensure compatibility with existing systems.

Scalability and Performance: Consider the ERP's scalability to accommodate business growth and its performance to handle increasing data volumes

Prioritize Business Objectives

Rank Requirements: Prioritize ERP features based on their importance and urgency to your business operations

Set Goals and KPIs: Clearly define business objectives and key performance indicators that the ERP system should impact

Evaluate Integration and Customization Options

Customization Needs: Determine the level of customization required for the ERP to meet specific business processes

Integration Capabilities: Check for integration options with existing tools and platforms to ensure seamless data flow and functionality

Consider Maintenance and Security

Maintenance Flexibility: Evaluate the ease of maintenance and updates to ensure the system remains efficient over time

Security Measures: Ensure the ERP provides robust security features to protect sensitive business data

Industry-Specific Features

Sector Relevance: Choose an ERP that offers features tailored to your industry, whether it’s manufacturing, retail, or healthcare, to enhance operational relevance and efficiency

By carefully assessing these areas, you can align your business needs with the capabilities of top ERP software, ensuring a strategic fit that supports your company’s growth and efficiency.

Setting a Realistic Budget

Understanding ERP Cost Structures

ERP System Tiers: Different businesses require different ERP systems, categorized into Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3, each designed to meet specific business sizes and needs

Pricing Models: ERP systems typically offer two main pricing models: subscription-based (SaaS) and perpetual licensing. Subscription-based models generally have lower upfront costs, whereas perpetual licenses involve a one-time fee but no ongoing subscription costs

Budgeting for ERP Implementation

Initial Costs: For a small to mid-sized business, the average ERP implementation cost is approximately $9,000 per user. This can escalate to between $150,000 and $750,000 for mid-sized businesses, depending on various factors including the complexity of the business processes and the ERP features required

Additional Costs: It's advisable to add about 25% to your budget to cover additional expenses such as hardware, network infrastructure, and ongoing support

Unforeseen Expenses: Setting aside 10-15% of the total budget for unexpected costs during the ERP implementation can prevent financial overruns

Long-Term Financial Planning

Total Cost of Ownership: Over a decade, the total cost of ownership for cloud-based ERP systems is slightly higher at $3.08 million compared to $2.82 million for on-premise systems. This includes costs for support, future add-ons, and customizations

Maintenance Costs: Ongoing ERP support and maintenance typically account for 15% – 20% of the total investment in an ERP solution, which should be factored into the long-term budget

By carefully considering these factors and planning accordingly, businesses can set a realistic budget that accommodates both the initial and ongoing costs associated with ERP systems, ensuring a smoother implementation and operation phase.

Cloud-Based vs. On-Premises Solutions

Installation and Implementation Differences

Installation Requirements:

Cloud-based ERP systems do not require physical infrastructure installations, as they are hosted on the vendor's servers

On-premises ERP systems require installation of both software and infrastructure on-site

Implementation Time:

Cloud ERP can be implemented more quickly, typically within 3 to 6 months, due to standardized processes and fewer customization options

On-premises ERP often takes more than a year to fully deploy due to its extensive customization capabilities

Customization and Control

Customization Flexibility:

On-premises ERP allows greater customization and control, enabling businesses to tailor the system extensively according to their specific needs

Cloud-based ERP offers customization but often at additional costs and with limitations during system updates

System Control:

On-premises solutions provide businesses with complete control over their ERP systems, including data security and system updates

In cloud-based systems, the vendor manages software updates and maintenance, reducing the control companies have over their systems

Cost and Maintenance

Initial and Ongoing Costs:

On-premises ERP involves higher upfront costs due to necessary hardware and IT infrastructure but can be less costly to maintain over time if already in place

Cloud-based ERP generally has lower initial costs with a subscription model, although ongoing costs can accumulate over time

Maintenance Responsibilities:

Companies using on-premises ERP are responsible for all maintenance, updates, and security, requiring a dedicated IT team

Cloud ERP maintenance and security are handled by the vendor, often resulting in higher standards and less burden on the company's internal resources

Security and Accessibility

Data Security:

On-premises ERP provides a higher level of data security control, as all data remains within the company's private infrastructure

Cloud ERP has improved security measures and complies with strict standards, which has reduced concerns over data safety

System Accessibility:

Cloud-based ERP systems offer the advantage of remote accessibility, allowing users to access the system from anywhere with an internet connection

On-premises systems are typically accessible only within the company's network, limiting remote access capabilities

Performance and Upgrades

System Performance:

Cloud-based ERP is designed to perform well under various conditions, with providers managing performance optimization

On-premises ERP's performance can be more closely managed and optimized by the in-house IT team, depending on the company's capability

Updates and Upgrades:

Cloud ERP solutions receive regular updates from the provider, ensuring the use of the latest features without additional effort from the company

On-premises ERP allows companies to schedule and manage updates at their discretion, which can be beneficial or burdensome depending on the situation

Assessing Integration and Compatibility

Initial Assessment of IT Infrastructure

Identify IT Components: Begin by documenting all IT infrastructure components including hardware, software, networks, security systems, data management, and cloud services

Interaction Analysis: Understand how these components interact and integrate, which is crucial for ensuring smooth ERP integration

ERP Software Evaluation

Technical Specifications: Compare potential ERP software options based on their technical specifications to ensure they meet your IT infrastructure requirements

Compatibility and Support: Assess the compatibility of the ERP software with your existing systems and the level of support offered by the vendor

Conducting Compatibility Tests

Setup Test Environment: Use a sandbox or pilot environment to conduct compatibility tests

Test Key Functions: Evaluate the ERP software’s functionality, performance, security, and integration capabilities with your existing systems

Issue Resolution: Identify and address any issues or conflicts that arise during the testing phase

Reviewing Compatibility Outcomes

Analysis of Results: Measure the benefits, costs, risks, and opportunities associated with implementing the ERP software within your current IT setup

Documentation and Reporting: Document your findings and present them to stakeholders and decision-makers to aid in the final decision-making process

Data Integration Strategies

Data Cleaning: Before migration, filter out unnecessary or incorrect data to ensure only essential information is transferred to the new ERP system

Integration Planning: Ensure the ERP system can seamlessly integrate with other software tools used in your business, maintaining data integrity and operational efficiency

Evaluating ERP Vendor Expertise and Support

Vendor Credentials and Experience

Research Vendor Reputation: Investigate the ERP vendor's history and reputation in the industry, focusing on their experience with businesses similar to yours

Expertise in Specific Industries: Confirm that the vendor has expertise in your specific industry, which can greatly influence the effectiveness of the ERP solution

Vendor Establishment: Check how long the vendor has been in business as a longer track record might indicate stability and reliability

Implementation and Support

Implementation Team Experience: Evaluate the experience and skills of the vendor’s implementation team. This team is crucial for a smooth transition and setup

Ongoing Training and Support: Ensure the vendor offers comprehensive training and support post-implementation to address any issues and ensure your team can fully utilize the ERP system

Change Management: Assess the vendor’s approach to change management, which is vital for adapting to the new system without disrupting existing processes.

Service Quality and Customization

Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Review the SLAs to understand the support and service quality you can expect after the ERP system goes live

Customization Capabilities: Determine the flexibility of the ERP system to be customized according to your business needs and the vendor’s capability to implement such customizations

Communication and Relationship Management

Vendor Communication: Evaluate how effectively the vendor communicates during the negotiation and implementation phases. Open and transparent communication is essential for a successful ERP deployment

Conflict and Issue Resolution: Understand the vendor’s process for resolving issues and handling conflicts, which can be critical during stressful project phases like implementation

Long-term Partnership Considerations

Post-Launch Services: Check what post-launch services the vendor offers. Continuous support and updates are crucial for keeping the ERP system efficient and secure

Cultural Fit: Ensure that the vendor’s business culture aligns with yours, which can facilitate smoother interactions and a better working relationship

By carefully evaluating these factors, you can ensure that your chosen ERP vendor will not only meet but exceed your business requirements, providing a robust foundation for your operations.

Making the Selection and Planning for Implementation

Initial Planning and Role Assignment

Define Project Scope and Objectives: Clearly outline the scope and goals of the ERP implementation project, ensuring all stakeholders have a unified understanding

Assign Roles and Responsibilities: Designate roles to team members, including a project manager who will oversee the implementation process. Choose someone with strong organizational and communication skills

Preparation and Configuration

Resource Allocation: Gather all necessary resources, tools, and processes required for the ERP system's installation, configuration, and integration

System Configuration: Configure the ERP software to align with your business processes and requirements. This step is crucial for ensuring the software functions correctly within your organizational framework

Testing and Training

System Testing: Conduct comprehensive testing of the ERP system, including user acceptance testing, to ensure it meets all specified requirements before going live

Employee Training: Develop and execute a training program for all users of the ERP system. This training should cover daily, weekly, and monthly routines to ensure users are proficient

Implementation and Go-Live

Final Preparations: Ensure all systems are integrated and functioning together smoothly. Perform a final round of testing to confirm system readiness

Go-Live: Transition to the new ERP system. Carefully monitor the system and address any issues promptly to minimize disruptions to business operations

Post-Implementation Review and Adjustment

Feedback Collection: Regularly collect feedback from users to identify areas for improvement. This ongoing evaluation helps in refining system performance and user satisfaction

Continuous Improvement: Implement necessary changes and enhancements based on user feedback and system performance analysis. This iterative process helps in maintaining the relevance and efficiency of the ERP system

By following these structured steps, businesses can effectively select and implement an ERP system that aligns with their operational needs and strategic goals.

[ashslaysworld]

Legally Blonde (2001)

One of my favourite movies that has absolutely changed my brain chemistry has to be Legally Blonde. I remember the first time that I ever watched it I was 13 years old and I had just found it on Netflix. People who know me know that if there’s two things that I love most in the world, it’s pink and love. I always thought that Reese Witherspoon is one of the most beautiful women in the world, and Elle Wood’s journey into independence and being an amazing lawyer was so inspiring to me, especially considering how into debate I was, and how impressionable I was as well. 

Legally Blonde is based off of a novel written by Amanda Brown, which was written from her own perspective as a woman who was super into fashion in the law program at Stanford. The movie was considered a box office success, making 133 million dollars more than the initial budget of 18 million. The makers of the film tried to make the movie consumable for young women, especially considering at the time women who were considered beautiful almost never had roles where they were smart, driven and talented. 

The producers enlisted the help of Reese Witherspoon, who was already somewhat known in the industry to captivate the attention of the public, and a movie that was based off of a woman’s real experience in a field that was predominantly male-driven was interesting and refreshing. At this time, a lot of movies which featured women as the main character had begun to show, Starting with Clueless in 1995, The Princess Diaries in 2001, and Mean Girls in 2004. 

I feel as though a lot of men were opposed to watching the film as it doesn’t suit the general masculine and male content that a lot of men are interested in. I believe that it is rooted within the idea that men are not allowed to enjoy certain types of movies due to how girly and women-centred the movies are. 

In 2001, around the same time the movie was released, the Netherlands had legalised same-sex marriage. Even though in the United States same-sex marriage was not legal, the movie brings up a gay couple who speaks in court. Not in a negative way, but normalising the existence of same-sex couples everywhere.

The movie was conventional in the sense that a beautiful woman was pining after a beautiful man, with a love story to die for, however, instead of finding her happily ever after with the person she altered her life for, she found her own happiness in her career and love in someone who really loved and cared for her beyond appearance.

When I first watched the movie, I hadn't really thought about the possible negative repercussions of perpetuating a woman as just a "dumb blonde", and upon watching the movie you will find that it has far more depth than just that, from the relatably heartbreaking moment when Elle realised that she had been broken up with because Warner simply didn't think she was able to match his level of success in the future, however, in popularised clips you will mostly really see the moments where she displays those stereotypes.

Female empowerment is very important in this day and age. "Girlhood" and being there for other women is extremely important and Elle Woods is able to handle it with grace and poise, even if she has to work with her ex boyfriend's new fiancé, Vivian.

After watching the movie again, I found that I had a new-found respect for Elle and her dedication to her studies. When I watched the movie the first (til eighth) time, the idea of college was just so far away that I didn't really think about the academic rigor that she had to go through to not just graduate from college as a fashion major, but to be the valedictorian of her graduating class in Harvard Law School is nothing less than impressive.

While I was reading the more recent reviews about the movie, I found that people tended to be very critical of the movie, saying that Elle was simply not realistic, however, that's exactly the stereotype that Elle Woods was trying to break. Just because someone is beautiful and dresses in pink simply does not mean that she is unable to do what a man in plain clothes can do. In fact, I believe that it is far more unlikely for someone to know whether a red dress is actually made of "low viscosity rayon with a half loop top stitching on the hem" or if you're simply being fooled.