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thewertsearch · 3 months

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Familial Determinism

Or: let's make wild, uninformed guesses about the troll Ancestors, based solely on the lives of their descendants!

As a bearer of the lowest blood on the hemospectrum, Aradia’s ancestor was probably as poor as she is. She may have been an archeologist like her descendant, assuming the field existed in her era, but I'm much more interested in her potential necromancy.

On the instruction of your ANCESTORS, you have recovered MYSTERIOUS TECHNOLOGY from the ruins, and convinced a friend to adapt it into a GAME THAT WILL BRING ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR CIVILIZATION.

See, due to her bloodline, Granny Megido is the most likely ancestor to be behind the Voices. She's the only one who can claim a direct relationship to Aradia, and I think she was probably still around in the modern era - as a ghost, of course - guiding her young protege, as she worked to trigger the apocalypse.

What's your story, Granny Meg? How did a lowblood medium discover the secrets of Sgrub, centuries before it arrived? How much did you know back then - and how much influence do you still have, even now?

If Alternia's past is anything like its present - and it certainly seems to be - then I can't see Tavros's ancestor surviving there for long. If he survived to adulthood, then it was probably as a peaceful nomad, or perhaps some sort of ranger.

Either way, I don't think he'd involve himself with other trolls, instead preferring to spend time with his planet's wildlife. Basically, I'm picturing Snow White with a mohawk.

Sollux’s ancestor is undoubtedly still a techhead. I know it's centuries in the past, but this is proto-Sollux we're talking about. He'd invent technology if he had to.

Actually, that might have been his role. He could have been one of Alternia's first engineers, leveraging his Sgrub foreknowledge to contribute to Alternia's technological advancement.

Congratulations, Sollux Senior - you helped turn a nation of pirates into a space empire.

Karkat's an interesting one. In a more primitive society - ie, one without Imperial Drones - it might have been easier for him to hide his blood color.

...actually, he might not even have Karkat's blood color. It's possible that Karkat's candy red mutation is unique to him, and the other Vantas has yellow-green blood, like his Trollian position implies he should. That would result in an ancestor with a very different social position to Karkat, and the two could be substantially different as a result.

Nepeta’s current lifestyle would translate perfectly to a primitive Alternia. Her ancestor could easily still live in a cave – and since shipping is probably her calling, too, I'm picturing her as an accomplished matchmaker.

Kanaya’s situation is rather unique. Jadebloods are rare, and inextricably linked to the Mother Grub, so her ancestor has some of the strongest ties to her counterpart.

We're actually aware of an ancient Mother Grub, who may have been alive in the time of the ancestors - which hints at a relationship between Kanaya's ancestor and the next troll on our list.

That would be Terezi's ancestor, whose symbol adorns the Doomsday Scale. This device was probably a collaboration between the Pyrope and Maryam ancestors. Its purpose is unknown, but the Gate symbol is proof that someone had Sgrub foreknowledge. Curious.

Anyway, aside from this side hustle, Pyrope was probably a legislacerator. I wonder if the Alternian legal system was as broken then as it is now?

Equius... well, I don't really know, actually. He certainly feels like the kind of guy who’d model himself off his ancestor, so he was probably a pro-hemospectrum horse enthusiast.

Gamzee’s ancestor could have gone one of two ways. If Sopor Slime existed back in early Alternia, he might have been as docile as his descendant used to be. If it didn’t, he was probably the exact kind of bloodthirsty monster that Gamzee is currently regressing into.

I know which option I'm putting my money on, and it's the one that would make Gamzee proud of his 'Subjugglator' ancestors. Can you guess which?

Eridan’s ancestor is the Orphaner, which makes me think he has a similar role as a slayer of lusi. My best guess is that he killed the custodians of adult trolls.

Feferi is an odd case, because her ancestor would probably be an extremely famous historical empress. Fuchsia blood is so rare that Feferi is literally the only modern troll who has it, so I wouldn't be surprised if her ancestor was revered in her time.

What did you do to Alternia, Pexies? Did you help make it what it is, or - like your descendant - did you try to make it better?

#full liveblog #homestuck liveblog #act 5.2 #3507 #s132 #theories #deep dives

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disappointingyet · 2 years

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Smithereens

Director Susan Seidelman Stars Susan Berman, Brad Rijn, Richard Hell USA 1982 Language English 1hr 33mins Colour

Authentically roach-infested view of post-punk NYC

Desperately Seeking Susan is a delightful film that takes a touristy trip to a scrubbed-up version of Manhattan’s mid-‘80s downtown scene. For a grimier, noisier and less alluring take, you need to watch director Susan Seidelman’s previous movie, Smithereens.

Smithereens is about Wren (Susan Berman), who we meet wearing a plastic houndstooth skirt and checkered sunglasses. She’s mouthy, energetic, very what people think of as New York (and like a lot of classic New Yorkers, she’s actually from New Jersey). She’s on the scene, talking her way into clubs, trying to meet bands, self-promoting with Xeroxes of herself and the words ‘Who is this?’ that she hands out or sticks on walls.

She’s both vulnerable and a user, and seems to be the kind of person who wears through people’s patience. There’s something proto-Llewyn Davis about the way she runs out of places to sleep/park her stuff. During the short time frame covered by the film, there are two men she spends time with: Eric (punk pioneer Richard Hell), singer in Smithereens, and clueless out-of-towner Paul (Brad Rijn), whose main utility to Wren is that he has a van to sleep in. Eric might seem big time by comparison, but even he lives in an ultra-grubby loft and is constantly on the look out for new ways to hustle cash.

Seidelman does not, then, seem to trying to tempt us into this world. It looks tiring and uncomfortable and none-too-glamorous, no matter how cool some of the characters appear to be before you get to know them.

I wonder a bit about the intended and perceived balance of sympathy, when it was made and now, between Wren and Paul from Montana. Wren definitely strings Paul along, but it’s on him to realise that doing favours for anyone brings no duty to provide sex in return. My guess is that that’s Seidelman’s view but some viewers saw it differently.

Wren, I feel, is something of a precursor to the young women struggling to hold it together in boho New York in movies like Frances Ha, but her existence is more precarious both financially and safety-wise.

It’s low-budget but not experimental – the film is episodic but linear: there’s a clear beginning and end and Seidelman avoids gimmicks. There’s no disguising the low budget but its nicely shot by Chirine El Khadem.

One of the things I mentioned in my review of Desperately Seeking Susan is that while there are assorted cult musicians in doing bit parts, the music is very mainstream. Not so here: weaving its way through the film are the spidery guitars of New Jersey band The Feelies, whose vibe is encapsulated by the title of the first song on their debut album (and present in this film) The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness. The highlight of the soundtrack might be ESG’s indie-funk classic Moody.

But the real snob points on the music front come not from a band you hear in the film, but whose name you can see on the marquee of The Peppermint Lounge: 3 Teens Kill 4. They are remembered not for any of the songs but because one of their members was artist/writer David Wojnarowicz, the dead-too-soon downtown martyr of choice for people who feel that Basquiat and Haring are way too mainstream.

If Smithereens is more authentic than Desperately Seeking Susan, more representative of the grotty lives that many people trying to get a bit of the action in post-punk New York, does that make it a better movie? Emphatically not – if you see one of these two films, definitely make it Desperately Seeking Susan. But Smithereens is certainly worth a watch if you are interested in this time and place or like a female antihero.

Part of my ‘Every girl should be given an electric guitar on her 16th birthday’series

#smithereens #1980s new york #1980s movies #punk movies

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