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yeonchi · 1 year ago

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Kisekae Insights #50: Kamen Rider Zi-O Part 8 - Background

After a month of non-stop typing in preparation, we have finally reached the end of this Kamen Rider Zi-O miniseries. In this instalment, not only will I be talking about the background to this series, I’ll also talk a little bit about the overarching Final Kamen Rider Chronicle along with the three Chronicle series broadcast from 2019 to 2021. At the end, there will be a song list of music featured in all three works.

Background to Zi-O and The Final Kamen Rider Chronicle

Kamen Rider Zi-O was created as part of The Final Kamen Rider Chronicle, an trilogy of Rider series alongside Ex-Aid and Build created in lieu of a fifth series for Three Kingdoms and Soulbound.

Each series was allocated 40 episodes of 45 minutes in length, making it the equivalent to 80 episodes in half-hour timeslots. This was the amount of time I gave the creators of the other two series’ adaptations for which to adapt the entirety of the series content, including the crossover winter movies, the traditional summer movie, the post-series V-Cinemas, the Hyper Battle DVDs and other web/media specials. Naturally, you can imagine what the other two teams felt when I announced After Quartzer. To be fair, though, Ex-Aid and Build haven’t had any other self-contained post-series specials and the Decade/Zi-O miniseries came out in 2021.

The Final Kamen Rider Chronicle was announced in June 2019 for broadcast in July 2020. Initially, it was delayed by a year due to the coronavirus lockdowns, but when the fourth lockdown hit, I decided to do away with the scheduling and let the creators release the series when they were ready. The fact that I intended this trilogy to be broadcast 5 times a week and I had started working full-time did not help things, as these delays were made worse by Soulbound Series 4 not being completed at the time.

One of the ideas I gave for Kamen Rider Build was multiple Build clones that mainly used the Best Matches of other territories. I don’t think I had other ideas for Ex-Aid though. Hey, remember that rumour where Ex-Aid’s Riders would be based on file extensions?

I started work on Zi-O in February 2022 after finishing Soulbound Series 4. I finished the main series in August, then took a brief break before completing After Quartzer from September to November. On a good day, I could work on three episodes, finishing off the first, completing a second and starting work on a third. When I got to the fourth part, that was a difficult schedule to keep due to the episodes largely being original. In fact, original episodes would always take longer to write. The episode that took me the longest to write was episode 33 at 18 days, as it was the start of a new status quo with the Quartzer trio. The special that took me the longest to write was Rainbow Rider Revolution at 38 days.

As I watched Zi-O during its original run, I knew that I wanted to adapt it eventually, being “Decade 2.0” as people called it. Like all non-Doctor Who series in my personal project, Zi-O is another egofest. In fact, it’s an egofest on a brand new level as I played Ohma Zi-O, Swartz and Hiroki Ichigo along with a bunch of Riders and characters. My twin brother played Sougo and the other Sougo, Takeru and Hikaru Azuma, but let’s face it, you might as well say that I played them. I originally played Parker Zhou and Hiroki’s prototypes before I decided to outsource them for the Moushouden Series; given how I ended up playing multiple characters again, fat lot of good that was.

Given that the series was produced by Shinichirō Shirakura and written by Kento Shimoyama, it had flaws that people had already seen in previous works. As such, my goal with the adaptation was to improve on them to the best of my ability, though I’m unable to guarantee that I managed to catch all of them or improve them sufficiently.

One thing I improved on in the first part was how the Another Riders worked and how their creation affected time. The erasure of the Riders’ history caused by the Another Riders being created early in their counterpart Riders’ timelines was seen as disrespectful and as such, this was improved on by removing the history erasure element and having the events of Zi-O be a continuation of the Legend Riders’ timelines. I also incorporated the W and Kuuga tributes into the main series to show Sougo’s acquisition of their Ridewatches, in a two-parter adapting Heisei Generations Forever.

The second part contained original episodes consisting of an adaptation of Kamen Rider Shinobi, a Ryuki tribute that also serves as a prequel to Sougo acquiring Zi-O II and a totally original episode featuring the other Sougo and Parker Zhou. The third part introduced Quartzer into the series as a new villain group, added an Amazons tribute, extended the Hibiki tribute to include a Magica tribute and made Kamen Rider Ginga’s appearance a full episode with two original Riders.

The finale arc of the original Zi-O was something I definitely wanted to improve on, due to it going back to the merging worlds plot already used in Decade. As such, the final three episodes were adapted at the end of the third part and the fourth part was adapted from the final episodes of Kamen Rider Zero-One. Initially, I didn’t intend on adapting the Over Quartzer movie and the movie Riders because of Showa elements, but I ended up adapting it in the end.

Hiryuu Kakogawa also felt underused during his appearances in the series. As such, Hiryuu joined Quartzer for the fourth part as I made the unprecedented move to adapt Zi-O’s final stage show for plot elements. A Facebook group I was in run by the people behind Genm Corp fansubs and the Henshin Fever fanpage posted a subtitled version of Build’s final stage show in 2019, making me realise that there was an untapped market for fansubs. I think other fansubbers and groups have caught on to this because more tokusatsu stage shows have been subbed since then.

Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi and Sougo as Ohma Zi-O appeared to be rushed out for the finale of the original, so Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi was introduced at the end of the third part while Ohma Zi-O was made into the Ark-One of the series.

In preparation for this series, certain Kamen Riders and power-ups were introduced earlier, more specifically in Soulbound Series 4, as a build-up and foreshadowing to this series. Of note, the Decade Beltmorpher X and Diend Gunmorpher X were introduced as upgrades given to Hiroki and Kayley after making a deal with Ohma Zi-O. Kamen Rider Aqua was also introduced before his appearance in Zi-O, even though he ended up being used in an original arc with his counterpart in the original series being replaced by Akihito Hayasaka as Kamen Rider Woz the Next.

The main portion of my personal project had concluded in Soulbound Series 4; Zi-O is both a continuation of the story for the Kamen Riders and a side story for everyone else. The events of this series take place in a separate timeline to the main universe as the main characters of the series are parallel isotopes; individuals whose timelines have been splintered by them being displaced from their own timelines. By the end of the series, the parallel isotopes are erased with the destruction of the timeline, however new versions of the main characters are created in a new timeline as shown in the After Quartzer specials.

Chronicle Series

Following the conclusion of Doctor Who, three weekly Chronicle series were commissioned. The Chronicle series follows the premise of Ultraman Retsuden and other Chronicle series in that they are mostly recaps and reruns of previous episodes.

Doctor Who: The Equestria Chronicles is the first such series, broadcast from July to December 2019. The series takes place during the events of the eighth season and follows Storm Dasher as he teaches the Young Six about the adventures of Doctor Whooves, the Pony Doctor and himself. Some special guests join Dasher’s classes/lectures as well, human, pony or Time Lord alike.

Ultraman: The Equestria Chronicles was broadcast from July to December 2020. This series consists of 6 mini-arcs that can be separated into individual series, covering the adventures of Storm Dasher as Ultraman Ginga, Spike as Ultraman Victory, and Danny Williams as Ultraman X, the latter being an adaptation of the original series. In hindsight I probably should have fleshed it out into a proper series myself, but this was for the best since my work on Soulbound Series 4 would occupy me for two years.

The Zhuge Family Chronicles was broadcast from January to June 2021 in preparation for The Final Kamen Rider Chronicle. This series follows Jee Gun, Sunset Shimmer, Copper Plume, Rally Flag, Starlight Glimmer and Sierra Nightingale as they learn about Hiroki Ichigo and his family, the Zhuge family, and their adventures at the Strawberry Academy. Being inspired by Ultraman Chronicle: ZERO & GEED, this series carries the classroom setting through to the end whereas the original had to abort it towards the end due to the pandemic. The series culminates in a final exam for the six students, which they pass with flying colours.

Music

Chronicle Series:

Doctor Who: The Equestria Chronicles: Hope the youth (opening)/ギンガローグ (Ginga Rogue, Japanese version of 沙漠駱駝, ending 1)/放浪 (Wandering, Japanese version of 狂浪, ending 2)

Ultraman: The Equestria Chronicles: MLP (USA parody, opening)/明年今日 (Japanese ver, ending 1), ねずみは米がすき (老鼠愛大米 Japanese ver, ending 2)

The Zhuge Family Chronicles: Heroes (opening)/Heart on Fire (ending 1)/ネバーマインド (ending 2)

Final Kamen Rider Chronicle:

Ex-Aid: EXCITE (opening)/愛のしるし (ending)

Build: Be The One (opening)/piece of truth (ending)

Zi-O: Over “Quartzer” (opening)/時の描片 ~トキノカケラ~ (ending)

Zi-O insert themes:

(character themes remain the same as from the original)

Episode 12 (Shinobi crossover): IZANAGI

Episode 21 (Agito tribute): BELIEVE YOURSELF

Episode 31 (Luna goes to the hot springs with the girls): Me Armastame Suplemist (Estonian song, title means “We Love Bathing”)

Episode 36 (Sougo regains his memories upon seeing 2012 Akari): Super Driver

Before Quartzer themes:

Zi-O and Decade: Ride the Wind -Zi-O Remix- (by Fuuta, opening)/Bright! our Future (ending)

The Other Zi-O Part 1: 流星ミラクル (opening)/CHOSEN SOLDIER (ending)

The Other Zi-O Part 2: ブルーバード (opening)/Winding Road (ending)

Geiz and Woz: M八七 (opening)/明日もし君が壊れても (ending)

After Quartzer themes:

Revenge of Quartzer: Sea Princesses opening theme/雷鳴 (opening)/Mirage Mirror (insert theme)/GAME CHANGER (ending)

Rainbow Rider Revolution: Equestria Girls opening theme/Brand New Day (opening)/咲いて (insert theme)/Fantasista～ファンタジスタ～ (ending)

The Game in the House of Death: INSIDE-OUT DECADE ver. (opening)/世界が終るまでは… (ending)

The Seven Sougos: INSIDE-OUT ZI-O ver. (opening)/You are the HERO (ending)

Post-series tributes:

Three Kingdoms: 若者のすべて

Soulbound: Message

Rider Chronicle: P.A.R.T.Y. ユ��バース・フェスティバル

Personal project/Hiroki Ichigo: ドラマティック

And so we have reached the end of the Zi-O miniseries and with it, the fourth run of Kisekae Insights. We’ve gone through 20 instalments in 7 months, which is a little more than the first run’s pattern of 16 instalments in 6 months. I would have released the Zi-O miniseries over one month instead of two, but at this point I’m just buying time until the 1000th Post Special. I hope this makes up for the lackluster third run in 2022.

With My Little Pony, Gokaiger, Decade and Zi-O out of the way, all that’s really left for me to cover is Three Kingdoms and Soulbound (unless you want me to retread previous topics for content). Don’t expect the fifth run to come out until 2025; I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment with the upcoming Sea Princesses 20th Anniversary and Koei Warriors Retrospective.

If you’ve got any questions about anything in this series, feel free to contact me on Facebook or shoot me an ask or DM on Tumblr (anons disabled). Until the next run, I say.

#kisekae insights #kamen rider #kamen rider zi-o #kamen rider decade #my little pony #my little pony equestria girls #my little pony friendship is magic #doctor who #ultraman

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santaclaralocalnews · 2 years ago

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The Fremont Firebirds varsity football squad looks prime to take another step forward in year five under Head Coach Rob Swartz. This Friday, Aug. 11 will mark two weeks until the Firebirds kick off their 2023 schedule with a tough non-league opener against Palo Alto. For complete news visit svvoice.com.

#Firebirds Football Hoping #Firebirds #football #fremont #team #Swartz #Head Coach #fremont firebirds #quarterback #svvoice

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mydentalhomeclinic · 2 years ago

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brightbeautifulthings · 5 years ago

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"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."

Fun Fact: I ran a David Foster Wallace blog (andtoyouitsjustwords) for about two years while I was in graduate school. I closed it down and moved the content I wanted to this one when I finished school and realized I wanted to read Every Book Ever, not just the literary ones, but it was a fond time of my life, and he remains one of my favorite authors.

Tumblr doesn't have a large Wallace fandom, but @infinite-jest-again, @sylvanshiner, @gayjewish, and I are banding together for the summer's slowest rereading of Infinite Jest. I'm super excited to be revisiting a book that blew my mind the first time I read it--but I was also trying to pound it in a month on top of classes, thesis, and teaching. I expect this experience will be a lot more chill, and the slow pace will allow us to pick apart every detail (or, as Marie put it, to "notice the water " 😂). We'll be using the schedule designed by the Infinite Summer people, but where they average around fifty pages a day, we're giving ourselves a week for each benchmark for Infinite Slow Summer!

Week 1 (p. 1-63)

"I'd tell you all you want and more, if the sounds I made could be what you hear" (p. 9).

[tw: drug/addiction mention]

I love the first chapter of this book. Wallace really hits the ground running with what is chronologically the last event of the novel, and this scene sets up a near-endless string of questions for how we got to this place. It's clear that something terrible has happened to Hal Incandenza, and while he's having no trouble with a coherent thought process ("I am in here" (p. 3).), he is devastatingly unable to communicate with anyone in the room. I'd argue it could almost work as a short story because the metaphor made concrete is so strong. It's an inherent flaw of communication that what I'm saying may not be exactly what you're hearing, that there's always that gap, however small, in understanding another human. We've all felt that "familiar panic at feeling misperceived" (p. 8) at one time or another. For Hal, this is not a metaphor; it's terrifyingly physical. ("I am not what you see and hear" (p. 13).)

Somehow, Wallace manages to inject humor into a scene that, upon closer inspection, is utterly haunting, but the image of Avril Incandenza running around her garden screaming, "Help! My son ate this!" (p. 11) about a bit of basement mold never fails to make me laugh. The following Erdedy chapter also ends up being humorous with him splayed in indecision in the middle of the room (possibly another philosophical anecdote made concrete in Buridan's donkey). For both Hal and Erdedy, the ritual of getting high seems as addictive as the drug itself. It's reassuring, I think, to start the book off on a strong note, in case we worried we were in for a thousand pages of tedious slog. It can be both, but it's often heartfelt, insightful, and funny as well, and the payoff is well worth the effort. I could probably write paragraphs about every chapter in this section; I don't know how Wallace manages to pack every page with so much meaning, but there's nothing haphazard about this book, despite its size and varied focus. Everything seems to be there for a reason.

"...and some days presents with delusions about people's mouths moving but nothing coming out" (p. 30).

Hal's conversation with a professional conversationalist who turns out to be his father (J.O.I./Himself) is loaded with potential plot points and philosophical intention. J.O.I. is under the impression that Hal doesn't speak, but he seems to be alone in this; Hal is obviously talking to him in this scene, but the way that he talks is fascinating. As Marie pointed out, so many of the conversations in this book are non-conversations. All the characters struggle to communicate, and communication is a topic Wallace struggles with throughout his writing career. Hal has a really specific way of responding to how a person said something instead of what they said. He's commenting on the grammar and vocabulary of Himself's speech rather than on the content of it (grasping the mechanics more than the meaning, which is symbolic, basically, of Hal's entire problem), while Himself seems to have a pre-arranged script in his head regardless of the responses he gets from his son. The result is an utter failure to convey meaning on either side. Like a lot of Wallace stuff, it's funny on a surface level and haunting beneath that, since Hal and Himself's inability to talk to each other drives so much of the novel's conflict.

I'm including a Q&A section under the cut where I attempt to work out some of the major plot events of the story and keep track of the questions I have as I'm reading. However, since this is a reread for all of us, it will contain overall spoilers for the novel. Proceed with caution if you're not familiar!

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Questions & Working Theories

[tw: drug mention]

Q: What happened to Hal? (Obvi) - Hal purposely ate the DMZ. He even says in this section, "I cannot make myself understood, now. Call it something I ate" (p. 10). I never bought this explanation, though, because later in the book it seems like Hal is making an effort to come off drugs. - The mold Hal ate as a child had long-term effects, and something (coming off drugs?) may have triggered his current condition. Also supported by, "Call it something I ate" (p. 10). - Aaron Swartz has a very convincing theory that Hal accidentally ate the DMZ when The Wraith placed it on his toothbrush. (Again, supported by above.) Hal is an excellent communicator but lacks feelings, and J.O.I. was attempting to create something that would draw his son out of himself. - Hal was injured when the A.F.R. attacked Enfield Tennis Academy. There's a weird line in this chapter: "I once saw the word KNIFE finger-written on the steamed mirror of a nonpublic bathroom" (p. 16). This is likely also the work of The Wraith, indicating some kind of violence, perhaps the A.F.R. attack on Enfield.

Q: Why was Hal hospitalized "almost exactly one year back" (p. 16)? - The side effects of the DMZ were first starting to appear. - Hal was injured in the A.F.R. attack.

It's clear, also, that this was when Hal met Gately. Although they never have an on-page scene together that I recall, Hal refers to the two of them attempting to dig up J.O.I.'s head to find the Entertainment, alongside a masked John Wayne.

Q: Who is mailing out the Entertainment? - Swartz suggests that it's Orin Incandenza, who later under threat of torture releases it to the A.F.R. This seems well-supported by the text, since the initial cartridge is mailed from Arizona, and it's conveniently sent to a medical attaché with whom Avril probably had an affair (per J.O.I.'s conversation with Hal).

Q: How did Orin find out about the Entertainment?

Q: What happened to John Wayne that he can't win this year's WhataBurger competition?

Q: What "sordid liaison" (p. 30) with the M. DuPlessis, who dies in a later chapter, did the Incandenza family have?

#david foster wallace #infinite jest #infinite slow summer #infinite summer #infinite jest readalong #yrstruly

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kierakravec-blog · 5 years ago

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shewasanamericangirl · 6 years ago

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due to the slow fansub schedule, i finally got to watch kamen rider zio episode 24 a couple hours ago! aaaand now that posts seem to be working again, i can retype the lengthy rant that i tried to post earlier. i got unnecessarily worked up over this episode, so here’s some of what i got worked up over!

firstoff, my son, my beautiful little king sougo, was totally adorable in this episode. so proud of you for not flunking out of high school.

that dinner near the beginning was weird. shirowoz cooks and arranges flowers for geiz and tsukuyomi now? is he their butler or what? where were they? it looked like a basement...and to top it off, they’re on one side of a long table like the last supper. wish i could’ve gotten a better look at the food.

i loved the whole dream plotline. rento is a precious wonderful man, NOT JUST A MACHINE SOUGO you butt. shout out to marco-kun for correcting him. marco says robot rights!!

the shirowoz and hora interactions were good. i’d be open to reading ship fic of them...

a little disappointed we didn’t get the “oh hey favorite customer, you changed your hair!” line when junichiro saw shirowoz. but oh, what a pure uncle he is. sougo brings in whatever the fuck kind of weird friends and junichiro right away goes to make tea for them. he’s so glad his nephew has pals. but then he comes back, sougo’s asleep and everyone else left but tsukuyomi.

the backstory about sougo and his toy robot broke my heart...i figured sougo’s fixation with being a king one day would probably weird people out...no wonder his uncle is so happy to see him make friends.

...and tsukuyomi up and wants to move out. </3 i really want to know what her deal is! first, she advocated making peace between sougo and geiz. okay...why was that? was it simply out of a desire to avoid unnecessary death? perhaps geiz is important enough to her that she didn’t want him to bear the burden of taking a life? what was it about seeing zi-o ii that changed her mind completely? i don’t get what drives tsukuyomi at all. what does she value most? what was her life like in oma zi-o’s future that would move her to travel back in time with geiz?? she’s a huge missing puzzle piece in all this and it’s driving me nuts.

seeing all three riders henshining together was dope! kinda wished there’d been a tad more buildup to them working together for once, but eh, guess their needs just intersected.

poor uhr, bruh. yeah, he’s a shit, but this arc was so rough on him. i was all “aww” over hora acting concerned about him, but damn, she just wanted to screw over swartz.

that “i’m scared” line from tsukuyomi struck me as a bit weird, and i realized that’s because you don’t see emotions from her too much. i guess she’s just not an expressive person...? so mysterious...

very curious about this new sougo power! it’s rather like deciding the status of schrodinger’s cat...this could be used to create a happier future!

lonely sougo at the end of the fight...that hurt my heart. kurowoz somebody hug him please.

i needed more kurowoz! one one hand, obviously, the universe was not kind enough to give us two keisuke watanabes, but they had no problem filming scenes with multiple sougos in the same shot...remember sougo hugging himself? im just asking for one shot of kurowoz bitch-slapping shirowoz with the twilight chronicle, cmon toei

while tsukuyomi is the big enigma i’m curious about, kurowoz isn’t off the hook either. yeah, he’s clearly motivated by loyalty to oma zi-o, but where’d that come from in the first place?

(woz nodding off in the cold open was so cute, though!)

@ swartz: where did you get that

@ shirowoz: how did you do that

in episode 25 geiz and sougo re-enact ryu and gai’s pond fight from jetman, kurowoz and junichiro have more cute interactions, and most importantly (thanks twitter!) sougo and kurowoz go out for a romantic candlelight dinner and smile at each other a lot. can’t get the subs soon enough man

as always, a big fuck you to @shylax for making me care about spandexmen

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swartzschedulingllc · 6 days ago

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sailor-cresselia · 6 years ago

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Zi-O 17: Well that sure is a thing that’s happening

This is an... interesting episode, to say the least. One with some cool looks for characters, to be certain.

Hmm.

(I’m making a separate post to elaborate on my last comment in here, for the record.)

As always, blogging under the cut!

Woz looks concerned that there’s a split in the timeline. Can’t… really say I blame him.

Sougo’s internal monologue:

Talks to his uncle: “2022? Wait, what? … what did I do, I don’t remember getting in the time mazine?”

Sees 2022 everywhere: “Something has gone wrong...”

Gets attacked by ninjas: “Something else has gone wrong...”

Meets Rentaro: “Oh heck yeah, he’s cool!”

And I agree. This guy is awesome. I love him already. His transformation is just so over the top, I love it.

Kagura Rentaro; Kamen Rider Shinobi. I like him.

“I become a shadow who protects the weak” is one of the top pre-asskicking lines I’ve seen in a while.

New opening narration ooooh I like this!

Zi-O and Rider!Geiz walking on opposite directions, with Tsukuyomi watching, is super ominous and I’m worried for the trio.

Other!Woz has been added into the OP in a few locations.

Aaaand the ‘sponsor segment’ variant today iiiis… the unburning page!

Now, back to our irregularly scheduled ninjas.

Back to 2019… Hey.

Isn’t there a superstition in Japan that your first dream of the year is a prediction of how your year is going to go?

Even Alternate!Time Mazines enter their new time plane differently. Instead of the hexagon that we usually use, it’s a square-faced digital clock.

Huh, the portal is a square, but the watch-face design on Other!Woz’s book is an octagon.

Other!Woz: Drat, I forgot to turn on my ad-blocker. I’d expected that WiFi from the past wouldn’t have compatible pop-ups...

Hora: You seem nervous.

Swartz: History as we know it is changing…

Uhr: … Isn’t that the entire reason we’re here, though?

Swartz: Shush. Here.

Uhr: … wait, who…?

… ?!?! Guy tries to leap to someone’s defense in an alley, gets the tar beaten out of him. He sure looks like the Rentaro from 2022, now doesn’t he?

And he just became… well, presumably Another Shinobi. Hm.

“The Day of Oma.” Every other Rider in history vanishes. That’s unfortunate, and means that Kamen Rider Zi-O, who at that point becomes Oma Zi-O, is the last Kamen Rider.

Rider Zi-O becoming Oma Zi-O looks an awful lot like a transformation into an Another Rider. Just saying.

Hey, uh, 2019!Rentaro? You don’t even get a ‘cool motive, still murder’ comment. That’s just murder. Terrifying, purple murder.

No unsettling comments from Uncle Tokiwa thus far. What suspicious ‘totally not foreknowledge’ is coming? There has to be something. There’s always something.

But Woz is subdued, he’s really worried about not knowing what’s going on. He’s hiding it pretty well, but that’s stress right there. Woz speaking in a monotone is worrying, okay? Even when he’s not pulling his ‘heraldry’ act, he still at least has intonation and expressions beyond ‘worried frowning.’

Another Shinobi has a pretty good design thus far.

Uhr, this is why you don’t stand in the middle of the road. Even if you can stop time, that does not eliminate the chance of accidents. Or external meddling.

Silver!Woz, no. Uhr is a little shit, but he’s our little shit. And getting hit by a teleporting car with a gangster being buried alive inside of it is not on the list of ‘top tier ways to die.’

SEE? SEE THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T WATCH THINGS HAPPEN FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. DO NOT PLAY IN TRAFFIC.

At the bench where victim number one caught fire… okay, look. Can we please get Sougo some clothes that fit? All of his sleeves are too baggy, and his pants are somehow simultaneously too wide and too short. I am embarrassed for him.

Yeah. I officially love Another Shinobi’s design. He has what are potentially actual throwing knifes on his legs, where Rider Shinobi just had the patterns. There’s a few too many skulls in there for my taste, but I had that issue with Chase, too, so it’s not like it’s a new problem.

The Zikan Blade’s gun mode is back – he’s using it in tandem with Geiz’s bow, that’s great!

Other!Woz’s tablet is incredibly OP. Nerf please.

I do like the aesthetics, though, with the artisan paper background and font choice. Oh, goody, and he has speech-to-text, too.

Our Woz is not okay with this. He is not okay with any of this.

(If someone hasn’t edited that one ‘pointing 1960’s Spiderman’ meme to feature the two Woz’s already, I’m sorely disappointed.)

Hey, d’ya think ‘Woz’ is a title? Eh, it’s probably not, but that’s just a thought that passed through my head.

Aw, look how synced up the boys are! They really do trust each other!

I don’t like Other!Woz. His outfit’s cool, but he’s awful. He’s smug, and manipulative. Like, the border-line cruel type of smug and manipulative. You’re veering pretty close to ‘definitely a total monster’ territory, here, bud.

Blade Dual Time Break is pretty cool!

And so is the Ryuki variant, except, uh, Sougo? Kiddo? Maybe don’t use elemental attacks against a guy who is already proven to have element controlling powers? Just a thought.

And now we come to Kamen Rider Woz.

The incredibly flashy Kamen Rider Woz.

Those attacks certainly do follow an aesthetic, don’t they? His driver seems so confused at everything that’s happening, and I can’t say I blame it. And that current finisher reminds me a lot of the one Specter uses with Tutankhamen, to be honest.

But let’s unpack his… motives? His history? His timeline? Eh. Whatever. In his future, Geiz defeated Oma Zi-O on the Day of Oma, became Geiz Revive, and is heralded as a savior. Well, heralded as a savior by Other!Woz, at least. So now this Woz is trying to ensure his future happens, I guess? Maybe?

Instructions are unclear.

...how many different groups and goals do we have now?

#kamen rider zi o #sailorcressy says

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apwmagazine · 2 years ago

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Bc Ferries Medical Emergency

Bc Ferries Medical Emergency: BC Ferries’ Coastal Celebration will be postponed because of a medical emergency. Due to a Medical emergency on board, the Coastal Celebration ferry is expected to run behind schedule for the remainder of the day. A medical emergency prevented the ferry from reaching Tsawwassen when it left Swartz Bay at 7 a.m. The ship eventually sailed away from the pier 41 minutes…

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independentartistbuzz · 3 years ago

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Distant Matter Entices on "Do You Miss Me?"

Distant Matter is the moniker of electronic pop artist and multi-instrumentalist Alexander Seligman-Swartz, who brings a textured, colourful, and sentimental infused sound to the electronic scene.

Distant Matter announced his highly anticipated debut EP, Iridescent, with new single “Do You Miss Me?” featuring Toronto artist, GUS. The 6 track EP will be his first EP since the creation of the Distant Matter project, and is scheduled for release in September of 2022. “Do You Miss Me?” is distinctive with a memorable vocal hook, bouncy baseline, and clever sound design.

Listen in hereL

https://soundcloud.com/distantmattermusic/do-u-miss-me/s-i4OgcBVUTwq

Birds see colours differently than humans do. For example, the male Yellow-breasted Chat has a yellow breast to the human eye, but a bird’s eye view reveals ultraviolet iridescent feathers on his chest that set him apart from the females of the species. This relates to the idea of who we let see our true colours, or in other words who we let see our iridescence.

There is a double meaning here, as one side of the coin is Seligman-Swartz showing who he is as an artist, whereas on the other hand, the meanings of the songs relate to what has gone on in his life throughout the last little while.

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employmentlawtopics · 3 years ago

Link

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workerslaw · 3 years ago

Link

#law #employee #rights

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brightbeautifulthings · 5 years ago

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Week 20 (p. 651-808)

"Hal himself hasn't had a bona fide intensity-of-interior-life-type emotion since he was tiny; he finds terms like joie and value to be like so many variables in rarified equations, and he can manipulate them well enough to satisfy everyone but himself that he's in there, inside his own hull, as a human being -- but in fact he's far more robotic than John Wayne" (p. 694).

I'm pretty much over this week-to-week business. Now that the end is in sight (roughly 300 pages), I'm abandoning the schedule and reading as much as I can. Scheduling reading has only ever worked for me as far as it goes. I prefer to immerse myself, however much a novel like IJ seems to discourage that. The book is always structurally interesting, but it starts to get more complicated now as various characters and plots begin to almost slide into one another. There's a cool series of scenes where Matty Pemulis observes Poor Tony, Kate Gompert, and Ruth van Cleve pass by, with Lenz running around the fringes, where pretty soon all the paths intersect at some point, with or without the characters (or the reader) noticing. There's a lot in here about J.O.I.'s films, which seem increasingly unnecessary (but so much of the book is, and is meant to be). The section on the Incandenza family from Joelle's perspective provides some of the clearest insight we have of them, and they are indeed one of the saddest families in literature. We also get Joelle's history from Molly Notkin, both interestingly told from outside perspectives, as if main characters can't be trusted to see their own families clearly.

Week 21 (p. 809-981)

I forgot how totally frustrating it is to near the end of this book and realize the plot isn't going to wrap up in any sort of satisfying way. Wallace commented in an interview (I forget which) that he didn't need to talk about what happens at the end of the book because we know what happens. Buddy, YOU know what happens. The rest of us are here flailing about trying to fit a thousand pieces together, as I suppose we're meant to. We know that the A.F.R. is planning to infiltrate Enfield by the end of the novel, that Poutrincourt is one of their spies ("...which is the slip that indicates that Poutrincourt's figured out that Steeply is neither a civilian soft-profiler nor even a female ... and would require an almost professionally hypervigilant and suspicious person to notice the significance of" p. 1052)., and that John Wayne has some vague connection besides simply being Canadian. We know that, given Orin's capture at the end, they will probably have a Master copy of the Entertainment very soon. What we don't know is how that all goes down, what the fallout is for O.N.A.N., or how Hal gets to be in the state he is in the first chapter (DMZ? AFR? I still can't decide).

"...but it couldn't ordinarily affect anybody or anything solid, and it could never speak right to anybody, a wraith had no out-loud voice of its own, and had to use somebody's like internal brain-voice if it wanted to try to communicate with something, which was why thoughts and insights that were coming from some wraith always just sound like your own thoughts, from inside your own head, if a wraith's trying to interface with you" (p. 831).

This seems like the most compelling motive for J.O.I. to want to dose Hal with DMZ, if in fact he did. Wraiths can only talk to someone who has slowed way down and is no longer experiencing time the way humans normally do--which sounds exactly like what happens when someone ingests DMZ. By the end of the novel (the beginning chapter), we know that Hal can no longer communicate with the outside world, but that there's nothing wrong with his brain voice ("I am in here" p. 3). Will Hal and Jim finally get to have a conversation?

It's clearer than ever that something has happened to Hal though. I don't know if there's any support for the DMZ toothbrush theory--I was actively looking for it and didn't find any, other than the DMZ obviously being missing when Pemulis goes to get it and Hal and other E.T.A. kids vigilantly guarding their toothbrushes. If it's true, it's a leap, but making a leap may be the only way to make sense of that particular conundrum. Whatever has happened is getting worse, as people continually interpret Hal's facial expressions as either very sad or very amused, when we know he's neither. Most tellingly, the narrative switches to first person point of view, Hal telling his own story for the first time (chronologically, if not structurally).

"He dreams he's with a very sad kid and they're in a graveyard digging some dead guy's head up and it's really important, like Continental-Emergency important ... and the sad kid is trying to scream at Gately that the important thing was buried in the guy's head and to divert the Continental Emergency to start digging the guy's head up before it's too late, but the kid moves his mouth and nothing comes out ... while the sad kid holds something terrible up by the hair and makes the face of somebody shouting in panic: Too Late" (p. 934).

It seems like Gately eventually recovers, since we know he goes with Hal to help dig up J.O.I.'s head (verified in chapter one when Hal recalls it). It's possible the Wraith told him about the Entertainment, and this seems especially plausible when Gately somehow knows the plot of the Entertainment while he's still lying in the hospital. It's also possible that Joelle told him about it; through her conversation with Steeply (p. 940), we know that she knew the Masters were buried with Himself--which, ironically, is now buried in the Great Concavity. I'm still not clear about how John Wayne got involved, but there's this super oblique comment in an endnote about Bernard Wayne, a potential A.F.R. member who had not jumped when the train arrived and later drowned (p. 1060), which could potentially be John's father or grandfather.

I had forgotten that the 'Swiss' hand model was actually Luria P----. There are two obvious nods to other novels near the end here, with Fackelmann's A Clockwork Orange style end, and Orin's business with the cockroaches echoing the rats in 1984, specifically his nonsensical shouting "'Do it to her!'" (p. 972). Her who? Luria? Avril? All Subjects in general? I'm a little curious as to why Wallace bothered to make the references. He was doing well on the graphic horror all on his own, no need for outside references.

I'm amused by how many of my questions in my Q and A section are still unanswered. I thought if I paid closer attention on a second read that I would pick up more of the plot things I'd missed on my first, but I don't think that was the problem. I think it's that those answers simply aren't to be found in the actual text. Of course, they can point us toward various conclusions, and the novel certainly encourages us to speculate and make connections, but I don't think the actual answers are there. I have some more thoughts on this, and I'll likely have a review up this week or next.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

Questions & Working Theories

[tw: drug mention, infidelity, incest, statutory rape]

Q: What happened to Hal? (Obvi) - Hal purposely ate the DMZ. He even says in this section, “I cannot make myself understood, now. Call it something I ate” (p. 10). I never bought this explanation, though, because later in the book it seems like Hal is making an effort to come off drugs. - The mold Hal ate as a child had long-term effects, and something (coming off drugs?) may have triggered his current condition. Also supported by, “Call it something I ate” (p. 10). - Aaron Swartz has a very convincing theory that Hal accidentally ate the DMZ when The Wraith placed it on his toothbrush. (Again, supported by above.) Hal is an excellent communicator but lacks feelings, and J.O.I. was attempting to create something that would draw his son out of himself. - Hal was injured when the A.F.R. attacked Enfield Tennis Academy. There’s a weird line in this chapter: “I once saw the word KNIFE finger-written on the steamed mirror of a nonpublic bathroom” (p. 16). This is likely also the work of The Wraith, indicating some kind of violence, perhaps the A.F.R. attack on Enfield. - "A surreal memory of a steamed lavatory mirror with a knife sticking out of the pane" (p. 951). A: Still unclear, but I'm leaning more toward DMZ than A.F.R. on this read. We can see Hal's symptoms growing worse from the Eschaton game onward, and in the last chapters, people think he's either laughing or grimacing when he's not feeling either of those things. Still super interested in the mirror/knife asides though. Is this part of the A.F.R. attack?

Q: Why was Hal hospitalized “almost exactly one year back” (p. 16)? - The side effects of the DMZ were first starting to appear. - Hal was injured in the A.F.R. attack. - It’s clear, also, that this was when Hal met Gately. Although they never have an on-page scene together, Hal refers to the two of them attempting to dig up J.O.I.’s head to find the Entertainment, alongside a masked John Wayne. A: Unclear. See above.

Q: How did Gately, Hal, and John find out about the Entertainment in order to dig it up? How did they discover where it was hidden? - Himself actually mentions that the cartridge has been implanted in his head when he’s talking to Hal as a posed conversationalist. However, this is all the way back in the Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad, when Hal is only ten-going-on-eleven. Hard to imagine that Hal remembered what was basically a throw-away comment, let alone understood its meaning. - The Wraith may have told Gately about it while he was lying in the hospital, the same way Gately somehow knows the plot of the Entertainment while he's there. - Joelle may have told them about it, since from her conversation with Steeply, we know that she knows that all the Masters were buried with Jim, which is now buried in the Great Concavity. A: Unclear, but several plausible scenarios.

Q: Who is mailing out the Entertainment? - Swartz suggests that it’s Orin Incandenza, who later under threat of torture releases it to the A.F.R. This seems well-supported by the text, since the initial cartridge is mailed from Arizona, and it’s conveniently sent to a medical attaché with whom Avril probably had an affair (per J.O.I.’s conversation with Hal). - Some support for this theory during one of Hal and Orin's phone conversations: "'What are you doing going to the post office? You hate snail-mail. And you quit mailing the Moms the pseudo-form-replies two years ago, Mario says'" (p. 244). Why is Orin at the post office, if not to mail more copies of the Entertainment? - However, as Marie pointed out, we don't know for sure that Orin was in Arizona in April YDAU. He's there in October, but there's a flashback of him in New Orleans in July that doesn't mention the year. If it was YDAU, Orin couldn't have postmarked the Cartridge from Arizona in April. - Orin also asks Hal directly about the days leading up to Himself's death, and he seems suspiciously interested in whatever film he was working on. "'Did he have film-related things with him when he flew somewhere? A film case? Equipment?'" (p. 250). However, if he already knew about the Entertainment back in April, why ask Hal about it in November? - This conversation is continued in a lengthy endnote where Orin asks about the definition of samizdat ("the generic meaning now is any sort of politically underground or beyond-the-pale press or the stuff published thereby" (p. 1011) and comments, "'So you'd have no idea why The Mad Stork's name would come up in connection with somebody saying samizdat?'" (p. 1011). Again, it's suspicious that he's even asking, but also, if he already knows about the Entertainment, why bother to ask? Is he trying to find out, or just trying to find out what Hal knows about it? Why? - "...place the likely dissemination-point someplace along the U.S. north border, with routing hubs in metro Boston/New Bedford and/or somewhere in the desert Southwest" (p. 549). Obviously, the Southwest could be Orin, but who's distributing it in Boston? Orin before he moved? I'd guess the Antitoi brothers, but their copy turned out to be blank (or seemed to be, if it was played on the wrong model). Orin has motive to want the medical attache dead for the affair with his mother, but why the film scholar, the avant-garde film festival, and the members of the Academy of D.A.S.? Were these Himself's rivals, or people Avril also had affairs with? - "Swiss cuckolds, furtive near-Eastern medical attachés, zaftig print-journalists: he felt ready for anything" (p. 597). - "There was reason to think M. DuPlessis had received his original copies from this relative, an athlete. Marathe felt U.S.B.S.S. felt this person may have borne responsibility for the razzles and dazzles of Berkeley and Boston, U.S.A." (p. 723). Did Orin give a copy to DuPlessis, or did he send it to him to kill him? A: It seems pretty clear on a re-read that it is Orin sending out the Entertainment, either from Boston before he left it or from Arizona where he currently lives, or both. I'm still not clear how he knew about it in the first place though, in order to dig it up. Between Orin's capture/torture at the end and the Antitoi brothers' having copies of DuPlessis's stolen cartridges, it seems certain that the A.F.R. will soon locate a Master copy. (The Antitoi's turns out to be Read-Only p. 725.)

Q: How did Orin find out about the Entertainment? - Joelle might have told him, though this was after her disfigurement and their breakup, so I'm not sure why she would. A: Unclear.

Q: When did Orin transfer from New Orleans to Arizona? - In June YW-QMD, Orin was still with the New Orleans Saints, per the mail between him and Avril (p. 1006-7). - In October YDAU, he's in Arizona. Q: Unclear.

Q: What happened to John Wayne that he can’t win this year’s WhataBurger competition? A: SUPER UNCLEAR. Thanks for nothing. We know he survived the A.F.R. attack (if Steeply didn’t stop the attack) because he’s in the off-page graveyard scene with Hal and Gately. Was he an A.F.R. target after that for going against them?

Q: What “sordid liaison” (p. 30) with the M. DuPlessis, who dies in a later chapter, did the Incandenza family have? - Still not clear, but it sounds like J.O.I. either purposely or under duress gave a Master copy (or copyable copy) of the Entertainment to DuPlessis, or had it stolen from him before or after his death, and it was then stolen by accident when Gately robbed and killed DuPlessis. ("Whether or not the A.F.R. ever even recover this alleged Master copy from the DuPlessis burglary..." (p. 489).) A: Best guess is that Avril had an affair with DuPlessis, Orin/Jim discovered the affair (possibly with a name written on the fogged up glass of Avril's car), and Orin sent him a copy to kill him, which he didn't watch (because he died? Not clear on the timeline). The copy was then stolen by Gately and ended up with the Antitoi brothers.

Q: Is Marathe a double-agent, or is he just pretending to be a double agent? - Marathe has betrayed the A.F.R. and is aiding Steeply and the Americans in finding the Entertainment in order to get medical care for his wife. - Marathe is only pretending to betray the A.F.R. in order to get more information from Steeply. A: Marathe is a double-agent, and is actually betraying the A.F.R. "The A.F.R. believed Marathe functioned as a triple agent, pretending to betray his nation for his wife, memorizing every detail of the meetings with B.S.S. ... M. Fortier did not know Marathe had reached the internal choice that he loved his skull-deprived and heart-defective wife Gertraud Marathe more than he loved the Separatist and anti-O.N.A.N. cause of the nation of Québec..." (p. 529).

Q: Where did the tripod set up in the middle of nowhere on the ETA grounds come from? - The U.S.S. Millicent Kent set up the tripod as an excuse to get Mario alone. - This is the possibly the first instance of the Wraith's work. He's responsible for most of the odd occurrences at ETA, and "Mario said his late dad had used a somewhat less snazzy IV-model Husky back in his early days of making art-films..." (p. 122).) A: The Wraith put it there. "But it's true. The Husky VI tripod of Mario's near-fatal encounter with the U.S.S. Millicent Kent was only the beginning" (p. 632). After this, the instances of objects being in odd places around E.T.A. increases dramatically.

Q: Who is the narrator in some of these sections about ETA? - It's a distinct voice from the sections that have conversations, but it also sounds a little like someone talking to us. ("I want to be like that. Able to just sit all quiet and pull life toward me..." (p. 128). Is this a character? A: Unclear. The only clear first person POV character we have in the novel is Hal. In some ways, the narrator's voice does sound a lot like Hal's, but if this is the case, he also discusses himself in third person a lot (which... Hal is pretty removed from himself, so that's not entirely impossible). I'm not confident enough to say that Hal is the mystery narrator throughout the book though.

Q: Are the effects of DMZ the effects we see in Hal in the first chapter? A: Very likely. Whatever starts in the Eschaton game grows worse toward the end of the novel, as people continually interpret Hal's facial expressions as either very sad or very amused, when we know he's neither. Most tellingly, the narrative switches to first person point of view, Hal telling his own story for the first time (chronologically, if not structurally).

Q: Why do Hal's symptoms in the Eschaton game seem more like DMZ side effects than marijuana side effects? Was there DMZ mixed with it? Was it purposely mixed in, or was it the work of the Wraith? - This is the first time we see Hal with similar symptoms as the ones he has in the first chapter, which seems to suggest that--whether or not the DMZ and marijuana are related, whether it was intentional or not--Hal did take the DMZ on Interdependence Day YDAU. - Pemulis goes looking for the DMZ later on, which seems to suggest it wasn't intentional, at least not on his end. Hal also doesn't consciously acknowledge that he's going to take it in this chapter either. - Mario reflecting on his brother: "He can't tell if Hal is sad. He is having a harder and harder time reading Hal's state of mind or whether he's in good spirits. This worries him. He used to be able to sort of preverbally know in his stomach generally where Hal was and what he was doing, even if Hal was far away and playing or if Mario was away, and now he can't anymore" (p. 590). Why the change? DMZ-related? - "But the crisis of faith that cost Stice the match had concerned a different Hal, Hal can tell. It's now a whole new Hal, a Hal who does not get high, or hide, a Hal who in 29 days is going to hand his own personal urine over to authority figures with a wide smile and exemplary posture and not a secretive thought in his head" (p. 635). If Hal took the DMZ on purpose, does he know it will be out of his system in a month? What else could have created a "whole new Hal"? It seems like a leap to think that quitting marijuana is the sole cause of all the changes. A: Very likely that Hal took DMZ, maybe more than once, starting at the Eschaton game.

Q: Who is Mario's father, Jim or Charles? - This is more of a detail question than anything because I'm not sure I care about the answer. It certainly doesn't seem to matter to Mario. He obviously bonded a lot with Jim over film in a way that seems almost worshipful at times, and I'm always in the camp of family is who you choose, not necessarily who you're related to. Also, Charles seems repelled by Mario, whereas Jim apparently loved him and spent time with him, so fuck Charles. A: Unclear.

Q: Is Charles Avril's half-brother or step-brother? - Again, this is a detail question, although one is significantly grosser than the other if they're having an affair, which it sounds like they are/were. ("...the thing it's not entirely impossible he may have fathered asleep up next to the sound system..." (p. 451).) That’s... not really a question if they weren’t sleeping together. Fuck you twice, Charles. - "Charles Tavis is probably not related to the Moms by actual blood" (p. 900). A: According to Hal, he's most likely her step-brother, though it doesn't seem like anyone ever cared enough to verify this.

Q: Was Pemulis selling DMZ to the Antitoi brothers, or buying it from them? - "Bertraund had been starry-eyed enough to agree to barter the person an antique blue lava-lamp and a lavender-tinged apothecary's mirror for eighteen unexceptional-looking and old lozenges the long-haired old person had claimed in a jumble of West-Swiss-accented French were 650 mg. of a trop-formidable harmful pharmaceutical no longer available and guaranteed to make one's most hair-raising psychedelic experience look like a day on the massage-tables of a Basel hot-springs resort..." (p. 482) A: Unclear, but I'm guessing buying, since Pemulis ends up with it and, as far as we know, the Antitoi brothers don't.

Q: What's the significance of Lucien Antitoi's spirit immediately after his death? Does this have an impact on the Wraith's activities? - "...and is free, catapulted home over fans and the Convexity's glass palisades at desperate speeds, soaring north, sounding a bell-clear and nearly maternal alarmed call-to-arms in all the world's well-known tongues" (p. 489). A: It seems like the Wraith's activities amplify after Lucien's death. If he knows that Hal is in danger from the A.F.R., he might be trying to rally Gately to help.

Q: If Pemulis has Avril's affair with John Wayne to hold over her, why is he still expelled at the end of the novel? A: WOOPS. Peemster accidentally dosed John with 'drines, as well as his very public tennis opponent. Can't help feeling Pemulis unfairly got the worst of it, while Avril got in zero trouble for having an affair with a teenage student. Also, hilariously, Hal already knew about the affair and didn't care about it.

Q: What's up with John Wayne and Hal? - "...John ('N.R.') Wayne opened up the ajar door a little more and put his whole head in and stayed like that, with just his head in. He didn't say anything and Hal didn't say anything, and they stayed like that for a while, and then Wayne's head smoothly withdrew" (p. 560). - "I could somehow tell for sure that John Wayne's head was inside the open door. I could feel it clearly, almost painfully. He was looking down at me lying there on the Lindisfarne carpet. There was none of the gathering tension of a person deciding whether or not to speak. I could feel my throat's equipment move when I swallowed. John Wayne and I never had much to say to one another. There wasn't even hostility between us" (p. 956). A: No idea. There’s the possibility that John is a spy for the A.F.R. the same as Poutrincourt, but I’d thought they had to infiltrate the tennis academy because they didn’t have another spy already in place. Thanks to the weird endnote, we know he has some connection, but I’m not totally sure what it is.

Q: Do Pemulis's descriptions of the effects of annulation have anything to do with how DMZ affects people, or the effect the mold Hal ate as a child had on him? It seems oddly similar to how Hal is experiencing time in the first chapter. Is this how J.O.I. stumbled onto it? - "'Accelerated phenomena, which is actually equivalent to an incredible slowing down of time", "relativity of time in extreme organic environments" (p. 573). A: Could be one of a million metaphors in this book.

#infinite jest #david foster wallace #infinite slow summer #infinite summer #infinite jest readalong #yrstruly

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