#changed because money or that a book is a different medium then a show or movie! you cant do everything cus its impossible.

[batcavescolony]

I feel like people aren't getting it. In. The. Books. Perseus. Jackson. Is. An. Unreliable. Narrator. This goes for everything he thinks. Percy loves his mother, so he writes her praises. In the show we get to see what Sally does from an outside POV not filtered through a child that idolizes his mother. It's not ooc for Sally to act like she does in the show. she's a single mother raising a neurodivergent, Demigod, and she's scared that when the Gods get to him they'll corrupt him. She's not suddenly a girl boss we're getting to see her for how she is.

[gacha-incels]

@frozenemus I want to eventually do a larger and much more researched post regarding misogynist men who are drawn to these types of games: socially, psychologically, financially and historically especially in South Korea. I don’t want to wait that long to reply here so I’ll let you know my thoughts so far which are by no means going to be a comprehensive look at everything.

Yes, I think these games pander to what this type of man already believes about women and this is why they will flock to them. The “gacha game” medium comforts him with the always-available cartoon woman who can literally be “won” (not through confusing things like treating them with respect but rather money),will never leave (until EoS), obeys all his orders (through gameplay), and always looks perfect (because she is drawn that way).

I believe these games and in effect all mainstream pop/entertainment media (among other things) serve to uphold the status quo in one way or another. This is not a phenomenon unique to gacha games themselves. Media like this can have a significant affect on its population, which is why you will see the US military finance so many films, tv shows and videogames. I don’t think any singular pop media can do something as drastic as completely change a population’s opinion regarding an issue, but rather it can flatter its audience by showing them an easy lie rather than confront an uncomfortable truth, which in turn serves to solidify certain concepts in a society. This media often reflects back onto the consumer a stereotype or dichotomy they feel safe with, which in turn creates a kind of feedback loop of comfortable falsity that becomes enshrined as truth. This can be something as seemingly benign as replacing an actual eagle’s cry with that of a hawk’s because that’s what the audience “expects to hear” or more sinisterly the “third world filter” used in many North American productions when showing scenes in a country viewers “expect” to be in poverty. There’s been a lot written within the past couple years regarding “copaganda” entertainment which exemplifies a lot of this type of thing. Similarly I believe it’s been studied that when in times of big changes or economy crashes, more sequel movies will be made and toy store aisles will have an extremely stark divide between “boy’s toys” and “girl’s toys”. It’s in part to comfort the society that fears the unknown future with both saccharine nostalgia and familiar dichotomies with clear and dividing gender roles to fit into. You don’t have to think or be worried- it’s all been decided already so just get in the box.

The medium of “gacha game” itself I believe is the first thing that should be considered- the first message conveyed to the consumer is what medium the “artist” chooses to tell their story. In a whole host of ways, interacting with a book is different than a play which is different than a movie, etc. You can find, for instance, older books where directors write about the need to recognize and utilize the unique facets of film to get meaning across rather than fall back on the familiar and easy stageplay of the theater. Off the top of my head, I think Tarkovsky, Cocteau and Maya Deren have written about it in their books, and a more contemporary book I especially liked was Doug Aitken’s “Broken Screen” interviews. Anyway you’ve probably read or heard of Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the massage”(message), it’s something I would like to elaborate on in a future post so I won’t get into it now. The most unique aspect of the “gacha game” is gambling and often spending large quantities of money for in-game anime style characters to play as/command. Like I said in the last post, these games ride or die on high spenders dropping cash to max these characters out. EVERYTHING about the game must cater to this consumer first and any “artistic intent” will be filtered through the expectations of these customers. None of the story beats or, more importantly, character designs can afford to offend the gacha gamer. Artistic intent and concepts are neutered simply by the medium itself- sorry but this is why I find it ridiculous to see so many people venerating Arknights and Limbus Company as making some incredibly progressive statements regarding capitalism or feminism. It is antithetical to the very medium with which they chose to tell their “stories”, especially when the companies can tell their incel playerbase “don’t worry, we fired that nasty female artist! this game is just fantasy, no need to think about real life atrocities or those hateful feminists.” This gives these men the ego boost they want and imbues them with a sense of power, especially over women who they frequently get fired. Even this is part of gacha games- the power these men get to control a real woman’s financial fate and to make a company publicly refer to feminism as a hate movement. What does this tell you about their intended audience? This is getting long so I’ll make another short post regarding some character design specifics. Hopefully this somewhat could answer your question lol

[hiveworks]

Hiveworks Interview with Clover, author of Go Get A Roomie! and Little Tiny Things

June 2023

Go Get A Roomie! is a queer found-family slice-of-life comic that began in 2010, featuring Roomie and her friends as they work through their internal and interpersonal struggles, as well as journeys of self discovery.

This month, Hiveworks is hosting a crowdfunding campaign to print the fourth and final volume of beloved webcomic Go Get A Roomie! by Clover.

We asked author Clover to talk about their experiences with GGAR, webcomics, and staying creative.

As the creator behind several comic series, what drew you to the webcomic medium?

I first found out that webcomics existed around 2008 and had a few favorites I followed regularly. Being into drawing comics myself, the thought of doing a webcomic creeped into mind slowly but surely. I loved how accessible webcomics were, how easy it seemed to be to start one, how certain webcomic communities were. So I started one :)

Go Get A Roomie! started in 2010. The world has changed a lot since then! What was it like to post queer content online then and now?

There are way more queer webcomics now than before! Go Get a Roomie! probably partly owes its success to the fact that there weren't too many queer ongoing webcomics back then.

Readers demanded more queer content, more specific to their needs. Now there's more choice. If you don't like a queer webcomic, you can find another one without any hassle!

How has the landscape of posting webcomics online generally changed for you? Has your audience changed?

Posting for three different webcomics means discovering what it's like to have a different audience for each, though some webcomics are similar enough that the audience remains largely the same. Generally though, I've had very positive experiences with most of my audience! They've been caring, and understanding enough that I've never felt rushed, or judged for taking time off when needed.

Go Get A Roomie! has concluded and you're now onto your newest slice-of-life work, Little Tiny Things, which updates Tuesdays and Thursdays. How do you stay motivated with posting your comics regularly?

I do it because I love doing it! Not that it's always easy to maintain the same schedule, but I like knowing that the story advances at a "fast" enough pace. I want readers to discover more of what I want to show them!

In addition to LTT and GGAR, you are also the creator of Headless Bliss, a surreal comic that bends towards horror. It's very different from your slice-of-life work. How does Headless Bliss fit into your creative process and identity as an artist?

Go Get a Roomie! had a few surreal elements when a character dreamed, or told stories, and I had a lot of fun with those moments because it was so different from the slice-of-life, 4-paneled, jokes I wrote for GGAR. It meant I could explore more, narration-wise and tool-wise. But it wasn't enough, I had ideas for another story that was way more psychedelic, because I've always loved those kinds of stories too (comics like Sandman have inspired me a lot), and so Headless Bliss was born. I loved having two comics of two different vibes to jump from one to the other.

Go Get A Roomie! has been successfully crowdfunded into three books, with the fourth and final volume currently underway. What do you think are the benefits of transforming webcomics to print? What are the challenges?

Webcomics online are neat because they're accessible for so many people, for free! But having them on print means more people can enjoy them, and I'm one of those who prefer reading on print than on screen. Crowdfundings are a great way to make a little more money from your hard work, but they're also a challenge because of all the extra work that needs to be done! Preparing the book, the rewards, sure, but also managing everything else surrounding the printing and the shipping of the materials promised, and on time too! Thankfully, having Hiveworks as a partner in crime means being able to share some of all that work, it's an immense help!

Outside of comics, what do you do to refuel your inspiration?

I try to not work too much! Give myself time to do something else, to go outside, breathe a little, you know? All that is told within stories has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is you living things.

Any advice for comic artists who find themselves stuck in a rut?

Take a break and try not to feel too guilty about it. It's okay not to be at your best all the time!

What is something you're looking forward to?

Right at this moment, settling down in my new home, to be able to work once more on comics in a nice and welcoming environment. Once that's done, I'd like to try out the more "traditional" path to publishing and start a new comic for a publishing house! While still continuing webcomics because I love doing it :)

Go Get A Roomie! Book 4 crowdfunding campaign is hosted by Hiveworks. The campaign concludes June 16, 2023, at 12pm ET.

[trungles]

Hey! I really wanted to know what your art education was like, Did you went to an Art school?

Sure thing! Okay! I did not go to art school.

I went to a little private liberal arts university called Hamline in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I liked it! I applied to my local art college and got in, but I went to the school that gave me the best scholarship money because–and I think this is important–my parents paid for most of my education. As a compromise, I majored in Studio Art, but I ended up preferring Art History.

I graduated with a B.A. in Studio Art and with a minor Art History because I wanted to work in museums. I’m very happy with where I wound up, but I did not really go to school for this. My focus in Studio Art was oil painting, and I have not touched a single oil paint ever since. I actually started with a focus on intaglio printmaking, but I switched to oil painting because I disliked the medium and the printmaking professor told me I should quit art. My painting professor was more supportive. I largely came out of the experience assuming I wasn’t good enough to make art professionally, but that I was interested in the kind of space imagery takes up in different cultures. My favorite classes were my not-art general curriculum. I tended to do more sociology and religious studies classes, and I absolutely loved Art History, which is sort of a confluence of those two things plus art.

I used to feel a lot of anxiety about not having gone to art school. When I started taking on comics jobs professionally, I felt pretty professionally inadequate. It’s a completely different sort of creative thinking than any of my education, so I went and figured out comics stuff on my own while working a day job (admin work at a non-profit’s corporate headquarters; it was a very mixed bag). I started learning how to draw digitally like… three years ago?

These days, I actually feel pretty good about not going to art school. I feel like I have more to say with a liberal arts education than if I had gone to art school, and I’m very happy with my personal and professional development outside of my formal education. I also think that the way I draw looks very particular to me because I wasn’t taught it. I never had the experience of, like, art teachers pressuring me to change the look of my drawings or telling me I can’t get jobs unless my work looks like such-and-such cartoon show or comic book. I got to build my style myself based on my own interests, and ironically I think that actually helped me get work.

TL;DR I didn’t go to art school, most of the formal knowledge I use to make comics I learned on my own after I graduated, and I’m quite happy to have been able to study a fairly broad range of things in schools.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group C Round 3: #C8 vs #C2

#C8: Government employee and his white cat boss

#C2: High social anxiety girl has to befriend her whole class

Details and poll under the cut!

*Text in green indicates that something has been changed.

#C8: White Cat Legend 2020 (Dali si Rizhi)

Summary:

Chen Shi, a young man from the countryside, journeys to the capital in search of his missing older brother, whose existence he only knew about upon his mother’s death. He knows neither the name nor face of his brother, and after finally arriving at the capital, he runs out of money as well. One thing led to another, and he finds himself employed at Dali Court, where he works for Vice Minister Li Bing, a large white cat.

On the other hand, Li Bing is of royal blood who was imprisoned because of his family’s treason. Now, he has to work in the government to atone for the crime.

At Dali Court, they review court cases from all over the country. But when an incident involving the esteemed ministers of the royal court breaks out, Dali Court is called to help, only to find themselves entangled in political threads and hit heads with an eccentric demon.

Li Bing is determined to get to the bottom of this, but how far can he go when he could regress into a real cat at any time when left unchecked?

Propaganda:

I’m tired of writing new propaganda every round, so I’m begging you to just trust me that it’s GREAT.

Intriguing plot? Check. Complex and interesting characters? Check. Comedy? Check. Drama? Check. 

The blend of comedy and drama is just so good. I started the show because I love cats and supernatural stuff. Who would’ve thought it would pull me into an abyss of despair of political intrigue. The cat demons turned out to be just the icing on the cake. 

We have all these different characters brought up in different ways that their ideas of what is Right conflict with each other. None of them are exactly Wrong or inherently Evil (well, except for maybe one guy), and this makes it so much more difficult to choose who to root for. You’d think everyone against the protagonists are the Enemies, but turns out even the protagonists are limited by their biases and unintentionally harm others. Even the two protagonists themselves get into arguments because of their different standpoints.

And I just love this because it makes them realistic, you know? The characters don’t always agree with their friends, and their enemies are not completely hostile either. It really all boils down to what they believe in. Sometimes their beliefs align with existing comrades, and sometimes they find it on the other side.

Production-wise, this show also gets a check on everything. As an adaptation, it’s amazing. The original manhua has quite a simple style—kind of like comic book drawings, and panels are all rectangles in one straight line. Storytelling is also simple and straight to the point. 

But the 2020 donghua? God, it went far and beyond that.  The animation team does not cut corners at all, which is a feat considering the show has a low budget from what I’ve heard. 

A short, simple scene in the manhua becomes an emotionally-devastating experience in the donghua. The animation choices, angles, music, and just everything else blend so well to deliver a STORY. This adaptation does not just copy frames from the source (like Blue Lock) or cut/reorder some of the scenes (like Horimiya and Sasaki to Miyano). White Cat Legend 2020 understands the material so well that it can creatively use the advantages of the animation medium to deliver an experience that exceeds even that of the source. Think Mob Pyscho 100 or One Punch Man s1 level of creativity. It even has mini stories at the end of the ending song. For s1, the mini stories are in stop-motion, while for s2 it’s formatted like a video game. You gotta appreciate the effort.

Please just vote for this show. It deserves to be in the Finals.

Trigger Warnings:

Cannibalism - There’s a cat demon who appears in human form, and he eats humans (it’s not shown explicitly, though).

Animal Cruelty or Death - said cat demon also eats animals raw (again, not explicitly)

Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore - There’s blood and fighting, and somebody also gets tortured in season 2. But again, nothing too graphic

#C2: Hitori Bocchi’s ○○ Lifestyle (HitoriBocchi no MaruMaru Seikatsu)

Summary:

Many of us know what it is like to transition to a new school with few to no friends in a new environment, going through the arduous process of getting to know people again. Bocchi Hitori knows this struggle all too well, having just graduated from elementary school and thrown into middle school. Unfortunately, she suffers from extreme social anxiety: she faints when overwhelmed, vomits when nervous, and draws up ridiculously convoluted plans to avoid social contact. It does not help that her only friend from elementary school, Kai Yawara, will not be attending the same middle school as Bocchi. However, wanting to help her, Kai severs ties with Bocchi and promises to reconcile with her when she befriends all of her classmates in her new middle school class.

Even though Bocchi has no faith in herself, she is determined to be friends with Kai again. Summoning all of her courage, Bocchi takes on the daunting challenge of making friends with her entire class, starting with the delinquent-looking girl sitting in front of her…

Propaganda:

This is a fun and lighthearted show. Watch it if you need something cute to chill out! The art is cute and colorful, the music lively, and the animation fine enough.

As it's adapted from a four-panel gag manga, the story is simple and focuses on the various characters. They all have pun-based names related to their main personality trait, so they're easy to remember if you know some basic Japanese (Hitori Bocchi means all alone, for example). The girls are all adorable and fun in their own quirky ways, and I loved seeing the heroine doing her utmost best to overcome her fears -and other challenges- to befriend them in the hope of fulfilling her promise. That's the power of the Do-Your-Best Fairy! They all care for each other (despite some teasing) and help Bocchi with her monumental task, never pulling her down for her struggles but gently pushing her in the back when needed.

But most importantly, Hitori Bocchi is a very relatable character. As someone suffering the same trouble, I related a lot with Bocchi, from her silliest worries to her escalating panic and weird schemes in an attempt to prevent anything wrong. Anxiety is faithfully represented, mixed with the right amount of laughing to how far Bocchi can get to avoid fearful situations in her very cute ways. It feels good to see a character like me in a such positive light! The struggles are real and acknowledged, and it’s really moving to see our heroine overcome them little by little in a very humanizing way.

This series has become one of my comfort materials, and I come back to it when I need hope and inspiration in everyday social interactions! If you need one last thing to be convinced, listen to that most adorable and silly song that will give you the Power of Motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGoGwlNmZUQ 

Trigger Warnings: None.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[lemonhemlock]

Rhaenys Storming Through the Dragonpit

One of the most controversial scenes in Season 1, this was an addition from the part of the show-runners. It has received quite a lot of criticism already for being bombastic (in a bad way), useless and illogical. Personally speaking, I was torn, so this is an attempt to make (some) sense of it.

Spoilers for upcoming events.

Context

I intend to analyse this scene by giving as much grace and benefit-of-the-doubt to the writers and producers as I can - it's only fair.

Adapting any book series is not easy. There will always be changes performed to the written text, even when trying as hardly as possible to stick to the source material. Sometimes what reads well translates badly on screen. Different mediums require different storytelling techniques. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

Sets, CGI and dragons are expensive. It's not just about money, but about time as well. Graphic artists need to be given enough time to do their jobs properly. You can't just decide to drop 10 dragons out of thin air and expect them to meet your deadlines, unless you plan on making them work in sweatshop conditions.

Logistically speaking, sometimes the scripts need to be changed because there is no time left to film them with their original (maybe better?) ideas. Things can easily get cut or simplified. So I will try to keep my suggestions down to earth and achievable.

Remember we only have 10 episodes. Of course, if we had twice as many, the discussion would be completely different, but that is not feasible. While I feel like the season would have benefited greatly from an additional 2-3 episodes, I do not have access to HBO's cost-benefit analysis and their finances.

Bear in mind that this is the first ASOIAF show to premiere after the disastrous and critically-panned final Game of Thrones season, so perhaps they really did not want to stray from the tried-and-true successful format of 10 episodes per season, with episode 9 the usual stand-out.

Pros

It provides an unexpected, shocking, show-stopping moment. It looks cool on screen; that's undeniable. It gives Rhaenys a girlboss moment that the casual viewer will love (again, casual viewers are the ones who bring the big bucks in). It swiftly communicates the following information about Rhaenys: she is resourceful and brave enough to face the dragonkeepers on her own (probably unarmed), she has a temper (she doesn't appreciate having been locked in her room), she is careless about ordinary people's lives, she has excellent control of her dragon (pointed comparison to Aemond & Vhagar) and she can control her temper tantrum enough to think a little before she acts.

It provides a character-defining situation for both Alicent and Aegon. IMO this was one of the most powerful moments of the season, so I understand why they prioritized it over basically anything else.

I think these are two very strong points and, in all honesty, opportunities too irresistible to pass over.

Cons

Rhaenys commits a terrorist act and her murders are swept under the rug by the narrative.

How do Rhaenys and Meleys manage to fly through the floor of the Dragonpit without either of them getting hurt? Considering the later Storming of the Dragonpit, this is illogical and defies the laws of physics.

It is not immediately apparent why Rhaenys doesn't burn the Greens and be done with it. A common complaint was that her actions didn't make any sense.

No Sunfyre. The most beautiful dragon in the known world and his relationship with Aegon is unparalleled. In the texts, after his coronation, Aegon flies around King's Landing, giving him an opportunity to show off his splendid dragon. Leaving Sunfyre out diminishes Aegon's character when he is in desperate need of rehabilitation.

Changes I agree with

I would argue that con#2 is the most egregious. If I would have been in the writers' / producers' shoes, I would strive to change that. The rest I would keep. IMO it's good visual storytelling.

Rhaenys will probably be the first to die next season. Developing her character is imperative, otherwise her death will feel hollow. Rhaenys is a proper dragonrider in her own right - one of the best. I do insist that showing the viewers that is very important. Rhaenys is played by a middle-aged woman and she gets a cool action scene in a medium where actresses are valued for youth and attractiveness. As viewers, we expect the 9th episode of a Game of Thrones season to be bonkers in some way. Putting her in THE prime-time spot of the season gives her the opportunity to become a memorable character. Yes, I would totally keep Rhaenys in this scene.

Sunfyre is a good boy and his absence has been felt, but he will have many an occasion to stand out before the end of the series. Meanwhile, Meleys will die soon and there hasn't been a proper opportunity to show her off. If her first scene next season is the same as her death scene, I don't think the impact would be as big. Yes, Arrax only got one segment as well, but he was a small dragon, whereas Meleys is one of the important ones. I can, therefore, understand and accept the prioritization of Meleys over Sunfyre in this scenario.

If possible, would I also have included Sunfyre in this scene? I am going to be controversial and answer no. Sunfyre's presence turns this event into a weird showdown between Rhaenys and Aegon (since Aegon is the only one who can control Sunfyre).

What beef would Rhaenys even have with Aegon at this point? She is pissed that the Greens were holding her hostage and forcing her to pick a side. I have already criticized the scene between her and Alicent and, while I believe the show could have done a better job at highlighting Rhaenys' hypocrisy and projection, I think it makes sense for Alicent to try to woo Rhaenys to the green side by appealing to her in some way. It also provides Rhaenys with an opportunity to appraise Alicent's character, so it makes more sense for this last scene of the episode to be a rehashing of that earlier appeal.

In similar vein, I also understand why the crowning of Helaena was cut. It is a sweet mother-daughter moment in the text, but had she been standing next to Aegon, Alicent would have had to protect them both by placing herself in front. We already know Alicent loves Helaena; this is not new information for the viewer. Alicent and Helaena will have their own gut-wrenching scenes together soon enough.

No, the question for the audience (and for Aegon) is whether Alicent loves Aegon. By performing this one act of bravery, we finally have our answer and cannot dispute whether or not Alicent took this stand just because Helaena was near her as well. When faced with the possibility of death, she carries out this one last act of care, even if its only consequence would be that Aegon won't have to spend his last moments on this earth alone.

So, yes, the focus of this scene should remain on Alicent and Aegon and Alicent's silent plea to Rhaenys. We begin the Dance with Alicent & Aegon and we should finish it with them as well. "My first son and my last" etc. It's too meaty of a concept to give up.

Why doesn't Rhaenys just burn the Greens and be done with it?

If I had executive power, I would have Rhaenys explain her reasoning to Daemon in more depth next episode. She kind of does, but the fandom at large was left unsatisfied, whereas I really do feel that burning everyone on the podium would have been a catastrophic decision, for the following reasons:

Kinslaying is a terrible crime in-universe, literally considered one of the worst things you could possibly do. People tend to be generally horrified by it. Rhaenys would be reducing Aegon, Aemond and Helaena to ash. It is really not highlighted how much of a big deal this would be. Of course, they will all end up killing each other later, but at least that would be during the course of the war, whereas this would be an unprovoked attack against defenseless non-combatants. In addition, it's not just that Rhaenys would be judged by society, but it's so taboo that it's very likely she just couldn't bring herself to do it, at least not at this particular stage. It's a very heavy decision!

Apart from killing three (3!) family members, Rhaenys would also be killing other state officials like the Dowager Queen, the Hand of the King, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and other members of the government like Tyland Lannister. All important people, generally coming from important and powerful noble families. That's a lot of potential allies to piss off.

Rhaenys would be killing the High Septon, literally the Westerosi equivalent to the Pope, thus ensuring an uprising of the Faith against Rhaenyra.

This would not end the succession crisis in any way. Aegon's children are in the Red Keep. His son Jaehaerys would become the next king. Alicent and Otto definitely have her own loyalists that could smuggle the children away to Oldtown, if necessary.

Even without the children, Daeron is still in Oldtown. Lord Ormund Hightower could simply crown him and wage war against Rhaenyra, who, by no will of her own, now has the Faith against her and a population outraged by this incredible act of cruelty.

Ultimately, what Rhaenys said was right: the decision to start the war wasn't hers to make, nor was the decision to escalate hostilities to such an appalling level. She was never willing to do that for her own claim. She never tried to take the throne by conquest after the decision of the Great Council in 101. So why would she possibly do something like this for Rhaenyra?

It's not even fair to Rhaenyra. She isn't consulted at all in this matter. Perhaps she doesn't want to kill her own family members. However, the consequences of this act would be pinned on her no matter what. She'd have to execute Rhaenys or something drastic like that to punish her for the heinous crime she committed.

Yes, you could still keep the mother-to-mother bond element between Rhaenys and Alicent. Rhaenys can still be moved by Alicent's determination to stand by and do the best for her children.

Fix-It

These are the tweaks I would perform to preserve the impactful quality of the scene without sacrificing logic:

First of all, I will point out that Rhaenys stayed overnight in order for Vaemond's body be prepared for the journey back to Driftmark. Rhaenyra leaving KL so soon after dinner was an impromptu decision; even she probably intended to stay a little longer in the capital. I'd give Baela a line mentioning how she wants to spend a little time with Rhaena or something, so as to explain her separation from Rhaenys.

I would highlight Rhaenys' dissatisfaction. Rightly or wrongly, she is insulted at having been locked inside her room. She is a proud woman and wants to be in charge of her own destiny, instead of being forced (yet again) down a path against her will. She wants to leave and make up her own mind. And, most importantly, she wants to get back to her granddaughters ASAP. She can tell Ser Erryk all this when he comes to free her. Throw them a couple more lines of dialogue to emphasize their motivations.

Rhaenys' goal should therefore be to get out of King's Landing. She gets separated from Ser Erryk and witnesses the coronation. She can sneak through the tunnels like in the show.

However, I cannot have Rhaenys bursting through the floor like in Looney Tunes, that part needs to GO. This means I will have to change the trajectory of Rhaenys' flight.

Now, the coronation takes place in the Dragonpit, like in the source material. In the show, it looked similar to the Colosseum, but with a dome on top, at least the part that we saw. It's supposed the be this immense structure with plenty of caverns to house the dragons.

The characters stand on some sort of podium at the far end of the ground floor. I can't tell if it has been especially erected for the coronation, but it looks too elaborate for it to be some makeshift structure. There is a sort of canopy (?) above, from which they hung Aegon's banners: a golden dragon on black. I'm not sure what Jaehaerys I's chair is doing there, though, so perhaps I would get rid of it. Aegon won't get to sit on it and it's kind of in my way.

Behind the banners, I would simply invent an entryway to some tunnel deeper inside caverns and have Rhaenys enter from that side. The doors should be opposite.

It can begin with the ground trembling a little, following by ominous sounds getting closer until Meleys rips Aegon's banners up and Rhaenys is revealed. Perhaps destroy the pillar holding up the canopy so that there is nothing else to serve as cover. In this scenario, Rhaenys has no choice but to face the Greens, because they are literally standing in her way.

Everything else mostly proceeds as usual. The characters were facing the smallfolk. At Rhaenys' approach, everyone turns towards her. The camera moves to face the characters on the podium, with the smallfolk (and the exit) now behind them.

Alicent redirects Ser Criston to Helaena and puts herself in front of Aegon. They have their last stand.

Meleys roars and Rhaenys stops to think.

She decides not to commit mass murder, sees the exist and takes flight. She's had her little outburst, she's given her warning and now she returns to her objective, which is to get the hell out of King's Landing.

The crowd actually witnesses the Queen stepping in front of a dragon for her son. Perfect propaganda material.

Smallfolk don't matter

Obviously that was a disappointing consideration from the part of the show-runners. If anyone were to get killed during Rhaenys' escape, I would emphasize it and use it later and as an anti-Black argument to fan the flames when Rhaenyra gets kicked out of King's Landing. But by having Rhaenys enter the scene from the back, the number of possible victims would be much lower.

If it is imperative to have someone killed, perhaps it can be implied in season 2 that Meleys burnt some dragonkeepers while Rhaenys was trying to mount her. This should be shown as a great loss, as dragonkeepers are brave, smart and valuable individuals, who perform an essential job for the safety of the entire city.

Potential for future scenes

Maybe have Aegon and/or Helaena forced to come to the Dragonpit themselves to feed Sunfyre and Dreamfyre because the workforce has taken a literal hit and they are still working on training new "employees". This could allow Aegon and Helaena to interact over a shared interest and would give Helaena screen time with Dreamfyre.

I'm not including Vhagar because she is too big for the Dragonpit and probably makes her lair somewhere outside King's Landing. Maybe show Aemond involving himself with selecting and training new dragonkeepers. This way you give all three siblings something to do and show them collaborating towards a shared goal.

Aegon shoveling Sunfyre's droppings during the opening episode would provide comedic relief and a great opportunity to showcase the bond between dragon and rider, as well an unusual way to introduce Sunfyre and put Aegon to work. :)

All things considered, I think this was a symbolically-charged moment that was ruined by some shoddy scenery placement, a careless disregard for the systemic violence against the general populace and a lack of properly laying out character motivations. Adding several more minutes of dialogue and re-imagining the geography of the Dragonpit a litle could have integrated this moment better within the larger narrative.

[paperstorm]

The recent anon about fandom recovery after controversy made me want to ask something I’ve never been brave enough to but feel like you’ll give me an honest answer even if you don’t agree you’ll be respectful. Is it ok to like (love) Harry Potter? I know JK Rowling is problematic these days but those books, the films, the world she created meant (still mean) a lot to me but people say I shouldn’t be giving her money by buying merchandise and I shouldn’t like Harry Potter because she’s a terrible person etc. What do you think?

As for the Tarlos/Lonestar fandom I hope it will be ok. The majority of people I saw seem to be able to separate actors and characters so there is still a lot of TK love out there. As long as it doesn’t affect the acting and chemistry, and thus the characters we love then I think we’ll be ok. I don’t think it will (people have speculated they hate each other for years, or they’d lose the chemistry after Ronen got married and none of that has come to pass) so fingers crossed.

PS it would help if they went back soon. Has anyone been able to find out when they’ll start filming. I got hopeful when Ronen posted about getting in shape for S5 but that’s disappeared so I don’t know if they are still months away from going back. Natacha seems to be in the UK.

I am not any kind of authority on whether it's 'okay' to like anything honestly, I have my opinions but that doesn't mean I get to tell other people what they're allowed to like. Personally, as someone who grew up with Harry Potter and loved it to pieces and still has so much fondness for the story and the characters, I think that what matters in a boycott is not giving new money to the thing. The BDS movement as an example is very clear about like, if you already own an HP laptop (which I do), it doesn't make any sense to throw it out and buy a new one made by a different company. You already have it, you can't un-spend money on it. I think the principle holds for something like the Harry Potter franchise. I own the books, I own DVDs of all 8 movies. I have owned them for years, rereading them or rewatching them is not giving Joanne anything that she doesn't already have. That's very different from purchasing the new video games, and that, for me, is where I draw the line. I see no problem in continuing to love something that you already loved, my boundary is giving new money to it.

I do think it's important also to be able to recognize problematic content within media that you love. Again, I'm nobody's mother, I have no right to demand that everybody do this. But an important step that I take in my media consumption is looking with a critical eye at the things I'm consuming and recognizing where there are elements that are problematic that I need to be able to identify so that I don't let harmful ideas creep into my brain and make themselves at home without realizing it. Her portrayal of the goblins is incredibly antisemitic. Other problematic things exist like naming the Chinese character Cho Chang and having a 'race' of slaves that only one character seems to have an issue with. Harry Potter isn't the first medium to feature harmful tropes and it isn't the last either, and part of being an ethical consumer of any show/movie/book is putting in even a bit of work recognizing that and understanding that nobody is immune to propaganda. I still love Lone Star even though there is an element of copaganda to it. It doesn't mean you have to only consume content that is ethically pure - because that doesn't exist. It just means being willing to put in some work recognizing the harmful parts.

[mercy-misrule]

I wanted to briefly elaborate on why I'm pro Louis being a brothel and casino owner in the new series vs a plantation owner in the book.

there's the obvs, i don't want to see slavery in my vampire series, and like i said in my original post, once we move past them living there, its just not relevant or even spoken about in the series again, and I think that's a big failing of the narrative, because something so huge should be relevant! shouldn't just be flavour text! especially when every other focus character has their human life be relevant.

so why do i think this particular switch up is better? because no matter what, Louis money should come from the exploitation of others.

It is a cornerstone of Louis' character that he's a hypocrite. Just like it is for Lestat. They aren't good people, these aren't stories about good people. If that's what you need from your fiction you won't find it here.

The vampire as a drain on life, on converting suffering to power, the power imbalance is replicated over and over in different ways in the VC books

It's both metaphor and reality.

But also, the series is fallible, of course, huge flaws and missteps. The point of a good adaptation is to see the skeleton of a text, to see the broad themes and see how they can be represented in a different medium, how the same fundamental story can be told, even with huge changes.

Take my favourite show of all time, Hannibal. Huge departures from the original text, but it takes its source material and elevates and innovates.

Or my current obsession, Kinnporsche. It takes story beats but the characters were hugely altered and fleshed out and the story now plays out around these new interpretations and its wonderful.

And I could see people being like oh hannibal and kinnporsche's source material had some truly gross stuff, the adaptations not including it or altering it was a great idea!

You think that the vamp chrons are free of that? I'm not talking about the existence of slavery being in the books, that's real history.

But there's shitty stuff about rape apologism, ableism, the way Anne describes any person of colour, the truly dumb 'vampires get whiter as they are older and more powerful'. Anne that's truly a garbage piece of world building. Anne, you didn't need to do that.

The best thing the movie of queen of the damned did was cast Aaliyah and not whiten her. It was right, she was magnificent.

I think good adaptations should be brave, should make changes. It should challenge the audience, it should be accessible for new fans, it should surprise long term fans.

This is why I am pro the proffesion change in the amc iwtv series. This, and the interviews (lol) that i have seen and read from the cast and writers make me believe they will present a story true to the core of the narrative even as they are re-interpreting it.

Also, and this is just me swinging for the rafters but I hope they wildly vary from the story in any potential new series after this, and add a lot more Louis content. My constant gripe with the series, since 1997, when i first read the books, is that Louis gets sidelined and without him Lestat doesn't have a strong narrative foil. Please. I'm craving that epic divorce guys energy

[goldenboots1]

Some of you guys need to have some facts straight. I know the conspiracy theories got to another level after yesterday’s race. RBR and AT are two completely different teams. Of course RedBull is the Mother but it’s the Mother from both teams! RBR (RedBullRacing) isn’t RedBull. I know its a bit complicated but Christian is the Boss from RBR and Franz is the Boss from AT there is no connection between them. AT is a Team with his headquarter registered in Italy! Not in Milton Keynes. They may be ‘sister teams’ but there’s no shared budget how do you think this is going to get explained? If 4 Million go missing from the AT books?! 

The other thing, not just that Yuki felt he had a problem “loose tire” he can’t know for sure if that is the problem! It felt like a loose tire the team looked into it. Its not the tire but if you feel like it is we may change it. (Happened to max in the beginning of the season too. He felt like he had a puncture they changed tires and the problem stayed! Team told him its not tire related. The drivers don’t have the data they can’t even see the whole car they’re feeling the car and they’re feeling if something is wrong.  Yuki felt a problem (tire not fitted) team get him in changed the tire (FIXED) the problem! let him out again (and now it comes!) because BEING dead last ISN’T a reason to retire!! The teams are obliged to finish the race! The only reason to retire is if there is a problem (which (they thought) they fixed (tire)) so if they had retired the car for being 2 laps behind but with no problem they get in trouble.  That is the reason why Lewis wasn’t allowed to stop the car after he asked to as well. The expert on sky (Germany) explained that after Lewis asked that that isn’t possible if there isn’t a problem. So AT fixed the problem got the car back out Yuki feels the problem is still there so it couldn’t be the tire! Especially after the Team told him its not the tire. He needed to box anyways because he thought he would retire so he undid his seatbelt the team wanted him to retire because it costs a lot of money if the tires aren’t fittet right. Even that he told the team could bring them in trouble. But the data showed the tires are fitted fine. So box new tires and seatbelt fixed. Still a problem it’s not the tire must be something else Yuki says something (diff) is broken. AT looks at the data and sees the problem told him to stop he was in the pitlane super tight as everyone was saying the whole weekend so stopping at the exit will cause a red flag because medical and safety car would have been unable to get on track so he stopped at an exit the only right thing to do. It’s a VSC not a safety car not a red flag. Max pits, needs hards because for softs (he would have preferred them i assume thats why he delayed the stop, to get a sprint on reds) wouldn’t get to the end and the mediums didn’t where to his liking. So he took the better tire the hard ones. So he got a ‘free’ stop but needed to get tires he didn’t prefer. So the VSC compromised his strategy because he told the team his ‘tires where fine’ a few laps before.

So to be a person who comes and states that RB and AT worked together on this one, to get Max a ‘free’ stop is just wrong and stupid. But well, wear your tinfoil heads and blame your (bad) strategy call on Max, Hannah, RBR and AT because your team is never wrong. 

[rings-of-power-realm]

Some 5 star Rings Of Power Reviews (I chose some ones to share that sounded like they were skeptical beforehand to really prove how this show does not deserve the bombardment of hate it is subjected to by trolls)

I have read most of the objections about creative decisions taken with this series. I agree with some of them in principle. But a thing must be judged by what it is, by what the creators have shaped. So I sat down to watch the first episode of The Rings of Power with grave doubts, but as open a mind as I was capable of. Bear in mind I love Tolkien's books. I also admire Peter Jackson's movies I was able to embrace the changes his production team made to translate the stories to a filmic medium. Could I do so again? Yes, as it happens. I could. I was thoroughly immersed and enjoyed the first episode enormously. I can't wait to watch episode 2 this evening. If you have been doubting, like I was, set your doubts aside and just allow yourself to enjoy. There are some stunning visuals. Through it all, the sweeping grandeur of Tolkien's mythic themes are present. The characters and storylines that have been added are essential to this episodic visual medium. Storytelling is an art, and books and films are different media with different needs to carry a tale. No adaptation is ever going to tick all your personal boxes. No creative decisions are ever going to be the same as the ones you would have made. But you have the books for those things. Just allow yourself to unwind and enjoy what the creators have done with the decisions they made, because they have turned them into gold. I hadn't expected myself to say this, but this a masterpiece. It possesses a real majesty, and I can't wait to see how the series unfolds.7 people found this helpful

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Like many, I love the hobbit and the lord of the rings films and hoped that this series would capture some of the feeling from those cherished movies. However I was concerned as there appeared to be many people  who appear to have written this series off as being a complete waste of time and money. So I approached this with lowish expectations but importantly with an open mind. So having watched the first two episodes my thoughts are as follows. Firstly the scale of this series is epic, you can clearly see where the money has been spent as it feels as if you are watching a high budget movie rather than a made for tv series. The music is excellent and really captures the feel of the original movies. The story is sympathetic with the history of the films / books. The acting is on point, the script / dialogue is good and the cast all seem committed in making this project as good as it can be. I know some people are saying the pace is a little slow and yes I get that but the story is unfolding over a number of episodes (each over 60 mins long) so they can afford to take their time and we can really enjoy the story lines. Is this going to be as good as any of the films……I really don’t know but it could be and I just don’t understand why anyone who claims to enjoy the original movies would want to dismiss this series without giving it a fair chance. On IMDB it has a current rating of 6.3 which is incredibly low for such a quality production. I for one will be eagerly awaiting the next episode and I can only applaud Amazon for taking on a task of this scale and (in my opinion) pulling it off. Bravo 👏. For me it’s currently a 9 out of 10 👏

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Breathtakingly beautiful, well acted an cast. Feels like Peter Jackson’s take on Tolkien’s work The show is grand, detailed, beautiful and well acted. It amazes me how movie like the production quality is (better than most movies even). It has the same atmosphere and tone as the Movies which is great and very important. All these rights and license agreements made me worry about how different it would be however one can place this series in the same continuity as the movies that Peter Jackson crafted. Talking of which i hope he is enjoying this as he talked of robbing himself of the joy of seeing these movies because he made them, now he can enjoy this like the rest of us. The length of the episodes are also very generous and the show is well paced for a TV show. Slower than the movies, which is just right as there is more time but also it means we get to see the details of Tolkiens work. The series is like an “extended edition” but with “super” added to the front.

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The first two episodes of this new series blew me away. These early episodes are always challenging in a complex story spanning continents, decades, and centuries. I thought the first two episodes set out some of the key traits and characteristics of the different societies and geographies involved. Several key and long-running characters have been introduced well, and the original works' interpretations are just excellent storytelling. Just as important, the visual rendering of the world is simply astounding - this is much closer to a cinema experience than a TV series. From the start in Valinor to Khazad-Dum and everything else is brilliant, and whilst it is different from how I might have imagined these places in my mind's eye, they really do justice to the fantasy world of JRR Tolkien. I know there are detractors - but I have not seen any of them that are actually complaining about the story, the visuals, the acting, or anything actually relevant to reviewing the programme. From what I understand this is due to them not wanting non-white actors in roles in the series. Well - time to grow up people. We are the human race, and we have people of lots of colours, shapes, and sizes. Why would that be any different in any other fantasy race? It is very simple - if you do not like the fact that there is variety in life, then how about you just don't bother watching the programme rather than moan and complain all the time.

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

Many things disturbed me while watching those recent U.S. Senate hearings on whether social media platforms are promoting or at least allowing sexual solicitation of minors, child porn, drug sales, bullying, and content promoting eating disorders and suicide. We saw parents holding up photographs of their dead children, some driven to suicide by mass shaming, or the fear of it when children are sextorted (that is, tricked into sending photographs of themselves fully or partially naked by criminals who then demand money, repeatedly, to not post the photographs online). 

“How can you do this to our children?” the senators asked, in a variety of ways. The response from the social media executives was usually some version of “But Senator, we spend X billion dollars each year to create industry-leading tools to find and remove such content.” That phrase, “industry-leading,” was used six times during the hearing; five times by Mark Zuckerberg, and once by Shou Chew from TikTok.

But as I watched the hearing, I kept thinking about how content moderation is to some extent a red herring, a distraction from larger issues. Yes, it must be done and done better, but even if these platforms could someday remove 95% of harmful content, the platforms will still be harmful to kids. The discussion of online harms can’t just be about making an adolescent’s time on Instagram safer, not even 95% safer, because so many of the harms I describe in The Anxious Generation are not caused by bad content. They are caused by a change in the nature of childhood when kids begin to spend many hours each day scrolling, posting, and commenting. Even if Instagram could remove 100% of harmful content and leave only photos of happy girls and young women enjoying their beautiful lives, the effect on adolescent girls would still be devastating from the chronic social comparison, loss of sleep, addiction, perfectionism, and decline of time spent with their real friends in the real world. [...]

And then I came across a quote from the great media theorist Marshall McLuhan which brilliantly captured exactly why it is a red-herring to focus on content. In his 1964 book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, McLuhan tried to explain the profound transformation of society brought about by electric communication technologies, from the telegraph and telephone through radio and TV. Electric technologies gave us a very different world from the print-based world that began when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1440s. McLuhan tried to explain to his readers the ways that these technologies changed people’s habits, minds, selves, and societies, but all people seemed able to think about was the explicit or implicit messages conveyed in television programs and advertisements. Does that advertisement contain a subliminal message about sex? Can’t we just regulate the content of advertisements and shows better? No, said McLuhan, you’re missing the point, because the medium is the message.

When television swept to dominance, everything (including the news and the coverage of elections) became a form of entertainment, to be consumed passively, and this changed American society and democracy in ways that are hard to articulate but surely disruptive. Here is how McLuhan put it:  

The threat of Stalin or Hitler was external. The electric technology is within the gates, and we are numb, deaf, blind and mute about its encounter with the Gutenberg technology, on and through which the American way of life was formed. It is, however, no time to suggest strategies when the threat has not even been acknowledged to exist. I am in the position of Louis Pasteur telling doctors that their greatest enemy was quite invisible, and quite unrecognized by them. Our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. For the “content” of a medium is like the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind. 

Yes! This is the difficulty I have when I try to explain how the rapid transition from flip phones to smartphones with social media (and thousands of apps) changed childhood in harmful ways in the early 2010s. I repeatedly encounter some version of the criticism that social media is not intrinsically harmful to children because “it all depends on how kids are using it.” Many of these critics believe that we should not enforce even the current low and unenforced age limit of 13. Rather, we should help our 10-year-olds to manage Instagram, TikTok, and Snap in a better way, reading and posting healthier stuff. No! I mean, ok, that would be better than the current situation, but our kids would still have phone-based childhoods, the mental health crisis would continue to rage, and they’d still have difficulties making the transition to adulthood. The medium is the problem.

The leaders of those tech companies did all they could to keep the discussion within the “numb stance of the technological idiot.”  You can even see McLuhan’s point in Mark Zuckerberg’s famous quasi-apology to the parents of those dead kids: 

I'm sorry. Everything that you all gone through, it's terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer.

In other words: We’re already the best in the business at content moderation, so I can’t promise you that we’ll do better in the future, but we’ll continue doing what we’re doing to remove harmful content from the 5 hours that your children now spend each day on social media. 

Let me be clear: there is no way to make social media safe for children by just making the content less toxic. It’s the phone-based childhood that is harming them, regardless of what they watch. Kids need to be freed from the grip of smartphones and social media, especially through early puberty. 

[vacci4president]

Self Awareness

ive never made a tumblr before so let me give it a try; i believe tumblr is a blog so here is a post from my medium to get the ball rolling, let me know what you think.

This knowledge is not one that can be given. It cannot be written down, i cannot sell it to you. Knowledge of self awareness is similar to knowledge of a colour. After a certain age, you will have been taught about colours, and after an amount of time, you will have a good understanding of what is red and what red is. Forgive the blunt metaphor, but you cannot explain this to a blind person. The colour red is a concept, and you cannot explain what red is to someone (using only words) to such an extent that they gain a sufficient understanding and knowledge of what red is. It is something which must be seen and experienced, and self awareness is no different.

That paragraph was me explaining that i can give you the “tools” to become more self-aware, but i cannot “make” you more self-aware. This article also isn’t going to focus on becoming more self-aware, instead a simple overview of self-awareness as a concept, and how to approach it practically. Self-awareness is a very strange wiggly thing which cannot be described or taught, everything i say is subjective but i will try my best.

I am going to show you the introduction from my (currently unreleased) book, Astronomica : ONE. Here, i’m talking about the “thought emergency”, hopefully answering (in part) the question of “Why are people so stupid?”. I also talk about “normalism” and “normalists”, to understand the full context of that word i recommend you read this article. I’ll add clarifications for things, anyway here it is;

The necessity of certain changes to the life of the mainstreamer, the normalist, reveals itself in the way of nothingness. For example, fulfilment in life is never truly there. It may be there in a fleeting, temporary way, but not in a true and permanent way. The attempt for something greater not out of the struggle for truth, goodness and spirituality on earth, but out of the animalistic, materialistic pleasure in the form of quite simply anything we consider normal nowadays.

A knowing or unknowing true normalist will not go anywhere with their life, they will not make too much money, or become famous unless entirely by chance, winning the lottery or by using the algorithms of social media. Unless they are wealthy. Wealth creates opportunity, but most wealthy people are understanding of the way that the system works, and they directly aid it. This keeps poor people and rich people distinct.

While the word “normalist” has its roots in supporters of the status quo and “normal” ideas, it also is referring to the things that today we consider normal, but are incredibly detrimental to our wellbeing as a species on an individual level. Here are some things, things that may seem like problems to some and not to others that stem entirely from normalism:

Microplastics come from plastic, which has become widely used out of the pure desire for more profit, less work, and ease of use. Plastic not only creates enormous problems for the earth, it also contaminates the stuff inside of it. For example, things like cheese, olive oil, drinks, basically all things that can be consumed, when placed in plastic instead of glass, wood or metal become noticeably worse. They are worse for you, because of the microplastics, and they usually just taste worse. Even the most evangelical vegan no-waste et cetera cannot avoid plastic in their day-to-day life. Why? Normalism.

Alcohol is so accepted and engrained in today's society, even though it is way more toxic than most illegal drugs (including weed and nutmeg (nutmeg is illegal for recreational use in the uk(?!?!))), when most people think about drinking, the question is not "Why am i doing this? Is this good?", the question is "What should i drink, how much?". We need more self-awareness before we drink ourselves into an early grave as a society.

Another thing that people don’t understand is a normalist problem is the insane way that people consume TV programmes. Firstly, as I have written before, the creators of TV programs, no matter if they are big companies or individual writers, will insert their personal bias into the shows, usually staged as jokes in which the side that is being joked about has no platform to defend itself. If you control the microphones, you control the debate. It helps to insert normalist sentiment and anti-spiritual ideas into the brains of the masses, all while making each individual genuinely believe that they are the ones who came up with those ideas. If you think something is an original thought, then you’re going to believe it, because it’s yours, not anybody else’s. They cannot understand that it is because of the shows they binge and watch, unknowingly pouring metaphorical acid into their brain.

Movies are similar to TV shows but slightly different. They require full concentration of the senses, or you are not actually watching the movie. You must be watching, listening and paying attention, or you are not watching the movie. Most movies, like shows, provide no value to the viewer. They do not provoke meaningful thought, or incite the viewer to go and do something interesting. Instead they give the viewer two to three hours of nothing. Of course, some movies are truly thought provoking, and “good” but most movies released in the last thirty years are time wasting, anti-intellectual nonsense. Do you want to become an initiate, do you want to be the enemy of normalism? Then your first step is to think about the content that you watch, for someone who consumes and lives in nonsense perpetuates nonsense.

Fast fashion is something that is accepted far too much in today's society. Why is it that buying new clothes whenever you feel like it is accepted? I am not referring to people who don't have clothes, or appropriate clothes, i'm talking about people who have adequate clothes but will buy more and more for literally no reason other than slight materialistic "want". Why? What's the point? If you send them back, they go straight to a landfill, and all of the clothes were made in a sweatshop too. You shouldn't support an industry that is as evil as the fashion industry.

To put it simply, we are in the thought emergency we are today almost exclusively because of normalism and materialism. If you haven't read any of my stuff before (or if you haven't been outside and talked to any average people), we are in a thought emergency. People are more materialistic than ever, they will vote and support whoever the news asks them to, They will take in mainstream ideas and genuinely believe that they are the original source of those ideas, and they will not question their surroundings, what they do and who they talk to. The school system and society drags the individual's capacity for thought down back into the bucket of crabs- or in other words, the pub.

Apathy is one of the single worst things that anyone can fall into. Many religions and systems state that apathy is the lowest (or one of the lowest) states one can be in, only below it is death itself. It is the creator of many of our problems. Simply not caring is a very big problem, and many don’t care enough to acknowledge that fact. For example, not caring caused;

The entire political mess we are in right now, with right-wing reactionary opinion prevailing in the people, the acceptance of mainstream “normal” narrative which usually happens to be very right-wing

Overconsumption of media, such as movies and TV (this has its roots in materialistic pleasure too)

A general lack of interest in spirituality, politics and philosophy leading to bad decisions being made in those avenues.

People find themselves living in their environments. They live simply in their worlds and go about their day. They go shopping, they watch TV, they go to work, and they go to sleep. They are wholly in their environment, they are almost a part of their environment, like furniture. They do not ask what they are doing, they do not question why they do things or why things are the way they are.

They couldn’t care less about politics, spirituality or philosophy, because they exist wholly in the world, floating like an uncritical leaf in the stream of mainstream society, guided by the government’s unnatural dams and canals, they allow things to happen to them and those they love out of ignorance, but because of the way the world has been set up, they have been made ignorant of said ignorance. This is the current unfortunate reality for most people today. They don't care, because in their world, why would they? They go home to their warm beds and eat their food.

Unless prompted (which is something the media or their acquaintances will never do), these people will never think about the important things. They will continue doing things the way they have always been. They need a little nudge to become an individual, to gain that first part of self awareness critical for their journey into the light.

The more real research you do on the subject of politics and the state of the world today, real and ideological, you begin to find that self awareness is essentially the answer to everything. It’s the answer to bad politics, it’s the answer to bad philosophy and it’s the answer to bad spirituality. Self-awareness essentially is the answer.

But of course, it is hard to attain. You can’t just think about your thinking, declare it all bad and say that you’re “cured”. You have to give yourself time alone, writing, cooking, meditating, just not consuming media. This will give your brain time to think about things and receive things. You will then start to realise things about individual topics. Then more topics. Then how those topics interlink. And through sound self-awareness, you will get a good, sound grasp on reality via inner knowing.

This way, you will not fold when questioned, you will have the means to reply. You will have worked it all out, and you will be able to reply to a sufficient degree that someone who wants to question you with good intention.

Good conversation can trigger self awareness. There are many people out there who have the capacity to become individuals, and learn about philosophies, such as Anthroposophy, that help people become a more full and capable version of themselves. But obviously, the time has to be right. Completely right. There is no room for error, otherwise the person will form first impressions, and if they are bad then you might as well give up.

But “attaining” a heightened self-awareness will not happen overnight, it may take years, and you simply cannot recognise when you have “it”. For example, two years ago i was convinced that i was writing to my fullest extent, that i was behaving in a truly self-aware way. But i was not. And certainly i will say that about myself two years from now. It is an ever-evolving process in which your brain will tell you that you are at your peak, maybe even above other people all the time. This is, most of the time, not true. Your brain is trying to put life into context. It cannot comprehend the greatness that is living.

Self-awareness is the constant reality check, the knowledge of life material and immaterial, navigating away from Lucifer and Ahriman, shooting down the middle path of goodness and truth.

One of the things that is a great hindrance to self-awareness is the “everyday norms”. The hello and how are you, the redundant conversation about a TV show or the weather, or maybe a coworker’s second cousin got a job. This is nonsense and it does not serve any constructive purpose. It is also quite materialist as it keeps all conversation grounded, when one is gossiping about a friend for example, they cannot talk about how the planet is melting, or how this entire universe may be a simulation. This is another example of those without vital self awareness not questioning the things they do in their everyday life.

The mainstream education system is also another hindrance to self awareness, with the whole system being about control, solidifying the “reality” of authority and making sure the will of the individual can be broken by their future employer, self awareness does not fit into that and it is not taught in any meaningful way, not a conversation, nor an exercise. They almost discourage it. Wonder why they do that?

For more on Self Awareness, i gave a lecture a few months ago in a discord server about this very topic. I highly recommend you give it a listen if you are at all interested; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QFEZWODZgY

Thanks for reading.

[whatsonmedia]

Wednesday Wisdom: Selected Books of This Week!

One's outlook and style of life can be altered by books. A fan of books will never pass up the opportunity to read a wonderful book. Here to guide you choose a few good books is Dona from the WhatsOn editorial! Have fun reading! Spare by Prince Harry The book is divided into three roughly equal parts: Harry's childhood, the unexpected death of his mother, Diana, and his years of education, particularly at Eton; his young adulthood, his military career along with his ongoing search for love and his growing hostility towards the paparazzi (or "paps"); and in the third part, meeting Meghan, his deepening relationship with her, their changing relationship with his family, and his fatherhood. Trauma, betrayal, and loss are recurring themes in the novel and are equally relatable. Even though Spare was preceded by numerous pre-publication leaks and a great deal of hostility towards the Sussexes after their choice to leave the British Royal family, its success is not surprising. Since then, they have used a variety of mediums to discuss their decision to move on, including podcasts, television appearances, a Netflix series, and the book. There is a reason the book has done so well, aside from a natural interest about the Royals, who are frequently verging on the vile, because it is eloquent, captivating, and entertaining. Harry's himself-narrated audio book is also said to have performed well with a different crowd. The strangest book ever penned by a royal is surely this one.This book was published on 10th January, 2023. Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey By now, the number of books describing the issues with straight relationships could cover an entire shelf. Monica Heisey is a comedian, essayist, and award-winning screenwriter. Her debut book is about one woman's messy search for happiness after an unplanned breakup, and it's both hilarious and painfully relatable. Maggie is in a tailspin. She is about to get divorced at the age of 28, and most of her friends are either perpetually single or about to embark on a failed marriage. Maggie is extremely relatable despite being at odds with her peers because of her marital status. She gets her validation from the resoundingly favorable reactions to vague tweets about males being trash, and growing up in the early 2000s with its heroin chic has given her a tumultuous relationship with her body. Maggie battles to hold herself accountable because, like many of us, she is accustomed to blaming her problems on late-stage capitalism or the resurgence of the low-rise jean. It was published on 17th Jnuary,2023. MAAME by Jessica George A young British woman from a Ghanaian household reevaluates her obligations in the wake of a loss. Although she goes by Maddie in George's compelling coming-of-age story, Maddie's family refers to her as Maame, which means woman. On the surface, this nickname is praise for Maddie’s reliability. Though she’s only 25, she works full time at a London publishing company and cares for her father, who’s in the late stages of Parkinson’s disease. James, Maddie's older brother, shows little interest in pitching in, and their mother runs the family business while she lives in Ghana. She always calls Maddie when she needs money, and Maddie accepts these demands and responsibilities without grumbling, never venting to her peers about her frustrations: "We're Ghanaian, so we do things differently," is ingrained in her. Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George's Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures―and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong. All the Dangerous Things by Stacy  Willingham Stacy Willingham's thrilling novel All the Hazardous Things, about a desperate mother with a troubled background, is the follow-up to her instant New York Times bestseller A Flicker in the Dark. Today, Stacy Willingham makes a comeback with ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS, her sophomore thriller. This lyrical, immersive mystery explores one mother's waking nightmare and the perilous secrets she will learn as she searches for the truth about the two tragedies that have shaped her life. This year's holiday break saw me devour ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS, and I found it to be one of the few books that is genuinely difficult to put down. ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS alternates between the past and present as it explores the darkest facets of one mother's life as she looks into the disappearance of her son a year prior and, in the process, faces long-buried secrets from her own upbringing. Dual timelines are skillfully used by Stacy Willingham to provide mystery and atmosphere. While Stacy Willingham's deep writing immerses readers in our protagonist's progressively erratic mental condition, her skillful use of two timeframes adds interest and atmosphere to this gripping mystery. Read the full article

[foundationlearning]

Benefits of Taking Online Education

Internet became the main medium for everything we do. From online shopping to communicating with long lost friends and colleagues, socializing through social networks, sharing photos and videos, promoting products and services, finding jobs, meeting and dating other singles, booking your plane ticket and hotel reservation, watching online news, and many more. You'd be surprised to see a young child about three years of age using the computer and accessing the website of his favorite cartoon show and playing online games offered in it. Best online Education Platform in India

Because of the recent advancements in internet technology, we can do almost everything online. This includes acquiring your college degree through online education. Online education is now possible because some of the universities and colleges saw the internet as a groundbreaking point for their academe services and role. Internet has given them the opportunity to extend their role as an educator to a wider scope of audience. With this, what are the real benefits of taking online education?

Number one, online education provides you with more options. Since more and more universities and colleges are starting to embrace the contributions of the internet to consumers, you will have more schools to choose from. You can go ahead and take advanced reading on the background of different universities and colleges before you start choosing the best one that can provide the best quality of education online.

Number two, you can save on gas, money, time, and effort while searching for a reliable school. For busy professionals and uncertain college introductory students, money, time, effort, and gas are very important. You're only wasting these precious resources if you physically search and inquire in the actual school campuses. What if you can get the same information and quotation you need online through their customer service representatives? Wouldn't that be a better choice? Believe it or not, some universities and colleges now offer live chat options for their would-be students so that you can get the answers to your questions as quickly as possible. Online ACCA Course

Number three, acquiring your degree online will expose you to the most recent developments in the industry you're getting into. For an online computer degree student, this is very important especially now that technological advancements constantly change each year. This is one of the reasons why educators have chosen to offer college degrees online. With the rapid change of technologies, educators constantly re-evaluate their curriculum in order to provide the most recent and most important areas of study for their online students.

Number four, you don't have to quit your job because can study at your own pace. If you are a working professional, finding time to attend your classes in the traditional classroom setting is very difficult especially when you travel a lot. This has been the main problem of working professionals and the only reason why they can't advance in their career paths. So let's say you're a hardworking IT administrator and you would like to merge your career with graphic multimedia designing, the only way you're going to make this a reality is by taking up an online arts degree. You can access your lessons online and with this, you never have to worry about missing any of your classes and tests. ACCA Course in India

Number five, get more job opportunities after graduating and acquiring your online degrees. Some employers take online education very seriously and if you acquired you degree online, they know that you have the best knowledge in their pool of applicants. Don't be surprised if you get a call from a top leading company in your industry because they know that you have all the package they're looking for in an employee.

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