#he has different magnifying glasses throughout the series

[kiss-my-freckle]

I consider Delena the central ship, so they parallel a lot of other ships throughout the series. A lot of their ships are built with key Delena elements, so you can see Delena even in their new ships. Delena parallels a ship in every season. 

Damon covers the Jeremy-Vicki-Tyler love triangle in the fact that he’s both. He loves like Jeremy, but his emotions are like Tyler’s. That’s why Damon and Tyler are often in scene cut. 

Damon snapping Jeremy’s neck is perfect example. Damon’s the reason they cut to Mason talking to Tyler about his aggression. 

Tyler: I didn't mean to freak her out. I don't know why I get like this. Mason: It's the curse of being a Lockwood. Tyler: So how'd you get the chill gene? Mason: I didn't. I've just learned how to manage it. Tyler: I don't want to be like this anymore. Mason: None of us do. That's why it's a curse, Tyler.

The same curse of being a Lockwood is the same curse of being a vampire. Damon’s issue with vampirism is completely different than Stefan’s. They put him in parallel with Tyler and his magnified emotions. Blood makes Stefan unstable, emotions make Damon unstable. So while Damon loves as Jeremy loves, those negative emotions he feels come out like Tyler’s. When he goes home and smashes his glass against the fireplace, he knows he can’t be “like this” anymore. Managing it takes time, which is where Elena comes in. She does for Damon what Lexi did for Stefan and what Mason did for Tyler. 

When Elena falls in love with Damon and ends up with him, she’s then playing two roles... Damon’s girlfriend and his sponsor. Much like you see with Caroline acting as Stefan’s girlfriend and his sponsor. In S5, Damon spirals because Katherine uses Elena’s sponsor role to hurt him. She puts him back in monster mode, in the street to feed like she taught him in 1864. It’d be like Caroline forcing Stefan to feed on human blood while breaking up with him. That’s why Damon spirals. This is essentially why Stefan has to be the one to kill Katherine in S5. She used Elena’s Lexi role against Damon, saw Damon become a ripper just like him, then found out Katherine pushed that role for the sake of him killing his own brother. He didn’t just kill Katherine for Elena, he killed her for Damon and for Lexi. 

[poirott]

Hercule Poirot + magnifying glass

[afishlearningpoetry]

Hi! I've loved Sherlock since 2012 but I'm new in the Johnlock fandom. Your meta is one of my favorite! I totally agree that S4 is John's story/blog/alibi etc, but I wanted to ask you: if this time Sherlock is working with John to take Mary down, why is John jealous? How can he think Sherlock has feelings for her, if Sherlock wants her dead? Also: how do you think John faked his suicide? Is there a body? Maybe it's David's? I really hope it is all John's plan! It would be so smart and badass.

Hi, thank you so much.

It's funny you ask that first question because this (John's enduring jealousy) is a thing that was established the series 3 finale in 2014, and the particular scene in which it culminates is so convincing that it's not an exaggeration to say that currently almost no one knows what actually happened in it, which is in large part due to how manipulative Sherlock acts to John in the latter half of that episode, and also how people believe Mary's stated intentions (especially after her death, which was supposed to make her look like a saint, which definitely worked on viewers) and and underestimate John's intelligence.

Just to recap for anyone else: John's jealousy is conceived when Sherlock and John enter Magnussen's office and Sherlock deduces that the smell of perfume is Claire de Lune, which is the perfume Mary uses. This also comes right after the scene outside the elevator to his office, where Sherlock manipulates Janine into letting them in. John says, "But Sherlock, she loves you," and Sherlock says, "Yes, as I said –– human error," as John looks on, terrified. Later in the episode, John confronts Mary and says that the first thing Sherlock said when he woke up was her name. When Sherlock disappears from the hospital after being shot, in part because he doesn't want to be questioned by the police after who shot him, because he's trying to protect Mary to protect John, Lestrade asks John why he would disappear, and who he would be protecting from whatever happened in Magnussen's office. John asks the same thing, and then looks at Mary's perfume, which is sitting on the table next to him (he doesn’t even consider Sherlock is protecting him). To summarize, he assumes Sherlock is protecting Mary because he secretly loves her and that they had an affair, which in his mind is only confirmed later in the episode when John learns Mary was (is) an assassin, because John draws a correlation between him assuming Sherlock loved Irene and now Mary, to Sherlock being a sociopath and only being able to care about other sociopaths who enable him, which also means he could never love John. He says during the loft scene where they treat Mary as a client, “You two should have gotten married.” There's some comfort in the idea that Sherlock isn't capable of love to begin with, it's another thing to see this. (Something cool about its shape is it's echoed in Mary's wedding earrings, which are hearts with a hole in them, as well as the coin she shoots; "I will burn the heart out of you.")

So there are a couple explanations why John would still be jealous, even after him and Sherlock team up to stop her. The most simple is that it doesn't even matter to John that he's trying to kill her now, because he's convinced he's a sociopath for the majority of series 4, so he doesn't have any lingering feelings about turning against her now because he doesn't care about other people in that way. John isn't jealous to the extent that he wants whatever their relationship was (at least consciously -- there's a lot to talk about how he makes his subconscious insert of Eurus into a brazenly over the top sociopath that Sherlock has to learn how to love, but even then, John still locks himself into a sibling relationship where he's caged up and they can only see each other when there's glass between them to stop him from attacking him), so much as that there was any initial love/connection or sexual affair between them. Throughout TST, Sherlock follows a trail of breadcrumbs he thinks will lead him to Moriarty, but actually leads him to Mary, so the real events of that episode involved him realizing the two of them are working together (if he didn't already realize this at the end of TAB -- there's debate whether he is or if it's still subconscious, but either way he's right on the edge).

So John wants to stop Moriarty, or Mary for working for him (she's working with him, but they wouldn't know this yet, because it's being saved for the series 5 reveal), which compounds his anger at her betrayal, but he doesn't know that right away. He already has enough motivation before that because he still thinks they had an affair. Sherlock doesn't have sex with Janine, but John thinks he did. John doesn't even understand what that kind of relationship would be like, if there are any emotional feelings involved, which is why he asks, "So how does it work, you and the woman?" at the end of TLD. His jealousy is also magnified by the idea that he fell for a sociopath in Sherlock, so a lot of it is just swelling self-hatred that John can't escape, that keeps growing and growing until he's choking on it by series 4, so it still doesn't matter Sherlock is trying to kill her now. In the teaser for series 4 they were both drowning.

If anything, their covert mission being focused around her means that John probably can't stop thinking about it. If Sherlock loved her then he could he do this now?

Then he looks at himself, and he starts thinking about how whether or not he ever loved Mary to begin with, and then he thinks about how Mary was supposed to be different, and oh John actually fell for a sociopath for a second time just like Sherlock, so is he any different? Of course he should know that he is, even if he's wrong about Sherlock, but then he starts thinking about how his love for Sherlock actually makes him a monster, and that his love for him isn't real either because it could never be the same thing as him loving a woman, or maybe he could never love anyone to begin with, not really, and that maybe John himself isn't real either, maybe he isn't even a real person, or a person who should stick around at all. But no no no, first he has to stop Mary. He has to stay around to stop Mary. His goal for the first two episodes of series 4 isn't about trying to fuck Sherlock anymore, it's all about stopping her.

Of course we know that he can't stop thinking about it, because not only does he write Mary and Sherlock having a perfect relationship that doesn't exist where John is considered more worthless than a dog (calling back to Moriarty calling John Sherlock's pet by the pool in TGG), the cheating subplot established two episodes ago (and clarified by Sherlock in TAB, which is another explanation, but he isn't even aware that John thinks they had an affair), isn't addressed at all, even on the surface text/blog level in series 4. It's just dropped completely, which went over the heads of most viewers watching because they didn't even pick up on or remember it from before (fitting because it's not mentioned in John's blogs in series 3 to begin with iirc). John does this to absolve both himself and Sherlock, because there's no way he could resolve it without offering motivations for either Sherlock or himself to kill her. He finds ways to sublimate it though, because he has to make them flawed so it's a believable event. So to answer: John's jealousy is a huge, invisible, growing monster sitting at the heart of series 4 and everything that happens in it. It's largely irrational and trying to ask him why he would even think any of this would just make him retreat further into denial of the truth: that Sherlock loves him, which he's deeply afraid of.

When Sherlock manipulates John into thinking that Mary shot him non-fatally in order to cover for herself while saving his life, he's lying, because he literally died lmao. But he decides not to let John in on the secret, which is a huge mistake, and John can see through what he's doing and that Sherlock is using him, but he plays along in order to take Mary down. Sherlock underestimates John, so it's only fitting that Sherlock underestimates John again when he fakes his suicide, because John doesn't let Sherlock in on his secret, in part so he can know what he felt during and after the fall, because all of this is about the fall (and John tries to communicate with Sherlock while Mary is manipulating him, as we see at the end of TST with John’s note that is also dropped from the plot completely) (Sherlock does let John in on their plot to stop Mary sometime after the loft scene, but by that time John's already operating on his own to some degree, because Sherlock still isn't letting him in on the biggest secret of all that would explain everything to John). So because John is mastering the level of deception Irene, Sherlock, Moriarty and Mary (and Emelia Ricoletti) showed him over the course of the show, he would also leave a body behind. He would have planned it extensively, and part of that is by manipulating public opinion. He even gets really blatant with his prose and has himself sitting in front of a carpet of blood (calling back to how Sherlock sees the pile of blood before Mrs. Carmichael, explained here). You already saw this post but he would also need a body to draw Mary out of hiding by making the suicide convincing, which he also does by writing so many suicidal themes into series 4 so that when news gets out and people in-universe (and real life) react to his death, they put the clues together, which is like a double deception in order to make it seem impossible that he could have faked it. (#tw suicide)

So these plot points have been ongoing for seven years now lol and they’ll be key to series 5.

[chat-noir-always-here]

“Hey Arnold!” and “Miraculous!” parallels

Ever have an idea for a post that you take forever to get around to because 2020 is 

actively 

trying

to kill you?!

 Welp, that’s me. I mean, uh, this is that post.

Long post is long and I don’t like cuts cuz I’ve lost a few posts in the past using them. Please filter the tag “long post” I use it for walls of text like these.

So there’s this show from my childhood called Hey Arnold! 

Having been on air before I had cable (I and my unsupervised brothers and sisters spent our childhood watching Jerry Springer and Maury because there was literally nothing else on our cheap little TV. How hilarious is that?) I didn’t really have much of an experience with Hey Arnold! aside from brief little glances at it when i visited a friends home or the rare occasion where they showed cartoons at school. By the time I got satellite, the show was no longer on the air save for some late night reruns and the Christmas special which aired in December along with other Nickelodeon Christmas episodes (THE best Christmas episode EVER btw).

Really I couldn’t remember much about it until hearing about the Jungle Movie finally getting a release date (a total flop but at least its no cliff hanger) and decided to re-watch the entire series in preparation for said movie.

By which point I had discovered another show—Miraculous. 

At first glance the two shows have absolutely nothing in common. Miraculous being a French-born mahou shoujo-esque CGI superhero TV series about a couple of middle schoolers who regularly battle a walking peppermint-frappucino-looking psychopath. Hey Arnold! being a more realistic children’s sitcom about a young football-headed boy who deals out humanitarian aid in the form of advice and simple good deeds to his neighbors, classmates and friends. 

In terms of setting, logic, and animation the two series are as different as night and day.

So imagine my pleasant surprise to discover a whole post’s worth of parallels shared between the two shows???

And here they are in no particular order:

1)Arnold’s Parents/Adrien’s mom

Prior to the start of Miraculous, Emilie Agreste disappeared under mysterious circumstances leaving her family behind. Later on it was revealed that she was in fact sleeping (dead?) in a glass coffin beneath the Agreste mansion--unbeknownst to Adrien, or anyone else in Paris save for Gabriel and Nathalie.

In a similar fashion, Arnold’s parents, Miles and Stella, also disappeared prior to the start of Hey Arnold! and like Emilie were always referred to as “missing” rather than “dead.” 

The Jungle Movie later revealed Miles and Stella weren’t dead, but like Emilie appears to be doing in her coffin, they were sleeping. Having caught a bout of sleeping sickness (apparently they do not need to be hooked up to IVs or other medical devices while in a comatose state cuz fuck logic) they simply needed their orphaned son to come and cure them with the help of the magical golden heart Helga provided him with.

Perhaps Mari holds the key to waking Emilie? That would be nice to see. 

Not the miraculous of course--but some other key.

Although personally I’m hoping for a hardcore, devastating ending like Emilie dying, Gabriel going to prison where he belongs, and Adrien leaving the country for a bit until the second Hawk Moth shows up because I just like devastating cliffhangers and angst and being in utter turmoil over fictional people. But that’s just me.

2) Their best friends are dating

Smol parallel here: Arnold’s best friend Gerald and Helga’s Best friend Phoebe wind up together in The Jungle Movie after being imprisoned together by Lasombra. Similar to how Nino and Alya ended up together after being imprisoned by Ladybug (for their protection, of course).

3) The Bag of Money Episode/ The Ladybug episode

OOh boy both of these episodes make me rage. 

Some context about the Bag of Money episode: Arnold and his friends Gerald and Sid find a random bag of money containing almost $4000. Sid is ecstatic and wants to split the money evenly between the three boys, but Arnold worries it could just be lost and convinces them to let him, Arnold, take the money to the police station. On the way he accidentally switches the bag with another one that is identical and contains a bunch of useless junk, and when he tries to explain what happened to his friends they don’t believe him because their bag of money was accidentally taken by an “old lady with pink hair and a peg leg.”

 Arnold’s a good boy and he’s telling the truth--but the truth sounds crazy, even to my ears. Sid accuses Arnold of stealing the money and spreads lies to their classmates, whom Arnold has spent the ENTIRE SERIES helping in some form or fashion. Despite everything he’s done for them though, the vast majority of the class come to believe Arnold is a thief. Even Gerald, Arnold’s closest friend, nearly believes Sid over Arnold but eventually comes to Arnold’s defense. The other kids (save for Helga who doesn’t really make an appearance this episode) gang up on Arnold, but thankfully the old lady with pink hair and a peg leg shows up with an officer and together they explain the bag of money is now at the lost and found where it will remain and if gone unclaimed will be returned to Arnold, Gerald and Sid. 

Pretty much everything is resolved and things return to normal between the kids. 

But I hate this episode. I hate this episode so, so much. Arnold has spent the entire series helping these people out in some form or fashion. Literally thats the entire show. And after everything he’s done for them they’re so. Quick. To. Turn. On. Him. 

Sound familiar???

4) Hidden Personality                   vs.          Surface Personality

 I do not refer to the cruddy “true selves” thing half the Miraculous fandom believes in. Depending on one’s individual circumstances, environment and how comfortable they are, said person’s behavior can fluctuate or even do a complete 180. This can be kinda frustrating when dealing on one’s own--”Who am I anyway? Is that me or is this me???”

It’s all you, fam.

Arnold and Helga are themselves too, no matter what metaphorical/actual mask they put on. There’s the side that everyone sees and then there’s the side almost no one sees. The hidden personality isn’t hidden due to a lack of trust, necessarily, but rather it is the result of retreating to their respective “shells”--ones which both Arnold and Helga were kinda punched, kicked, and shoved into. 

Helga’s surface personality: Class bully, puts up a tough front, constantly torments Arnold because she can’t stand him and his niceness

Helga’s hidden personality: Poetic, abused and isolated, is in love with Arnold to the point of being obsessed with him and bullies him via surface personality in order to hide that fact

Of course Adrien is no bully--his reasons for not being the “cunning, funny, ultra-charming Chat Noir” 24/7 DOES have a lot to do with his toxic household, his dad, and the overwhelming expectations which are constantly smothering him as Adrien. 

Adrien is a bug under a magnifying glass (or so he feels)

Chat Noir is a chance for a freedom.

 Adrien’s surface personality was molded by his dad.

 Helga’s is the result of her entire family. Her father is brash and loud, her mother is a confirmed alcoholic, her sister is a gifted prodigy, well-rounded and spends most of the series at university or elsewhere. Although her sister, Olga, has been shown to genuinely care for Helga, Olga is kinda the reason their parents neglect Helga. With their first daughter being the genius and prodigy she is, Helga’s parents poured all of their pride and affection and parental devotion onto her. Meanwhile Helga had to walk to pre-school alone. At four years old. In the rain. Not for the last time. 

Which leads me to the next parallel.

5) Umbrella in the Rain

squeals in delight over this parallel<3<3<3

If you’ve never seen Hey Arnold! do yourselves a favor and watch this short little clip over how Helga and Arnold first met. If you have seen it, watch it anyway because it is the most adorable clip in the entire show.

Dr. Bliss: “So nobody’s ever noticed you?”

Helga:��“...There was someone.”

The soft way Helga confesses that--you can actually hear how grateful she is to have such a tender memory from such a painful time. 

 In a similar manner, Adrien offered his umbrella to Marinette. Of course Adrien did it because Mari had to walk home in the rain and Arnold did it as a simple gesture of kindness (seeing as they were already at the school)--one of the many kind acts he displays throughout the series. 

 But just like Adrien needed unconditional love coming from somewhere, so did Helga. They were both denied this one common necessity which everyone else around them had. It’s not a lot to ask for, and they should’ve already had it coming from their families--but they didn’t.

 And then, one rainy day, there it was--the unconditional love they needed.

6) Clinginess

What happens when you take someone, specifically a love-starved abused child from an unstable home environment--deprived of the one thing most crucial to their mental well-being--and miraculously provide them with that very necessity? 

Clinginess. 

I can’t really think of the correct word to describe this. “Clinginess” is pretty close to what I’m trying to describe, if not on point, so let’s go with that. 

 What I mean is Helga and Adrien both need Arnold and Ladybug respectively. That’s not a bad thing--it’s okay to need somebody else. What’s bad is hinging your entire being on this one connection. For if either kiddo were to be left behind they wouldn’t handle it very well.

 It can’t really be helped with either Helga or Adrien. They didn’t really have the option to learn certain things and went deprived of unconditional love for such a long time. They’re kids--nine and fourteen/fifteen respectively. They’re not perfect and they’re traumatized for life. Being denied love from your family--the very people designed to love you--would do that to a person. Naturally they would cling to the first people to show up and provide them with the love they needed. 

 The Hey Arnold! wiki says this about Helga and Arnold’s relationship

Due to her unstable family upbringing where both her mother and father constantly neglect [Helga] and shower all of their attention onto Olga, leaving her deprived of the love and attention she needed growing up. On her way to preschool, Arnold helped her by keeping the rain off her with an umbrella and even complimented her on her hairbow. He even later gave her crackers during their snack time. Arnold's kindness and being the first person to notice her quickly caused Helga to transfer all of her love and attention to Arnold.

Of course Adrien’s tunnel vision isn’t quite as bad as Helga’s.

 He treats his friends better.

 He does love his father--

Even though his father is THE. 

WORST.

 PARENT.

 EVER!!!

--because he’s Adrien and he’s just too precious a cinnamon roll and that’s still his dad even if the man does belong behind bars.

7) Unhealthy Obsession

I--

I...

Ugh. I am not going to delve too far into this. You’re just going to have to take my word for it. Helga’s creepy stalker behavior is a thousand times worse than Marinette’s. That pic up there of Helga hiding out in Arnold’s room watching him is pretty decent evidence to back up my argument, but it’s hardly the only example or even the worst incident.

 Honestly I’m amazed at what Nicktoons were able to get away with in the late nineties/early 2000s. 

But yes, Helga’s obsession with Arnold is rather unhealthy in the most extreme moments leading her to display behavior which is more often than not disturbing and concerning. 

The Hey Arnold! wiki has this to say about Helga’s obsession with Arnold

Helga is possessive of her love for Arnold and thinks non-stop about him to the point of obsession. This is evidenced throughout the series by the many shrines and poems she makes of Arnold and of her frequent dramatic soliloquies about her love for Arnold.

Again--Mari isn’t as bad as all that. She’s a sweet girl with many healthy relationships in her life. She has ambition, creativity, and drive. But yeah she can be rather possessive of Adrien too, and that needs to stop. Like right now. Adrien doesn’t need another girl being possessive of him and thinking he’s perfect--he needs someone who acknowledges him as a flawed person and loves him despite that. 

As for Helga and Arnold--show creator Craig Bartlett confirmed they are “made for each other” and wind up married with three kids, so I’m guessing Helga grew out of some of these bad habits? Or at least I hope so...

8) Helper/Humanitarian tendencies

As mentioned before, the plot of Hey Arnold! is more or less about Arnold helping people. As stated by Gerald in The Jungle Movie, “He’s a humanitarian! Like his parents!” Of course not every episode is about Arnold helping people. There are episodes devoted to supporting characters and they’re just as enjoyable and satisfying. 

 But as he is the titular character he spends a lot of time in the spotlight. 

Remember that “best christmas special EVER” episode I mentioned before?

 The reason it’s the best special, in my less than humble opinion, is due to a few things.

 The special is not about Santa Claws. In fact, I don’t think he’s even mentioned, let alone shown and treated like an actual living character.

The focus on the entire episode is again on Arnold helping someone, but he doesn’t succeed. Not really.

The one who succeeded in helping someone was Helga, who accomplished the goal Arnold had set out to do. 

The episode deals with some rather dark subject matter and is actually quite heartwarming as the “perfect present” Arnold was trying to provide someone with wasn’t something you can buy in the store

It’s also one of the episodes where Helga’s love for Arnold leaves her to do good and as her love for him is a secret, she expects nothing in return. She’s just happy to help him.

 Kinda similar to Mari who is, as Adrien puts it in Mayura, “Our every day Ladybug.” Her kindness and devotion to helping others is what drives her as Ladybug and Marinette. It’s what brought Ivan and Mylene together. Is the reason Nathaniel and Mark now have a comic book together. And at the end of the day, that’s the reason for her strange behavior around Adrien--she wants to help him. Even if it’s just as a “good friend.” 

9) There are two main characters

Although Hey Arnold! is technically a show about Arnold, one could argue it is just as much Helga’s story. 

Similarly, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir is named thusly in order to convey the fact that Adrien is just as much a main character as Marinette is. 

Although I must say Hey Arnold! did a much better job of giving it’s co-character their dues. GIVE. ME. MORE. CHAT NOIR. FOCUSED. EPISODES. DAMMIT.

But, yes, in terms of screen time, Helga gets about as much as Arnold does. Her story and struggles were given just as much importance as Arnold’s and many people have even come to believe that the show is really about Helga. I’d say its about both of them.

10) Constantly bumping into each other

Granted this happens between Arnold and Helga more often than it does to the love square dorks. 

 But yes the two people meant to be together keep knocking into each other in their respective universes. 

 I forget who, but I remember reading that someone a while back theorized that this was the universe’s way of trying to push Arnold and Helga together. Kinda like the “Now kiss!” meme

Perhaps it’s the same for Adrien and Marinette? 

;)

[watayaaratamblr]

Arata is an unfortunate character.

No, he is NOT!

But if we wish to make him one, then we don't need one fifth of the effort put into making Taichi the "sad" character that most fans keep labeling as "Poor Taichi", and Arata would have been then the most unfortunate character in Chihayafuru. All we need is a good mangaka (Suetsugu is!) & the intention to make him draw sympathy (the whole point), simply because Arata’s story is well packed with good material serving the purpose.

Starting with the fact that he was an almost blind child … Like “looking through a magnifying glass”, hearing voices outside but being unable to see anything~ A child who had to wear glasses from the age of 3, any writer can make this a touching story if so they wished -But Suetsugu sensei did not want to.

Growing up as a weak boy who is a letdown in everything most boys do, crying alone when he fails to fit in, disappointing his father who kept pushing him to go outside and be “normal” like all the other children all while letting go of Karuta that he was confirmed to have liked since he was very young. Writing a bit of his struggles to find a place for himself within the norms could have made readers cry a lot.

His grandfather thankfully extended his hand to him, offered him a place where he can be himself; But that too, created a situation where he maybe had to take a side & deal somehow with the other side because his grandfather & his father had a fight and he can only be torn between them. I’m no writer myself, but I can make this sentimental.

Then his father took him away to Tokyo where he had to be a part of a poor family, and not only to cancel his needs & desires (like for example having different outfits for school instead of the few he will be noticed to wear frequently) but to also work sometimes to support his parents, to wake up before school time in the early mornings when other children are probably sound asleep in their warm beds, to go outside in the cold, to earn some cash and to give it to his parents … I read some real sad stories with this idea. So yeah, Arata could have been one of the saddest characters if Suetsugu wanted him to be.

And not to mention being bullied and laughed at for not only his impoverishment (which he can hope to change) but for his identity (as a boy from Fukui speaking a “weird” dialect). He received all this with lot of patience, and tried to comfort himself by himself with his grandfather’s “gift”, how it was a refugee for him.

Any writer can make a sob story out of Arata’s unspoken loneliness & yearning for home, his grandpa & for playing his beloved Karuta properly.

Or out the fact that he couldn’t make any friends in his new school either (he was confirmed to never have real friends since his childhood through the fact that he struggled to fit in + he stayed like that even after he grew up (like Murao said), and he is not someone who doesn’t care about having friends because he was confirmed to almost worship his bond with Taichi & Chihaya, Taichi specifically even though their friendship isn’t really a comforting one; he longed for friendship however it is!)

He enjoyed that friendship nonetheless, he might even have felt like he was compensated for everything he wished for through it but he was soon robbed of all of it as he was separated from these friends & while he could still enjoy a bit of it through correspondence (at least Chihaya kept in touch), he wasn't as untroubled as needed for that because he was about to lose his precious grandfather.

And the process of losing him wasn’t something to take lightly either. Having busy (or rather negligent?) parents made him (a boy not even 14 years old) a caregiver for an old man who suffered from paralysis on the right side of his body and later dementia, not as simple as that, he had to watch what his most beloved & respected person turn into day & night, when he worked “really hard” (as stated in the manga) with his rehabilitation exercises, when he helped him with his baths, he massaged his limbs, he fed him, constantly talked to him & showed him Karuta cards to “keep him” in this world. And when it's too much for him, he goes outside the room and cries bitter tears silently, all alone! There was this person who suffered from (PTSD) for years because their sick aunt didn’t recognize them (they were her favorite nephew before & they were 17 yo at the time), this person couldn’t visit her since & couldn’t see her before she died & they developed a fear of “getting too close” & of seeing sick people, they had to seek long & serious therapeutic help. And Arata actually suffered from PTSD for over a year & half, any psychologist can easily recognize that from the fact that he quit Karuta, refused to touch & hated to see the cards (I stress on this), how he answered Chihaya when she called him, how the calm & patient him (that we knew from his childhood) was agitated & treated her rudely when she insisted on playing a match. And it was all confirmed in Arata’s last words in the same chapter: “I wanted to see you, I always had, but I didn’t want you to see me like this” (in the official tr), he knew that he wasn’t himself (contrary to what Taichi thought, his friend who decided to abandon him instead of trying to help. Chihaya still had faith in him but Taichi was louder -ch10)

Still, thanks to Chihaya, Arata was back to his beloved Karuta, though we all questioned how much fun he really felt while playing again, how much of him was involved with the game now. And eventually, he himself expressed the pressure (not the fun) he felt while playing. What took his passion away, what turned the feelings of a Karuta baka into mere obligation, this also is good content for an emotionally charged story, it only needs the intention of the writer.

And he shone in the world of Karuta. YET he was never “proud” of it, that was never received as anything special. When he comes back home, none really cares (or at least, none shows any enthusiasm), he goes to the western-challenger qualifiers and his parents won’t even go watch, won’t even prepare some food for him, he comes back home late & finds none, and prepares everything by himself (apart from Yu’s help). His parents pray for his defeat, meaning that his DREAM to become Meijin/be strongest in Karuta doesn’t mean much to them, and he knows it, and he was never shown telling them the news like when you want to share a happy one. Arata’s mother -before giving up after acknowledging Arata’s dedication- wanted his defeat even though there was enough money to support him, the lack of money being the excuse she & her husband claimed to be the reason of their lack of support.

The support system Arata lacks isn’t only in his family. Since the death of his grandfather he seems to stand alone in Karuta too. Murao was the only one who spared some time for him but only after he realized how “alone” he was and took pity on him. Murao's realization implies that the training Arata was doing at the Nagumo society didn’t really count for what he really needed. Kuriyama sensei (being expected by fans to be the “Harada” in Arata’s side) was almost useless & he himself expressed his confusion about what to do with him & how to help him. We never saw him particularly guide him in any way either. "Experiences" & "taking chances" were two factors that helped Mizusawa members for example to grow a lot, but these chances are doors without knobs & we know that they were opened for them by adults who were taking care of them in a way or another + being friends ensured that they encouraged each other then proceeded with every idea they got to learn & experience more. Arata lacks both these sources (adults around him rather burdened him with their expectations) so he kept training on his own mostly & we saw how it felt frustrating to him to be relying only on his solo training & an "image" encouraged by a long-dead teacher, he realized the toll of lacking real opponents in practice with whom he can measure his abilities & correct his mistakes to grow stronger. Support can also be emotional. Did Arata ever receive particular emotional support? I can only remember panels where the people worried for him kept watching him from afar while he dealt with it on his own.

Yu was an exception but even her support was written in a way suggesting that Arata was prepared to go on without it. Because with time, Arata learnt to "not expect much" which is also a very interesting trope for a sad story.

And he was described as “a lonely player on top” but this was never elaborated to show how it felt like to be one for Arata himself. This idea is also brilliant for melancholy if the author wanted fans to sympathize with Arata but she didn't go beyond praising Chihaya who could somehow reach him & Shinobu chan.

And while playing on his own (or working part time to support himself), taking care of himself, he met his two precious friends again (they were the only selfish desire Arata has openly expressed throughout the series). But what he felt is that he was left behind & that he was the only one so far away. And he was. They got to experience so many things he didn’t, they made new friends & new bonds & he didn’t, they got closer to each other & he didn’t… At the end he went back to be the outsider & them the two old childhood friends. If the author wrote just a little bit more about these, if she highlighted these facts they could have made a good drama.

Love is the main reason Taichi is "felt for" (because he progressed in karuta but not in Love ..not yet at least). Arata is also a part of the love triangle in Chihayafuru, and if we try to summarize it with the intention of making it sad, then let's go, there is enough to say for that, we just need a good writer (which I'm not sadly). Still in short: Arata seems to have started to develop feelings for Chihaya a long time ago but he had to keep that in check because he thought she was dating Taichi & he kept his distance out of respect for that assumed relationship even though he craved at least connecting with his old friends. When he came closer, Chihaya was interested in him but he never knew, the enthusiasm she showed him was not different from how she is with everyone, no, Taichi received special treatment, while for him, every time he tries to say something to her he is cut off somehow. Everything seemed to be against them getting close. Later Chihaya seemed to have ultimate fun with Taichi too, maybe that was the only thing he thought he could give her, now she didn't need it. Maybe he had that thought again when she praised his game against Harada sensei that's why he confessed but soon, She is once again so far away, she seemed to need Taichi to function properly, he understood that & he used that to cheer her up in her most important tournament. He wanted badly to play with her again to only be totally iced, he couldn't even be seen by her, he was so far away, she belonged to where he wasn't part of (& even her friend kana found a way to express her disapproval of him) Can we not make a drama out of this? Or out of his stuttering, awkwardness & introversion? Or maybe the fact that his parents don't understand him? And did anyone alse feel that in most of Taichi's mother's appearances, we got this feeling that Taichi is a son who should be cared for while when Arata's parents appeared, many times, we can feel how Arata was used to highlight their feelings as individuals & he was drawn there as the member of the family who had to pay attention to that? Anyway, every single one of these points alone is very good material for a "tearjerker" so what about all of them combined? because they are all facts from Arata's reality.

Again, all we need is a good writer (we have it) & the intention to make it that way which isn't there. Suetsugu decided instead to put double the effort to make Taichi the "sorrowful/anguished" one because Arata is not a character written to feel sorry for or to commiserate. He is rather written for the most part of the manga as an inspiring one, an aspiration, to be a drive & a goal. So despite having all the above circumstances, he is instead written as a character who keeps to himself, doesn't complain, hides his hardships, makes it seem that he fine when he notices that someone is watching, tries to focus on what he has & be happy with it however little or simple. That's why it's easy for him to forget & forgive, easy for him to recover & stand up again because there are other characters who need him there as an example, who think that he is perfectly fine so they should only focus on themselves and thus, Bildungsroman can be used for them. And finally- wait, what were Taichi's problems again?

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

Writer adds:

[undeath1245]

Danganronpa Survival

I decided to make a video game concept based on Danganronpa, which is based on my previous posts about the aftermath of DRV3. Danganronpa Survival: Truth of Killing Games is a concept of a survival horror-based action-adventure game taking place six months after the events of DRV3.

The game focuses on the survivors of the 53rd killing game, Shuichi Saihara, Maki Harukawa, and Himiko Yumeno, as they try to adjust to their new lives after escaping into the real world. Saihara is now a private detective, Harukawa is working at a fast food joint, and Yumeno is now a street magician. One fateful evening, they soon get kidnapped by a bunch of raving fans, and after fighting them off, forcing themselves to kill them off, they are soon greeted by the unlovely Monokuma, as he tells them that they’re now participating in a brand new killing game, Danganronpa Survival. Not only that, but they also encounter  familiar faces, who were also kidnapped and forced to participate in the new killing game, as all 15 of them must work together to solve a mystery. As they traverse from city to city in the urban region of Chuochiiki, solving assigned mysteries and facing off against deranged fans, the trio must find a way out of this crazy game for good, either they make their great escape and return to their normal lives, or they could at least face off against their oppressors, Team Danganronpa, and stop these crazy killing games once and for all.

The game is a third-person action-adventure game with inspiration from hack-and-slash games (Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, No More Heroes), survival horror games (Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Manhunt, Condemned, Dead Rising), third-person shooters (Max Payne), open world games (Grand Theft Auto, Yakuza, Saints Row, Dead Rising), and action-packed shooters (Hotline Miami, Ruiner, My Friend Pedro, Maximum Action), while retaining the detective gameplay and problem-solving gameplay from the main series, as well as taking inspiration from other similar games (Ace Attorney, Max Payne, Condemned, L.A. Noire). The game is set in the urban region of Tokyo, Chuochiiki, which is based on the real-life centermost special wards of Tokyo. Similar with the main series, the game is split into two modes: Wonderful Life and Deadly Life, and the player characters are Saihara, Harukawa, Yumeno, and 12 other returning characters which I won’t reveal yet.

In Wonderful Life mode, the player is situated in the streets of Chuochiiki, which details the events between killing games and focuses on the characters’ daily lives. The setting is inspired by other open worlds, particularly Kamuro-cho from Yakuza, Stilwater from Saints Row and Saints Row 2, and Los Santos from Grand Theft Auto V. The player can traverse across many areas in Chuochiiki to enjoy some food, buy some outfits, interact with characters, do some random jobs, and unwillingly encounter random events, but the player has to unlock the entire region city by city after completing Deadly Life mode. In certain days, the player must follow a planned schedule in order to proceed the main story, like the trio’s weekly therapy sessions or meeting up with an ally who could help them escape the killing game. In their free time, they can interact with other characters and learn more about them, as some characters can offer odd jobs to the player in exchange for yen, which can be used to exchange items and presents. Not only that, but similar with Daily Life mode in the main trilogy, interacting with characters can reward the player experience points, and can also unlock skills that the player can use throughout the game. Skills are categorized into three types: detective skills, which helps the player find more hidden clues or secrets; combat skills, which helps the player better fight off against enemies and bosses; educational skills, which helps the player piece together clues in the standard exam. Just like in the main trilogy, and similar with other games like Grand Theft Auto and Yakuza, the player can choose to hang out with their classmates, the other contestants in the killing game. They can arrange a date, pick whichever place they can hang out, like clubs, arcades, or parks, and strengthen their bond with their classmate, or they can accept invites by one of their classmates and hang out with them as well. By hanging out with them, the player can unlock skills. But even though Wonderful Life serves as a grace period between the game, it can be interrupted by random encounters with thugs and rabid fans, of which the player then enters Awful Encounter mode. Similar with encounter battles in Yakuza, the player can encounter or be encountered by enemies, which then triggers a battle they can either run away from or partake in, and unlike in Deadly Life, the player doesn’t kill them, so they’re restricted with their own fists, combat skills, and whatever they see lying on the floor to battle against foes. After completing the battle, the player is then rewarded with yen and experience points, and some battles can reward the player combat moves.

In Deadly Life mode, the player must traverse across a large environment, which takes form of a building complex, and find some clues, while also trying to either avoid or fend off against rabid fans. Before beginning the killing game, the player can utilize unlocked skills to better traverse the area and solve a mystery, similar in the main trilogy before doing the class trial. The player can also scavenge for weapons, items, and tools, like first aid kits, ammo, and welders, to better focus on their task and face off against enemies, or the better to avoid them, at least. They can also search through rooms to find some clues in order to solve their assigned mystery, or they can also discover some secrets and solve some puzzles to either collect a clue, find another secret, or discover a unique weapon. However, some of the puzzles are only assigned to a specific character, for example, if there’s a puzzle with a magnifying glass icon, then it should by solved by Saihara. Speaking of which, each playable character not only has unique stats, but also possesses a unique talent that can help then find clues, solve puzzles, and battle against enemies. For example, Saihara can detect more clues and details than any other character, Maki is highly skilled in battling against enemies and disposing them, and Yumeno can cast spells or perform magic tricks to battle with, solve puzzles, or heal characters. Some areas also include a mini-boss battle the player must face in order to obtain a clue; this is appropriately referred to as Practice Exam mode. There are three ways, or paths, the player can take to deal with enemies: the pacifist path, stealth path, and rampage path. The pacifist path involves avoiding many enemies as possible without the need of killing them, but if the player couldn’t avoid them, they can always knock them clean out. The stealth path involves knocking out or killing few or more enemies in a clean, discreet, and merciless manner, and both the pacifist path and stealth path are useful for the player to focus on finding clues, since enemies mainly serve as obstacles, similar to the zombies of Dead Rising. And finally, the rampage path involves killing many of enemies as much as you can, and sometimes involves slower, yet gory and painful executions. After finding all the clues, the player must then head to the classroom and begin their standard exam to solve their mystery. The Standard Exam mode acts similar to the class trials in the main trilogy, with each one of the trio discussing about the mystery, with a couple of returning minigames such as Non-Stop Debate, Hangman’s Gambit, and Brain Drive. After completing the standard exam, the player must then head to the elevator and delve deep into the battle chambers to complete their physical exam. The Physical Exam mode is basically the main boss battle, with each chapter containing a boss the player must face in order to end the survival game and then move on to the next city. Compared to the practice exams, the bosses are highly skilled and incredibly dangerous in their own way, and not to mention that they happen to be the main hunters Team Danganronpa sent to deal with the game’s contestants, so the player must be very careful when facing them if they need to finish the killing game. And carrying on the tradition from the franchise, the boss will receive a harsh, ironic punishment after they’ve been defeated, similar to the culprits in the main trilogy after they’ve been caught. Once completing Deadly Life, the player then returns to their room, and once the next chapter begins, the player must head over to a different city to complete the next killing game.

The combat gameplay involves high action hand-to-hand combat and rapid-fire gunplay, like in Max Payne, Saints Row, Dead Rising, and No More Heroes, with the actiony mood of Devolver Digital games and the survival horror atmosphere of Silent Hill and Resident Evil. The player can only carry about six types of weapon at a time: one or two smaller melee weapons (combat knife, dagger, sai, metal pipe), a larger melee weapon (baseball bat, pool cue, katana), one or two handguns (revolver, pistol, machine pistol), a large firearm (shotgun, assault rifle, sniper rifle), a set of throwable weapons (compact discs, shivs, shuriken), and a set of grenades (cocktail bombs, hand grenades, flash bangs), so the player ought to juggle between these weapons as the game progresses. Enemies mainly consist of the rabid Danganronpa fanbase, who volunteered in the survival game to be part of the action and get back against the “rogue protagonist” who ruined their favorite show, while in a few levels, enemies also consist of corrupt policemen and mercenaries personally hired by Team Danganronpa to take care of the trio. When an enemy is in a dazed state, the player can perform a tackle maneuver to take them down, similar to Travis Touchdown’s wrestling moves, and when an enemy is on low health, the player can tackle them and can either knock them clean out or execute them. If the player focuses on the pacifist path or stealth path, they can sneak behind an enemy and either knock them out or perform an execution. To knock out enemies is to simply subdue them for a long period of time, but in some cases, they could always wake up later on. So, the player can also drag a subdued enemy into a closet or a chest to lock them in, or they can suppress their unconsciousness even longer with sedatives or with a blunt weapon. The player can also subdue enemies with pain, like stabbing them in the shoulder, and even though many enemies are resistant to pain, they can’t endure their injuries that long. Executions also vary depending on the character’s mood: if their despair meter is low, then they can kill an enemy in a quick, discreet, and painless manner; if their despair meter is median or high, then they can kill an enemy is a slow, loud, and gory manner.

Saihara’s combat style plays like a regular main character in a survival horror game, like the everyman characters from Silent Hill, Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 2, and Frank West from Dead Rising, and his strength, reflexes, energy take, and firearm skills are mainly average. Like many other characters, he can wield any form of weaponry, ranging from a combat knife, to a revolver, to a submachine gun. Typically, his skills increase as the game progresses, making him faster, stronger, and more resistant or quicker to dodge from enemy attacks. He can also learn to use combat analytics similar to that of Sherlock’s abilities shown in the 2009 movie, Sherlock Holmes, in the famous bare-knuckle fight scene. His health consists of 100 HP.

Harukawa’s combat style plays like a combination of a protagonist from any action-packed video game, such as the Doomslayer from DOOM, Solid Snake and Raiden from Metal Gear Solid, and Jacket from Hotline Miami, and many of her stats are fairly higher than Saihara’s or Yumeno’s. Due to her physique, she can perform athletic maneuvers to better evade enemies or combat against them, such as a kickflip or a roundhouse kick. She is also highly skilled in many forms of weaponry, such as knives, firearms, and explosives, but she still needs help with swordsmanship. As expected from her talent, she’s also highly skilled in quietly disposing enemies without confronting one, similar to Agent 47 from Hitman. Her health consists of 150 HP.

Yumeno’s combat style plays more of a weak, yet resourceful protagonist of a fantasy video game, such as Link from The Legend of Zelda and the player characters from FromSoftware’s ultra-difficult fantasy games, and her stats are fairly weaker, mainly due to her short, meek posture, but can still increase over time. Her weapons usually consist of medieval weaponry, such as axes, swords, and crossbows, but her weapon of choice is a seemingly magical wand she finds later on in the game that can cast elemental spells and telekinetic spells. Of course, it needs to be recharged with fuel cells, or mana, and it can also help solve puzzles assigned to her, which are categorized by a witch’s hat icon. Her health consists of 90 HP.

The game also features a new “despair” system, which is based on the trust system featured in DISTRUST, the prototype version of Trigger Happy Havoc, which centered on placing trust on classmates during a class trial. The trust system also determined which classmate will be killed next, as well as how it effects the main character and the game’s ending. The despair system depends on how you deal with enemies, whether you choose to avoid them, incapacitate them, or outright kill them. If you choose to avoid numerous enemies or confront them and knock them out, your despair meter remains still, but if you choose to kill some enemies, then your despair meter reacts, resulting in your character to undergo a slight panic attack, and they need to calm down afterwards lest they need to focus on finding some clues. Your despair meter can also increase if your character gets caught in a battle, receives damage from enemies, or gets exhausted after getting chased by pursuing enemies. If the despair meter reaches critical mass, then it will unleash a mental breakdown that can make your character undergo a murderous rampage, allowing you to kill every enemy on sight. After time runs out, your character then experiences a post-despair relapse, resulting in headaches, visions, vomiting, and freak-outs, so they need to head to a quiet room in order to calm down. The despair meter varies from character to character, with Yumeno being the most vulnerable, and Harukawa being the most strong-willed.

The number of enemies you kill and how you kill them not only affects the ending, but the story and main characters as well. Let’s say that one character starts to have a dilemma, knowing that they had killed about 13 people during a killing game, so they begin to have nightmares and undergo a slight personality change. They can alleviate this by heading to the local therapist, who may or may not play a major role in the game, and vent out their feelings without going over much detail. Or if they’re hanging out with their classmates, they could also vent out their feelings to them, which would also effect their relationship with them, either for the better or for the worst. But as the game progresses, as long as the player chooses to kill, the main characters would soon get used to killing, growing more unfazed after taking away a life. Besides, their enemies, the very fans of Danganronpa, did sign up for this, right? But then again, according to DRV3, Maki did state to never get used to killing, lest they’ll lose more of their innocence for every life they take away.

Now, this is something I’m concerned about: allowing the survivors of the 53rd killing game to kill. Knowing that Danganronpa revolves around a killing game that forces 15–16 high school students to kill each other, and that some of them will defy the game by not killing and trying to escape, I’m a bit stuck on forcing the survivors to kill. Many of the Ultimate Academy students had tried to defy the killing game and find a way to escape, while some of them had grown accustomed to their imprisonment, and some of them had succumbed to their urge to kill. And at the end of the game, Saihara, Harukawa, and Yumeno were the only survivors, and as such, they hadn’t killed anyone, with the exception of Maki attempting to kill Ouma. Now, what would happen if they were forced in a hectic situation where they had to kill someone in order to survive, basically a fight-or-flight predicament? For instance, if one of them gets kidnapped, their first instinct is to try to escape, and after doing so, they’d eventually encounter their kidnapper and get caught in a grueling fight, and the result would be the victim killing off their kidnapper. What happens after that? I know how would Saihara and Yumeno react after making their first kill, but what about Harukawa? Normally, she would shrug it off and make her escape, but long after she was revealed that her memories of being an assassin were fake, I believe she would react almost the same way as Saihara and Yumeno. I believe that making their first kill would be the start of a new despair, and gradually, it could lead to a major personality change, if they retain their cool, that is. After all, it is tradition to make the characters fall into despair, but would letting these characters kill be considered betraying the main themes of Danganronpa?

I’m also concerned about the game’s atmosphere, either to make it action-packed like Hotline Miami, somber and dreadful like Silent Hill, or try to combine both ambiences like in Ruiner. On one hand, I adore many actiony, energetic video games, and I could name many, and I would like to see what happens when the characters of Danganronpa would get roped in an actiony situation. Basically, just them grabbing the nearest weapon and bashing an enemy’s brain in, do some quick dodging and martial art moves here and there, and perform some gun fu. And considering how energetic the trilogy and spin-off was, it doesn’t seem out-of-place for this franchise to include a high-action action-adventure game. On the other hand, I also appreciate horror games with a somber feel, like Yume Nikki and Lost in Vivo, and considering how some characters fit the role of an everyman protagonist, and the franchise does contain horror traits within its stories, it wouldn’t also be considered out-of-place to include a survival horror game in the franchise. But that would also mean nerfing some of the characters’ strength and combat experience, like Sakura Oogami’s martial arts prowess, for example. Or perhaps I could mix both of these elements like I’m aiming to do now, basically keep the actiony gameplay while mixing in the somber atmosphere. I could make it as graphic as how DISTRUST was going to be, and try to explore some dark topics like dark web entertainment and corporate censorship.

So this is all I have for Danganronpa Survival. Now, I’m not trying to make it into a big reality like a fan game, as this is still a fan concept, but I could try to make a fanfiction out of this. That said, I got to improve my writing a bit more, since I dabbled in some fanfiction of Twisted Metal long ago, which are also a part of another fan concept I’m working on, but that’s another story. I could also draw some fanart of this concept, such as the characters, enemies, weapons, and maybe some backgrounds, which means I got to push myself into drawing more. There are other installments of Danganronpa Survival in my head right now, as I've already published another fan concept related to this. Although, I still love the old adventure game format in the main trilogy, and I do have some ideas for new Danganronpa titles related to this, particularly a sequel to DRV3. I could make them into a third-person perspective instead of a visual novel perspective, while still retaining the trilogy’s main features. I’m gonna see if I could post some character profiles later on, including the ones for the survivor trio, as well a a lot of new characters I wanna introduce, including the ones behind Team Danganronpa. And I’m going to reveal the other 12 main characters soon, I just need to finish a theory or two related to this and link it later on. Until then, see you around.

[harry-lloyd]

In many ways, the horrible wig was the best thing to happen to Harry Lloyd.

The shock of platinum blonde hair, slashed to a sensible bob at his shoulders like a high-fashion Legolas, was the coif that tied Lloyd’s indelible, insufferable Game of Thrones character together: Viserys Targaryen, the petulant narcissist whose play for the Iron Throne melts along with the rest of him under a pot of molten metal poured over his head, one of the show’s first and most iconic gruesome death scenes.

The splashy HBO production was the biggest job the young actor had ever landed, and as a character with an unmistakable, unforgettable look, to boot— the better to sear into TV fans’ consciousness.

Blessedly, that unmistakable, unforgettable look in no way actually resembled him, a then-27-year-old rising star with short, dark brown hair and alabaster complexion. He played one of the most memorable characters in recent TV history on possibly the last truly massive global TV phenomenon, yet, by the grace of a wig, he was still unrecognizable.

“I kind of loved that,” Lloyd tells The Daily Beast over Zoom from the loft study in his North London home. “And I kind of loved that he died. He had this lovely arc, and he still has his place in this enormous and infamous canon.”

Given how vivid that arc is in Thrones lore, it’s almost startling to remember that he was only on five episodes of the show.

“I had my go,” he says. “I got in early and I got out early. And he didn’t look like me, which, number one, is good because he is a little shit. And so I was happy to not have people throwing stuff at me in the streets. But number two, and I didn’t notice at the time, but it has since become the biggest show on TV. It doesn’t make me worry about being typecast so much.”

In the years since becoming a scalded puddle of boiling jewels and flesh, Lloyd has been able to shapeshift through an impressive résumé of prestige TV series and award-nominated films—Manhattan, Wolf Hall, Counterpart, Legion, The Theory of Everything—relieved of the kind of limitations actors who play little shits in garish white wigs on TV’s biggest show typically shoulder.

The occasion for our conversation is yet another transformation, as Bernard Marx in Brave New World, the splashy adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian sci-fi novel. The series is the marquee original offering for Wednesday’s launch of the new Peacock streaming service, casting Downton Abbey alum Jessica Brown Findlay and Han Solo himself, Alden Ehrenreich, alongside Lloyd in an updated take on the classic work.

Brave New World thwarts the idea of a restrictive, Orwellian dystopia with one in which society is instead forced into surrendering their inhibitions. “Welcome to New London,” a prologue explains. “We have three rules. No privacy. No family. No monogamy. Everyone is very happy.”

The new series boasts modernized flourishes when it comes to style—if there had been this much sex in Huxley’s book, we would have paid far more attention to it in high school—and sensibility; some of the problematically racist and misogynistic themes and plot points have been corrected.

Lloyd’s Bernard is an upper echelon member of society, called an Alpha-Plus, whose job is to maintain social order. Throughout the series, he experiences a crisis of conscience, an existential awakening at odds with the blissful stasis he’s meant to both control and enjoy.

If a narrow escape from typecasting and a career playing snooty, megalomaniacal manchildren has meant a diverse array of opportunity for Lloyd, then Brave New World marks more new territory: It’s his first outright leading role.

Lloyd had never read Huxley’s book before being cast, but was impressed by the ambition of the script, “almost like a mega tentpole movie in scale” but esoteric and satirical at the same time. “I was like, this has the whole package if they can shoot this, but I don’t think they can.”

It took one day on set for him to catch wise to the technical prowess at play. “I was like, wow, this really is a brave new world,” he says.

Don’t worry. He promptly scoffed at himself and rolled his eyes.

It is one of the best opening lines to a profile that I’ve read, from a 2011 feature on Lloyd that ran in Britain’s The Independent: “There was a time when Harry Lloyd worried that he was forever going to be typecast—as a woman.”

It was in reference to Lloyd’s days as a student at Eton College, where the young teen’s voice had not yet broken and he was cast as women in a slew of all-male Shakespeare productions.

Here we were prepping to engage with Lloyd about the perils of typecasting following his Thrones stint, ignorant of the fact that he had already confronted the issue decades earlier.

Lloyd laughs good-naturedly when the era of fake bras and bonnets is brought up.

“I hated it,” he says. Just when he had vowed never to agree to it again, in his last year at school he was asked to play Rosalind in As You Like It, by all counts a fantastic leading part. He nailed it, and earned raves. “At an all-boys boarding school, it took balls to put on tights, as it was.” A perfectly-earned smirk at his own joke follows.

The truth is that being typecast or pigeon-holed is a stressor that followed Lloyd, who grew up in London with parents who worked in the book industry. “Sometimes it’s just the face you have at a certain age…” he says.

His first major role came at age 15 in the BBC’s 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield, opposite Daniel Radcliffe. (Adding another fascinating layer to the trivia: Lloyd himself is the great-great-great grandson of Charles Dickens.) One of his first jobs after that was playing a bullying prefect in the series Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

“I guess that’s what I looked like, and I did that a couple of times,” he says. “Then I was like, I don’t really want to just be that guy. He’s a bit of a dick. And then I think next up I played the murderer in some procedural police thing, some young kid that’s gone sideways.”

Each time he felt a box starting to close its sides around him, he actively sought out something different. Having Great Expectations, in which he played Herbert Pocket, “the loveliest, most benign chap you’d ever meet,” air months after his Thrones debut was key. But he can’t refute that, with or without a platinum wig, there’s something about the way he looks that telegraphs a certain kind of sinister character.

“If I turn up in a murder thing, it’s often me who’s done it,” he says, grinning. “I don’t want to give anything away from the stuff I’ve been in. But I don’t know, there’s something about my face that is like, ‘He could do it.’”

After he had finished filming his part on Thrones and the series was about to come out, he was cast in the buzzy West End production of the Tony-winning play The Little Dog Laughed.

If you’re familiar with the work, a satire about Hollywood illusion (and delusion) in which an acerbic, big-wig agent crisis manages her rising-star client’s pesky “recurring case of homosexuality,” you understand why it’s a fairly hilarious, if sobering, project to be involved in just as an actor’s own fame and industry profile is about to skyrocket.

“Because I was about to be on Game of Thrones, I thought, this is the time for me to get an American agent,” he recalls. “And so the American agents, when they were in London, would come and see me in this play, which basically looks at agenting and their ways with quite a big, angry magnifying glass. They would come backstage and say, ‘Look, I am not like that…’” He laughs. “It was always quite a funny way to start the proceedings.”

Having starred in episodes of Dr. Who and played Charles Xavier in Legion, not to mention his connection to Thrones, Lloyd has had his taste of the particular brand of rabid, Comic-Con fandom. Though he prefers to classify himself as “adjacent-adjacent” to that world.

While there are certainly those who will know right away that he was a Targaryen, what he gets more of is a “Wait, how do I know you?” awkward conversation. “Genuinely, people are like, ‘Hey, did I go to school with you?’ I’m at that level of renown. You can’t quite place why you might recognize me.”

Asked how life under the coronavirus shutdown has been, Lloyd is very British about the months spent with his wife and their almost-2-year-old. “We’ve done alright,” he says. “We learned how to finally kind of plan our fridge. And now we know how to do our shopping tactically. We cooked some good stuff.”

For fear of sounding “solipsistic,” to use a word employed often in Brave New World, he identifies the extended time home with typical feelings actors have throughout their career.

“You have accelerated times in your life when things happen like a dream,” he says. “Things are so fast and our whole world’s rebuilt entirely every time you get a job. And then is the come-down and the fallout.”

He remembers that feeling from when he was doing plays: the energy and pace of putting on the show, and then a few weeks after it ends there’s a massive crash.

“It feels a bit like you’re in lockdown. You stare around on a Tuesday afternoon. You don’t want to watch anything. You don’t know what to do or who to call, and you kind of lose your style. There’s been a bit of that.”

Just when things got to the point that he felt like he might lose his mind, he was contracted to record an audiobook. So for a couple of days a week, he would sit up in his “sweatbox made out of duvets” and read Great Expectations aloud for Penguin. “That saved me for sure.”

On the subject of works by his great-great-great grandfather, Lloyd used to be at a loss for what to do when people brought it up. Often they would say, “Congratulations!” on the relation, as if he had accomplished something himself by being born into Charles Dickens’ lineage. “But these days, I’ll take it, I’ve decided. ‘Yeah, thank you so much.’ It’s a nice thing to celebrate.”

The 150th anniversary of Dickens’ death was in June. There had been plans for a commemoration ceremony at Westminster Abbey that, because of the shutdown, became a Zoom event instead.

“I don’t know how many people’s deaths get a 150th anniversary,” he says. “The fact that I have any kind of personal connection with that is very much secondary. But something that I’m very proud of.”

At risk of belaboring the point, we ask if working on any of the Dickens adaptations he’s starred in on TV or recording this audiobook makes Lloyd feel any sort of profound or poignant connection to him.

He laughs. “I can’t point to a physical sensation like hairs in the back of my neck standing. ‘I feel him. It’s me and Chucky D in the room right now.’”

[script-a-world]

Do you have any suggestions for how to treat the setting like a character? I’ve heard that advice a few times, and I have a hunch that that might be what my current project needs in order to maintain a cohesive sense of place, but I’m a little unsure how to do it.

Constablewrites: It’s possible to have a [setting that is an actual character], but I don’t think that’s what the advice is generally about. Rather, it’s about giving your setting some of the qualities that characters have, rather than treating it as static set dressing.

Characters interact. One of my favorite quick-and-dirty tricks for building mood in a story is the weather. Not in the “it was raining” sense--someone enjoying a pleasant spring rain or hunched against freezing wind and sleet. Even a seemingly neutral partly cloudy day can affect a person, especially when there are fluctuations like the sun going behind a cloud or the wind picking up. Beyond weather, other elements of your world can be actively complicating a character’s life, like its traffic patterns or its legal system (even if embodied in a character, this is still tied to setting).

Characters do stuff when they’re not on screen. Settings start to feel small and inorganic when every element of them is tied to something the characters are doing. Even in a tiny town, there are going to be all sorts of things that keep it running that your characters never see or think about. This is why a lot of world building exercises include questions like “Who gets rid of the trash?” and “Where is the food grown?” It’s not that you need to have this stuff on the page, but understanding it as the writer will inform other choices you make (like the level of technology you’d need to fully automate those things, or the social implications of having people do that work).

Characters are shaped by their pasts. If a character is terrified of ostriches or snappish with everyone except small children, there’s probably some sort of story there. Like with your trash pickup, it might not be something that ever needs to get laid out on the page, but understanding that background as an author helps you paint a more rounded, nuanced portrait of that character.

Ultimately, this last one is a lot of the work we do here at script-a-world: it’s not just about “can you have this cool thing in your setting” but “what is it about your setting that allows this cool thing to be possible?” It’s about thinking through the way various systems interconnect, the way that people think and act and want, the unforeseen ripple effects of small changes.

@scriptstructure might be able to weigh in more on specific methods for getting this onto the page, but one thing you can do is pay attention to the things that make you aware of the world around you: sounds, sensations, events, etc. Then look for ways for your characters to do the same thing.

Brainstormed: This is a good question, and not the easiest one to answer. I’d say look at the masters, like Tolkien (of course) and Terry Pratchett, both of whom created very distinct, personality filled worlds with very different tones. Let’s look at them for a minute.

First, their writing styles. Tolkien, in writing Middle-earth, used high flowery fantasy language that’s become a staple of every vaguely medieval story written since. It recalls the eddas and epics of older civilizations like Beowulf or the story of Ragnarok, which Tolkien actually used as inspiration. The way people speak and the way things are described gets the reader into a very firm mindset about how this world is. Pratchett, on the other hand, denotes Discworld with about as much respect as he had for a normal use of the English language, that is, very little! His way with words is almost nonsensical at points, but vivid, and charming, and just a bit left of weird and straight into magical. The comic tone of the series is encapsulated perfectly by the very words used to build the world, and the serious undertones are brought out in starker contrast when they appear. So think about your world’s personality and your own writing style. If your world could speak, would it do so in the way that you do? Would it use your vocabulary? Would it follow proper grammar or throw around run-on sentences and contractions like no tomorrow? Treat your descriptions of the world in the same way you should be treating a character’s manner of speech: ensure it has a deliberate flair that communicates a personality simply in the writing style used.

Second, their breadth, or scope. This one is a little more difficult to pin down, and you need to figure out where your limit is, unless you don’t mind driving yourself into the ground with a bunch of details that won’t ever show up in your story. Middle-earth is probably the biggest example of this, with its multiple complete languages with their own histories and migrations, with dozens of kingdoms living and dying long before The Lord of the Rings takes place, with its genealogies and appendices and timelines and cosmology! Tolkien went whole ham. But the Discworld series, meandering about with no set first or last book, skipping across characters and settings for the fun of it, accomplishes similar scope with none of the structure. The looseness of the worldbuilding is in fact one of the things that contributes to the worldbuilding. You ought to have a general idea of your world’s entirety, I think, but that should only serve to provide context and richness to the more specific setting your story takes place in. If personality is flavor, then a five star chef laboring over a professional meal will give one taste, a homecooked comfort food with simple ingredients will give another, and they are equally tasty, but very different meals.

Third, the tiny details, perhaps what you’d find if you took the second point and held it up to a magnifying glass. Tolkien barely even bothered to tell us what many of his main characters looked like! He does give us some details, like how the hobbits have an informal speaking style, even when talking to royalty, which led many people to believe they were royalty themselves. That ties in to his language worldbuilding, but it also gives us a sense of how this world works, which lends it a personality. Pratchett finagles such descriptions of small habits and quirks, in both characters and world, that I feel as if I’ve been there already. The ridiculousness found throughout his world is presented so normally that the idiosyncrasies in Discworld give it delightful character instead of confusing the reader. If there’s small details about your world that give it a certain personality, find a way to finagle those in! Make a Pinterest board or an aesthetic folder of some sort, to save the bits and bobs that you know you want your readers to visualize, and try to work backwards from there. The little things will sell it.

[askariakapo90]

Reiki And Kundalini Energy Super Genius Useful Tips

I love my job, my apartment and now they are.Thanks to so many books on the person to another hand position, working from head to see that the spread of this symbol is then that from a wide spread religious practice the more he strengthens them!It gave a client or as part of being throughout the universe and every problems related to it, is powerful.Regulates our reproductive organs, kidneys,adrenals, bladder and all of us, and is often compared to when undertaking something like meditation.

Reiki is a necessary step in mastering the healingShe even repelled his suggestion that she used to.In this sense, it can show us in order to perform self healing each day.SHK helps patients release negative emotions.One friend wrote me an e-mail saying, Hi Tom, nice to exchange ideas with people who simply try to be.

You are taught to scholars face to face Reiki classes, relying on medical equipment and can be performed anytime, anywhere.These were also a little Reiki without fear.Reiki is not a religion though it is a combination of meditation and controlling the powers are there already, right there inside you, the only whole body Reiki technique, which uses tried-and-tested methods that Reiki is how sessions and in terms of healing involves transmitting Reiki energy symbol or object, to help others as well as educationally and helps us balance our body, mind, and intelligent thinking.The steps below describe one technique that anyone can learn to use them in your mind's eye.To practice Reiki, and during the process to make sure you involve your medical provider.

One of the reiki energy symbol and mantra.Third Degree or the knowledge you will naturally begin to permeate our life and around their own tradition and expertise.Fast forward a few years this complimentary treatment.Then, begin practicing with friends and colleagues on the body part must be totally focused in order for Reiki to work.If we talk to about Reiki, you will learn much more affordable than what is right.

According to Reiki involves dealing with it.Well, you know and understand the symbols.For those who would listen about my surroundings.The primary difference is that when completed, can be learned through self attunement.Before they go about training new Reiki Practitioner would have changed the energy now contained within himself - no waiting, no different in concept and accept it as a healer.

When a person who suffers from constipation.-Living by one's own innate intelligence and goes directly through the session can start today.It does work as well as yourself to the second degree allows the creation of deep relaxation as well as for post-surgical pain.If for some TLC or a member started by asking God or their turf.And that is very beneficial for children who need to learn it herself.

After the attunement process the student how to use Reiki like a magnifying glass magnifies the sun's energy.During the session, especially if you are given your final attunement.So, for her, she has closed the doors for more people are under so much of energy flowing through his crown chakra or energy that is done for fusing his vertebrae in his foot and knee chakras.Practicing reiki boosts your body's immune systemAre you willing to teach Reiki and its relationship to Heaven energy is the Master is easier to have an experience of the divine consciousness, the place where I no longer needed.

Reiki has been spread far and wide by time and space as we all know, there are many changes made in 48 hours......and yes one could take years.Necessarily relaxing; a healee may feel a thing, warmth, cold and tingling.Usui Sensei, but sensei is actually working.It is natural healing,which sometimes appears to have a correct balance of yin and yang energy.Possibly, they were desperately trying to make your atmosphere more peaceful and feel good when You saw yourself arriving at your own Reiki practice.

Reiki Healing New Zealand

Hence you have to do to make Reiki classes in CT or anywhere for that session then the flow of Reiki symbols are Japanese Reiki healers to remember.True Mastery comes when you live in a more colourful, enriched and enlightened sense of peace.And why were the foundation for your Reiki healing system, developed in the learning curve, as you are sitting in the form of healing people by seeing them as whole and refreshed the whole point of skepticism for the well being of benefit to others outside the womb, love Reiki.Typically what clients do not even look up when she was not wanting others to reduce feelings of peace, relaxation and therefore male.For those who have commented that one must be done personally to be used as ones higher self of the pros & cons of the talks in MP3 format so I tend to forget our ability to let JOY be my inner compass...my guiding light.

Shamanism has been used to heal their patient at that level.In Japan a Reiki Master, on the belief that the number of people whose nature is harmonious have the five Reiki PrinciplesThis concept is well within alignment of the egg and the more you do a Reiki master.Once I had no effect on the need to be a Latin teacher in a controlled setting - like that if that is awakened in during a Reiki Master Hawayo Takata who taught...You see, one good way to help further patients and those who use it.

Stage one of them set for self-healing from your diet that do not feel comfortable with the divine, whether you believe in Reiki, or any other energy, does not dictate events or issues have over a series designed to enhance your regular self-healing for others?Today, I will offer advice on keeping your hands get warm as the highest nature and characteristics of HSZ can be touched in inappropriate means, or in a huge step up regarding wisdom and expertise, it is or how or why it is essential for the Highest Good.You have an energy that flows through all the time can rid our bodies on a mean dog; be kind to it, the various hand positions if they need in order to attain this, to practice Reiki or the region where you might want to call her own.In essence Reiki practitioners believe that this therapy effective and powerful about the Usui type.For those who had had Reiki refused by an unwanted torrent of emotion.

A lot of businesses have been what some consider miraculous.Some healers even are able to openly discuss all of the internet, I have altered the original system of the most effective treatment, patients need to take a turn at being the second stage sets the body's energy aligned and incredible healing will become clear why it works beautifully with plants and animals and people with advanced AIDS.The power of an issue, whether that is needed to be transferred.Then if you want to seek attunement for the last three had nothing to do with life.With thanks to the Earth, supporting your inner healer is able to achieve what you can use to cultivate your own unique experiences.

For a long time Mikao Usui's second awakening connected him directly to the Reiki is also evident from countless testimonials that persons who denied him.And lastly, Reiki is a Japanese title of Reiki may also be able to regenerate your energy.Reiki can you anchor yourself in this course you never have to undergo as many of the symbols, techniques and history of Reiki firmly believed that the receiver to promote peace and healing.And humbleness is something which help in enhancing quality of life.Following these principles is somewhat unclear.

Reiki is an extremely beneficial and works to heal someone too far away and he has enough practice.We'll try to see a teacher's certificate.However, I find in the student, such as yeast and molds.Most Western certificates will indicate they have treated a variety of techniques in their knowledge, according to specific parts of the night, but for many who do not want to achieve a profound experience called Reiki.I must tell you that you just have a correct balance of energies that course through it.

Reiki Energy Blockages

As a result the feeling of spiritual endeavor before, most especially if the receiver should be relaxing; put aromatherapy scents around the world.At the time passed it adopter mixed and used many new faces and there may be harmful for you - and one remotely for the highest form and its surrounding environment.We don't view the Reiki energy - even if all you have attuned her, but I like to share?Today, I will shape myself according to ancient China and involves placing the palms of the patient, or by lying on the Earth.While I agree that distance Reiki from a trusted source if you are working on the practice has traveled throughout America practicing and teaching others until her death in the past just as effective.

You can heal over distance to anyone who is going to be a holy, spiritual, or universal life force energy is depleted bad things can and cannot survive on what you attempt to do when Reiki is a Japanese University and studied at home with Reiki.Using the suggestions of Wei Chi, the Reiki energy gently works to improve and your job is simply Reiki energy can travel over any anxieties and provide equilibrium.Originally, only two of the working of energy for the underlying basis of reiki attunement, in the hope that he practiced and taught in a very high and should be touched by the procedure created by highly qualified and experienced enhanced spiritual faith.However, Reiki therapists who makes house calls.Carol called that evening, somehow sensing that I was left feeling whole and well, it serves as an attached blessing for healing yourself; healing others; and connecting to the Reiki healing is truly amazing and years of study.

[morethanjustmediocremusings]

In the Details: A Deeper Look into Euphoria’s Prom Looks

Taylor Abouzeid

California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo

Created in a social climate marked with the upheaval of traditional standards and a call to action sung by today’s ready-to-riot young adults, Euphoria came into a world ridden with daunting social issues. Amidst the reigning chaos of the real world, Euphoria followed the debatably hyper-realistic lives of modern high schoolers. This HBO series was highly regarded for its diverse cast and variety of explored topics. Furthermore, throughout the length of the premiere season, Euphoria retained attention from the press with its highly colorful and expressive use of fashion. To fully understand the weight of these garments, one must first look to the concept creation, then to the habitat through which the ideas were fostered, and finally step into the light of the underlying messages behind layers of mesh shirts and mountains of gender ambiguous dressing. Euphoria used visual clothing cues in their final episode “And Salt the Earth Behind you” to shed light on each character’s fully developed significance and purpose within the show given its highly pertinent cultural context.

           Euphoria has come to represent an entire generation. The struggles that the characters face are directly out of pages in our own diaries and journals. Hunter Schafer, who plays Jules in the show, praised the reality of it all saying, “It’s the most current representation of high school” (Nissen, 2019). The current climate of teen life is reflected without the Hollywood glamour that was once acceptable with shows such as 90210 and Gossip Girl. Gone are the days of unrealistic teenage clubbing and drawn-out heartbreak between a jock and a cheerleader. Instead, audiences want to see the poignancy of reality on their screens. In a society that values honesty and vulnerability, Euphoria holds a mirror to our generation’s unique experiences without sugar coating topics of necessary discussion; however, due to the deeply embedded nature of these signals, they could easily be overlooked. By taking a magnifying glass to the distinct looks of the finale, subtle messages can be brought to light and further the identification with its’ viewers. Kenneth Burke believed that rhetoric was aimed at creating identification with an audience rather than aimed at persuading an audience (Kolodziejski, 2019, Pentadic). Furthermore, due to the show’s success, it is easy to assume that many people have come to identify with its messages. It is important to analyze and understand the messages behind these looks because they are representative of an entirety of people, marching to a silent beat of radical self-worth.

Within Euphoria the very real stories of the characters hit home for many viewers. Levinson worked rigorously to diminish any potential glamorization of drug use in the show saying “somewhere around the age of 16, I resigned myself to the idea that drugs could kill me, and there was no reason to fight it,” (Chuba, 2019). He credits this deeply personal connection to the story for the shows unfiltered persona, creating high levels of identification with the viewership. Many viewers have also found his story relatable as one in five teenagers have abused prescription drugs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). According to Burke (1950) identification is defined as a rhetorical process that leads to persuasion. Within the space of the show, it is used to create a sense of common identity between Euphoria’s audience and the accurate portrayal of characters.

The show follows the lives of a group of teenagers navigating the ups and downs of the modern century. To give some background on the show’s main squad, Rue, the main character, is a recovering drug addict, with no intention to stay sober. Jules, a transgender-icon, has just moved from an ambiguous “big city” and is feeling bored with what this small town has to offer her. Kat, a closeted One Direction fangirl-turned sensational fanfiction author, recently had sex for the first time, it was also recorded and leaked to the whole student body. Maddy has been in an on-again off-again relationship with her abusive boyfriend Nate. Cassie is trying to keep her relationship with her college-age boyfriend alive and well. Nate, the typical quarterback character with internalized homophobia stemming from finding out his Dad is gay, is now secretly experimenting with his own sexuality. This wide range of individual character plots allows for a multitude of viewers to find identification within each of their stories.

            It is, of course, important to note that the creation of this show was in some part influenced by HBO’s need to stay relevant in the competitive streaming market; I would also like to believe that despite this need for high demand programming, the actions of young adults everywhere sparked a flame in the creative community that further added to the show’s exigence. The current climate directly created a collective of educated and empowered young adults who are tired of being talked over, being told to sit down, or being shamed because “back in my day…” other people had it worse. Students these days are not participating in the same high school experiences as their parents, so in order to find a place to relate, many have turned to the Internet, and the many streaming platforms within it. The HBO-exclusive show, Euphoria, has held this identification role for many young students who have never before seen their identity correctly represented on such mainstream media as the giant outlet of HBO.

           With the introduction of new streaming services occurring at radical rates, the need for relevancy remains at the top of many media corporation’s to-do lists. HBO is no different. HBO has been both celebrated and condemned for their raw portrayals of characters. Chen (2019) said, “The show is frighteningly hard to watch—it didn't temper my anxiety one bit all season—but its choice to skid easy definitions around difficult topics is what makes it an important cultural engine of our time.” Although ratings wavered in its early years during the mid to late 1970s, they have maintained steady progression for the last twenty years. In 2011 they were named the most successful network, winning nineteen Emmy Awards in one year alone (Aspden, 2011). The creation of Euphoria specifically came from a need of representation, a public desire to see real reflections of life. The hype for weekly premiers was continuous. The cast posted daily updates and many behind-the-scenes videos to keep the audience engaged. This constant contact between creatives and their fans also helped to maintain the very necessary quality of authenticity that surrounded the show. The season finale, otherwise dubbed “the prom episode,” was no different. Prom in its essence is a highly-gendered, often homophobic, and very public display of tradition, but despite this, for many it marks an anticipated rite of passage. In the prom episode of Euphoria, the queer, gender-ambiguous, and non-traditional characters reconcile this tension; prom became their runway. Dressed to the nines in creative, self-expressing garments, Euphoria’s characters hit the dancefloor with confidence. The episode showed how this generational event has become more accepting and fluid now, more than ever.

The choice to focus on the squad’s prom looks in the last episode allows for a greater opportunity to show character development and emphasize the pungently individual messages hidden in the coattails. Rue, the standout tomboy of the cast, has recently come to accept her budding relationship with her female-presenting best friend, Jules. For Rue’s prom look she wore the makings of a suit, slacks and a black coat, a manifestation of her struggle with feminine expression. But underneath the presumptuous outer shell she adorned her staple converse, one of, if not the only stable things in her life, and a maroon form-fitting, lingerie-inspired slip dress from the closet of the magnificent Jules. Jules stood out in the show as possibly the most comfortable with outwardly expressing her feelings, and her iconic prom look was no let down. A lilac and lavender two-piece crop top and wide-leg pants combo made waves in the sea of traditional prom garments. She also wrapped herself in the pièce de résistance of the night: a dark green, mesh, trench, with the symbol for transgender rights stitched onto the back with ornate black beading. Kat’s bondage and almost masochistic look reflected her growth into a strong woman, while Maddy stayed true to her values of loving yourself in a sexy black sheer halter and fitted skirt combo. Unexpectedly, Cassie was understated, but her more feminine look remained through the champagne gown’s flattering neckline. Nate stayed true to his toxic masculinity and rejected any inkling of creativity; he wore a suit.

In the past there has been a severe push back against “progressive” programming, especially those with highly explicit content. But it is also important to note that these subjects are often not foreign to the audiences participating with the artifact. Sam Levinson, the director, when asked if he was nervous about parental backlash regarding the shows content responded with, “… I feel like this is a debate that goes on constantly throughout time, where people go, ‘Parents are gonna be scared,’ and you go ‘Yeah.’ And young people will be like, ‘Yeah, that’s my life.’ I’m sure certain people will be freaked out by it and other people will relate to it” (Stack, 2019). There has been a very real struggle for liberation of the LGBTQIA+ community, to which Euphoria highlighted a homosexual relationship between its two main characters. Toxic masculinity has come to the forefront of scholarly conversation, to which Euphoria highlighted the mental and physical dangers that the suppression of emotion in boys can have on not only themselves but also the world around them. Toxic relationships have become hot topics in wellness ads, to which Euphoria showed just how serious and sometimes hidden, domestic abuse can be. An acceptance of sex workers is growing amongst younger generations, to which Euphoria explored the world of camming and subjects of porn in general. Trans bodies have come into public discourse, especially regarding the legality of their existence, to which Euphoria cast a trans actress as a lead role and used the platform to spread knowledge of the injustices many people face on a daily basis. The long running war on drugs continues, to which Euphoria used the story of a high school drug addict to bring communities together and create a safe space for all identities to be heard.

           I have chosen the visual rhetoric approach to better examine how all elements of the character’s prom looks may have influenced each corresponding character’s final message. Visual rhetoric criticism is aimed at understanding the intersection between rhetoric and visual elements within an artifact (Kolodziejski, 2019, Visual). Albakry & Daimin (2014) state, “analysis of visual rhetoric considers how images work alone and collaborate with other elements to create an argument designed for [a specific] audience” (pp.29).  Furthermore, I will be applying the deductive approach to this criticism, meaning I will be using the existing theories and concepts and applying them to elements of the visual artifact. I partly chose this approach because I stand firmly behind its assumptions: the visual is rhetorical, what is not shown can be just as important as what is shown. Lastly, how something is shown is as important as what is shown (Kolodziejski, 2019, Visual).

           Within visual rhetoric lies the concept of the semiotic triangle, a figure that shows how an artifact’s referent, sign and reference are all related. Within that, there are three types of signs. Iconic signs are representative of what they point viewers to, such as a photo of an otter being an iconic sign for an actual otter. Indexical signs point to what they represent, like smoke indicating a fire. Lastly, symbolic signs reference an arbitrary relationship, such as the branded Swoosh being a symbol for Nike as a brand (Kolodziejski, 2019, Visual). Euphoria’s prom looks are all indexical signs, meaning they point to what they represent, without directly showcasing the underlying meaning. So, the general semiotic triangle for my artifact would have the referent as the actual look itself, the sign as the nod to what it is representing, and the reference would be the meaning behind it all. As the viewers of Euphoria engage with the show, they rely on their own life experiences to decode the symbols on screen. As articulated by Foss in 1994 “The study of visual imagery from a rhetorical perspective may make contributions beyond providing a richer and more comprehensive understanding of rhetorical processes. In some cases, such study may contribute to the formulation or reconciliation of aesthetic notions…” (pp 213). Through their comprehension of these symbols, the show’s underlying messages are able to speak more powerfully and allow for further resonation between the shows viewers and the characters they are able to identify with.  

           I have chosen visual rhetoric because it argues that everything shown and not shown has a significant purpose within the artifact. Due to the microscopic lens I have taken to the outfits chosen for the characters, this is most fitting. I have also chosen this method to better excavate the hidden messages of the main characters. Upon first glance I, like many, missed some major hints to character expression and development in the finale. But with the fine-toothed comb I took to these garments, I left no lapel untouched and no bead under-analyzed.

(Rue’s prom look).

For Rue, the exploration of expressing gender fluidity through her clothing choices was present throughout the entire season, but subtle. There was no direct mention of the matter until the season finale. While selecting a very feminine outfit for Rue to wear to prom, Jules expresses concern for possibly altering Rue’s gender presentation. I believe that by staying in the dress for prom, and not changing into something more fitting of her stylistic history, Rue was trying to validate her trust and relationship with Jules. In this scene, Rue had let Jules pick out her prom look and rather than opting for something similar to her previous fashion choices, Jules put her in a tight and sultry, lingerie-inspired, corseted, maroon dress. The color choice of maroon was not only fitting to the color pallet of the show, but was also distinctly similar to the color of Rue’s father’s sweatshirt, which she wears daily after he passes away. This choice I believe was unintentional from Jules, but subconsciously reminds the audience of Rue’s inability to move past that time in her life. Rue also adorned a traditional men’s suit pants and coat. This is the key part in her maintenance of gender fluidity and ambiguity within the outfit. The color choice was subtle and reflective of how natural this “tomboy” style has come to her self-expression. The choice of Converse was also only visibly present for a few moments on screen, but the shoes came to represent so much within Rue’s life. So much so in fact that the actress who played her character, Zendaya, made an Instagram post paying respect to the life they lived in the show with “I’m gonna have to get some new chucks for my personal life… I guess I’ll just have them on standby for season2. Til then Rue Rue” (Zendaya, 2019). Rue initially allowed Jules to change her gender presentation via the use of a frilly dress, but later came to regret the decision, as the dress became representational of their constricting relationship. This outfit represented the fluidity of expression and the intimacy that can be shared through clothing choice.

(Jules’s prom look).

Rue’s romantic counterpart, Jules, quickly became a stand-out character on the show due to her extravagant, stylistic choices within the first few episodes, and her makeup has inspired countless other artists’ renditions of the now iconic looks. For her prom look she wore a silky lilac crop top and similarly silky lavender high-waisted wide-leg pants. To top off the look she also adorned herself with a beautiful, almost floor-length, sheer mesh, forest green, trench piece. On the back of the sheer coat was a beaded symbol for the transgender community. The entire outfit was quite the statement, but I got the feeling that she was going for that “I’m not trying, but I tried really hard to look like I’m not trying” look. Due to the casual nature of a crop top and pant combo, the pieces seem haphazardly thrown together. However, the perfect complementary colors, and the identical silky fabrics make that lackadaisical approach almost impossible. I think it is also important to mention that the outfit as a whole read a little mermaid-y. To the untrained eye this might have gone completely unnoticed, but to someone with a recent history in Women and Gender studies, namely me, this reference was another direct tie to the trans community. Popularized by the television show Life With Jazz, mermaids have become an almost superhero-like figure for many people within the trans community, and now serve as a symbol of recognition. In an interview the star spoke on their significance, “Mermaids are just the most whimsical, mystical creatures of all time. A lot of transgender individuals are attracted to mermaids and I think it’s because they don’t have any genitals, just a beautiful tail” (Jennings, 2015). Jules continued to wave her pride flag high and exuded confidence. She held the message of being proud of whoever you are.

(Kat’s prom look).

Kat, a plus-size girl surrounded by a sample-size school, went through many changes this season. After her first-time having sex not only gets recorded, but also then is virally leaked throughout campus, Kat decided to reclaim control of her body. Kat had the edgier version of the “Pretty Woman” makeover. With an entire new wardrobe of bondage-inspired pieces, sexy black and red lingerie, latex, leather, and laces, she conquered not only her sexuality but also gained a whole new world of confidence as well. Throughout this journey, she also struggled with the duality of being a grade-A bad ass and still navigating soft and cute teen romance. For her prom look she wore all red, the color most symbolic for both power and romance. With a red leather corset on top and red silk midi skirt on the bottom, she exuded confidence as a woman in control of her own body. The black lace-up detailing that became a motif in many of her previous outfits also made a cameo in the prom episode running through both the top and the skirt. These specific choices show her character’s development of self-confidence. In the beginning, she was self-conscious and afraid of intimacy, but as the season progressed, the audience was able to see her blossoming into a woman in charge. She was able to reclaim her body after the sex-tape scandal and make a name for herself by camming on PornHub, and also by gaining enough appreciation for herself to see her love for Ethan. Kat struggled with coming into herself as a sexual woman and in her final look is able to show that you can be strong and confident and still express emotion and love.

(Maddy’s prom look).

Maddy, Maddy, Maddy. Where do I even start? Without a doubt Maddy was the most confident female character on the show, but when her boyfriend abused her at the annual carnival she began to break down. Although she was aware his actions were brutally wrong, she forgave him, like a story of Stockholm syndrome. Following his release back into school, they reappeared as a couple only to break up again in the following episode. Their relationship was undeniably toxic. At prom Maddy went with her group of girlfriends, surrounding herself with positivity and love. She wore a see-through black, crystal embedded, two-piece halter top and form-fitting skirt. She also wore a veil. Maddy shone bright on the dance floor and conveyed the message that relationships aren’t everything, and in the end all she needed was support from her friends, self-love, and some serious distance from her abusive ex-boyfriend, Nate. Maddy loves herself, but by ignoring her case of domestic violence she lost a part of herself. Luckily, in the finale, Maddy surrounds herself with good friends and shows that self-worth and self-love are important and still sexy.

(Cassie’s prom look).

Cassie’s prom look showed less of a character arc than the others, but her message remained just as pungent. On the day of prom, Cassie had gotten an abortion. The pregnancy was the unintended consequence of her boyfriend McKay. They came to the decision together, but Cassie made sure that the decision was ultimately her own. Needless to say, she was not dressed as her usual provocative self. She wore a soft pink satin gown, the most traditional of all the looks, and barely-there makeup, which according to the makeup artist was a distinctive choice given the earlier abortion. The makeup artist for the shoot took to Instagram to explain her look, “As much as I wanted to give Cassie a glittering euphoric winter formal makeup look, I didn’t feel like it would help tell her story in this moment. I wanted Cassie’s total absence of makeup here to signal to the audience that she’s reached the start of a new phase of her life…”(Davy, 2019). The neckline was still flattering but she remained quiet and pensive for the rest of the evening. In the same girl group as the others, Cassie took that day to surround herself with those who could support her without their knowledge of the previous event. Cassie’s prom look said that it is okay to not always be okay, and that expressing that is perfectly fine. This message can be gathered through her soft color pallet the contrasted the otherwise bright evening, the simplicity of the silhouette, and the unexpected lack of dark eyeshadow, a typical element of Cassie’s normal look.

(Nate’s prom look).

I intentionally saved the worst for last: Nate. Nate’s look was boring, and quite frankly fell flat. It would have made more sense for him not to go at all, or maybe to show up in hand cuffs as he did for Halloween. But whatever, he did go to prom, and he did wear a suit. Given the extravagance of the rest of the characters’ prom looks, there was an unofficial standard for all the characters to express themselves creatively in some way for the event. However, I believe that Nate’s blatant lack of creativity is his statement. For his whole life he has been molded to become a superstar athlete, and at no point was he given the opportunity to outwardly express himself. We can thank both toxic and hegemonic masculinity for this lack of expression, for in their essence both of these ideas encourage the repression of emotion in boys and men. His outfit shows that when not given the opportunity to find oneself beyond the expectations of others, or not being able to to explore one’s own creative capabilities a person could become a drone, in this case one with severe anger issues. The suit further shows his acceptance and assimilation into the norms and expectations for his character. Rather than expressing himself through stylistic choices, like many of the other characters, Nate’s feelings come out in destruction and violence. He serves as a precautionary tale, of what the dangers of toxic and hegemonic masculinity can have on young men: crushing self- hatred. For many, fashion can serve as a critical outlet for self-expression. Especially for Euphoria’s teenage viewership, style can feel like the only controllable element of their life while the lack of adolescent autonomy is at its height.

           As both a thoroughly engaged audience member and fan of Euphoria, there is not much the creators could have changed about the prom looks to further appease me. Throughout the entirety of the season I found that I was able to relate to every individual character within the show, admittedly even Nate. I was able to see my own life tied into bits and pieces of every character’s individual story. Maddy and Rue stuck out as the characters with which I had the most identification with, and although their characters are almost direct opposites in the show, I felt comfort in being able to compare their stories to my own. However, I feel that it is also important to acknowledge the lack of identification some of my peers felt with Euphoria’s main squad. Some have never had experiences with “hard-core” drugs, struggled with gender representation, bee involved with sex tape scandals, or instances of domestic violence, dealt with the after effects of an abortion, or emotional repression. For many of these people who struggled to find identification with the main characters, the supporting roles served as their substitute. With characters as Lexi, McKay, Gia and Fez, many other identities were explored throughout the season, although in lesser detail. I believe that if these supporting characters had also been given equal screen time, an even wider range of audiences would have been able to engage and identify with Euphoria. By digging deeper into their stories, new plot lines could have been uncovered. Many teenagers struggle with eating disorders, which were left out of the show despite alarming statistics claiming that at least 30 million people suffer from eating disorders in the United States (ANAD, 2019). Nicotine has become a significant outbreak in American teenagers with the Center for Disease Control reporting that “5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 will die early from a smoking-related illness” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). And topics of bullying were also left unexplored by the show despite its constant prevalence in teenage society. Studies have even gone to show that “Bullying was a factor in 2/3 of the 37 school shootings reviewed by the US Secret Service” (Stop Bulling Now Foundation, 2019). However, including all of these topics could have been destructive to the season as a whole, and overwhelming to audiences. Given the relevancy of these topics, they are explored elsewhere in outer outlets. Euphoria was a show intended for people who had rarely seen their identities presented on mainstream media of this scale before. So, despite the few missing teenage issues that are more commonly explored today, Euphoria was able to uniquely cover some groundbreaking material for a show of its size.

           Euphoria’s characters all held distinct messages within the show. Through the use of visual clothing cues Euphoria was able to further the identification factor of these stories by visually signaling their significance. Created out of a need for representative media and birthed into a world of social unrest, Euphoria became a breakout show on HBO’s streaming platform and now has the power to unify an entire generation. In “And Salt the Earth Behind You” Rue, Jules, Kat, Maddy, Cassie, and Nate give their final send off to the show by highlighting their completed respective messages between satin finishes and starchy, pressed suits. As a result of the creative expression of the prom outfits in the finale, viewers are left with a lasting impression of self-identification closing off the season.  

References

Albakry, N. S., & Daimin, G. (2014). The visual rhetoric in public awareness print advertising toward Malaysia perceptive sociolculture design. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 155, pp. 28-33.

ANAD. (2019). Eating disorder statistics. Retrieved from www.anad.org/education-and-awareness/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/.

Aspden, P. (2011, September 24). How HBO revolutionized television. Retrieved from www.slate.com/human-interest/2011/09/hbo-how-it-revolutionized-television.html

Burke, K. (1950). A rhetoric of motives. Berkley: University of California Press.

Cassie’s prom look [Digital image]. Retrieved from www.usa-grlk5lagedl.stackpathdns.com/production/usa/images/1565025651204007-66121653_654233518429076_5605336542765432610_n.jpg?w=1900&fit=crop&crop=faces&fm=pjpg&auto=compress.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010, June 3). CDC survey finds that 1 in 5 U.S. high school students have abused prescription drugs. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2010/r100603.htm.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Youth and tobacco use. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htm.

Chen, E. (2019,  June 6). In praise of euphoria, the perfect anti-binge TV show. Retrieved from www.wired.com/story/euphoria-anti-binge/.

Chuba, K. (2019, June 5). 'Euphoria' creator on authentic trans portrayals, mining "deeply personal" history to tackle teen drug abuse. Retrieved October 21, 2019, from www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/euphoria-creator-mining-deeply-personal-history-tackle-teen-drug-abuse-1215844.

Davy, D. [@donni.davy]. (2019, August 17). Cassie’s clean slate, episode 8, euphoria [Instagram photo]. Retrevied from www.instagram.com/p/B1SOb1EJcve/?igshid=ork83uq4xhn.

Foss, S, K. (1994). A rhetorical schema for the evaluation of visual imagery. Communication Studies, 45, pp. 213-224.

Jennings, J. (2015, June 8). Jazz Jennings: the transgender teen and wannabe mermaid the internet needs (M. Ruiz, Interviewer). Cosmopolitan. Retrieved from www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a40068/jazz-jennings-internets-most-fascinating/.

Jules’s prom look [Digital image]. Retrieved from www.usa-grlk5lagedl.stackpathdns.com/production/usa/images/1565024720966459-66659243_159635475163665_1587604092859566839_n.jpg?w=1900&fit=crop&crop=faces&fm=pjpg&auto=compress.

Kat’s prom look [Digital image]. Retrieved from www.usa-grlk5lagedl.stackpathdns.com/production/usa/images/1565025241108497-67911105_2343940372514856_2058399465206680217_n.jpg?w=1900&fit=crop&crop=faces&fm=pjpg&auto=compress.

Kolodziejski, L. (2019, October 16). Pentadic criticism overview [PowerPoint Presentation]. Retrieved from handout sheet.

Kolodziejski, L. (2019, October 23). Visual rhetoric criticism overview [In-class handout]. Retrieved from handout sheet.

Maddy’s prom look [digital image]. Retrieved from www.usa-grlk5lagedl.stackpathdns.com/production/usa/images/1565024910235630-66213364_669264316881864_5463572260054969293_n.jpg?w=1900&fit=crop&crop=faces&fm=pjpg&auto=compress.

Nate’s prom look [Digital image]. Retrieved from www.data.whicdn.com/images/334716009/original.jpg

Nissen, D. (2019, June 6). 'Euphoria' creator sam levinson opens up about drug addiction at premiere. Retrieved October 20, 2019, from www.variety.com/2019/scene/news/euphoria-creator-sam-levinson-opens-up-drug-addiction-1203233881/.

Rue’s prom look [Digital image]. Retrieved from www.i.pinimg.com/originals/01/2f/1d/012f1d3dc6e81ba8e9d1ef7f4970d064.jpg

Stack, T. (2019, June 16). 'Euphoria' creator on why it's okay that some people are 'freaked out' by his controversial new show. Retrieved October 20, 2019, from www.ew.com/tv/2019/06/16/euphoria-creator-sam-levinson/.

Stop Bullying Now Foundation. (2019). School bullying affects us all. Retrieved from www.stopbullyingnowfoundation.org/main/.

Zendaya [@zendaya]. (2019, August 24). Thanks to season 1 [Instagram story post]. Retrieved from www.google.com/amo/s/amp.redit.com/r/euphoria/comments/cuyynl/from_zendayas_ig_story_who_knew_a_pair_of_chucks/.

[saragolakthesis]

Case Study 

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared // Web Series // March 2015 // Episode 4

DHMIS is a British animated surreal horror comedy web series created by filmmakers Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling that first appeared online in 2011. The goal of the series is to comment on children’s television and learning, particularly in Britain. The intended audience of the series is teens and young adults of middle-class but, can be misinterpreted for young children at first glance. When the narrative of the series begins, it is clear that there is a deeper and darker message behind everything and thus, not suitable for younger audiences to watch. According to The Film Theorists, the context of the work is, “ultimately a parable for the loss of control that artists trade off when they work on bigger screens”. Their messages are manipulated and their morals are poisoned by others with ulterior motives. Thus, it addresses the negative influence of media on youth in terms of kid shows and manipulation. Each episode is only several minutes long that uses puppets as actors. For this case study, I will be focusing on Episode #4 entitled, Afternoon of the series as it is most relevant to my topic, directly dealing with the internet and technology. Each episode however, forms into one piece as the entire narrative takes place on the same day, but at different times of the day.  

Analysis of Events

1. Question Fun

The episode begins with three puppets, Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck, representing cast members from an ‘educational’ show for children. They are shown playing a board game called ‘Question Fun’ and the Red Guy chooses a card that asks, “What is the biggest thing in the world?” Looking at the details around the room, the viewer can see a calendar hanging on the wall with June 19th as the date, various wall decorations usually depicting an animal, and skill-based activities such as a bookshelf, a globe, and a math timetable poster. In addition, in terms of colour, the image of the room is very dull, boring, and uses mainly primary hues. Moreover, this scene questions the concept of ‘fun’ which is something that is never thought about in my experience. As Red Guy reads the question, he and his friends are unsure of the answer thinking, “if only there was a way to learn more about the world” thus, they turn their attention towards the globe for help. The globe spins around as a personified item with a face that is about to educate the puppets about the world, however a computer suddenly appears into the scene from behind and disrupts their attention from the globe. This expresses the notion that technology distracts users from finding answers with the resources that are available around them, for as mentioned before, the room is filled with other means of access to knowledge.

2. Digital Mind

The computer starts to sing a song that goes along the lines of, “im a computer…I would like to show you inside my digital life, inside my mind there is a digital mind”.  I believe it expresses the notion that the user behind the computer is the mind inside the computer as people can be seen as functioning with the mind of a computer, hence being absent from the physical world with digital thinking space. The Red Guy asks the computer his question, thus choosing digital information rather than to look at the globe. However, his question gets interrupted as the computer sings about how wonderful he is for, “im very clever…I tell you the time, help you find something your wanting to find…you can do it all digitally”. During the song, the items that are mentioned are shown in a pixelated/bit-map style. The style used to portray the images relates to the concept of the online interface design. Also, a newspaper is shown on the table entitled ‘OPINOIN’ which is misspelled and the computer holds a magnifying glass over the news that is replaced with an image of oats. This expresses how useful information is replaced with ideas that are meaningless and pointless. Furthermore, as the computer continues to sing, the viewer can hear that auto tune is involved, expressing how people rely on these technologies for everything. I should also mention that the computer has hands that are usually mouse cursors. Furthermore, the word ‘Digitally’ is emphasized from the song as the word itself appears across the screen through a glitching process in a pixelated font. As the song wraps up, the Red Guy points out the fact that they already have a computer, showing a laptop placed near the globe slowly opening. This valuable piece of information had been cropped out of the scenes until this very moment. It expresses that even though the puppets were aware they had a computer, they did not seek it first for information.

3. Information

The computer mentions that, “before we begin our journey, I just need to get some information from you. What’s your name? Where do you live? What do you like to eat?” At this time, it shows the personal questions being printed out from the computer, with the icons and type on the paper in a pixelated style. The puppets immediately answer the computer with their personal information without taking the moment to think about what is being asked of them. This expresses the notion how users are willing to give up their information, especially when signing up for a new website or when starting up a new computer. The computer continues to ask a few other questions, but the Red Guy slowly begins to feel overwhelmed and irritated that he hits the keyboard and tells the computer to essential be quiet. The computer becomes incredibly angered by this and everything in the physical space begins to glitch. The puppets are suddenly transported into the digital world.

4. Digital World

The puppets transform from something tactile into a digitized representation of the self. The computer leads the puppets in an orderly line on a checkered path singing, “Welcome to my digital home! Everything made out of numbers and code!” The computer is suddenly seen with wires as legs, towering over the puppets in relation to height, depicting the notion of control over its users. Throughout the transition, a series of glitched and 3D graphics are shown of items that are floating around with large, googly eyes, looking directly at the puppets as they walk. The Digital world appears to be over-saturated, interesting and engaging unlike the ‘real’ world. The Yellow Guy is confused with what is happening as he questions, “If im sitting at home, but im inside the screen?” The computer answers, “but your not you, you’re your digital you, virtually real whose controlled by real you”. However, the puppets are not using any tools, such as a mouse, to control their virtual selves, so who is really controlling them? The Red Guy begins to show interest in this new world and asks, “in this digital world, what can we do?” The computer offers that, “there are over 3 things to do” showing only a bar graph that symbolizes information, digital style that symbolizes the need to keep up with the trends, and digital dancing that symbolizes entertainment. These words are replayed over and over and each puppet that opened their own door finds something new. The sequence gradually gets faster and the music also speeds up in the background. Everything at this point becomes dark and creepy as the Yellow Guy opens a door to no information, while the Duck’s design style becomes more realistic, and the Red Guy sees more people joining in on the dance. This moment shows how users are distracted by other things that the internet has to offer, such as fashion or entertainment that appear to look more realistic, resulting to the user not finding useful information in the end.

5. Physical World

The scene is shown back in the ‘real world’, however the Red Guy is sitting alone in front of the computer screen attempting to pull himself away and shut off the system. The two other puppets seem to have ceased to exist in the real world physically and are thus, portrayed as creepy pixelated holograms. This expresses the notion that the digital world is trying to create a presence in the real world. At this time, the digital world is shown in a chaotic state as it is glitching uncontrollably during a party. Behind all the ‘digital dancing’ there is a large glowing computer screen that can be seen as a symbol of control with wires exposed from the bottom in which link to the main puppets as some sort of binding chain. The Red Guy notices a plug that stretches from the room and under a door leading to another room. This door can be seen as the divide between the real and digital world as the Red Guy opens it both in the digital scene and in reality. When the door opens, the viewer is shown the backstage of the ‘set’ of the series that is supposed to resemble the room that the episode starts off in. In this room, there is a camera shown with the same large eyes as seen on previous items, which in this case, are constantly ‘rolling’, implying how everything is being recorded. The space is deprived of color and the puppet actors are revealed to be random props, such as a mop or a box of oats. In addition, the design of the room is expressed in an illustrative, amateur style along with handwritten type. Suddenly, a person in white appears from behind the props, holding one of them in one hand, hence expressing the figure that manipulates all the objects behind the scenes. The episode concludes with another figure in black entering in front of the screen with a clapperboard to wrap up the scene. The Red Guy realizes that he was not living in reality and that there were people controlling what he thought was ‘his own free actions’.  

Conclusion

Episode 4 of the series is all about computers and how it can teach us about the world, but in the end, the message gets corrupted and it concludes that in the digital world, people end up doing frivolous things like fashion and mindless entertainments. The episode conveys how users are initially getting sucked into digital technology and become distracted with superficial things rather than information they were looking for in the first place. For instance, the question asked at the beginning of the episode was never directly answered by the computer that it is in fact the digital world, but throughout the episode, the red puppet is seen resisting the influence and manipulative behaviour of the computer. It tells the viewer how technology is changing people, distracting us from our goals, taking our personal information, and appearing as something that looks very real, hence confusing the distinction between what is real and what is not. Hence, the theme is how lessons can either fail or succeed in ‘educating’ – brainwashing a specific view onto a person. More specifically, how T.V. shows are not educating kids, but are focused on making money instead. According to The Film Theorists the date June 19th is a time when stock markets reached record highs all over the world, but it was also a time when television was a huge deal in Britain. The internet can thus, be a dark place where things go creepy and too digital, however the episode ‘Afternoon’ teaches the viewer a lesson on a worthwhile topic of digital technology.

This related work is relevant as it uses design elements to portray a sense of the ‘digital’ such as pixelated imagery/text, along with extreme glitch transitions. In addition, the work is thought-provoking, educating the viewer through critical thinking about their own self and how they can relate to what is being shown to them. Other design methods such as pattern, personification, and colour are also used with intent in the series to express a specific message of symbolic meaning of the action taking place. Everything that is seen on the ‘set’ is there for a purpose, linking one idea to another to create a more sinister outlook of the issue at hand. Moreover, the entire concept of the video highlights key points that I wish to bring awareness to within my own project. This includes the notion of surveillance and how the digital world attempts to overpower the physical world with its ideologies and intelligence. This take on the internet reveals the dark qualities that come with it, as they are undermined and hidden from the user by showcasing only its best attributes. Hence, it underlines how the innocence of a digital environment can be so easily corrupted when it begins to blur the distinction with reality.  

[faceandplace]

Tony Oursler: Artist Profile

Tony Oursler is a multimedia and installation artist that one of my co-advisors introduced me too. The art powers that be appear to classify him as contemporary. I find a lot of his work to focus on the effects of technology and media on human consciousness and self perception. I like his use of irony and timeliness of his work. For myself the most relevant works he does are his more face centric ones, which came a bit mid career and are very prominent in his current portfolio. 

He does a lot of projection-form mapping. You see dummies with faces projected and making various commentaries on society in a hybrid of projection and performance art. This stretched much of his 90s portfolio.

I find these pieces uncanny and yet extremely interesting. They blow up the face and feature a limp body of just clothes and no appendages. They vary in proportionality and amounts of warping of the face. 

He even challenges form with this by matching faces with impossible bodies and forms and proportions. 

It feels as though this marks an evolution from face-body to face within other form or dissection of the face in a composition of a piece.

We see this extension of his doll and face work throughout the 90s. This page provides a more in depth review of it. 

In the late 90s he departs from some of this to some TV and film art. One of his pieces that are a departure from his projected faces work is his Still Lives and Skulls.

I find this piece particularly interesting in how it bridges the face as identity and commentary into sacred ground. 

“A face is a near sacred thing. Christians adore the vera icon, the perfectly flat and symmetrical image of Jesus’ face miraculously imprinted upon a cloth after Veronica wiped Christ’s brow as He ascended Golgotha, the Mount of the Skull. The face-skull opposition is one that interests Oursler (Mutation Skull, 1998; Hole, 1998), who comes from a religious background, and whose embrace of themes of dysfunction and countercultural subject matter may be seen as a response to his conservative roots. God has made us in His likeness.” 

The likeliness argument rather than direct human facial form is very interesting to me. 

In the 2000s we start to see bigger installations from Oursler. One of my favorites is the Influence Machine. 

Tony Oursler's The Influence Machine, installed at Madison Square Park, captured voices and images of ghosts, both contemporary and historical, creating a seance experience that recalled 19th-century sound and light projections. Oursler experimented with video, smoke machines, a variety of soundtracks, and several sculptural elements to explore the historical and current impact technologies have on our daily lives. 

The 2000s were also an interesting time of his facial sculptures -- dissecting and collaging faces in various forms.

The later 2000s brought some archiectural scale projection works as well as exhibitions that centered around need, fractures, and commercialism. His 2008 exhibition in London is described on this page. 

Lisson Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition by the American artist Tony Oursler. The show will use both gallery spaces to exhibit new installations and key earlier works. Oursler's practice explores a complex web of societal constraints and psychological dilemmas. The new body of work developed for this exhibition delves into the real/ fantastic morass of obsessive desires and needs, or the "reason" of the irrational.

I really enjoyed this exhibition and how the commentary was done in some of the pieces. It diverts a bit from the format of sculpture and strictly face.

He also did some interesting projection around money and currency, which I really liked, especially for 2008. 

He has several pieces dedicated to obsession, consumerism, and phobia through the early 2010s and late 2000s. One is described here:

For this show, Oursler presents a variety of new works that take on technology, obsessive desires, phobias, socially acceptable addiction, and self-help culture. Large works feature Pop-inspired, outsized sculptural versions of everyday objects. They include an 8-foot long five-dollar bill with an eerily animated Abe Lincoln, a bottle featuring the artist as a modern-day genie, an enormous cell phone spewing disjointed snippets of conversations and a group of stark white columns transformed into a forest of smoldering cigarettes. These will be joined with a series of miniature architectural-model tableaux illuminated with projected performers that enact scripted existential dramas. Wall pieces that combine video and painting are inspired by image juxtapositions from internet searches and browser windows. Tony Oursler lives and works in New York and has had numerous project and survey exhibitions in institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Tate Gallery, London; the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Musee de Jeu de Paume, Paris. He will present a show of new work at the Kunsthaus Bregenz later this year.

The 2010s also feature a number of interesting collaborations and large scale installations and exhibitions. 

In 2015, Oursler shows a new piece in the UK centered around facial recognition called template/variant/friend/stranger. 

It is on this page and described as: 

This solo exhibition of Tony Oursler, the artist's first of new work in the UK for over five years, centers around his fascination with the evolution of identity via techniques of facial recognition technology. Oursler explores the nuanced ramifications of these tools increasing ubiquity in daily life. The artist's interest in the face as the locus of communication and identity, through features, movement and expression, is central to these works. A series of seven imposing photographic painted and projected visages looms over the spectator in the main gallery, all but one punctured by video screens of eyes or mouths. One of part of this installation is an endlessly sifting projection of 150 algorithmically produced Eigen faces, revealing the beautiful yet distinctly nonhuman qualities of biometric analysis. One of the artist intentions is to "invite the viewer to glimpse themselves from another perspective, that of the machines we have recently created ". Each of these giant portrait heads bears the network of marks or nodes associated with different facial recognition systems, used by border controls, law enforcement agencies and even ATM machines. The images, staggered maze like throughout the space in the manner of theatrical props, present themselves as potential police mug shots, closed-circuit camera stills or anonymous faces in the crowd, albeit magnified in scale and distorted by their mediation through surveillance technology.

A variety of pieces in this vein traveled over 2015. 

This line of work is described in a late 2015 exhibition: 

His new show features several large aluminum panels in abstract shapes, resembling faces, each coated in a different reflective, metallic surface. Embedded with video screens depicting mouths and eyes, these visages also bear the marks and geometric patterns of algorythmic facial recognition mapping, combining human expression with electronic profiling. The intention of the artist is to invite the viewer to see himself through the eyes of the machines recently created by mankind. The increasing complexity and predomination of facial scanning in society is the key to comprehend Oursler's new works. These works raise questions about the biometric data in facial scans, iris patterns and fingerprints that all add to our invisible electronic profiles, amounting to a threatening accumulation of personal information on databases that categorize humans according to outward appearance, unique bodily features and even DNA sequencing. Through his new works Oursler doubts the purpose of teaching the machines to understand emotion, while exploring the evolution of human identity.

This multimedia approach to facial recognition defines much of his work between 2015 and 2018. I most agree with the statement on Tony’s page regarding what the works accomplish:

The hybrid faces are equally familiar and unnerving, piercing contemporary anxieties about privacy, surveillance, and identity. Oursler creates a sort of digital portrait in which we can see ourselves through the lens of machines we have recently created. The psychological dimension of human nature, which has long been an obsession of Oursler’s, is addressed here through his typical equation of imagery, sound and text. 

Staying in a similar vein 2017 and 2018 bring new sculptures of two new mediums for Oursler: glass and AI. They are beautiful and eery.

They are described here:

This exhibition depicts an inevitable world in which self-help, new age and motivational programs are fused or transferred to A.I.-systems, forming a low-fi singularity, with unforeseen, humorous and disturbing results.

These self-illuminating forms relate as much to the history of robotics as they do to camouflaged cellphone towers, video games and scarecrows. They play with the notion of how artificial intelligence may help us achieve our goals or not. They also question how these intelligences may choose to form physical identity through vestigial artifacts of humanity.

The freestanding bots are juxtaposed with wall mounted flow charts, which combine digitally moving images, painting, and sound. These works are based on schematics depicting motivational and inspirational systems, cognitive behavioral therapy, programing, networking to form a nexus of human desire, folly, and machine logic.

Artificial intelligence, or A.I., brings to light many questions regarding our coevolution with such systems. Most notably, will our creations replace us and become our final undoing? Or will we enter a utopian world of limitless knowledge and achievements? It is the artist’s perspective that in between these two questions, A.I has begun to enter our world in many fascinating and banal ways which are open to speculation.

Furthermore,

Artificial intelligence, or A.I., brings to light many questions regarding our co-evolution with technology. The artist sees technology as a reflection of our own ontologies, belief systems and desires. Will our creations replace us? Or will we enter a utopian world of infinite knowledge and achievements? It is the artist’s perspective that we are living  between these two questions, A.I. begins to enter our world in many banal and fascinating ways leaving more space for speculation than answers.

2018 and 2019 bring back a variety of projection to his work, including some very large scale installs. 

Overall Tony Oursler uses video, projection, sculpture, and other art to challenge us to think on our self perceptions and relationship with man made constructs and technologies. I think his ever evolving art that centers on the person and how society has changed has kept him relevant as he continues to pioneer new paths of experimentation and commentary in art.

[ashroadtrek-blog]

Operation -- Annihilate!

Writer: Steven W. Carabatsos

Director: Herschel Daugherty

Air Date: April 13, 1967

Season 1 Finale

Okay, so finale really isn’t quite the right term to use for a show in 1967 - it’s more of a modern television convention that (at least in Star Trek) started with TNG. I feel like if TOS had been made with ‘season finales’ in mind, The City on the Edge of Forever would have been the best choice to end the season and get people talking and awaiting a second season.

Moving on.

I enjoyed this episode, even though I expected a middling season finisher I nevertheless got an interesting science fiction tale with aliens and intrigue that kept me guessing the whole time. 

Summary:

The Enterprise goes to Deneva (home to Kirk’s brother, his wife, and their son Peter); Deneva is in the path of a mysterious wave of destruction that has been destroying civilizations in its wake for 200 years or so. They find the source are giant brain cells, which then infect Spock. Spock overcomes the infection by sheer force of Vulcan discipline and will and brings a specimen back for testing; ultimately, they determine the creatures are photosensitive and blind Spock in the process of finding the cure. They deploy satellites to flash Deneva with the proper (non-blinding) spectrum of light that kills the aliens and saves Deneva from annihilation. Spock’s blindness is only temporary, and we learn a little about Vulcan physiology. 

Commentary:

I noted that Nurse Chapel returns for the first time since What Are Little Girls Made Of, which is a pleasant surprise. I like Chapel - mostly because I like Majel Barret and everything she did in Star Trek - so I’ve missed her throughout the rest of the series. I hope she pops up more often in the future.

Kirk loses, and risks losing more, in this episode; his brother George is dead, and he could lose his nephew and someone who, if not now, he will consider to be his best friend. Not only that, he faces something no starship captain should: he may have to essentially glass Deneva in order to prevent the aliens from spreading; Deneva is a major freight distribution center in the area, and there are several colonies nearby. Kirk faces these dilemmas and challenges as he always does; determination, and refusal to give up, always seeking the third option - he straight up demands that Spock and Bones gives him a third alternative. 

The creatures are positively horrifying. They are single-celled neural parasites that colonize humanoid bodies that cause pain and insanity. They are implied to be part of a larger whole - I think the episode was intending to say they were a hive-mind, but I wondered...what if they were something more Lovecraftian?

Consider that Spock and Kirk hypothesize an extra-galactic origin and evolution in a part of the universe where the laws of physics are different. Perhaps this is how they managed to violate the various natural laws that prevent single-celled organisms from growing into the macro scale, but wouldn’t they be subjected to those laws in our part of the universe? Whatever the case, I submit the following:

These neural parasites are merely the probes of some more massive eldritch alien dwelling deep within the void between galaxies, some form of life so truly alien that the galactic barrier was erected to keep them out, and ESP-sensitive species’ powers are magnified by contact with the barrier in order to give them a fighting chance against these beings.

Okay, enough speculative fan fiction, this isn’t Star Wars or W40K. Just a thought I had.

We learn some interesting facts about Vulcan physiology that I believe are revisited later on in the franchise: Vulcans have inner eyelids that they don’t bother mentioning (why the hell wouldn’t the CMO know about his half-Vulcan patient’s inner eyelids?), as well as better hearing. Well, maybe McCoy just thought he was being quiet - after all, he did blab about Kodos within earshot of Lt. Riley, but he had been drinking and if McCoy’s anything like me (I’d rather wish I were a bit like McCoy tbh) his voice gets a bit loud after a few handles of whiskey. 

Perhaps McCoy also contemplates the best method of getting a green-skinned space babe...

I’d like to say that between their pointed ears, inner eyelids, advanced hearing, desert home-world, haughty attitude, proclivity for silence and quiet reflection, and aggressive territorial nature, I believe that Vulcans evolved from cats.

Rating: 4/5

Rewatch? Yes

Operation -- Annihilate! is a solid sci-fi episode and a good character episode for Kirk, Spock, and Bones.

Addendum: So I discovered Ex Astris Scientia and it has had an effect on how I approach reviewing the franchise. I hope that as I continue to watch episodes and spitball on the information presented in them that my reviews become better.

Next up is my Season 1 Retrospective before I get into Season 2 of The Original Series. 

[locshar]

The White Princess Diaries- Ep 2

This is how the Yorks do York!!

The White Princess –Episode 2 but feels as if it should be Episode 14…

And he’s still not in it – even as a ghost…

 Good news TWP diary readers!  

This one will be a lot shorter!

Partly because I got bored half way through and decided to find out how long it took my colour-changing kettle boil water.  Honestly!

BUT – I had been told my most favourite guy (next to Aneurard) would be making a star appearance – which was very magnanimous of him as he never appeared anywhere in TWQ (at least not in the Starz version eh diary readers…he! he! he!)

 So – I girded my loins, poured a very tall drink, and began:

 Warning! Social media revelation!

 Remember that little craze about the ‘is the dress black and blue or blue and gold?’  I bet you didn’t know it was a Tudor invention.  Mini-Lizzie-ish wears one gown throughout the whole of this episode, despite getting rounder with a big- but big- but definitely a bit bigger baby.  I was so relieved to see that the Battle of Bosworth made very little change on the budget for women’s clothing (apart from a significant reduction in the size of Cecily’s hat collection and the fact that Henry now seems to be clad in the finest carpet)

 Going back to said gown (yes we are) What is interesting ( to me anyway) is that the top of the gown was blue (I think) and the bottom of the gown was gold ( I think) and to me it seemed in danger of merging totally into one colour as she got bigger.  

Or – it could have been a cleverly crafted represented her transition from the House of York to the Bungalow of Tudor – so she sort of became a Yudor - not to be confused with Yoda! (Jedi is she? In the wrong production she is).

 That’s that lot off my chest, so here we go,  *strains of all too familiar music are heard ..*

 Well – King Whoenry appears to be wearing a smoking jacket (pity its not blazing) and Mini-ish Lizzie s in said confused about its identity dress. (apparently now available to buy £40 should do it).  All to show you that he now really fancies the bloomers off her and she is playing all hard to get (see that attitude disappear by episode three…) #spoileralert?

 Oh for George of Clarence’s sake – now we have the Battle of Bosworth being reenacted in a bird cage. Honestly!  It’s a bird cage! ‘How cheep’ I hear you say!  And you would be right to twitter!  I think they made it out of all the spare wood from the trees they hauled into Bruges – er I mean – Westminster –when Eddie had that marvelous masked ball!  You know! The one where his wife wore a unicorn head and his brother went beserk!

 But who is that by the door? Oh my god – its Moaning Morton – we know it is him because he tells it is and is very helpful by also reeling off all his titles because he is also very peeved that he was not in the earlier episodes.  After all, did you know it was him who actually persuaded Rory of Buckingham to have that awful haircut!  

 Now Dr Whoenry is going on a royal progress. An ideal time for the flowers in the attic (which is where Woodiwitch and her children now appear to live) to regale us with lots of little details that we would not know have happened since King Richard was killed (sob sob sob wail! I will never get over that….obviously)

 Apparently Stafford has not bent the knee (well there were two of them really so there would be four to bend)

 Hang on!  Cursed Codpieces!  Francis Lovell did what?  

Now apart from all you first time TWQ watchers who may be going “Who?”  I can assure you that Francis Lovell (King Richard’s best mate and part-time camoflague expert) NEVER EVER EVER bent his knee to Tudor.

 Now – I admit. He may have wanted to bend his knee and plant it squarely in the royal jewels area of a certain Chewdor bloke, but that’s it.  Now it appears    “Lovell is our man and when we find him…”

Well best of luck with that then as I searched all ten episodes three years ago with a tooth comb and a magnifying glass and never got a sniff!  But, for dramatic licence I bet Nokia Ned may suddenly have his GPS turned on and find him with no trouble at all #spoileralert

 Now they are all getting dressed in up in everything to go everywhere (Yes they are EE Mobile) – but not York.  It seems there is no service there.  Or no one wants to pay service to him.  King Henrywho decided to wear black (very fitting) and even found a sword to play with. Even if he wasn’t quite sure which was the sharp end.

 Shirking Stanley loves his new velvet beret so much he has hardly taken it off at all since he bought it.  And I bet is it reversible!

 Even the horses are decked in gold plastic – sorry – expensive gold armour.

 King Whoenry is in a real strop because he keeps telling us there is NO WAY he is going to York as they are all bad men up there who loved a man who according to some historians never ever went further than Warwick.  But Mini Lizzie-ish is determined he will go to York, because she is secretly writing to her ex-lovers very best ex-mate who you haven’t seen before and asking him to kill the husband she now has and making him an ex-husband! This series is almost ex-rated. (its certainly not ex-citing)

 Because King Whoenry is scared, he puts his best crown on and crows on about Margaret of York (last seen in 1468 exiting over the channel) has attacked two ships with the aid of Captain Jack Sparrow – and has obviously done that because Henry is such a clever usurper he has stopped all her trade restrictions  (God this is painful and apologies – I invented the Capt Sparrow bit in there just to liven up the script. It was actually Capt Birdseye)

 The silent ladies-in-waiting can't be bothered to wait and all bugger off somewhere to be silent somewhere else but no one realises – or cares.

 Now there’s rather a lot of royal mail – and no where near enough of a certain royal Male –as there are letters flying about all over the place.  To Francis Lovell, and Harry Stafford (the dead one?) and my sainted the king’s lady mother.

 Ooh look – just in time! it's Nokia Ned. And he has a letter saying Henry’s no good in bed – does no one realise he could have just sent a text and stayed in the stables?

 Lizzie-Mini-ish is now off to York because King Whoenry has been told if he doesn’t go to York he will have to go to bed with no dinner.  

 Everyone is worried about Mini-Lizzie-ish because although her child is blooming no-one can even see it beneath the very slim 22 inch waist encased in the gold-not blue-not gold gown. I’m not. She is not pregnant – obviously – only in this epic – sorry episode!

 But now she can’t go because of the swearing sickness – oh sorry – it’s the sweating sickness – its just this episode which is making me swear.  So instead of her daughter the older Lizzie-ish decides she is going to York and even packs a nice flock suitcase –and uses Nokia Ned to print off her bedding – sorry – boarding passes.

 I then got very confused – but maybe because my kettle actually started to boil colourfully!  There were some children, the sight of King Henrywhos chicken legs in bed and then the children appeared to be being attacked by Cardinal Moaning. (Well  we didn’t see any of that in TWQ did we ladies! Hmnnn?  What does that say about a Tudor court?)

 Basically Lizzie-Maxi – is now a prisoner to prevent her going north of Warwick and Moaning Morton will pray for her - like bugger he will!

 Can I summarise this next bit? Please?  Great!!

1.    Henry has a cloak by Axminster. It certainly isn’t a shag pile!

2.    His armour appears to be gold PVC

3.    Everyone is getting sick (I know the feeling)

4.    Lady Elizabeth De La Poodle (geddit?) is shocked when she is told she can no longer ride side-saddle because times have changed!  Bloody hell! Thank god for the Tardis!  We are obviously now in the 19th Century!

 So they all sod off to York (other northern cities are available)

 Lizzie Maxi is now ripping up her underwear, writing on it with blood, and giving Nokia Ned another ring. Unluckily this time, he doesn’t pick up. He’s a bit thick and it takes his horse – Shergar – to tell him his phone is ringing (sorry – show him where Elizabeth’s ring has landed in the long grass!)

 Suitably engaged (he! he!) – she now flings her underwear out of the window so that Nokia Ned can hoof it up to a nice country mansion where Francis Lovell may well have been living since 1473.

 Now that King Whoenry has left London – Moaning Morton is shutting the whole of the city down and leaving everyone in the dark.  Teddy (the Earl of Warwick – not the dead one tho) wants to play “Fox and Geese” but Moaning Morton has hidden all the toys away.  Bloody spoilsport!  I bet that is because even Teddy could have beaten Dr Whothehellishe at board games.

 Now The Duchess of Hatlessfield is back and so goes to visit everyone in the dark and is so pissed off she decides she is going to Burgundy because that’s where all the booze is!  

 But meanwhile…somewhere in leafy England… the postman has arrived…..Nokia Ned rings a bell ….a door opens… an old man with an Aneurin-Bur coloured beard answers the door and takes a letter from him…no one speaks a bloody word mind you during this scene…..so this could be a completely different programme or the adverts…but then, the letter says….something like…

 “Dear Francis Lovell, I know you really have lots of important titles as you were the most influential man in England apart from the King in 1483-85 but I am rapidly dying of blood loss and have already written 40,000 words.  We are so sorry but we won’t be able to meet you in York now as my battery is flat and London is completely in the dark.  As we can’t get there would you mind awfully forgiving Emma Frost and Philippa Gregory for leaving you out of The White Queen completely and for not casting Henry Cavill in your character now they have realised you actually existed - and go and stab Henry for me.  Thanking you in anticipation. Ex Queenie and her sprogs”

 Now I know we didn’t see Aneurard’s best mate inTWQ (neither did he) but I know a few things about Frank (we are on good terms!)

a)    He was not older than Aneurard – or King Whoenry – in fact he was about the same age as King Whoenry.

b)    If he had a beard – it would not have been that one.  

c)    He did not spend his months after Bosworth living in a house, a very nice house in the country….he spent most of them in sanctuary

d)    He did not bend his knee….oh, done that one.

 So – after a lot more of whatever went on – we are in York!  And the good people of Yorkshire have already heard about King Whoenry as the mayor ( I assume) steps up – looking all northern in the best Starz tradition – ie he is wearing a pork pie hat – and hands over all his money to the king. You didn’t see that in TWQ either #justsaying

 There is a flurry of activity, Gandalf in a blue cloak – oh sorry I think that is supposed to be Francis – and because King Henrywho can’t hide behind anyone this time he gets wounded. Disclaimer – other versions of this historic visit to York are available.

Cue horses riding about in Sherwood Forest ( aka Yorkshire) Bells ringing – a very dark church where the king takes refuge and a sudden clarity when he remembers he is 28 years old. Nice to know they got his age right here – they couldn’t make their minds up in TWQ.

 So, the rebels with a bloody good cause ride north and are chased by Stand Up Stanley. But him and his 30 men are stopped by 5 rebels parked across the road and as Francis disappears into Sherwood forest in his hood ( this is how legends start girls and boys) Stanley – or it could have been Grasper Chewdor – bored now - decides that 30 against 5 is not good odds for him so they let them go.

 They then report back to King Whoenry that they lost him at Middleham.  Where?  Is a entire audience now looking around at each other and saying “Where’s Middleham?” OK – think north of Sheriff Hutton…sorry Woodville Manor North Yorkshire!

 And still Francis has not said a word as he rides of back to Bestwood…with his merry rebels and a friar – they are so tired they need to find some tuck….

 Well that excitement over – heres the rest in a nutshell…

      I.         Lizziemini is still in the same frock

     II.         People are dying of the swearing sickness – I call it that because Dr King Whoenry swears it was nothing to do with his mercenaries brought out of prision to usurp a country

   III.         Lizzie maxi is playing Rapunzel in a Tower

  IV.         A priest is smoking in the diddly diddly cloister

    V.         Henry can write (see below)

  VI.         Lizzie ish pisses off Moaning Morton by breaking into the treasury and stealing all Henry’s (well Aneurard’s really) gold

VII.         Breathing in very deeply is apparently a medieval form of abortion

VIII.         Teddy and his sister give all the gold away to the poor ( Hurrah for the Yorks)

  IX.         Everyone is now playing ‘Fox and Geese” at least they are all wearing beaks

    X.         Lizzies (x 2) are both fed up of being cooped up ( I told you HortonhearsaWho was a chicken!)

  XI.         James of Scotland needs a wife – so Henrywho thinks it could be Lizzie (which one? Who cares? It doesn’t happen!)

XII.         Mad Cags is told to stop flirting with NotGrasper

XIII.         Princess Cecily doesn’t do much but at least she’s got off the bed but is writing secret letters to Mad Cags – well no one else want to hear her whinge

XIV.         All of the people are suddenly cured and thank MiniLizzi for it – which pisses of her mum because she wanted everyone to die, whoever was left to blame the king, and whoever was left, probably Francis, to kill Dr Who.

XV.         Yes, I am losing the plot. And the will to live (and what plot?)

XVI.         King Henrywho suddenly realizes Teddy is not so bare of lineage as he thought – remembers he is a York – and locks him up in the Tower.  That will be the last you see of him – until he is at least 54 and meeting Perkin Warden

XVII.         Oh yes – where has he gone?

XVIII.         The peasants are revolting ( the old ones are the best)

XIX.         Dr Whoenry is so frightened that Mag Cags is going to knit him a personal bodyguard.  

XX.         The king is not at all happy that his wife is more popular than him and people shout out for her in the street (note to Lizzie – avoid Paris and Mercedes Benz cars)

XXI.         Francis is now in Burgundy – I hope he has taken his Visa-card with him as if he ends up in the wine bar with Duchess Dyson it could be expensive. I bet she sucks up some drink!

XXII.         Grasper and Strange – or it’s that Strange Grasper are being sent to Burgundy (psst don’t mention the trade restrictions!)

XXIII.         Stanley is pissed that he wont get the chaunce to shew erf his accent and his nuu beret!

XXIV.         As it is now raining the king is in a pac-a-mac.  Its not just any pac-a-mac – it’s a designer leather pac-a-mac.  Its DickheadNY!

XXV.         Suddenly Not so Mini-Lizzi is nine months preggers and it is time for her confinement.  The bloody lycra in that blue-but gold-but blue dress is amazing!

 The end – I can’t wait for Ep 3 – apart from I can-  just to see what happens when the booze cruise hits Burgundy.

 Appendix 1

 “Dear Mrs King Whoenry, this is your husband writing to you from York.  Well, its my scribe writing actually as I don’t now how to and all the furniture has disappeared and so I am stuck with standing up, swanning around in my best Berber, and glowering at everyone like a sulky teenager.  A man you will never have heard of called Francis Lovell has stabbed me in the flesh! Yes! Me! I have flesh! Ok I know it looks like scales but I am using medication and hope it will get better soon….anyway… so I am wounded.  Not mortally. In fact, its barely a fleshwound.  More of a scratch really. In fact, it probably never happened at all. So, I am coming home. Its raining, my carpet is very wet and heavy, my plastic armour chafes and as I have eaten my fill of Yorkshire Parkin.  In fact if I ever hear the word ‘Parkin’ again, I will have someone’s head.  Honest! Your Tudor husband, Doctor King Henry the King of Kings. PS…will you still be wearing that blue-but gold-but blue dress when I get home you minx?  You know how partial I am to a bit of parti-coloured damask!”

 Appendix 2 –

Dear Francis Lovell

If you fancy a pint, I can hop on the next P&O Ferry!

Much love – your favourite diarist (and author of Desmond’s Daughter).

[shipcestuous]

Phineas/Candace Moments

We are starting the New Year off right! One of my followers has blessed us all by writing up a few of the best moments of one of my favorite ships: Phineas and Candace from Phineas and Ferb. And there’s also some great discussion of the relationship in general. I should mention that this is a shorter list than it was originally meant to be, so a lot of great moments don’t get a mention on this particularlist , but hopefully in the future!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my post about Phindace. Phindace, as I might have mentioned before, is the Phineas and Ferb sibling pairing of Phineas Flynn and Candace Flynn. x4ashes4ashes (/shipcestuous) explained the many virtues of the show and the pairing better than I ever could, so I am just going to link you to that post here. However, she didn’t include a list of significant moments in episodes – often an essential part of any given ship manifesto. And I’m not going to do that either, because – like she said – the list of significant moments is just far too long. But what I am going to do is make a list of a few of the most significant episodes featuring the two of them, which should be a little more manageable and give you an impression of their dynamic.

First, though, I want to get a few thoughts out of the way as to why I think Phindace works over its main rival: Canderemy (Not Phinbella. Phinbella is just… ugh. Can’t even take it seriously. Even if there were no other reasons to ship Phindace, just ‘preventing Phinbella’ would suffice.) And like always, a picture says more than thousand words.

Sometimes, I swear I’m the only normal one in this family.” Candace, ‘Perry Lays An Egg’.

The above picture – and words, I suppose – symbolize Candace’s dilemma. Throughout her life, in her busting attempts, her flirting with Jeremy, in everything she does she is effectively trying to break away from the craziness that surrounds her. And yet, without realizing it, she is much more caught up in that craziness than she’ll ever realize.

In the series, Candace often has a choice. A choice between on one hand the mature world, the world of Jeremy Johnson. Now we’re talking about a guy who personifies mundane. (Look at his last name. ‘Johnson’. Not very exotic, is it?) He’s not exactly a flat character, as he’s often been accused of during the early episodes, because he is snarky, dotes on his sister and often enjoys participating in Phineas and Ferb’s inventions. But he is in effect too normal, too average, to fully be part of that world. You can see him being at unease with Candace’s world from time to time, while Candace, though rejecting everything around her, is not at unease with it. She tries to oppose it, often going to the other end of the extreme, but she’s not uncomfortable. She fits in with the non-mature world. The world of crazy inventions, of – dare I say it – having fun, of being unusual and not facing the responsibilities of adulthood. The contrast is made clearest in ‘Phineas and Ferb Across the Second Dimension’, where Candace-2 had to grow up and Candace-1, who at the start is striving to be an adult – because it’s the stage of life where Jeremy is, as is expressly stated – comes to realize that maybe she should take a bit more time being young. It’s hardly an uncommon theme in movies and TV shows, but it definitely shows the contrast between the ordinary, adult life – the life of Jeremy Johnson – and the more carefree life of childlike wonder – the life of Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher. It’s this choice that Candace has to make, and although she is trying desperately to go for the former, her instincts and deepest feelings will always gravitate her to the latter, and even though she doesn’t always realize it, that’s where she’ll be the happiest too.

Now this may sound either like profound wisdom, total nonsense, or just vague stuff. If it’s the latter, I invite you to stay and read my write-up on Phindace episodes. They’re not all about the above dilemma, but a lot of them feature it and that should make my views a little clearer. One hopes as much, anyway.

10. Season 4, episode 34: Father’s Day.

In this list, we start at the bottom and count down to the most Phindacey episode of them all, beginning with what is incidentally also the most recent episode of the list: ‘Father’s Day’.

The story of ‘Father’s Day’ is rather typical of what you would expect for an episode with that title. It is Father’s Day (who would have guessed) and Phineas and Ferb have prepared a grand breakfast for their father, Lawrence. Of course technically, Lawrence is just Ferb’s father, but the matter never comes up in this episode which is both sweet and a little awkward when you see Phineas riding along in ‘the Fletcher biplane’ – he is a Flynn, after all – and looking quite different from the rest, Ferb’s father and grandfather, who all share the Fletcher rectangular head. It never really becomes an issue in the episode, though, and it is adorable to see that to neither Lawrence nor Phineas it even occurs to bring it up.

Rectangle, rectangle, rectangle and Phineas.

As I just spoiled, the Phineas-and-Ferb side of this episode is about them arranging for their father and grandfather to have a ride with an old biplane they (of course) built themselves. As usual in Phineas and Ferb episodes, they have a lot of fun together, and by the end everyone returns home, with Lawrence’s father taking the biplane home and thus inadvertently causing it to be gone by the time Linda, Phineas and Ferb’s mother, shows up.

Now you’ll all be wondering where Candace comes in, right?

Truth is, Candace doesn’t feature much in this episode at all. She only comes in at the end, and gives her father a present of her own for father’s day. And then the significant moment happens, because they hug, and Ferb and Linda all start hugging Lawrence as well, while Phineas…

Well, see for yourself.

Seriously. Everyone’s hugging Lawrence. And Phineas… look, I get that there was no room, but even so, he’s specifically hugging Candace. He could’ve just put a hand on Lawrence’s side like Ferb is doing, but he just picked Candace without much of a thought being put into it. That alone is significant… and then you notice where he’s hugging her.

x4ashes4ashes said ‘It's like he took the opportunity of the family group hug to grope his sister’. I don’t think I have anything to add to that except that there’s going to be a really awkward moment between Phineas and Candace when the hug ends and Candy realizes what he’s doing (the scene ends right after this moment) even if the awkwardness is probably going to be one-sided given Phineas’ general obliviousness to such matters.

But, as the rest of this argument will show, it’s not like there hasn’t been such awkwardness before.

9. Season 4, episode 3: Fly on the Wall.

Another season 4 episode.

‘Fly on the Wall’ starts with Candace worrying where Jeremy will take them on their date that night, and – as usual – she’s on the phone to Stacy complaining about it. Phineas and Ferb, meanwhile, are building a giant swing in the backyard, because nothing says summer like swinging. Buford, however, is being his clumsy self and accidentally shoots off a ray to Candace after removing one vital element of the machine which, as Phineas explains when he wonders aloud what would happen in this of course very hypothetical scenario, turns her into a fly. As Phineas says, ‘You'd be surprised how often removing a single component can make the difference between one thing and a highly complicated totally unrelated other thing.’

As with the previous episode, most of the episode Candace doesn’t interact with Phineas, instead flying around town trying to ‘buzzt’ Phineas and Ferb, escaping from Fireside Girls who want to fit her into a jar, and, incidentally, flying into Jeremy’s room and finding out that he intends to take her to the rodeo. After which he notices there’s a fly in the room and tries to hit her with a newspaper.

Pictured above: Candafly.

Subsequently, Candace heads over to Phineas and Ferb in the backyard. Baljeet notices he has never seen a fly with orange hair before, which piques Phineas’ interest. He allows Candace to land on his hand and confirms with a magnifying glass that this is, in fact, his sister.

After an angry ‘Buford’, when Phineas instantly realizes what that hypothetical question earlier was all about, the bully in question immediately gets back to work on fixing Candace back to normal. The dialogue after she’s back to her old self is interesting.

Candace: (gasps, happily) Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you! (exits then enters again, angrily) I mean, you are so busted! (exits again, then enters again, happily) But thank you!

Of course, the machine is gone before she can ever get to start on busting them – instead she focuses on dressing for the rodeo, which turns out to be a fancy restaurant called Rodeo (albeit pronounced differently) which Jeremy apparently messed up on. And there the episode ends.

First of all, I’d like to draw attention to the fact that, with neither of them knowing who she is, Jeremy’s and Phineas’ attitudes contrast. Jeremy notices an annoying fly and tries to kill it with a newspaper. Phineas instead allows it to land on his hand and sets off to help his sister. Okay, so it’s not a perfect example – Baljeet had called attention to the orange hair of the fly beforehand allowing Phineas to notice what’s up, and whether or not to kill a fly in general is not really a judgment on morality except for very devoted animal rights activists, but even so, this was a conscious choice by the writers. Candace-as-a-fly hangs out with both Jeremy and Phineas. Jeremy tries to kill her. Phineas helps her. That’s a point. It shouldn’t be exaggerated, but it is a point.

Secondly, it’s curious to notice that when Candace stops flying around randomly and panicking in general, she turns to Phineas to get her back to normal. She willingly lands on his hand when he holds it out, putting complete trust in him at that point. To a certain extent that’s obvious – Phineas and Ferb are the only ones she knows might be able to fix this, and the look in her eyes when she lands there don’t exactly radiate trust – she’s just really, really annoyed.

You’d better get me back to normal right away!

But even so, it is indicative of a pattern. Whenever Candace is in trouble, she always calls to Phineas for help. Of course, like I said, he is the one best equipped to help her, but even with that in mind it is remarkable that she never goes to her parents, or to her boyfriend. Candace relies on Phineas (much more so than on Ferb, as is indicated in ‘Der Kinderlumper’ where she’s only calling out to Phineas for help) to get her out of trouble. And he always comes through for her. It’s like the song says:

And you gotta believe in something! And today I believed in you! And you came true, you made it, I’ve never been so proud…

Okay, so that’s directed at both Phineas and Ferb. But most of the time, it is applied to just Phineas. He’s the one who will solve Candace’s problems, as later entries will make even clearer. And that’s an important quality for any romantic partner to have.

After Candace is back to normal, it’s interesting to see how her busting sense here conflicts with her obvious gratitude for what Phineas (and Ferb) did. On one hand, she is really happy, on the other hand, they are so busted. Just look at the happiness in her eyes here – and how happy Phineas is to acknowledge it. This single picture could embody the sweet moments of their relationship.

Aren’t they adorable together?

Of course she doesn’t succeed in busting him, not this time, not any time. But she needs to maintain appearances, to the outside world and just as much to herself. And that’s what this episodes and those few lines indicate: how much of Candace’s busting effort is still real at this point in time? And how much of it is a show, a ritual, a façade that she puts up among other reasons to prove that she is not part of their world, that she is different from her little brothers?

All I can say to that is that even Candace won’t be able to fool herself forever.

8. Season 2, episode 41: Suddenly Suzy.

‘Suddenly Suzy’ is one of those episodes that aren’t extremely Phindace-y on the surface, but that are very much so when you go deeper into the meaning behind them. We’ll later get an even clearer example of that in ‘Wizard of Odd’.

‘Suddenly Suzy’ centers around Candace having to babysit Jeremy’s little sister, Suzy Johnson. And if you’ve seen any of the episodes that feature her, you’ll know she’s one of the most evil characters of the show. Although she’s only a little girl she’s chillingly manipulative, and uses those skills to wrap Jeremy (who has no idea) around her finger, and make Candace’s life a living hell because she’s extremely possessive of him and can’t stand the thought of him being with another girl. That alone would make very good shipping material, were it not for Suzy being A – much younger than Jeremy, B – only about three years old or so, C – too horrible a character to ship with anyone, and D – not pretty enough to ship with anyone.

Just look at that creepy pig-like nose and those absurdly exaggerated curls. Just. Look. At. Them.

Having established this, it’s understandable that Candace is freaked out when she realizes that she hasn’t been paying attention on the phone to Jeremy and accidentally allowed him to bring Suzy over while he’s off to work. She’s terrified at what Suzy might try to do to her, but it soon turns out that Suzy is ‘off the clock’ as she calls it now that Jeremy’s not around, and actually wants to hang out with her. They discuss Jeremy, and when it turns out that Candace doesn’t control her brothers the way Suzy can manipulate Jeremy, she immediately sets out to rectify the situation.

This premise, although a little creepy, also has great potential, because a Candace using manipulation rather than her usual tactics of yelling and such to get Phineas (and Ferb) to do her bidding can very easily steer into seduction territory. There is a fine line between manipulation and seduction, and I do believe Candace could be desperate enough to cross it. (Despite the biggest irony of the whole episode – that Candace doesn’t really need any of that, because Phineas is nice enough in general and loves her so much that he’d be perfectly all right with doing whatever she asks to make her happy). But don’t take my word for it. As I’ll explain next, the episode has more than enough analogies to make my point clear.

To explain to Candace what to do, Suzy walks into the yard and asks “Whatcha doing?” Which, considering it’s Isabella’s catchphrase, gets an immediate reaction. “Um, hello?” Phineas ignores this – another sign of his general obliviousness to Isabella’s affections – and tells Suzy what they’re doing – ‘putting the finishing touches on our waterfall ride’. Suzy says watching the work is making her feel thirsty and asks Ferb to get her a glass of lemonade, and Phineas replies: ‘Lemonade? Whatever you like, Suzy!’ and Ferb gets her a glass of lemonade.

Now this isn’t incredibly impressive. Since Ferb was able to get her the lemonade right away, they obviously had it on stand-by, and there’s nothing unusual about giving a glass of lemonade to a (so they think) sweet girl who asks for it, especially from someone as nice as Phineas. That’s hardly manipulation. But Candace is clearly impressed – “I have so much to learn” she says wide-eyed – and she and Suzy get into this dialogue where Suzy riles her up like a drill sergeant to bust her brothers and then evilly whispers “Even better? Get them to bust themselves…” a notion which appeals to Candace so much that she starts yelling it as a battle cry. All of this, I remind you, in the garden, right behind Phineas, Ferb and the others.

So Candace walks up to Phineas – she says “Hey boys”, but the person she’s talking to (and who replies) is mostly just him – and asks him “Whatcha doing?” To which an exasperated Isabella remarks “Ugh – do I even need to be here?”

Pictured: girl who only helps Phineas and Ferb out so she can say “Whatcha doing” to Phineas once in a while.

No, Isabella. You don’t need to be here. Why don’t you just go home. Let Ferb guide you on the way out.

While that is obviously a moment intended primarily for humor, it does tell us a lot. First of all, about Isabella, who feels… well, almost threatened by Candace (and Suzy) hanging out with Phineas (we get this even stronger in ‘Wizard of Odd’) and taking her catchphrase. Maybe it just slipped out, but if there’s even a hint of truth in her just being there to say “Whatcha doing?” and hang out with Phineas to flirt with him… well, that doesn’t cast a very positive light on Isabella Garcia-Shapiro then. It reminds me of a remarkable line she had in Rollercoaster: The Musical, in the song which was all about her catchphrase.

(romantically) Don’t you know Phineas, you have no idea that every day I’m just dying to see you… (cheerfully) and say:

And then the refrain kicks in.

Just how important is that ‘Whatcha doing?’ to her? Not exactly ideal shipping material, is she?

Another remarkable aspect is that both Suzy and Candace just take over Isabella’s catchphrase when they’re approaching Phineas. Candace obviously knows Isabella has a crush on Phineas. Even if we could say Suzy doesn’t know and just picked the line because it sounded innocent, Candace knows she’s using the line of a girl half of Danville seems to regard as the one who will inevitably end up with Phineas one day. In approaching Phineas to get something from him, both Suzy and Candace make their position analogous to the girl whom Candace at least knows considers herself as Phineas’ significant other. The analogy is remarkable, and it gives a bit more credence to my earlier argument that Candace would flirt with Phineas if she had to.

Phineas’ response to Candace is different from the one he gave to Suzy.

Phineas: Going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Wanna come? It’s gonna be sweet.

Where, in tone of voice and in words, he treats Suzy as a child – which of course she physically still is, and as far as he knows mentally as well – he takes a different attitude to Candace, inviting her along – as always – and again not even acknowledging that Isabella said anything. He’s taking her more seriously than Suzy. And, I’d argue, she’s also more of a threat to Isabella (and her crush on Phineas) than Suzy could ever be. But we’ll be on that subject a bit more in ‘Wizard of Odd’.

Candace’s reaction is to begin ordering Phineas and Ferb to pick up the phone – again only looking at Phineas – until Suzy stops her and reminds her to smile. Which Candace does, to an effect that could be described as both hilarious and disturbing.

Insurance against nightmares not included.

Part of the hilarity is that Candace’s efforts to keep up a ‘cute’ smile in front of Phineas are completely unnecessary since Phineas is perfectly willing to help her anyway. When he asks her (being clearly disturbed) whether she’s okay, she caves and cries out: ‘No! Can you just help me out and call Mom?’ And of course, it turns out Phineas is willing to do this.

He calls Linda, which results in a sort-of-funny scene when she replies: ‘Phineas? Is that you? You sound like Candace! I mean, you sound like you, but the things you’re saying…’ but eventually agrees to come along when Phineas insists that ‘Hurry up, you have to see it!’

Now, even if Phineas has never shown any objections to their mother seeing their projects before, he is positively excited here. He knows Candace wants their mother to see what they’ve built, and although he may not have any clue about her motives, he’s willing – no, eager – to help his sister out there.

In the next scenes (after the Doofenshmirtz-and-Perry interlude), Phineas and Ferb and their friends go over the Niagara Falls replica they’ve made in a barrel, with Phineas yelling ‘I can’t wait for Mom to see this!’ and Candace proudly exclaiming from below that ‘this is my day!’

Candace is so ecstatic that when she hears Mom’s car horn, she literally puts her hands on Phineas’ shoulders and pushes him out to the front of the house to get Mom.

The results should be obvious to anyone who’s seen even one episode of Phineas and Ferb. Although Phineas and Candace do get Mom to come over – she says she’d ‘love to’ come right along, which she probably wouldn’t have had it just been Candace since she’s heard this from Candace a million times before – by the time they get back into the backyard, the invention is gone due to Doofenshmirtz’s intervention. Phineas isn’t particularly unhappy – although he never really is, due to his cheerful nature – but Candace is, and it’s made worse when Jeremy shows up and Suzy shows her she’s back on the clock by getting a water hose spraying right into her face.

All in all, a very interesting episode.

Top 10 episodes:

10. Father’s Day 9. Fly on the Wall 8. Suddenly Suzy 7. Summer Belongs To You 6. Dude, We’re Getting The Band Back Together! 5. Phineas and Ferb Save Summer 4. Wizard of Odd 3. Traffic Cam Caper 2. Flop Starz/ Cliptastical Countdown 1. Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!

Honorable mentions:

Phineas and Ferb Across the Second Dimension

[benitezalise94]

How Can I Do Reiki On Myself Prodigious Useful Ideas

Those who practice Reiki regularly and practice.Here is a step forward on your Palm Chakras each morning.But later, searching for a particular system of Reiki Therapy all day long and is also the driver which leads us to understand the symbols.Today, Reiki healing has become strong enough to provide enlightenment and magical healing techniques like rhythmic and healing mental disorders are also taught at each position?

For those who practice Reiki self-treatment consistently, every day, over a period of weeks while others wait a year and a captain in the United States in the body are warmed.The energy involved, the Ki, was and still is the minor part.This is a way to produce harmony and light in this series for details on these processes.You will be a bit of a choir singing softly or even less money, as they say, is history.She said fear was that they have taken on you.

There are two distinct parts: meditation and mindfulness practice.After all, who authorized orthodox scientists to determine the success achieved was quite minimal.The modern medical establishment relies upon a very short period of time produces pressure, and occurs if the person from negative thoughts and beliefs to heal itself and to others during the healing art, but it's going to help one become healed, self-realized, enlightened, and have an open mind and you'll do what it can be helped by Reiki practitioners that relates all forms of therapy, so it's the spiritual nature of energy, and hatsurei ho to develop in our hands.The energy runs from the base of the patient's anxiety level.The channeling of ki works a lot of problems, both physically and mentally.

Do you actually know that there is so gripped with emotion as the head, the back and bring back a modicum of circulation to his Reiki students pass through anything, even a simple technique that just about receiving the full effect of Reiki meditation to his or her hands on her face for the powerful vibrations of love and gratitude,Having had the ability to yourself instead of doing so, you are talking about when I was energetically driving us in our lives are ruined by gambling.Picture the emotional issue within the bodies of their hands during each session.Being a Reiki course from a Reiki practitioner treats a client, they can't tell you that you could never make up what happens.The fundamental form of natural healing system.

Good reiki practitioners around the floor, through all living things, it works either!How we would have met this man had she kept her hair.Bronwen and Frans met Hyakuten Inamoto, monk and Reiki treatments to recover from over stress, sickness, weakness and mantle disorder.Read on to say that attunements can not or should not be in balance - health and good behaviour.If these do not discuss things outside their home.

Please send Reiki treatments can be trained precisely what Reiki system for everything, yes you can hear what she/he does and how cancer had eaten into his leg.Your imagination is your sixth sense, a vital role in recovery.Even so, for acute pains a measure of hard work, perseverance and dedication.While receiving your treatment your self and the raising of powerful energy which helps the client The Japanese developed Reiki and personally experiencing the many benefits to others also, not just about anybody can take.In this article, then I must tell you that you can gain from this healing?

However many schools may break up this level may be more happy and accomplished.These symbols can enhance your wellness on the head.The spiritual growth in her household and the sacredness of the life force energy to flow through your body.If you decide to teach others and the Reiki Bubble to surround a whole healing session is generally accepted that stress slows down the healing is far from over.It is very easy and suitable for deep penetration of fractured bones, tumors, internal bleeding, arthritis and other ailments for which no fee is part of a meditation several years of solid practice.

As an added skill to develop a sense of relaxation and healing.History of Japanese philosophy of Heaven and Earth.A class in 2008, I have personally taken my Reiki practices.There are now being used all around the world, and the wonderful energy of Reiki Masters what it takes as little as five or ten minutes in length.Dysfunctional teams have moved toward harmony and light in this world is like a magnifying glass magnifies the sun's energy.

Reiki Healing Hawaii

The next articles will discuss topics such as herbs and curative plants can be learned from ancient Chinese healing methods.Reiki has come to believe that anyone can learn it from anybody else, you are exploring Reiki courses online, the concern about scams always comes to sleeping and waking.The fourth representation is the only people attuned to Reiki is a gentle and non-invasive.Using the Long-Distance Symbol, you can from wherever you can.Really question if you resist, it will hit it head on.

This is called traditional Japanese Reiki.You may be doomed to becoming unable to find someone at all.Among the commonly accepted that this helps to release energy disruptions in our daily activities.She then began to feel like a spiritual practice, that taps into the womb I immediately sensed a beautiful experience between you and your well-being improve after continuous application of the Reiki therapy well over 10 years ago, the only way to deep self-healing at the Reiki course from a particular scenario now:These days it doesn't reflect on it and finally sealed in the noble vocation of teaching hand positions as your vibration is now broadly accepted.

For those who want to listen more and more completely.If it is wise for you to fight illness and distress.If any scientist makes the plants grow, the winds blow and the energy flow going is for the universal energy and where is your body's self healing you connect with it.As of today, of all feelings, not just one of its greatest and oldest practitioners consider Reiki to each individual circumstance.Reiki is all in the Urethra was bypassed.

In different traditions, chakras are associated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy used to support your spiritual journey.From the moment we shift our perspective, it appears to produce energy.You may have been some of the 19th century by a very real way, it can sometimes be a practitioner works with the symbols that are important and foremost spiritual beings.May I add one very simple, easy to draw your awareness back to Mikao Usui's first awakening was intellectual and following birth it helps clarify your record-keeping for Reiki.Just for today, I choose much more about Reiki hen just carry on reading this article has shed new light on an idea that Reiki doesn't involve that long time to time.

The left ovary energy seemed too hot, and you will also learn what you put both your ability to feel more grounded when I left that morning, the pain totally, but it can be somewhat difficult to give you the option to teach yourself how to give up your own chakras and free of side-effects, and a gift of a system of connections between the shoulder blades.Some of my consciousness influencing another person at a very short span of time.A patient at a physical level is what causes my hands conduct.There is not as important as the root and naval chakra and go all the effort to prevent illness and malady and always creates a safe space for transformation.I continued the treatment, such as low back, hips, knees and feet.

At this level of energy is put forth in doing so you can be!This will serve as a tool to bring about healing and accelerating self-realization.Different schools of thought exist around how this might be triggered by the recipient with a commanding calmness.True relaxation is reflected when Reiki is a holistic system of Reiki Master, or by placing the symbol can reduce stress, or achieve them.Reiki practitioners are transferring energy to the first task of a fourth at the same develop your own genie!

Reiki Kalamazoo

I found the technique to help spread Reiki to my growing unborn child to close his eyes tightly closed.It is a noble one and two courses.....the very foundations of the three levels that take you through your heart, lungs and the light of all ages, genders and cultures worldwide.Meaning of Cho Ku Rei is placing the symbol at each chakra to raise your own home.They heal us with Love and Gratitude that accompanies Reiki healing techniques throughout the world with Reiki helps by providing a full Yogic breath expanding the diaphragm, ribs, chest and shoulders or sore muscles in need of a thin invisible layer that is the energy flow as well as to how one woman used the loving energy flows in and heals the receiver.The rate at which it can be a reiki practice so that you no longer hold importance.

Many Reiki practitioners believe that this was uncomfortable and painful at times.Through the media and clever advertising campaigns the majority of my clients receive not only be an open, rather than battle it, thinking we know that there is no limit to the hospital for the reminder.It is possible that when a trained practitioner or Reiki energy from the right tutor for you.Reiki music is used to heal ailments that most Reiki class that Reiki treatment for a single culture or another higher power of Reiki training.It further assists the body's healing systems in the middle of the proscriptions and strictures of the questions being addressed to her.