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kirrtash · 4 years

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It’s only after their mother dies and they get in contact with the first, unfriendly, demons that Inuyasha finds out that the human’s obsession over fitting everyone in one gender it’s weird for them too. They have already learned to keep quiet about what they think about themselves. What their body is, and isn’t, to them, they don’t tell the humans in the castle. Inuyasha doesn’t even tell their mother.

It has been a few years since they stopped living in the castle, when they have again the occasion to meet an human, on a moonless night. That particular one, as every other, is immediately concerned with their appearance, assuming their gender without even letting them speak.

Inuyasha doesn’t feel particularly attached to one nor the other, on a good day doesn’t even think about it.

(On a bad day somebody just has to remind them, usually while trying to kill them, and aren’t they lucky?)

They don’t go near another human settling for years after that night. Those are safer than the forests and fields, at least when they are weak, but they don’t have it in themselves to deal with stupid humans and their stupid way of thinking.

In a way this hurts more than being half breed. Their mixed heritage is on plain sight for everyone to see, and there is no mistake to be made (with the exception of one night per month): one look at their ears and the story of their birth is on plain sight for everyone to deduce.

But the way humans expect them to adapt to their roles, to dance to this tune they don’t fit in, just after one look at their body, that’s worst. Humans and demons alike hate them for their blood, but both of them just ignore how they feel about their body. It’s just irrelevant.

So Inuyasha makes sure that it’s irrelevant for themselves too. In any case they don’t even have the words to explain it, so why bother? It’s not like they have someone to tell, and the most important thing right now it’s to survive.

They never get around telling Kikyo about this too. She barely accepted their mixed blood, Inuyasha is not sure she can take more. They don’t want to take the risk of another rejection. As for the sacrifice they are willing to face, it’s not that different from the other one they already accepted to make when she asked, just another part of their identity they will have to renounce to.

Kagome is strange. She doesn’t question them and the way they present themselves, doesn’t even seem to notice. The girl has bigger problems anyways, it’s her fault if them both are on this quest. But she always looks at them with a bit more intention when they slip, in the way they refer to themselves, when the hyper masculine terms they use out of habit, to comply with the image others have of them, to not raise questions, get stuck in their throat. She always notices.

She asks one night, when everyone else it’s sleeping. They have just met Sesshomaru again and Inuyasha is quite proud of their victory, even if in reality the bastard run away just before Tessaiga could break definitively. Inuyasha still counts it as victory.

“It’s something that I have noticed before, but why did he refer to you with neutral terms?”

The asshole has never had anything to say about their gender obviously, as it’s normal for a demon, but Inuyasha doesn’t really want to explain to her. They huff and try to dismiss the question with a vague gesture and a “whatever” but she just keeps waiting patiently, peering at them from under her eyelashes. They both know that the answer it’s not simple, and the question is bigger than it could look to a mere bystander.

Inuyasha takes a breath. She has been on their side for a while now, and they don’t want to lose her. But at the same time she has already told them how irrelevant their mixed blood is for her. No. Not irrelevant. A part of them. Just a part of who they are, as normal as their hands and eyes, something that makes them THEM. If she could accept that, then maybe, just maybe…

Inuyasha doesn’t know how to explain, but Kagome is patient. It’s like a flood. When dawn comes, and, how? When? She stops them, shakes Sango awake and quietly informs her that she and Inuyasha are going back to her time. She then calls for Inuyasha and they start walking away from the camp. As soon as they are out of ears’ reach, she resumes the conversation.

She looks among books and books in the public library. Inuyasha just stands aside, the hat flattening their ears, trying not to draw attention and not to be in her way. They didn’t even stop to her house to say hi to her family, she knew she didn’t have anything of what she was looking for there.

“There must be something! I have read a couple of things but I cannot remember where I found them again!” she looks possessed, and Inuyasha is not going to bother her.

She comes up with a few books and articles from magazines, and is eyeing critically the huge computer in the backroom, pondering if to search on that too, since the Higurashi family doesn’t have one.

Inuyasha is not really listening to her. They are scrolling through the written text, trying to make good use of what little reading abilities they have, and to interpret the futuristic language and culture. Their worldview is being thrown off right now.

If for demons gender (and now they know the difference between gender and sex, and gender expression too, isn’t that neat?) is inconsequential, humans 500 years in the future keep spending a lot of time thinking and talking about it. Still, the revelation is another one. Demons don’t care about gender, you can’t use it against them. Humans don’t care too, they know where they fit and it comes natural to them to abide the unwritten rules that concern the sociality. Despite this, here Inuyasha gets a glimpse of another world. These books give them a place, among others, give their struggle a name and a reason and companionship. They are not the only one. There are humans too, here, going through something that might, with a stretch of imagination, be considered similar to their experience.

Kagome takes some books back home, essays and narrative ones, and some vhs to see on the television. Her family is nowhere to be seen and they are back to her room. Inuyasha feels safe there, the day has already been a mess, and their head is still spinning. “I don’t know where to look for more, but we need to understand better, honestly Inuyasha, why didn’t you speak sooner?”

They know her temper is without fire, that she is just worried, but it hurts the same. She must see their look, the flattened ears, because she backtracks immediately. “I’m sorry, I can understand why, it was a stupid thing to say. It’s just… I want to help. I would like for you to tell to the others too, but it’s your call. I’m sure they will want to understand though. That’s why I need to find more…” she is off again, checking on the list she compiled while looking for materials, and Inuyasha watches her go in the direction of the stairs and the living room, still shell-shocked.

“I didn’t even ask you!” She seems to have realized something, her voice still audible from the other room “I’m so bad at this, I’m sorry! Which pronouns should I use?”

Inuyasha can’t help the laugh that escapes their lips, they don’t know what to answer. But they will find out. There are words out there for them, just waiting to be discovered. Their experience can be told, and damn them if they are not going to.

—

A disclaimer: I am a cisgender woman, so my knowledge and undersanding of genderqueer identities can only be a secondhand one. This to say that I hope that I have not offended anyone with this depiction of this identity, and if I have I am deeply sorry, since it was not my intention.

For something so short I really had trouble writing this. First my native language doesn’t have the option of singular them, and I never had any occasion for using it before, so I’m sorry if I made mistakes. Second, Inuyasha the character, in the anime, while referring to themselves, uses Ore, an highly masculine way of saying me, and I didn’t want ignore canon completely even if I played fast and lose with the timeline, since I don’t remember what happened when. Additionally, and I never looked into the language so I’m not sure, I suspect that there are A LOT of pronouns whit different nuances in the spectrum between masculine and feminine in the Japanese language. So I had to take in account three language shifts while writing this tiny little thing. I’d like to add that while il like to think that my personal knowledge on transgender and genderqueer identities is not that bad, I haven’t the faintest idea of what 199something Japan might knew about it, so I kept on the conservative side (considering they are still a really closed off country about LGBT+ issues, I feel that it’s the most realistic portrait)

I cannot help but think about Inuyasha and a nonbinary or genderqueer identity. Assuming that for demons gender is something much less regulated by social norms than for humans, and that because of their upbringing Inuyasha didn’t get to receive a positive and validating explanation of gender and sexuality by none of the two cultures, I suppose that (in the feudal era!) it would have created in them an even higher sense of isolation and oddness. That’s probably why I love the idea of Inuyasha going to the pride for the first time (first gay pride in Tokyo was in 1994…) and in general realize that they are not alone.

It is a deeply difficult and isolating situation, not having the words to describe, even to ourselves, our identity, and I am happy that the modern ways of connecting with each other are lessening this kind of isolation.

this was written for day 5 of @inuyashapridemonth2020

#inuyasha #inuyashapride2020 #my art #my writing #ops #I wrote something again #inuyasha pride month #nonbinary inuyasha

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chriscolfernews · 5 years

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Chris Colfer is renowned for his Golden Globe-winning performance as Kurt Hummel on Fox'sGlee, where he helped bring the story and struggles of a gay teen to an international audience.

However, the 29-year-old actor-turned-writer is also taking the literary world by storm. Colfer has written an impressive 15 novels, most notably his The Land of Stories children's fantasy series. He does not shy away from LGBTQ activism on the page. His latest book, A Tale of Magic..., which centers on people persecuted for practicing magic, "is an allegory for being gay," Hummel told The Advocate in a recent interview.

Evoking a children's version of The Handmaid's Tale, A Tale of Magic presents a world where women have no rights and are barred from reading. Additionally, practitioners of magic are condemned to death or life imprisonment. A young girl, Brystal Evergreen, rebels against this tyranny by engaging in both. In turn, she is sent to a correctional facility to "cure" her of her magic. A mysterious savior, Madame Weatherberry, rescues Brystal from detainment and recruits her on a mission to change the hearts and minds of the kingdom.

In the following interview, Colfer discusses how antigay politics of the real world inspired his magical allegory, which he calls a "manifesto for compassion. I’ve never written anything like it before." A Tale of Magic, now available on Amazon and wherever good books are sold, also recently debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, demonstrating how Colfer's message of political resistance has resonated with young audiences.

The Advocate: Congratulations on your new book! What inspired A Tale of Magic?

Chris Colfer: Trauma, mostly. I was 11 years old when 9/11 happened. I remember I was old enough to understand what was happening, but I wasn’t old enough to understand why it was happening. And I don’t think anything is scarier for a child than confusion. I can’t imagine how scared kids must feel nowadays. So I wanted to write a book that parents and teachers could use as a point of reference when they explain the troubling things their kids and students see on the news. I hope it puts things into perspective while giving them a magical adventure at the same time.

You’ve written 15 books. What’s the secret to your productivity? Caffeine. Lots and lots of caffeine. Also, isolation. Sometimes I’ll go weeks without seeing anyone besides my boyfriend and our dogs.

Who are your literary influences? Well, I apologize for sounding like a millennial cliché, but J.K. Rowling had the biggest impact on me. I wasn’t a good reader when I was young, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was the first book I actually enjoyed reading. And some of my happiest childhood memories were going to those midnight release parties. I then went on to devour everything by C.S. Lewis, Eva Ibbotson, and Bruce Coville. On some level, I think I’m still mourning the end of Harry Potter. It left a void I’ve been trying to fill by writing my own books.

What appeals to you about the fantasy genre in particular? I suppose it’s the escapism and encouragement it provides. In fantasy, a mouse can slay a dragon if it’s courageous enough. That’s very therapeutic for those of us still battling our own dragons.

A Tale of Magic, much like The Handmaid’s Tale, shows a bleak world where women have no rights. Also, practitioners of magic are subjected to imprisonment or even the death sentence. While writing the book, how much did the real world and the current political climate influence your storytelling? The current climate was the entire inspiration. A Tale of Magic was supposed to be an easy task for me. It was supposed to be the start of a simple prequel series. The working title was The Land Before Stories. But when I sat down to actually write it, I felt so angry and helpless by the state of the world, I had to do something more so I could sleep at night. Even if I was the wrong messenger, even if it didn’t do well, I wanted to do anything I possibly could to guide the next generation onto a better path. It ceased to be a prequel and became a completely original story. Now I consider A Tale of Magic my manifesto for compassion. I’ve never written anything like it before.

What is the overarching message you wanted to send by centering your story on a character who is not only discriminated against for her gender, but also her extraordinary abilities? I want young people to know that just because they’re born into an environment that doesn’t accept or appreciate them, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an environment that will. There’s a lot of love waiting for you out there if you’re willing to look for it. I’m living proof. Also, the more the world discourages you, the more it needs you.

The protagonist is sent to a “Correctional Facility for Troubled Young Women” in the hopes that she will be “cured” of her magical gifts. This storyline echoes the experiences of survivors of conversion therapy. How do you think fiction — your novel in particular — can fight against antigay forces like "ex-gay" therapy in the real world? Thank you for making that connection. In my opinion, the purpose of fiction, besides providing an escape, is to subconsciously plant seeds of reason and compassion in people’s minds. That was the sole mission of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault. After reading about the horrible and abusive experiences at the Correctional Facility in A Tale of Magic, I hope my readers will grow up with a resentment of conversion therapy already ingrained within them. If I can get them to sympathize with the struggles of a fictitious magical community, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll be more likely to sympathize with the struggles of other communities fighting for acceptance in the real world.

In addition to A Tale of Magic being a novel, do you see it as a work of LGBTQ activism? I’d like to think so. Although, I have no control over how other people will interpret it. For me, the magic in A Tale of Magic is an allegory for being gay. The characters are raised to believe magic is demonic and unnatural. They’re sent to camps where they “pray the magic away.” And they’re all on a mission to prove "magic isn’t a choice." But what magic represents for me may be different for a little girl in Egypt or a teenage boy in Japan. We all have obstacles that hold us back. We’re all assigned different stigmas based on our circumstances. So, whatever your “magic” may be, A Tale of Magic is about overcoming the forces that suppress it.

We’re living in a world when books are still being banned — and the written word itself is under attack. As a novelist, do you see it as your duty to fight against censorship? Absolutely. You have to be incredibly strategic to get your book into the hands of the people who need it the most. Especially when your books have LGBTQ themes. So many authors get criticized when they reveal a character’s orientation or gender identity after publication instead of on the page. But I don’t always agree with those critics. In some places books are instantly banned if they have any LGBTQ characters or LGBTQ references whatsoever. But there are ways of getting representation into those territories that goes under the radar. That’s the purpose of the character Xanthous Hayfield in A Tale of Magic. His orientation is never directly addressed in the first book, but there are enough clues so a closeted little boy living in an oppressive country can relate to him and know he’s not alone. But I don’t think censorship can survive the modern age. In fact, I think governments shoot themselves in the foot when they apply censorship. It instantly triggers a wave of curiosity and publicity you can’t buy. So please, by all means, ban me.

Did you have a Madame Weatherberry, the "fairy godmother" character in A Tale of Magic, in your life? My grandmother was my biggest cheerleader growing up. She made me believe in myself, and I think that’s the greatest gift you can give a kid, even if you don’t necessarily believe their dreams are practical. I used to sit with her for hours and hours on her back patio and talk. We’d make game plans of how I was going to accomplish my goals while she smoked and polished her guns.

You dedicate your novel to those whose shoulders you stand on — presumably LGBTQ pioneers. Did you have any particular figures in mind when making this dedication? There are a hundred names I could list that everyone knows, but it’s really about the people who are unknown. I get pretty emotional when I think about it. There are millions of people who never got to reap the benefits of their courage and honesty, but because they stood up when they did, I get to do what I love and be with who I love. I can’t imagine the bravery it took. Even right now, there are people in other parts of the world reading this website in secret, looking for encouragement as they fight for their right to exist. Wherever they are, I hope they can feel the future’s gratitude.

If you could have any magical ability, what would it be? Honestly, I’d be happy with just a faster metabolism. That sounds pretty magical.

What appeals to you about your literary work, versus the world of television and film? I suppose it’s the control. When I write a novel, it can be anything and everything I want it to be. I get to tell the story and describe the images exactly as they exist in my mind. In film and television there’s always so many cooks in the kitchen it’s difficult to produce a pure vision. There’s a lot of compromising and negotiating and it requires a lot of patience. Also, I can write books in my pajamas. It doesn’t get better than that.

Would you adapt A Tale of Magic into a movie or TV series? I would love to see A Tale of Magic come to life. I guess it all depends on my experience with the Land of Stories film adaptation. For my own physical safety, I hope the Disney/Fox merger settles so we can finish it. There are millions of kids around the world who are going to want to hurt me if they don’t get a movie soon.

#chris colfer #the advocate #a tale of magic press

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comicteaparty · 4 years

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February 15th-February 21st, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from February 15th, 2020 to February 21st, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

If a company wanted to publish your comic or adapt it for animation or games, how willing would you be to change the story if requested to do so?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

That's such a tough question just because it's such a goal for so many creators, and yet a potential threat to their creativity in a sense. As always, it will depend on what exactly would be changed in order for such a project to be given approval. If it has to do with censoring LGBTQ+ content, changing race for 'marketability' purposes and the like, or erasing a specific topic integral to the plot with relation to politics- then it's a no go. There are plenty enough watered down media that doesn't stretch itself with diversity those companies can have and the subtext they pepper in to stay relevant, def something i find irksome with todays media (its 2020 guys !!) But if it's maybe cutting a chapter that acts like filler, or adding a character ( so long as it is plot relevant) i could take that into consideration! I actually take some time to imagine what Ghost Junk would be in a diff form of media and usually in those scenarios, things change to fit the way its being presented! A video game will differ more than an anime adaptation for sure, so long as the original intent and impact is kept, i would definitely consider some change!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

If I ever had the opportunity to pass my work off to a whole other team for an adaptation, I think I would take great joy in leaving them completely to it - barring a few obvious issues like race changes, gender/sexuality changes, and... changing the entire story to the point where it's unrecognizable. I love seeing reinterpretations of my work, and I understand that every adaptation would need changes of some form. My words and art aren't gospel - I'm open to any change if it improves the whole product. Whatever it takes to translate the material in the best way, which keeps the original message intact, is all good by me.

Changes in the actual comic would be harder to make - and I'd be far less comfortable with them, to be honest - but I wouldn't fight them if they obviously made the story/characters stronger. I've already added in ideas and reorganized plot threads based on reader feedback - luckily the story still has some places where it can bend. So long as a publisher took my basic story seriously, and aimed to remold it rather than remake it - I'd be down for a discussion. Hopefully a reputable publisher would know how best to sell my work, and would aim to make it as good as possible while maintaining integrity - I would try to trust them

chalcara

Comic stays mine, won‘t be changed beyound perhaps some professional line edits and polish. There’s a reason I didn’t shop it around as a graphic novel. I’d actually like that eitherway, would love to get myself a professional editor when I have the money. Adaptions can go nuts, provided the main characters stay true to their comic versions and the woman-loves-woman storyline stays in.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

For the story to be told in another medium I would be pretty game for it to change the story a bit. Already now we are changing the story from how we made as a campaign. Makeing it more streamlined and more precise. I wanted originally that our comic could be a TV show. I come from a background of a character animator so that would make sense for me. So seeing it animated would be awesome! There would be some designs that needed to change to fit animation better.

Like Andree has this texture in his skin that needed to go away. But seeing it animated would be awesooome

Deo101 [Millennium]

I think if my Characters stay in Character, then I'm fine with changing pretty much any of the plot or world things. But the Character dynamics and who they are as people is what matters most to me, and I'm not sure I would be willing to sacrifice that. With some of my stories I'd be willing to completely let go of the reins, and with others I definitely want a tighter grip, too.

sagaholmgaard

Agree with the thing about character dynamics. My stories always stem from the characters' relationships and how they evolve, so I'd like for the essence of that to stay. Otherwise I'm pretty loose about the plot itself. Because I have an education in game development, I would totally be down for my comic being adapted into a story driven game of some sort. I'd be okay with changing the story to favor the game mechanics, like putting certain magic abilities in the focus and turning certain scenes into gameplay (like when they're sneaking around or fighting). As long as my handful of core emotional moments come across, I'm pretty happy to change things.

Tuyetnhi

I agree with the character dynamics too. I don't feel comfortable if they change the character backgrounds along with it as well for er what Krispy said for "Markability". That stuff won't fly with me. Comic stuff stay the same but for adaptations, I want to make sure it has similar story beats even if there's a change on few details. Tbh I could totally see er....a visual novel game happening in my comic since that's what my original intention was going for. still at the end I really don't intend my comic to transend other mediums since i'm planning to self publish the story someday lol.

kayotics

I’d be pretty willing to change stuff, actually. I’d want to be pretty involved in whatever adaptation was being made in this hypothetical, but I know that more people can make for stronger work. On the other hand, too many cooks can make for some pretty watered down soup, which is why I’d want to have a large role in things so some of the core stuff doesn’t get changed. But as it is, I’m not married to any ideas that exist in my comic, and am pretty welcome to changes.

DanitheCarutor

If the changes were to benefit the story than I wouldn't mind, if they were going to change everything to make it appealing to the masses than no. Definitely not if they want to mess with the characters since how they are play a major role in the comic. I've got a really specific story I'm trying to tell, so I'm very stingy on changes. If anything I'd be more open to a company making a spin-off or something not totally related to the main story, as long as it's not a complete bastardization. Other than free advertising and the brand name, I don't really see how getting published would benefit me anyway? I'm already in the process of rescanning and re-editing the first four chapters of my comic for self-publishing, if I really wanted to adapt it into an animation I would just do it myself. Along with teaching myself whatever else I needed to get as little help as possible. Sure, I have no experience but it's not like I can't learn, there are classes and free tutorials all over the internet. I've always wanted to get into animating. I can't imagine my comic being adapted into game, what would it even be? An anti-dating sim? An interactive novel? An Apollo drinking simulator?

Capitania do Azar

I WANT A BEAT THEM UP JUST RUN IN ONE DIRECTION KICK EVERYONE

eli [a winged tale]

The dream is a studio ghibli adaption but that won’t be happening I would want to vet the studio/company proposing the adaption and ensure that we are a good fit. I echo what many of you have said about the integrity of the characters and heart of the story. There are a lot of secrets that will come to unravel as the comic progresses and I hope the publisher will be accepting of them. I will be happy to have a conversation on why these structural changes are there and why I think it’s important to allow them to reach a wider audience. That said, I am also eager to see how they would themselves interpret the story and I will give creative freedom to that. Again, it’s a dream and while I would love to direct my own film, I simply don’t have the resources to do it (at this time). https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODQ3MzIzMTM3NjY4MDA0?igshid=15bnlhamdu3tn&story_media_id=2149085305360952847

Capitania we should just have a super smash bros of all our comic characters

renieplayerone

I think like a lot of people here have already said, Im not changing anyones race, gender identity or sexuality. Otherwise? I'd be really curious what someone else's perspectives could bring to my work if it ever got adapted. I have ideas for comics that are written like they could be movies too, but idk. Its fun trying to write thinking of other mediums

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Im pretty much in the same camp of make changes as it makes sense, but stay true to the core. In the case of a live action thing being made of my story, I would actually be super ok with a POC actor filling the role of any of the white presenting characters. Or actors with different body shapes that what I'd originally draw. More diversity in film is always good

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

outside of censorship, I would be fine with most story changes? with that said, good luck lol. there are very few scenes I think can be cut out of the story without supremely messing up later scenes. every magic ability on-screen is important in some way, a bunch of random background characters end up coming back & getting way more focus later on, etc. add filler, sure, but there's really not much you can cut out without messing up the entire story down the line.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I'm pretty open to the idea of changing some details to fit a different medium better. The big thing that I wouldn't want changed in Whispers of the Past (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366) is the characters' races. Since the story explores the idea of culture-shock and cultural identity, and the races/cultures are integral to world-building, it would be stupid the change the characters' appearances/races willy nilly. And besides, we don't want what happened to Eragon or Percy Jackson when they became movies. Congratulations on completely killing a franchise But yeah, as long as races and major plot details aren't changed too much, I'm really open to adjusting things. As an example, cutting out smexy times or making the language a bit friendlier to a wide audience, fine by me. But changing Kelan to a blacksmith instead of a farmer... Why???? I would need a good reason to do something like that. (I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU, ERAGON! WHY WAS RORAN JOINING THE ARMY RANDOMLY, INSTEAD OF BECOMING A MILLER? ISN'T THE ARMY WORKING FOR THE EVIL KING WHO TAXES THEM HEAVILY? EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.) I'm actually pretty scared about the whole race thing. I mean, Hollywood also ruined The ]

if the adaptation is Bad I can always just, like, disown it lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

clearly im the one with the ideas here B) soo

LMAO yea

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

If it was being published as a comic, I don’t think I’d be willing to change too much- though that would depend a great deal in what kind of change. Cleaning up some wonky dialogue? That would probably be fine. Censorship? Absolutely not. Changing my LGBTQ+ characters’ gender / orientation to appeal to the mainstream? Really absolutely not. If being adapted to a different medium, I’d be much more willing to change things around, but would still insist my minority characters not change their identities. But I understand that as far as plot goes, different mediums call for different approaches. I’m planning on writing my comics as novels someday, and will be taking a much different approach to them. The plots will definitely be altered a great deal to better fit being written in prose.(edited)

AntiBunny

It honestly depends on what the changes were. There's a fair amount I'd change myself. A few core things I'd certainly not change though.

In AntiBunny http://AntiBunny.net/ for instance I could see some people missing the point of Penelope's character being a pacifist and wanting to make her some kind of badass, as if the only kind of strength there is comes from violence. I wouldn't remove the question of Pooky's gender, as in order to ask the question of "what is identity" I stripped Pooky of everything including even a mental construct of gender.

Some things I would change though. Likely I would cut the first two chapters and start at the 3rd when the plot actually gets moving. So demands for a faster flowing plot I could certainly meet. I'd probably cut few extra characters from the cast to streamline things a bit.

So yes for the purposes of streamlining things I'd make changes. I wouldn't make changes that would go against the entire point of the cahracters though.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Oh, a conversation in #general reminded me of something else regarding adapting Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R - If the comic is to be adapted with no changes at all, it'd be a legal nightmare. Off the top of my head, these are properties that have been directly stated in dialogue - - Yahtzee - Risk - Mario Kart - Settlers of Catan - Pokemon - Disney's Frozen I don't think you could technically get in trouble for any of those? It's not like anything copyrighted was shown on screen, it's just characters talking about things they've seen before. But a publisher would probably want to play it safe and avoid that. Also... the NFL might get mad at the publisher if the gang names in Cunoze City aren't changed? Like I don't ever say the team location, so technically full team names are never used... but again, it's probably best to play it safe.

Desnik

I'd be pretty flexible with changes, but if I have to take out demons to appeal to the Evangelical Christian states of America then obvs that's not going to work out

(And you wouldn't think that'd be a Thing to this day, but apparently it's been sort of this unspoken rule in book publishing since the Satanic Panic of the 80's in the US)

Some changes I'd be okay with: Adjusting ages of characters to appeal to target demographics, removing scenes that are difficult to draw, tweaking characters to be either more or less horrible depending on their role in the story

FeatheryJustice

I will be flexible to a point and the limit of this point is pretty align to my morals. If the editor tells me to include some weird things like "You must have a scene where this guy licks the curtains" I would also be like "What is the point of this scene."(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

“Your protagonist must fight a giant spider in the third act.”

Deo101 [Millennium]

I mean, if you bring up giant spiders in the first act... well...

Q (Wayfinders: Off Course)

Turn it around: if your protag must fight spiders in the third act, well, time to bring in the spiders in the first..?

AntiBunny

The more I think of it, the more I realize that the most likely thing I'd be asked to change in AntiBunny is to either tone down the violence and grimdark for kids, or make it even raunchier to appeal to the "mature" (not mature at all) animation market (Seth McFarlane's audience).

My own comic keeps it rather PG-13, but there's not much market for animation in that field, at least in America. Seems like it's all either kid friendly stories where no one dies or if they do it's off screen (people get shot and stabbed in my comic) or there's the opposite with dropping F bombs every other line and filling it with sex jokes.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Hey, I mean, never say never. Off the top of my head, Futurama and the Samurai Jack revival were both western cartoons that I'd put solidly in PG-13 territory. Both shows were able to go adult when they needed to be, but they didn't take that as a blank check to go into "rated R" territory for the shock of it.

#ctparchive #comic #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #creator babble #creator interview #comic creator interview #comic tea party #ctp

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galtak · 5 years

Text

You wanted war chapter 2

Juvia didn't conjecture this will occur to her, not after all she'd gone through in those several yore weeks, at last Juvia gain a place she belongs to, she did not explicitly planned to reach there, but Juvia didn't complain of how things turn out to be. After the exhausting journeys, lurking in the shadows of abandons building, and even after all that sometimes she and Gajeel were almost identified. Juvia couldn't control it, she fell in love with the first man she saw. Gray Fullbuster was a partisan in a group called Fairy Tail, and he was all she could dream and want in a man. He was thin but muscular with precise lines that defined the toughness of his abs, he was without a shirt even in the harsh winter of this northern forest.-30 degrees Celsius, maybe less. Gray was taller than she was, with piercing black eyes, sexy rebellious and shiny black hair. Even his personality suited him. He was like ice at first until he saved her. When they fought, he defeated her. With great difficulty, Juvia remarked after the battle. He confronted her as if she were equal to him as if he were seeing a man in the shape of a woman. He treated her like no other man had ever treated her. He saw her as someone without a difference because of her gender, Just the despise for someone in the uniform with that badge the whole world despised now. Blinded by the hatred, he didn't realize that she wasn't his enemy at first.

flashback

They were standing on the roof of a half-destroyed building. Juvia tried to explain to him, to talk to him, but all he saw was the uniform. The uniform of the Nazi's, the uniforms of those who almost killed him, but killed his community, his parents, those who seek to destroy all his people, those who torment the whole world with war and endless death. Juvia understood his heart or at least tried. The nuns always told her that "the key to a person's heart is the secret of his understanding." How could she understand the pain of destroying an entire minority nation, a community whose roots had been obliterated and buried in the depths of the earth? How could she know how it was to lose parents when she had never had parents?

In the course of the battle, however, the shots stopped because to the both of them the bullets had run out. Only the two of them remained with jagged daggers and knives hidden under layers of clothing. All of this happened in an ongoing struggle of willpower. She tried to stop him but not kill him though Gray wanted her dead. There on the ground, he wanted her blood on his hands. Gray managed to slide under her protections arms a fast fist into her upper abdomen, the air came out of her lungs, and Juvia fell to the floor in a massive noise. She tried to raise, one hand on the cracked asphalt floor and the other hand trying to attach what must have broken inside her. In a split of a second, he was already there holding her hands in his left hand. Gray grounded her legs to the soil with his own legs, and his other hand went up. She realized that he wanted to beat her to death, punch after punch because of who she had been until a few weeks ago, although Juvia had changed because of his people, because of what was in the document, because of her values, but mainly because of people like him who didn't deserve this horror.

In a moment of panic, Juvia looked him in the eye. They were dark black, gleaming in the bright sunlight through the fleecy clouds of snow. It was the emotion behind them that broke her. The ex-soldier could see his soul, crushed under the mask of cold and stiffness. She could see, even almost touching his pain. He was scarred by the experiences life had forced him through. The Man deal with all it but not without wounds that would accompany him for life. Before his hand hit her, she began to cry. Not because her pain, or because Juvia was probably going to die (even though the woman was sure she was going to die) but because of what he had absorbed, what this pointless war had cost him, what her people's greed and injustice had done to him. "I'm sorry," Juvia whispered, "I'm so sorry," she muttered again and again as tears came down from her eyes and deep wails of pain from the physical pain were out of control. Her lips trembled, but she kept saying those words. As if she were asking forgiveness for everyone who died, for everyone who was imprisoned and for everyone who survived and was irreversibly injured like the person before her.

Gray got off of her and grabbed his head. He was on his knees, and in this state, he looked like a child trying to stop the tears from falling down. "Do not say that!" He snapped at her sharply, "You have no right to ask me for forgiveness, not after ... not after all your people have done to me!" Juvia took the opportunity to get up and placed her head to the floor. "You're right," she rustled quietly to the ground, hoping he would hear her. "I have no right to ask for forgiveness, but it will not stop me from disapproving what my people had you go through and what you have lost because of it." Juvia hoped it would be enough, but the guy seemed to want more information because he asked, this time his voice was a little more composed. "You talk as if you didn't have a part in it, what do you mean?" Juvia gulped hard and tried to describe briefly but as detailed as possible what her part in the war was and why she is here precisely now. "My job was to gather information, I was a spy, and as you can understand, I was a good mole because I ran into an envelope that was listed on Germany's plans for the Jewish problem." Juvia heard his teeth creak and continued. She understood him because she was angry too. "I was disgusted and hated my own country and the people of mine, I ran away or deserted if that what you wanted to call it. I took vital information with me. I and someone else tried to cross the border to get to the opposing army, but the Nazi army sent pictures of us to all the stations as wanted. This is why we needed to enter the forest and try to cross the border. You caught us unprepared and now we are on the roof of a half-destroyed building because of it."

If it were every other day, Juvia would laugh from the irony that she deserted from the Nazi army only to be killed by a Jew or the building could collapse at any moment and kill them both. If the guy wanted to ask something else, he didn't have time because the building did collapse. Juvia heard Gajeel shouting in her name, and a firm arm lifted her on his shoulder suddenly. In seconds she was on a pile of snow, and the Jewish boy was panting. "Thank you," she told him, but the boy disregarded her. "We'll go to the master so you will present him your information," he stated, remarking that it was as self-evident. Juvia felt his hands doing something over her and blushed. Dirty thoughts invaded her mind. When he got up and told her to follow Juvia finally understood what he had done. This guy tied her hands with a thread. She realized Gray was taking her as a prisoner.

It was not long before they reached HQ or rather a forest's clearing where there were several tents and fire in the center next to it, some women laughing and talking among themselves. A large pot hung over the bubbling fire, and a blond girl with ample breast who had been seen through a thick winter coat stirred in slow turns inside the iron ladle. A girl with gray-white hair like snow on the ground nodded encouragingly. From one of the tents came a tiny girl who looked no older than 13 years old with light blue hair and simple warm clothes. There were large papers in her hands that looked like maps. Even from a distance, Juvia could see the bruises that had turned blue on her cheeks and neck. A few people gathered together around a large figure and kicked it cheerfully. Juvia saw black hair and silver sparkle in the cold sun. All her senses awaked at once even her own injuries didn't matter anymore. The thread was no longer an issue, Juvia's captor was startled as she moved without notice or sign, Juvia launched herself speedily and accurately into the area of the men. Juvia advanced inside while she was stepping on someone. She half-stood half sat there with her hands tied and a rigid expression written all over her face. She was mama-bear protecting her cub.

"If you dare lay a hand on one of his hairs, I swear to you that you will meet a ground before you can say Nazis stinks." Juvia threatened through her teeth, and her eyes shone with determination. Most of the boys stumbled back except for a pink-haired fellow with a strange scarf and an idiotic smile on his face. "Oh? I'm looking forward to it" He grinned at her mockingly. He seemed to be about to progress towards her and Juvia was ready to rip him off with her bare teeth, but before the situation proceeded into a physical fight, her captor stood beside her. How did he get here without her notice? Juvia cursed her ability at surroundings awareness. He said something to the guy with the absurd pink hair. The guy with the absurd pink hair moved, and Gray retook her thread and began to drag her toward one of the tents, but instead of coming silently with him like before, Juvia remained rooted to her place, glancing at anyone who dared to look at Gajeel wrongly. She heard an exaggerated sigh and then a voice she'd learned to recognize recently announced. "If anyone who touches that guy he will have to deal with the master." Silence had passed through the camp. Juvia gave her captor a grateful glance that he disregarded it again and tugged her toward the tent where the short girl had exited from.

They went into the master's tent. Guns and maps lay everywhere. Books were stacked beside one of the chairs. Papers rested on a shaky desk, and a miniature man of about 60 years old looked at them with furrowing appearance. "Master," Gray declared their presence."I brought a prisoner. This soldier says she has valuable information." You could hear his disbelief dripping from his voice, and the venom of his voice blended with Juvia's blood as if he were trying to kill her slowly with words instead of his hands. Juvia favored his fists than whose venom-like deadly words. The Master looked at her. She felt a shiver run through her. The presence and the aura surrounding him were unbridled, beyond creation. This old, wrinkled man can overcome Hitler by sheer force of mind. Juvia saw it in his core. What he saw in her eyes made him drop his defense and send her captor, now named Gray out of the tent.

Without objection and only with a scowl on his face Gray went out, Juvia remained helplessly tied in the office of a master of a specific armed force. "Child," he said in a powerful but a tender voice. "Introduce yourself." "Juvia lockser, a former individual spy from SS, the rain woman from deep depths." The spy saw him shot his eyebrows up twice at the sound of her nickname and the word former. "Why the former?" He asked fascinated. Great, Juvia thought. She had to win his trust. "My co-worker and I deserted the Nazi army a few weeks ago because some information that happened to fall into my laps." She thought of the gas chambers and stoves the size of human bodies. Jews forced to carry the bodies of their loved ones, their people, children and old people while suffering from malnutrition conditions and taken any self-identity away from them. Perhaps the Master, as Gray called him, saw the disgust in her features, nodded at her, and ordered her to continue with a small hand gesture. "In the last few weeks we have tried to reach the opposing troops, but without success. Our identity pictures were sent to all the bases, and in less than a week we were known throughout the war and checkpoints. There was No Nazi soldier would not recognize us. Despairingly we tried to enter this unoccupied forest with the intention of trying to contact the other side of the border and provide necessary information to the Allies. On the way they encountered your men and they ambushed us and defeated us but also saved our lives from the building collapse at the border of the forest." He looked at her thoughtfully.

"After you've seen our camp location, I can't let you continue on your journey." the knowledge hit her Juvia, her journey will end here, but that doesn't mean her war effort will stop. If Juvia will play her cards right, but she had to demonstrate her ability accurately. Juvia perceived that in order to win his favors she would have to share all her deepest secrets and draw calculated conclusions that years of training had given her. Juvia realized it was a traveling camp; the tents were wrinkled with folds. They didn't have an ample supply of trees and didn't dig holes in the ground. In the best case, they will stay here for a week, and in the worst case at night they will move elsewhere. "The army will not catch you even if I will tell them your location. You'll be someplace else by then". She said calmly. It must have been a test she had passed because he slowly applauded her. The Master foresaw it coming. "Wonderful information gathering. Do you've learned Something else about us at this time?" the Mater urged. "You are a small fighting force without any support, without knowledge about your existing concerning both sides of the war. You are about 50 people, at least a quarter of whom are women, and it is clear that most of your fighters don't have military training. Your data about the course of the war is lacking. You, the master, carefully choose your battles." Except for Gray, she thought, from her experience with him she knew he had military training."You were a police captain before the war. The Ladies here have no training or survival knowledge, and I almost convinced that the blonde girl is from a luxurious family and I guess that she is German but not Nazi. You don't have much ammunition, and your defenses are meager, but determined warriors are compensating for this." She finished. The Master stared at her in amazement. "you are well trained." the tiny man stated in awe. Juvia nodded and held herself a little straighter. Pleased that she is beginning to prove herself to him. "One last thing," he said. "What information did you desired to bring to the Allies?" "I have a map of all the defects in the Nazi's borders." Juvia felt the map in her pocket. She glanced at the side of her left trouser leg. The Master's eyes gleamed. "Most vital information. I believe I didn't introduce myself properly, Makarov Dreyer." Juvia's eyes widened at the name. The Polish legend. The captain of the police department in Warsaw before the occupation. The only one who had managed to escape but not before he killed about twenty Nazi soldiers on his way out. "As you assumed, we are a group of warriors who are fighting without consent for the Allies and attacking the German army when it is not prepared. Call our group, the truth that we are more than a family than the militant group. We are Fairy Tail." "Would you like to join us?" He asked with a grin on his face when he saw Juvia's reluctant nod. She was shocked that the circumstances had turned so radically. A moment ago she was captive and now offer her what she wanted! A chance to help the war end and perhaps even to play a significant part in the overthrow of the country that once she called home. Without thinking she spilled out the words. "Can Gajeel join too?" The Master chuckled, and Juvia grinned bashfully.

flashback

At this moment, Juvia sat around the blazing bonfire, her hands stretching out to the heat. Her eyes were unconsciously drawn to a man sitting two campfires away. The campfires were not significantly large or even enough for the number of people around them, and Juvia's chest was still warmer than any other place she had been. With a loud rattle, Juvia accomplished to divide her eyes from the bare-chested Partisan. Juvia studied the closest thing she has to a brother, an unyielding expression of determination on his face, his lips were like if he had sewed them himself. Next to him set two men, who remained hostile-eyed toward him and a blue-haired girl staring at a spot of land near the fire, the isolated location that grass was poking through the white blanket of snow. The spy in Juvia screamed in her subconscious to extinguish the flames so the smoke wouldn't disclose their location, but the master stated it was all right, only for a few minutes of heat before dark, numbing night.

Juvia thought about the developments of the few past days in astonishment, she has some friends now, she belongs to an admirable-causes' group, her best friend is here with her, she has love object (even though he have no knowledge of her feelings and probably will not return her feelings). The only thing that prevents her from savoring those moments is that in this second there are dozens of camps that murder thousands of Jew indiscriminately. That was the principal reason her smile didn't reach her eyes, although another reason for her condition is that Gajeel isn't willing to apologize. The day before Natsu (she had learned the name of the stupid pink-haired guy) and Gray had assaulted them, Gajeel ran into the cerulean-haired girl, Levi, and assumed she was the enemy. He had injured her, not seriously, or killed her (like how he usually did while they were in the army), but the purple bruises danced on her face and neck, piercing out in front of her fair skin and snow. Juvia bent approaching Gajeel, whose hair was a few inches longer than the military haircut that was always on his head. The red in his eyes didn't stop menacing people. "Nothing will happen if you apologize. No one will think less of you, in truth, I think they appreciate that." She murmured to his ears alone. "I know you're sorry about the whole incident." Gajeel didn't respond, except that his lips hardened, he stood abruptly and marched briskly to the edge of the grounds.

A silhouette sat beside her instead of Gajeel, she saw an exposed skin, her face became flushed uncontrollably. 'You are a soldier' her mind told her 'act like one,' however the speed of her pulse didn't slow down, and the heat in her cheeks only got dangerously red. "I owe you an apology." A rich, low, familiar voice spoke. 'Gray,' the thought of him sitting near her, the idea of him coming here mainly to converse with her dizzied all her wits. Juvia gazed at him disoriented, one reason was that she couldn't think clearly with him so near her, and the second reason was the word she was able to recognize, 'sorry, why should he ask her forgiveness?' "Juvia doesn't follow you," she replied in a voice that was too faint to be her own. "About all your injuries and on the way I behaved in our first encounter." Gray stated, and Juvia could see that it was difficult for him to acknowledge it. She welcomed the intention, but she couldn't accept his apology, she doesn't deserve it. Juvia knows she had to suffer for what her nation did to his family, his hometown, and to the people that share the same religion as he. Juvia will willing accept any punishment for that deed. If she ever received a death sentence for the sins of her nation caused, Juvia would carry it gracefully and walk straight to her destination. "You don't ought to apologize, Juvia earns those injuries." She looked back at the fire. Red, orange and yellow swirled together, like snakes wrapping around each other trying to beat the others first. A sweaty hand rested on her small back, right where the torn part of the shirt Lucy had lent her. The uniform aroused too many problems and distress to the camp. The heat from him was unnatural, everyone else was freezing and not radiating with heat, instead of stealing her heat like some other people, Gray give her heat. "The Master told me everything, you deserve none of it ... and that's what I'm sorry about." There were silence and flames danced again.

" A minute to extinguish campfires" someone called in the distance, Natsu complained to Lucy in a childish cry. "Just .." Gray continued, not to accept Juvia's silence as an answer. " when I saw the uniform and..." "You've lost your temper," Juvia has completed his sentence, "don't worry Gray-Sama, Juvia understands." Juvia felt the hand parted from her and sensed his weight neglect the long log they had been sitting on. For the last time, Juvia looked at his face. His lips stretched into a thin line, 'almost a smile' she thought. What a magnificent view. "extinguish all the bonfires in camp!" the same voice from a minute ago called. The rustle of the legs and the 'bzzzz' sound of fire met snow was heard all over the camp.

At night in every hour someone watched over the camp and when Juvia's turn arrived the moon was glowing at its fullness. The brilliant light almost shines through the trees. Bewildered by the beautiful site Juvia almost fail to catch the soft sound of footsteps slowly creeping closer toward her. In a split of a second, her hand went to the knife hidden in her right thigh. She was pushed into a snow-covered tree, Juvia's back bumped softly against the rock-like trunk, it felt like someone protected her from the full blow. "Good instincts, sharp reflexes but intoxicated by pretty things" the low-raw voice that often visits her dreams said. Gray was looking on her knife pressed against his neck. "you can let the knife lose, I'm not going to hurt you" Gray whisper, but Juvia only held it tighter. "Juv.. I don't think so. even though Gray know I no longer a Nazi, for you I still a German." Gray laugh at that, like her terror isn't reasonable nor expected, like he will never hurt her in the middle of the night without any witnesses, he laughed like he never even thought of it. "don't fear me" he whispered sensually. His breath tingling Juvia's nose and a shiver run throw her bones. Before she could understand what was happening his lips devours hers and her knife fall to the ground. His big warm hand held her face and Juvia melt into the feeling. Her arms wrapped uncontrolled around his neck, her eyes closed, small moans escaped her throat when Gray moved his other hand to grab her round butt. On instincts alone, Juvia's legs encircled Gray's hips. Gray start humping back and forth, crashing all his weight into her. A sharp cry came out of her when their groins connected for the first time. Gray growled deeply and continued with all his might. Suddenly someone at the remote call Juvia's name and just like how fast it started, its end. Juvia walked confused to the lookout point to exchange shift with Lucy, wondering what the hell just happened and what she could do to make it happen again.

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innuendostudios · 6 years

Video

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The newest installment of The Alt-Right Playbook: Mainstreaming. If you like this series, or my other work, and want to see more of the same, consider backing me on Patreon.

Transcript below the cut.

Say, for the sake of argument, there’s this acclaimed science fiction writer and essayist who’s writing his memoir in the late 80’s. I’m gonna drop the pretense right now and say his name is Samuel R. Delany, he’s been namedropped on this channel before and he probably will be again because he’s my favorite writer. Delany’s writing about his experience as a young gay man in the late 50’s/early 60’s - that is, nearly a decade before Stonewall - and he opts to share a couple of anecdotes, which I will relate to you now.

One is about a time when he decided to come out to his therapy group. While being gay in mid-century New York brought Delany a lot of joy, he found himself describing his life to the group as though being gay were something he was trying to fix. By reflex, he presented himself as lonely and ashamed, though, in reality, he was neither. And, while he did eventually describe himself more accurately, he can’t help but muse, in the book, on the limits of language at the time.

Back then, the word “gay” was explicitly associated with high camp and effeminacy, where Delany is more of a bear, a term that was not yet in common usage. The default term was “homosexual,” which was then a medical classification for what was deemed a mental disorder. “Queer” and the f-word were still slurs that had yet to be reappropriated. So, while all the words to describe himself were, technically, available, they all carried the connotations of the most popular narrative about gay men: that they were isolated, aberrant, and pitiable.

Another story is about Delany being present for a police raid at a truck stop where queer men would meet for casual hookups. By the nature of being hidden in the bushes or secreted between parked semi trailers, any man in attendance could see the men nearest to him, but none could get a view of the whole. But, during the raid, from his vantage point, Delany saw, for the first time, the size of the entire crowd, and was shocked to see nearly a hundred men empty out of the parking lot to evade the cops. In the morning, the police blotter mentioned only the handful of men who’d been arrested, and not the 80 or 90 who got away.

Both of these stories are about how the dominant narrative of the isolated gay man becomes self-reinforcing: A constant threat of police violence meant gay men stayed hidden from the cops and, consequently, from each other. And the terminology of the era being mostly dictated by straight people made it very hard to talk about queerness without reinforcing their narrative.

Delany argues that, among the most revolutionary things the 60’s did to culture, was the radicalization of language - redefining old terms and popularizing new ones - and giving marginalized groups a budding sense of their numbers. In short, two of the most powerful tools for making any marginalized group less marginalized are Language and Visibility.

Folks, we’re talking today about Mainstreaming, the process by which a group or idea from the fringes of society moves towards the center. How strangers become neighbors and how thoughts become common sense. There is a concept known as the Overton Window, which I am not going to describe because plenty of people have done so already - link in the down there part - but, in short: as a fringe group becomes more visible, and their language becomes commonplace, their presence in society starts to seem normal. They become demystified. Some people who thought they were strange and threatening will start to warm up to them, though this does not happen across the board. Many who hated them when they were fringe will see their becoming mainstream as a kind of existential occupation of territory, as in “If this is normal now, what does that make me?”

But much of what is considered standard in society today has gone through this process.

Now, straight folks like myself often think that greater queer visibility and the proliferation of queer language is for our benefit; if our queer friends feel safe coming out to us and we know which words we should and shouldn’t use, it makes it easier for straights and queer folks to be pals! And it is true that no one gets mainstreamed without advocates in the existing mainstream, but let’s not beat around the bush: Language and Visibility are tools of consolidating power. Visibility means having a sense of your numbers. Common language means forming alliances. You get a bunch of formerly isolated gay men connecting with each other and accurately describing their experiences, you’ve got yourself a movement, with or without straight friends.

This is why it’s to the benefit of straight society to tell queer men they are isolated, because isolated queer men are in no position to make demands.

(Just so it doesn’t get left out of yet another conversation, Delany is writing about gay men because the book is a memoir and that’s his experience, but neither he nor I are ignoring that the Gay Rights movement was kicked off by trans women.)

Okay!

While the example I’m using is a positive one that any progressive worth their salt should be in favor of, mainstreaming is a morally neutral phenomenon. Culture is plastic. Any fringe group or idea can become normalized, regardless of its inherent worth. And, for a certain subset of extremely online people with fringe beliefs, who understand the ways mainstreaming has evolved in the attention economy, it can be a weapon.

We need to ask how a group of predominantly disgruntled twenty- and thirtysomething white men congregating on anonymous imageboards becomes a political movement, whose members get profiled in the New York Times, whose writing patterns are recognized by most of the internet, and whose figureheads get staffed in the White House. Where did the Alt-Right come from?

Mainstreaming is not a wholly organic process, because usually the people who get mainstreamed are actively working to become so. But people usually have only so much control over how and how fast this happens: A group expands its language and visibility; if this leads to larger numbers and greater mainstream acceptance, the process repeats, this time with a bigger group and a bigger audience; so long as there is growth, each cycle is more impactful, as the bigger a group is the faster it gets even bigger and the more common language becomes the faster it proliferates.

By all rights, if your beliefs are wildly unpopular, this process shouldn’t work. Your language and visibility don’t expand because too many people don’t want to talk like you or about you. So what do you do then? Well, normally, you either give up or bide your time, but, if you have a lot of media literacy and no real moral compass, you get it done dirty.

If the media doesn’t want to cover you, make yourself newsworthy. Threaten to publicly out immigrants in front of a crowd. Start a hoax about white student unions. Lead a white power rally and leave the hoods at home. Do the kinds of things that journalists cannot, in good conscience, ignore. Once you’ve made yourself news, they’ll feel they can’t publish a condemnation without getting your side of the story, so, bam, you’ve got an interview. The more erratic and dangerous you seem, the more they’ll want to write a profile so people can figure you out; the article about how surprisingly normal you seem in person basically writes itself. If you want to spread a conspiracy theory, send it to a small, local news site that doesn’t have the resources to fact check you; once they publish something salacious, all the bigger news channels will have to talk about it, if only to debunk it. Put provocative stuff in front of politicians; anything they retweet has to be news. In a pinch, you can always piggyback off a famous activist by making takedown videos, or, if you’re really ambitious, harass someone at a conference.

Everyone’s desperate for clicks. If you can generate them, you’ll get your message out.

If nobody’s adopting your language, adopt it for them. Make sure you and all your friends each have half a dozen fake Twitter accounts spamming the same terminology at everyone who discusses race, gender, orientation, or ability. Put every Jewish name in parentheses until everyone on the internet knows what that means whether they want to or not. Hell, don’t even do it yourself: Russia’s not the only one who can make bots. Make thousands of bots. And make sure your real account, your fake accounts, and your bots all talk the same so no one can tell the difference anymore. Make hashtags and get them trending all by yourself, and, while you’re at it, spam all the hashtags for movements you hate with porn and gore so they can’t be used. And if your words and memes still aren’t popular? Just steal words and memes that are already popular. Just decide “this? this means white power now,” “this is antifeminist now.” Saturate the web with your new usage, always insisting that you’re doing it “ironically,” while eroding confidence in anyone who uses these words in the original sense. And never stop insisting that most everyone would talk the same as you if there weren’t so much damn censorship.

Delany’s experience was having few words to describe himself that could conjure images of a gay man in a loving community. What the Alt-Right does is shout “you just call everyone you don’t like Nazis” while their people are giving interviews wearing Nazi paraphernalia; they even imply that calling dudes marching to the tune of “Jews will not replace us” Nazis is somehow antisemitic. Meanwhile they ask to be called identitarians and race realists. They want to stigmatize words that conjure images of white fascism - which, again, they very explicitly support - and replace them with words that conjure images of clean-cut philosophy majors.

And where Delany saw a group of 80 or 90 gay men reported in the papers as a group of 4 or 5, the Alt-Right wants to get reported as being much larger than it actually is. They want to draw attention to themselves by any means necessary, up to and including violence, but to ensure that, any time the cameras train on a violent act, there is a man in a suit ready to distance himself from it; to paint the picture that, but for a few bad actors, this is a peaceful movement of young, presentable intellectuals.

This isn’t simply a battle between different ideologies, this is a battle over the definition of normal. The Alt-Right knows how plastic culture can be. Their anger comes from the normalization of things they hate, and their movement exists because they believe anything that becomes mainstream can be made fringe again. Which is why, if you wanna cater to them, you promise to reassert old norms.

Much as we’d like to believe people are driven by morality, most people are driven by the desire to be normal. And when the news is filled with images of swastikas, iron crosses, and tiki torches, the guy in the suit with the fashy haircut looks pretty normal by comparison. And that’s why he wears the suit.

Thankfully, the plasticity of culture cuts both ways. Just as surely as we can lose all the ground we’ve gained over the last half-century, everything the Alt-Right does to make itself palatable can be undone. (In fact, it’s maybe beginning to happen.) It’s going to be a long road that will probably require changes to how media platforms generate traffic and a lot of new politicians. But I want you to keep a phrase close to your heart: this is not normal.

That phrase has become something of a mantra since the election in 2016. It can be misused: white supremacy, sexism, and every other kind of bigotry are part of the fabric of American life and always have been, so, even if this is more extreme than the ushe, it’s not by nearly as much as most privileged people like to think. So I want you to treat it less like an observation and more as a statement of intent. Whatever shit the Alt-Right pulls, I want you to say: this is not normal; this is not normal; this is not normal.

We will not let this be normal.

#video essay #the alt-right playbook #alt-right

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lsmithart · 3 years

Text

** CAMP Artist Talk: Phoebe Boswell 18/02/21

Phoebe Boswell, The Matter of Memory, 2014

Talk Notes

https://www.phoebeboswell.com/

A tutor told her - “You make work to fill a hole, the difficulty is trying to figure out what that hole is.”

Care as antidote, the future as hope.

We are memory and earth and freedom and hope.

We are speculative and nuanced.

Art making as ritual practice, liberal practice, a safety valve.

‘Acadia’ - a discontinued term - a man seized by this emotion who is disgusted. Coined by a monk

How we see each other / how we fail to see each other.

Multidisciplinary artist

Part of CAMP’s series relating to resilience and care.

Zanzibar - where her parents live - charcoal and paint drawings of fisherman - their fishing livelihoods are now heavily affected by tourism, over fishing and climate change. These fisherman were descendants of slaves.

“How will you practice freedom today?”

Rights, representation, labour, activism, precarity. Not intrinsic to life, something that can be taken away, perverted.

Work:

Cluster - Eye, Rapture/Rupture, A Broken Heart, New Moon. Looped video projections, Medical imaging, 2018.

Ythlaf, looped video, 2018.

Transit Terminal, charcoal and carbon on constructed box plinths, 2014.

The Eye series, pencil on paper, 2018.

Performative | Black | Square, instagram posts, June 2 2020.

There is Peace There, charcoal and pastel on paper (diptych with cutouts), 2018.

For There Is Softness There, charcoal and pastel on paper, 2018.

And I Can Cry There, 2018.

And We Can Laugh…, 2018.

Untitled (from Take Me to the Lighthouse), 2018.

Matatizo, 2015.

The Matter of Memory, installation, 2014 - recreated her grandmother’s living room and filled it with narratives that explore familial love and the trauma entrenched in history. Born in Kenya. Born as a result of an urge to go home but didn’t know what home was. Neither Kenya or England. Did have her parent’s memories of home. Recorded both parents talking about their childhood. Unliniearity of human existence. Made small drawings, tiny animations and sculptures in response to these recounting. Each chair has each of the parents speaking with her speaking over the top repeating their words, taking ownership of the stories.

We care for the stories that we tell.

Importance and profoundness of stories that define our existence.

Medium, how we tell stories and how things can be reinterpreted. Intimacy and scale. You can only see certain projections from certain places in the installation, e.g. from sitting in the chair with her father’s voice.

Always a wound and a projection of animated flies onto the wound.

Made drawings based on family photographs of new formations of family members that had never met. Rewriting and remaking memories, right things that were wrong. Using work as a process of healing.

Mutumia (working drawings), 2016. An ode to women who have used their bodies as a form of protest. Used real women as models for the drawings. Shame, sisterhoods, resilience. 30 minute looped animation - took 9 months to make. Pencil and paper animations. Inside the floor was a series of hidden sensors that triggered different sound tracks. This work featured in the Venice Biennale. People were encouraged to draw and write with charcoal in the installation. It became a chaotic work which changed completely as a result of the interaction by the audience.

‘Food for the spirits’ - What does it mean to stand in your own body as an author of yourself? Based from Adrian Piper’s self-portrait series when he isolated herself over a period of time and documented it.

Who are we and how do we give ourselves agency?

Had a significant trauma where she lost the sight in her eye and had a mini heart attack. Made work as a result collaborating with another artist, self-indulgent work which was healing in a wider context. Everyday she would photograph herself in the morning however she was feeling and that would be the drawing of the day. She drew these in a gallery space everyday over a period of 3 weeks. Drawn in soft willow charcoal - wanted it to be as fragile as she felt. Notions of trust interwoven. Cathartic experience where she had to see herself in all moods. Kept having memories back to a photograph of her when she was child so started drawing her as a child in order to engage in dialogue with her younger self. Made her realise what art can be and what it can do in relation to trauma.

Received the British School at Rome residency at the Slade School of Art (2019). Working in a space that was built on colonialism, she started examining what it means to make black work in white spaces. How to speak truthfully about black experience. Contemplated instead what whiteness was, how it functions, what it was afraid of and why it was afraid. Thought about how whiteness permeates archives and history. Got quite bored quickly of drawing the white, male body. Learnt of 3 black male deaths that had been reported in Italy, created work in response to how they were reported by in Italian press. The drawings change depending on how they are viewed/engaged with (i.e. light, colour). Three drawings: I See You / I.C.U [Rest in Power, Pateh Sabally], 2019; Wake Work I / Chiuere, You Are Loved / Wake Work II [Rest in Power, Emmanuel Chidi Namdi], 2019; Sing, Beloveds, Scream, Be Loud, Remembert, We Were Never Meant to Survive [Rest in Power, Idy Diene], 2019 - Took flower pots from the fountain where Idy was shot and smashed them in the gallery space.

What happens when you perform erasure? Abstraction through colour and tone; sometimes the work was not visible at all depending on the light and it was only a black square that appeared visible.

PLATFORM, moving image public work in situ at Lancy Bachet Railway Station, Geneva, 2020. I AM - every time someone disappears, their sentence appears and lingers beyond when they sentence disappears.

Thinking about the sacred bond between the artist and subject. The eco system of care, how often careless the art world can be, how we cope with the way in which art feeds into capitalism.

Question: What are we willing to lose?

Q&A:

She grew up naive about the systems and structures in place in terms of race and gender. She didn’t know how she would be perceived in England until she got here.

Belief systems - why do we believe things? The spirit world? What makes us believe this?

Navigating the middle space is sometimes difficult.

Reflection:

This was a truly inspiring and lovely artist talk. I resonated with Phoebe Boswell's work so much and found the way in which she presented her work and the talk itself incredibly poetic. Boswell's drawing talents are truly phenomenal and her ability to translate her practice through different mediums is brilliant. This was my first CAMP artist talk and I am so glad that I attended. The opportunity to ask questions at the end helped make the talk even more personalised. I was particularly interested in her installation work 'The Matter of Memory' (2014) as it resonated with me greatly in the context of my degree show practical project due to the similarities between mine and the Boswell's need to explore identity through the exploration and recounting of personal histories. There was an opportunity to enter a competition to win a tutorial and portfolio review with one of the CAMP visiting artists, Phoebe Boswell being one of them. Unfortunately my name wasn't drawn out of the hat, however I do feel that the talk itself was thorough enough for me to have learned enough about the installation itself and the level of detail that went into creating it. Boswell truly thought of everything, from tiny animations in teacups, to replicating her grandmother's living room. This was my favourite artist talk to date. (Smith, 2021)

References:

Boswell, P., (2014). The Matter of Memory. [Online]. Available at https://www.phoebeboswell.com/the-matter-of-memory. [Accessed on 05/03/2021].

Smith, L. (2021). Creating and Professional Development Folder: CAMP Artist Talk: Phoebe Boswell. p.132.

#303

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bts-love-sweat-tears · 7 years

Text

The Seven, Part 1

Title: The Seven, Part 1

Pairing: BTS x Reader (you are Snow!)

Type: Fairytale!au, Fluff, Angst

Rating: PG-13 (still no smut, but there might be more language and other themes, like depression and references to sexual situations later on)

Word Count: 2, 860

A/N: So it’s midnight, and I’m exhausted. I had my finance final today, so hopefully I can move on from the stress this class has been giving me. Keep your collective fingers crossed for good results! I haven’t edited so please let me know if it’s stilted. I love receiving asks or messages! Thanks to @dianas-world for being a sounding board, and making me realize that this is the second fic I’ve written featuring a blogger character lol! I wonder what the underlying cause is? :)

Snow’s POV

I slipped quietly down the hall, trying not to disturb my stepmother, who was filming a vlog for her fashion blog, Mirror, Mirror. Everyday she would post photos of her “#ootd” and wait for the comments and likes to roll in. She also did videos of her morning makeup routines and product reviews. I was somewhat in awe of her ability to create a community and become an influencer in that sphere. I mean, companies sent her (expensive!) free stuff all the time. It was true that she was very beautiful and very fashionable, but I worried what would happen if she even stopped blogging, or god forbid, lost popularity. She was reliant on external validation, sometimes taking posts down if they didn’t receive a certain amount of likes or comments that she had deemed necessary.

The blog had become even more important to her since my father died. She had always been kind to me before his death, but things were different now. I didn’t think she was fake, but rather that his death had depressed her and her outlook on life. Things were a little stilted betweens us-she and my father had been married only a short time before he passed away in a freak accident. Her blog was filled with positive reminders of the network she had and the people who supported her. I could hardly blame her. I always tried to like her photos and to leave positive comments on the blog. Maybe she thought it didn’t count since we were legally family, but I wanted to bond with her or try to be on good terms.

My mother had been a professor of Caribbean and West Indian literature, constantly trying to better understand the culture she had left behind. My mother had died when I was around 7 or 8, so I missed her, but in a more muted way. I had memories of her reading stories to me, giving each character a different voice, but other than that the memories were hazy. My father was the one who had raised me from that point out, taking me on adventures, watching action movies together, and yes, playing tea time with my dolls and me. Losing him had broken something inside of me that seemed permanent.

My father had been an environmental scientist, focusing on snowfall rates and snowcap melting rates. had moved to this country for his work. He had spent time in various mountain camps out west, frequently telling me stories of one his favorite places in the whole world. While I was grossed out by this story, I was conceived in one of those mountain camps, and born during one of the biggest snowfalls on record, ever. Thus, my name. He had always promised that he would take me to one of these ecological camps when I graduated high school but fate had taken that chance away from us. I was determined to student environmental science in university, when I went in a few months.

Hearing my stepmother in the other room brought me back to the present. I had been on my way to the kitchen and decided to bring her some juice as a peace offering. Our apartment overall was nice, but her office had the professional photography lights, and different props to create flawless pictures. When she saw me, she smiled.

“I was just about to do my Outfit of the Day post…do you want to be my ‘featured guest’?”

I shrugged and smiled. I wasn’t dressed up in any particular way, wearing leggings and one of my dad’s old flannel shirts, which came down to my knees. But if she was offering this olive branch, then I was sure as hell taking it. I just wanted us to live peacefully together until I went away to college. She arranged the cameras, and set up the lighting. Half an hour later, she had taken enough different shots and angles of the both of us to fill multiple blogs. I knew that she would only pick one though. I smiled at her, and went back to whatever I was doing in my room. I don’t recall what it was, since what happened next changed our entire relationship, and possibly my future, forever.

The photo she selected was good (she had mad photography and editing skills), but it blew up more than she could have ever expected, with the most comments and likes she had ever received. People said that I was radiant, my skin “golden” or “glowing,” and wanted to know my skincare routine (soap? moisturizer? I didn’t really have any secrets to share, not to mention the fact that most of it was Photoshop). Other commenters raved about my “girl next door” grungy style, and asked where I shopped. Others still were asking that I be a regular on her blog or start my own. There were thousands of others, and honestly for someone who didn’t have or necessarily want a blog and the following attention, it was all a bit overwhelming.

My stepmother was even more overwhelmed. She had featured me to show that she could be casual and “down to earth,” and I had inadvertently stolen her thunder. She was used to being the star of the show, and rightly so on a blog that she put so much effort, attention, and love into. She was used to people calling her beautiful, glowing, and radiant. My presence and popularity possibly reminded her that she was not alone at the center of the universe, and it was painful.There were no fights or blow-ups after that, just a quiet withdrawal from me. It got to the point where the things left unsaid were so unwieldy that we would literally tip toe around each other, waiting for the other to go to bed or leave the house before the other would go into the kitchen.

After finally accepting that this was how the relationship would be until I went away to school, I came home from my part time job a few weeks later, and found a letter on the table. It was from somewhere in the western mountains, inviting me to come and work as an environmental assistant in a national park. I hadn’t contacted them, but it seemed that whoever was offering the job had known my father previously. The way it was positioned on the table (already opened too, indicating that my stepmother had opened it, knew the contents and left it there) made it clear that I was no longer welcome in the house. It was just a building, but it held the few memories I had of my mother, not to mention the many good years with my father. The start date was in a week, meaning I would have to pack up the loose ends of my life quickly, not that there was much left for me here.

A week later

So I had said, being all emo, that “there wasn’t much left” for me back home, but now that I was looking down the cabin where I would be spending the summer, I realized that there were a lot of things. Like air-conditioning, wi-fi, and running water in the house, for instance. My dad had always romanticized his time in the woods, but now, I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to relive his experience. The sunrise over the mountains had been ethereal and beautiful, but was it worth a summer of cold showers in an outhouse? The park ranger, a woman in her mid-forties, lived a few miles down the road in a cosy house with all of the amenities (namely, wi-fi), but was currently showing the cabin that I would be staying in. What she had failed to mention, was that I would be sharing a cabin. All of the park facilities were gender-neutral, but it just so happened that I was the only female intern for the summer. There were seven other “very nice boys,” she assured me, who were all out doing their work for the day. Despite the lack of modern conveniences, the cabin is small, and clean, with a main living area with large windows, a kitchen, and one large bedroom with four sets of bunkbeds lining the walls. It was small, but With the tour of the cabin lasting approximately all of three minutes, the park ranger said her goodbyes, and left me to my own devices. Namely, taking a nap on the first bunk I came across. They all had different blankets, pillows and personal effects, but one was spotlessly clean, and neatly made. I assumed that was mine and landed facedown, asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

Used to the uncomfortable silence of my home, I jolted awake as soon as I heard the key in the latch, and experienced that fleeting moment of panic when you wake up in a strange place. I quickly closed my eyes again, still feeling overwhelmed and not ready to face seven new roommates. I heard them shuffle in. Luckily, I was a good actress, and was able to stay still when a gasp sounded in the doorway of the bedroom.

“YAHHHH, WHO IS IN MY BED?” A loud, fake whisper came from someone who was clearly agitated. “How can she sleep in someone else’s bed, and in OUTSIDE CLOTHES!” Another gasp. My presence was already an affront to everything this person stood for, apparently, and we hadn’t even met officially yet. Clearly, my guess about this being the free bunk was incorrect.

“Hyung, calm down,” a bored sounding voice drawled. “She’s probably exhausted, not that I blame her. I wish I could have stayed here all day....” A sense of longing came through, even though I couldn’t see the speakers face or gauge his body language.

An authoritative voice, clearly the leader of the group said, “Leave her be. We can do our introductions and sort out this misunderstanding later, Jin-hyung,” he said, clearly trying to calm the original speaker. “Let’s get dinner ready as a proper introduction, and wake her in an hour or so.”

I heard footsteps as they drifted away, and assumed I was in the clear when a warm body shifted on the small twin mattress next to me. I let out a small squeak at the sudden closeness.

“You’re a shit actor, you know that?” I opened one of my eyes slowly to see the face of the person with the slurred speech. “You’re lucky that Jin-hyung was too busy working himself up into one of his comedic rants to actually pay attention to you.”

Still feeling discombobulated, the only response I could muster, in my most sarcastic tone of voice, was “And you are? I must know the name of the one who so gallantly did not blow my cover.”

He paused for a moment, waiting just long enough for me to start feeling uncomfortable. “Suga, or Yoongi. Whichever you prefer,” he said dismissively. “You made a rookie mistake, sleeping in Jin-hyung’s bed- he’s very particular. Do you think you’ll be able to make it through the whole summer, with him now out to get you?” He smirked and scooted closer, which I had thought was impossible.

Before I could come up with a witty retort, or anything at all really, another person burst into the room and my cover was officially blown. If I had thought that the apparent “Jin-hyung” was loud, he had nothing on this person.

“YAHHHHHHHH, LEAVE SUGA ALONE. How can you impose on him like this?! And so close too, how pushy!!!!!” This outburst was coming from one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen, but somehow I had inadvertently pissed him off as well. This was going swimmingly, I thought to myself.

“He was the one who crowded me in, after I was already sleeping here!” I shot back, feeling the need to defend myself.

“QUIT FLIRTING. THIS IS NOT THE TIME OR PLACE!” He huffed. He had some weird ideas about what flirting was-I had thought Suga was trying to intimidate me, if anything.

“Hyung, you’re needed elsewhere,” the beautiful boy said in a completely different tone of voice. Talk about a 180.

“Yes, Hoseok. Don’t give yourself a hernia or something,” Suga monotoned. As he passed through the door, Hoseok put his arm over Suga’s shoulder, and shot me a possessive glare. Well, I was learning names quickly, but maybe not making friends.

I remade the bed, even though I had only been on top of the covers, and shifted my stuff to the other open bunk, hoping that I wasn’t just repeating my earlier mistake. I ran my hand over my hair, having no way to check if it was presentable, before heading out to the common area. Hoseok and Yoongi were on the couch, watching a movie on a small portable dvd player. I was kept at a distance by another glare from Mr. Grumpypants. Turning to the window that graced the main room, I could see three younger boys I hadn’t met yet running around outside like little kids. How they still had energy after supposedly working outside all day, I had no idea, but to each their own.

“I’ll give you this, you know how to make an impression,” I turned abruptly to see the most amazing dimples I had ever seen, and the first genuine smile I received since the park ranger left.

I returned it with a small smile of my own, not trusting his reaction. “Apparently so. My name is Snow.”

“I’m Namjoon,” he said, extending his hand for me to shake. “I’m so happy to meet the newest intern.”

He had a commanding presence, but also seemed innocent and cute. Right as I was thinking how suave he was, he walked back to the other boy in the kitchen (who I assumed was the fake whisperer), and managed to burn himself, trip, and drop a sharp knife all in one go. It might be safer to admire from afar, I realized.

I walked over to help clean up the fallout from this apparent God of Destruction, and to hopefully make things right with who I was pretty sure was Jin.

“I’m sorry for sleeping in your bed earlier,” I said, cutting right to the chase. “I thought it was the spare since it was so tidy compared to the rest.”

He sighed under his breath, not entirely placated. I saw him getting ready to drain the water from the pasta he was preparing for dinner, and offered to help.

“Not to sound like a know-it-all, but if you save a little of the starchy water, and mix it into the sauce, it helps it stick to the noodles better,” I said, while trying to avoid an unwanted steam facial at the tiny sink where I was draining the water.

He had a completely different expression on his face when I turned around, and I had a feeling that we would be fine from here on out.

“You know about cooking?” He asked, eyes shining hopefully.

I was scared of what I might be committing to, but nodded my head.

“It was just my dad and me when I was growing up, and while he was a great cook, he had to work late sometimes. So if I wanted food, I had to learn.” I smiled at him, and he winked, which weirded me out a little. But he seemed harmless enough. We chatted about nothing in particular as we finished preparing dinner. Namjoon was setting the table, and from time to time we would hear suspicious clinking sounds of plates being almost dropped, and curse words muttered to himself louder than he intended (probably).

The others came in and before I knew it, we were sitting around the table, eating and chatting. Well, they were chatting. I was eating and feeling a bit left out as the new person, but it was to be expected as they had already been here together and knew each other. As I thought about it though, it was still the homiest experience I’d had in a long time. Dinner passed without me offending anyone else (a rarity), and I was able to meet Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin, who were the three who had been running around.

When dinner was over, I helped Namjoon & Jin clean up (they seemed to be the parents of this little family), and excused myself for bed. It was still early, but tomorrow was my first day out collecting samples and specimens, and I wanted to do a good job, especially since the park ranger had known my dad and said that she had “high expectations for me.”

The bunk bed, though small, felt heavenly, and I slept through the night with no anxiety dreams of my dad or stepmother for the first night in ages. Perhaps, looking back, the comfort I felt then was a sign of the things to come.

#bts #bts fanfic #bts x reader #bts x you #bts fluff #bts angst #the seven #fairytale!au

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rexwellnessliberation · 7 years

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There is hope in an insane world: Will we choose?

There is tremendous suffering in the world. We know this. And we know of the horrifying acts humanity has experienced through history. From the slaughter of millions in the holocaust, genocides in Rwanda, all the world, civil and religious wars, and of course mass killing of animals and our seemingly polluted and dying planet. This reflection of the state of history and the planet at present, is but a reflection of the state of mind in the human being in general. Are we really trumped?This state of affairs is hugely perpetuated by the blame and shame game in our own minds. When we play victim and perpetrator, oscillating between feeling responsible and guilty for absolutely all of it, we enter the state of feeling like a shameful perpetrator. And this very real feeling has a very real bio-physiological affect on our human organism. Chronically activated fight-flight mechanisms further draw energy from our being, leading to many of the chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, metabolic syndromes and various deficiencies, as well as the more insidious mental disorders like depression, anxiety, ADD and spectrum personality disorders. Our narrative story-making mind naturally has a tendency to pile story on top of story, guilt on top of guilt, and no one feels good about this. We get locked into addictive thought and behaviour patterns which psychologists call coping mechanisms.

“Part of the nature of our mind is to see things as separate and threatening. The human being is so intelligent that it can literally think it self slowly to death. What is remarkable is our ability to free our selves from suffering.”

Let’s briefly look at shame. Shame is the experience that says “I am bad, I did or am doing something wrong.” If we attune to the felt primacy of direct experience, we can feel in our guts and heart this “shame tag” to our inner thought narrative. This double shame sandwich can go something like this: “I’m not performing well enough; I should be more and have more; I live on unceded native land; my ancestors of colonization dislocated these people, I am responsible for fixing history; slavery, genocide, planetary decay, vegetarianism, homophobia, selfishness, gender bias” Are these controversial topics? Every human being at some point comes up against these. The point is, unchecked beliefs and biases, living uncritically, has a dramatic effect on the state of our being, how we live, and the outcome of our life. The shift from shame to forgiveness, respect and compassion is very subtle, but a profound shift which leads to well being.All this is not to say that the discriminative level of mind (Or our ego) is unimportant. To condemn the ego is but one more trip, one more layer of defense that shames the Self or Soul into hiding. Surely it has motivating aspects that get us to resolve unresolved business, step into right relationship and solidarity, and take care of our selves and others. This is more to highlight the experiential fact that there are negative effects when it has absolute dominance over our being, and that there is a great human potential to be realized in a more unitive, present and felt level of being. That there are multiple ways of approaching well being, on both a personal and collective level, is where we can find some hope. And it starts with the individual who is ready to take a stand for their own well being.

“So what can one do in and amongst the craziness of the world and our own busy minds? A small dose of self respect and appreciation can go a long way.”

So what can one do in and amongst the craziness of the world and our own busy minds?Where can one find some semblance and tranquility? These practices can all really help us return to our center to experience a feeling of well being, connection and belonging, as well as tap into an untapped reservoir of joy, vitality and creativity:

Physical Activity & Exercise Routine

Meditation, Yoga, & Practicing Relaxation

Counselling: Engaging in a professional dialogue to come clear on the nature of our mind & emotions, and how to come clear on our life approch

Explore your artistic abilities: Music, Dance, Art, Journaling, creative writing

Community and Social Involvement

Practice of Forgiveness, Acceptance, & Self Appreciation

In its popularized vision, it is about physicality, body image, and tights, but practicing Yoga and Meditation trains our mind to focus one pointedly on the task at hand. It takes a bit of courage to try this practice, but once you have the experience, many often quickly realize the immense benefits of its harmonizing effect on the body-mind. At its more advanced levels, it becomes a tremendous tool for turning the mind into an ideal instrument for clear thinking. And in this, we also learn how to relax! Many of us know how hard it is to find time to relax. Practicing yoga lends an opportunity to both be active, strengthrning & purifying the body and also learn how to give the mind a break. And when we relax our overly tensed bodies, the path for meditation becomes much more easefull. Here’s a couple perks of the practice:

Reduces deficits in attentional focus, stress, anxiety and depression

Improves concentration, creativity, motivation and mood

Fosters a sense of deep connection to Soul, community and the planet - Strengthens the fundamental relationship to life it self.

For the science minded braniacs: Willfully directed attentional focus (Self directed focus) has been objectively shown to alter and strengthen critical brain areas associated with the subjective experience of well being. They call this “Self Directed Neuroplasticity”

Visiting with a professional Counsellor - Psychologist can also be a liberating experience, which is often a misunderstood path to wellness. To see a counsellor is an act of acceptance, humility, and self respect. That we could truly benefit from talking openly in a trusting environment about some of our inner struggles and turmoils by no means means we are “crazy” - we are all human. In this busy world, we are hard pressed to find a person or place where we can be and express our selves non-judgmentally. If we can find this, it can be incredibly freeing on its own. But with the help of a counsellor, an active and engaged Dialogue facilitates the movement of blocked emotion and energy. In fact, and perhaps you can relate, many people resort to suppressing their true feelings out of a slight fear that they will disrupt others well being.

So, it is common in a counselling session that clients share and express how they truly feel. One way to think about this is that, if we had any early micro-macro traumas and early childhood interruptions (which almost everyone has in some way or another - birth being one of them!) in our primary relationships, it is a general human phenomena that to heal these relational interruptions must occur in a a healthy human relationship. It is often referred to as Corrective Experiences. This is one of the powerful motives and experiences of the therapeutic alliance. We can relearn how to be authentic with ourselves and in relationship with others. A counsellor serves as an ally to help us uncover blocked human potential, unfreeze rigid attitudes and become a more compassionate and self loving individual that stands up for them self and their true voice. We heal both relationally and attitudinally. We could say that this is ‘The Yoga Of Relationship’.

The practice of forgiveness, acceptance and self appreciation can also really be a transformative experience. When we are in a shaming mode of being, we are essentially and energetically perpetuating a lower form of being. When we forgive the past, the perpetrators are freed and we are freed. We forgive their ignorance and our own. Then we accept the state of affairs present and past, and let be what is, outside and inside. This lets the hyper ciritical, hyper ethical mind rest-This judgemental part of our mind can run absolutely rampant, and its okay. When we move from here to Self Appreciation, we may reach a deeper more attuned level of conscious being which becomes aware of what we can do and how we can be in the situation. Ruthlessly self loving as a practice reveals itself also in our relationships and work. We become brighter, humorous and a joy to be around as we are less held by irrational defenses.

The arts, physical activities and community involvement are also hopeful and joyous things we can do which will help lift us up and tap into our creativity and well being. We all know what its like to play. Open to the experience of a child like state of wonder by taking a bit of time to chill out, breathe and do something you love. It will elevate your being and retrieve that sense of youthful vitality!

The title of this article “There is hope in an insane world: Will we choose?”, was very intentional. Unless we live under a rock, we know the state of affairs taking place in the world. We are called to be steadfast, toward a New Being which requires new forms of endurance and creativity. Here is a great quote from Dr. Viktor Frankl, survivor of 3 concentration camps in WWII: “The last of the great human freedoms is man’s ability to choose his attitude.” -Man’s Search for Meaning. This is what came through so clear to him amongst some of the worst suffering and stripping of dignity mankind has historically experienced. What does this mean today, in the modern comfort of our daily goings? I think this speaks volumes to a great sleeping potential in us - The power of responsible and conscious choice. We may not be living in those same conditions (but since this a global world interface, maybe you are), but perhaps there is a holocaust of a different kind that begs for our attention. That shame is a signal, perhaps it is our unique Soul that feels for all of the world, all of the suffering, past, present and future. Lest we forget where we are coming from, who of humanity, on all sides, has lived and died so that we could live, and remember that wellness and freedom also starts with our courageous and conscious choice to lean into life and exercise the ability to respectfully and soulfully hold the paradox for humanity.

Jon is a former athlete and body builder turned Yoga-Meditation teacher & Counsellor. He runs a successful Integrative Counselling Practice in Squamish, B.C., which draws on Existential and Body oriented psychotherapy, Yogic practice & philosophy, and traditional Spiritual healing methods. He can be reached at: [email protected], or www.rexwellnessliberation.ca

#wellbeing fitness yoga psychology squamish vancouver canada inspiration passion spirituality healing rexwellnessliberation evolu #bodybuilding #yoga #truth

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allen04contreras-blog · 6 years

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Sexual Misconduct By Lecturers Tackled In New L. A. Perform By Smiley

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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Men’s Necklaces Are Going Mainstream. Here’s How To Wear Them With Style

https://fashion-trendin.com/mens-necklaces-are-going-mainstream-heres-how-to-wear-them-with-style/

Men’s Necklaces Are Going Mainstream. Here’s How To Wear Them With Style

Unless you raided your dear mother’s jewellery box when you were younger or ran around South East Asia on your gap year like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach, chances are, as a man, you’ve never thought about thrusting a chain over your head.

But with an ever-increasing roll call of the coolest men in the world now opting for the men’s necklace (Gosling, Hemsworth, Rocky – need we say more?) and shifting attitudes towards a much-needed blurring of the previously gender stereotyping in fashion (men wear watches, women wear jewellery – let’s all groan in unison) now is as good a time as any to experiment with a chain over your head. Here we take a look at everything you need to get started, from picking the right pendant and length of chain to how you can fit it effortlessly into your already assembled wardrobe.

Ryan Gosling

The History Of Bling, From Henry VIII To 50 Cent

Men weren’t always so averse to a bit of bling around the scruff. The ancient Egyptians were proponents, studding their sheet gold neck wraps and strung beads with amulets and talismans to protect and bring luck to the wearer. Men of the Renaissance period were also fans with the extremely wealthy lavishing all manner of plaques, chains and pendants upon themselves as well as stupendous gem-laden creations that would stretch to their shoulders. Don’t believe us? Check out Henry VIII in his famous portrait by Hans Holbein, sporting a herculean gold chain that would put Run DMC to shame.

RUN DMC

This male love-in with the necklace died out in the 1600s, but returned in the second half of the 20th century when chains once again went from pious symbols of religion to conspicuous signifiers of wealth. Dog tags, Elvis and disco played their parts, but it was in hip-hop fashion that necklaces became the ultimate symbol of decadence with artists punching through the social hierarchy, the ice hanging around their necks offering proof of how far they’d climbed.

In the last decade men’s jewellery has evolved again, now more of a fashion accessory than anything else. Necklaces have sashayed down the men’s catwalk for the likes of Prada, Balmain and Raf Simons in recent seasons. And from high to low, even those unlikely fellas from reality TV show Love Island have been dolling up their perma-tanned torsos with online jewellery retailer Jewlr reporting a 500 per cent increase in sales of men’s necklaces while the show was on the air.

Balmain

“Men wearing jewellery is definitely having a renaissance,” says Alex Simpson, founder of men’s jewellery brand Alex Orso. “There has been a 1990s streetwear revival in recent seasons, which has seen chains, pendants, medallions and rings rise in popularity. This has been picked up on Instagram and street style blogs, which in turn has influenced the styling of characters on mainstream reality TV to create a self-perpetuating trend which I don’t believe has reached its crescendo yet.”

Picking Your Metal

The first step to making like the Pharaohs and the catwalk waifs is to pick out your necklace – starting with the material of your chain and then the pendant to add the unique styling that has made them so popular. “A necklace should feel comfortable and casual almost like a family heirloom,” says Michael Saiger, founder and creative director of US-based jewellery company Miansai.

An oxidised sterling silver chain offers a more masculine and timeless vibe with the colour shade working best in winter months underneath tailoring and next to navy blues and grey. A yellow gold chain is brighter creating a contrast that really pops against black while complimenting warmer tones like orange and brown.

If you’re looking for a casual necklace to fit with a more dressed-down style, then consider waxed cord which especially suits the summer months and days flaunting around the pool while a beaded necklace might have worrying gap year connotations but can add bulk and width to a skinny neck while drawing attention to a sharp jawline (if you’re blessed with one) and works well in combination with other chains.

David Yurman

There are also plated metals to consider but Saiger recommends sticking to the golden two if you are concerned about your skin reacting to the chain. “It’s always best to stick with only sterling silver and solid gold if you have sensitive skin. Those types of metals are extremely fine, and will not react to your skin regardless if you sleep with them or wear them just for the day.”

Aside from the material, there are also different chain designs with the interconnected oval links of a cable chain being the most common. Different chain designs will alter the feel and look of the necklace like the bulkier mesh chain (several different chains linked together for a textured look), the sturdy curb chain (interlocked links designed to lay flat) and the ever-so-fancy Figaro chain (an alternating pattern of differently sized flattened links).

Alex Orso

Make The Pendant Personal

Now, you can of course just stick with the chain, but adding a pendant brings that oh-so-important personality to your look with the ability to turn heads and get the conversation flowing at a dinner party quicker than you can say “Jam Master Jay”. Proud wearer of the men’s necklace Ryan Gosling, has the tag of his beloved dog George attached to his chain, after he sadly passed away in 2017.

However, there’s no prescription for the pendant and it’d be foolish to just follow the lead of the celebs. Just keep your eye out for something that you connect with or can regale an anecdote through, whether it’s a letter or a diamond-encrusted dollar sign. “Ultimately any purchase is personal and based on a selection process,” says Simpson. “What are you attracted to? What complements your style? And what does it say to others about your character?”

Along with a personal touch, Saiger advises looking towards vintage designs in a pendant. “Something that merges the past with the present will always be in style.” For example, one of the key styles at Miansai is the rolled penny necklace which takes its inspiration from the old penny machines found in museums and amusement parks.

David Yurman

Also, note that particular pendants have different meanings. An anchor is an age-old symbol of strength with obvious ties to the sea, while a popular motif for Los Angeles based jewellery brand Nialaya is the Hamsa hand, which is believed to ward off evil spirits and bad luck in Middle Eastern and North African cultures. Other popular pendant styles are the holy cross with its connotations to Christianity, the skull which represents mortality and the feather which is the universal symbol of peace, pacifism and spiritual unity.

“In all scenarios, it must feel natural and should never make you feel self-conscious,” says Simpson. “Some pendants are quite bold or heavy, so it’s worth thinking about where and how long you might be wearing the product.”

David Yurman

Choose Your Length

The most common length of the chain is between 18 and 22 inches, which will sit just below your collarbone while a long necklace will be around 26 to 30 inches long with the pendant hanging around your chest area. A longer chain will help elongate the neck while drawing attention to a broad chest, while a shorter chain will be more readily visible. Anything shorter than 18 inches and you’re getting into choker territory.

“We offer two lengths of chain with the longer length having a more relaxed feel for a night out,” says Simpson, “while the shorter length is to be worn with more formal pieces like a shirt.”

It’s also worth layering multiple chains and experimenting with varying lengths at any one time, with beads working particularly well in a shorter length against a longer chain.

Daniella Draper

How To Wear It

“Long pendant-style necklaces work well over either a loose crew neck or a V-neck T-shirt so the pendant follows the line of the V,” says Sarah Gilfillan, founder of personal styling consultancy Sartoria Lab. When putting together your outfit and necklace, Gilfallan also suggests matching metals for a more considered and put together look. For example, if you’re stepping out with a silver watch on your wrist and a silver buckle around your belt, go for that metal in your necklace choice too.

When it comes to the rest of your clothing choices, the offbeat addition of a necklace suits a casual look such as a white T-shirt and leather jacket according to Gilfillan. “If you do want to wear it with tailoring, I’d go for an open neck shirt with a simple chain showing at the neck of the shirt. If you want to make more of a statement and go for full-on 1980s look, then wear your shirt done up to the top with no tie but with a chain or pendant that is worn over the top of the shirt. Also, ensure your shirt collar is fairly small and neat, and avoid button downs so your necklace can be the point of focus.”

And to kill off two trends with one stone, Gilfillan regards the men’s necklace as the perfect accompaniment to the laissez-faire attitude of a Cuban collar shirt. “The current open neck camp collar shirt styles are perfect for showing off multiple necklaces. Wear with an extra button open to show off those necklaces, and style with slim cut turned up jeans and trainers, mixing gold and silver pendants and chains together for a contemporary look”.

The Kooples

The Best Brands For Men’s Necklaces

Miansai

Hailing from Miami, the bling bling capital of the world, Miansai offers surprisingly subtle signature pendants on chains or waxed cord. Riffing on nautical themes that include anchors, hooks and long, lost treasure in timeless, elegant designs the brand is also favoured by the celebrity crowd with Hollywood actors Zac Efron and Tom Holland both spotted wearing it.

Buy Now: £115.00

Thomas Sabo

Since its founding in 1984 German jewellery company Thomas Sabo has become one of the leading brands in both women’s and men’s jewellery as well as having their designs legally protected worldwide so no-one can steal them for themselves. Its pendants aren’t for the faint-hearted mind, with Day of the Dead skulls and daggers aplenty as well as chunky and colourful beads.

Buy Now: £139.00

Topman

If you were a British teenager in the 2000s there is every chance you raided the Topman bracelet section during your lunch hour with the high street chains necklace range similarly easy to pick up. Inexpensive, stylish and in a range of sizes and designs they make for good layering options with your more expensive pieces or as an entry point if you just want to dip your toes in the trend.

Buy Now: £10.00

Tateossian

A London jewellery maker where the emphasis is on the men rather than the women, Tateossian has become the go-to place for luxury cufflinks in its 28-year history. That’s not to say it doesn’t make a smashing necklace, with some intriguingly unique designs including a diamond pill crafted in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation and tiny pieces of meteorite sourced from South America.

Buy Now: £295.00

Alex Orso

Minimalist masculinity is the name of the game for London jewellery brand Alex Orso. With pendants in bold designs from 22-carat bottle caps and Komodo dragon claws to polished stone shark tooths, Alex Orso takes a compelling shape and simplifies it for the man who wants to enhance his look, not complicate it. Each pendant comes with a brass chain which you can choose in a short or long style.

Buy Now: £115.00

Luis Morais

Wanting to ignite your inner Keith Richards hipster pirate? Well, a Luis Morais necklace is the one for you with the Brazilian jeweller’s rock and roll vibe favouring the boho beads, colourful skulls and mystic stones the rocker has built his look on.

Buy Now: $900.00

Emanuele Bicocchi

Of course no men’s style list would be complete without a tip of the hat to the Italians. And so we have Emanuele Bicocchi sauntering in for a welcome spritz of sprezzatura. Sterling silver reigns supreme in the Florence jewellery designers collection who has seen his quite gothic creations being worn by the likes of Zayn Malik and Russell Brand.

Buy Now: €149.00

Nialaya

A Dane in America, less a well-trodden Hollywood story trope, more the perfect setting for Jannik Olander to launch spirituality inspired jewellery brand Nialaya. Handcrafted in a Los Angeles workshop, religious imagery from the East features prominently in the designs (especially from Buddhism) which are bang-on for the cosmo gent who wants it to look like he found himself in the local temple on his backpacking tour but really never left the side of the pool.

Buy Now: $219.00

Northskull

Excuse the name, Northskull is not some Danish death metal group born out of the depths of hell, rather it’s an elegant jewellery brand just for us boys. Based in London, reasonable price points and straightforward designs make it an easy choice for those guys who want the designer look to slot into their daily wardrobe without having to shell out on overpriced rosary beads.

Buy Now: £220.00

Sif Jakobs

If you’re worried that the addition of a necklace will have you come across all wannabe show-off rapper, then take a gander at the Sif Jakobs collection of pendants and tell us there is no subtlety in donning a necklace. The Scandinavian jewellery maker creates all its jewellery out of sterling silver and focuses its design on a similar rectangular design spun through various different twists.

Buy Now: €129.00

Serge DeNimes

The fashion brand of Made In Chelsea star and menswear influencer Oliver Proudlock, Serge DeNimes draws heavily on Proudlock’s taste and penchant for boho-chic necklaces. Ever the pacifist, the feather is a recurring motif in Proudlock’s collection as is the patron saint of travellers, Saint Christopher.

Buy Now: £40.00

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theconservativebrief · 6 years

Link

There’s a reason TV critics and reporters call FX Networks president and CEO John Landgraf the “mayor of television” — and it’s not just because that’s kind of a funny title to give to somebody.

Of all the executives in the TV game right now, Landgraf has earned a reputation as the one who’s most thoughtful about the past, present, and future of television; he even coined the term “Peak TV.”

That’s why I was so excited for Landgraf to join me on the latest episode of my podcast, I Think You’re Interesting, to discuss where TV is now and where it’s headed.

We talked about which show on another network he most enjoys, and what he worries the medium is losing in widely adopting the binge model. But we also talked about his personal history and what brought him — someone with an anthropology degree, of all things — to the TV industry in the first place.

Landgraf says he was drawn to television by an abiding love of story, and in this excerpt of our discussion, which has been lightly edited and condensed, he explains just why he believes in story’s ability to push us into other people’s shoes.

Todd VanDerWerff

How do you think about positioning FX as a responsible citizen of the larger world?

John Landgraf

Like you, like a lot of critics and a lot of people who make television, I’m just a lover of art, and I’m a really avid consumer of story. I’m curious. I have a degree in anthropology, not a degree in media, communications, or business, but in anthropology, which I think is reflective of an interest in the human condition.

One of the things I love about story is it allows us to go to different places and times and see the world sometimes from outside our own perspective. I think I became addicted to that notion of getting out of my own skin. Where that started was with a love of story, but what I eventually realized is if I want to do that in a serious way, I really have to understand history, I really have to understand politics, I have to understand evolutionary biology, I have to understand psychology, I have to understand sociology.

One of the things that’s so interesting to me is that each of us is caught in our own timeline. I was born in May of 1962, and I will die whenever I die, and I cannot move outside of that timeline. I can do it through history, and I can do it through thinking forward, or I can do it through story. But part of what’s become fascinating to me as I get older — I’m 56 now — is how much of how I view the world is a function of that timeline.

For example, being born in 1962, that means I was born 17 years after the end of World War II. And the feeling coming out of World War II was we had defeated Nazism, and we had defeated the whole idea, the notion of Nazism, what it represents in human nature and what it represents in the world, forever. Good beat evil.

And I realized that I had that assumption baked in in a way I didn’t even know, but that essentially if you move forward in the timeline, people forget the concentration camps, they forget Nazism, they forget the hard lessons of that, and it comes back as a characteristic in human nature. The thing that I constantly realize is that I may be experiencing only a tiny portion of the macrocosm, but I’m really genuinely trying to understand as much of it as I can.

Part of what’s exciting to me about FX is even though we’ve been trying to make what you’d call premium television, or trying to contribute to the high end or the best of what television is, we’ve always been a commercial-supported network. So we’ve never felt that our constituency was just TV critics or just people who live in New York or Los Angeles. We’ve always felt that our constituency was everyone.

So I’m always trying to understand the specificity of so many different individual stories, whether it has to do with when you live or where you live, what region, your culture, your political orientation, your sexual orientation, your gender, your ethnicity. But then I’m also trying to understand how those specific things relate to the universal human question, and I feel that story has a role to play to try to help gain clarity. I think there’s a lot of confusion being intentionally distributed right now through these new technologies on the internet and other things. So I’m a little worried whether story is up to the task. But I’ve always felt that to be a part of our responsibility.

John Landgraf (right) poses with Atlanta creator Donald Glover at the show’s second season premiere party. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Todd VanDerWerff

Especially now in the television landscape, there are shows made for very specific audiences, especially if you go on Netflix or Hulu or something like that. They have an algorithm that will tell you what you want, ostensibly. How do you think about the responsibility of making something for a specific audience, but then making it universal still?

I think about something like Atlanta, which is my favorite show of the year still. Just from hearing about Atlanta, you would not think that Todd VanDerWerff, an extremely white person from the middle of the country, would hook into that show so much. But I did, and it taught me about things I don’t know about. How do you balance those two ideas of the core audience and the larger audience?

John Landgraf

One of my biggest concerns about the way technology is evolving and the possibilities that are created by big data and the internet is that I think of the world as having these two strains in it.

One strain I would call demagoguery, and I would call that, broadly speaking, just give the people what they want. We don’t care whether it’s good for them. Whether it helps them. If what the people want is fat, sugar, crunch, and salt, just figure out the perfect ratio. And don’t care whether it will kill you or if it’s good for you or not. I think that in every business practice or political practice, the easiest thing, on some level, is to do that.

And then you contrast that with trying to find something that is both tasty and nutritional, that’s beautiful but ugly, funny but dramatic. Challenging. I think artists, and art in general, the stuff that I have always liked the best is the stuff that tries to take a very specific shard of the human condition and then achieve some universal portrayal of the human condition.

A common characteristic of every movie and every book and every play and every television show I’ve ever loved is that even though it’s about one specific place and time, it’s really about humanity writ large.

I think Atlanta, which is a show that I also really love, has done something really special, which is it’s gone deeper and more specifically into a particular prism of the African-American experience in Atlanta, and yet it resonates with me anyway, as a pathway into some universal understanding of the human condition — not just blackness in America, but America today and even bigger questions than that.

The thing that I really worry about is that we’ve built this perfect feedback loop, where the only thing anybody ever gets is what they’ve liked before, or what they’ve told you either consciously or unconsciously through your studying of their data that they want. So nobody gets any new ideas, right?

I’ve got a smartphone on the table in front of me, and I’ve read these fascinating studies that say that the closer a smartphone is to someone, the lower they perform on an IQ test. Literally, it’s different if it’s on and in front of you than if it’s on in your bag on the floor, versus if it’s out of the room.

Just because you have a remote memory or remote access to every piece of information the world has ever known doesn’t mean it’s yours. It’s not yours unless you’ve taken the time to actually learn it and load it into your brain, where you can understand it and think about it and manipulate it symbolically. So if we offload all of our memory and all of our knowledge into remote memories, as opposed to having it inside of our heads, I think we impoverish our ability to think and our intellectual life.

There’s a famous thing called the Fermi Paradox, from [scientist] Enrico Fermi, which says, why don’t we find intelligent life in the universe? The question is, is there a great filter, something that life can’t get past? And is it behind us, in which case we’re very fortunate, or is it in front of us, in which case we might be doomed?

And it just recently occurred to me that one of the filters we don’t hear about is the notion that every race, which is at its own need for comfort and its own desire to escape its own tough evolutionary past, in theory just builds the Matrix. It just builds a perfect world, where you just sit there and all you get is positive stimuli. You stop evolving and stop growing, and you disappear from the universe. You build a box, and you trap yourself in it.

I don’t think that’s the likely outcome, but I think we may be going through a multigenerational period where we really are going to have to figure out how to deal with these new media, because they don’t make us smarter.

For so much more with Landgraf, as well as a discussion with the acclaimed actor Jonathan Pryce, of Game of Thrones and the upcoming movie The Wife, listen to the full episode.

To hear interviews with more fascinating people from the world of arts and culture — from powerful showrunners to web series creators to documentary filmmakers — check out the I Think You’re Interesting archives.

Original Source -> FX’s president has been dubbed “the mayor of television.” This interview will show you why.

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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2700fstreet · 8 years

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THEATER / 2017-2018

Wilderness

by Seth Bockley and Anne Hamburger Directed by Seth Bockley Presented by En Garde Arts

*(Please note this show contains mature themes and language that may not be appropriate for audiences younger than 13.)

So, What’s Going On?

The Play

“I was just, I guess, lost.”

Wilderness is the story of six teens who’ve gotten lost in their lives. It is based on the experiences of real youth who ended up as “clients” in a wilderness therapy program—voluntarily or not—as a way to confront their personal struggles and demons. The production also features real parents’ points of view as they sought help for their children whose lives were spinning out of control.

The play unfolds in a series of scenes, or vignettes, as the group of teens and counselors backpack and camp through a stretch of high-country desert in southwestern Utah. Through these scenes we trace the back stories of the teen clients: Elizabeth, Sophia, Chloe, Dylan, Cole, and Michael. They share stories about drug use and abuse, gender identity, dangerous thrill-seeking, sexual abuse, cutting and other self-harms, and ongoing struggles and fights with parents. (“I miss you and I hate you,” Elizabeth signs in a letter to home.) And slowly, they reveal how they came to be there. Staffers and fellow campers interact, hassle, confront, and support one another, trying to get at the personal pain that seems to be driving anger and cruel behavior toward themselves and others.

Action onstage is mixed with video projections of interviews with the actual parents. The parents retell their fears and frustrations about watching their kids’ lives race toward wreckage. In desperation, they reached for a wilderness therapy program to try to intervene in these teens’ destructive trajectories. For many of these adults, wilderness therapy was their last hope for saving their kids.

A “Mom” character is also represented on stage. She plays both an interviewer and a dramatic stand-in for the video parents. It eventually becomes clear that she and the parents are on their own journeys to make peace with their children and their children’s troubles and choices. A phone call with a camp counselor communicates to Mom that she can’t control what is happening with her son. She has to let go and practice living her own life. It appears that the adults have recovery work to do, too.

As the play nears its conclusion, we see the campers gain self-confidence as they experience the natural world and gain pride in their improving social and wilderness skills. And near the end, we learn what happened once they returned to the life they had known, often with new insights and clearer ideas of who they are and can become.

Good to Know

The Story Behind the Play

“People that love us will forgive us.”

Wilderness is an example of “documentary theater.” It is a style of drama that presents the stories of real people, told by actors, often mixing interviews with onstage action. In this production, the stories of real-life teens are acted out on stage mixed with video excerpts from interviews with the actual parents. Movement and music brighten and punctuate the play’s themes.

The theatrical project grew out of the personal experiences of co-writer Anne Hamburger and her teenage son. Their family tried traditional therapies, she says, “But it got to the point where we just couldn’t reach him. [Wilderness therapy] seemed like a viable alternative. And for us, it was successful.”

The play itself is the result of a year-and-a-half of research and interviews conducted by Hamburger and Seth Bockley. (Bockley also directs the show.) They spoke with parents and teens who had undergone wilderness therapy and who bravely shared their experiences and outcomes.

Hamburger emphasizes that wilderness therapy provides the setting but isn’t the core of the play. “It’s really about the quest for connection within families,” she said in an interview at Penn State, “and, when troubles arise, how one looks at oneself differently and how one needs to change in order to heal and make connection possible.”

Here, you can find an interview with Anne Hamburger, co-writer and producer of Wilderness.

youtube

An Explanation First: What is Wilderness Therapy?

“They said you’re going to the wilderness.”

Wilderness therapy encompasses programs that immerse troubled teens in the outdoors. The intention is to remove them from environments that seem to trigger destructive and self-destructive behavior. Away from civilization and guided by counselors, they are given the chance to face their problems without the distractions of social media, drugs and alcohol, or dysfunctional relationships.

Many such programs exist, of various durations and intensities. As a rule, though, they last for nine weeks to three months at a cost upwards of $20,000. In many cases, wilderness therapy has become a last-ditch effort by parents to help their kids survive adolescence after more traditional approaches have been exhausted. Parents may hire agencies to arrive in the early morning hours to take away their kids and deliver them to the therapy program. Some young clients go willingly, but minors may be “transported”—coerced in one way or another to go.

The programs themselves amount to around-the-clock therapy, designed to change harmful thought and behavior habits. Daily activities are usually a mix of hiking, learning wilderness skills like camping and fire-making, and ongoing and as-needed therapy sessions. The therapeutic goal for most kids is to raise their sense of self-esteem and self-efficacy to the point they become more resilient to self-destructive and antisocial behaviors. Ideally, they also develop the social and emotional skills that allow them to function, thrive, and create happier lives once they return home.

Not all wilderness therapy programs are equal or regulated, however. Especially in the past, they have been conflated with correctional “boot camps” that have emphasized physical exertion as well as punishment. Horror stories about mistreated youth have occasionally emerged from these places.

Today, though, wilderness therapy programs receive greater scrutiny and oversight. Organizations like the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center at the University of New Hampshire have published accreditation standards and provide accreditation to distinguish the good from the bad, the reputable from the disreputable.

Anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of wilderness therapy programs is often glowing. Peer-reviewed research indicates it is beneficial for most youth attendees, and points out programs that emphasize therapeutic treatment over recreation are more successful.

Who’s Who

“Dear Mom, please don’t do this to me.”

Elizabeth—came to camp voluntarily to deal with issues related to an abusive, mentally ill mother Sophia—a rebellious teen who has anger issues, especially toward her mom Chloe—after being sexually abused by a boyfriend and bullied by peers, she started cutting herself Dylan—a trans boy and music lover who feels unloved by his parents and everyone else Cole—a risk-taker and Hip Hop lover who has struggled with drug use Michael—he became verbally and physically abusive toward his mother after a nasty divorce Field Staff (Merritt, Rebecca, Billy, Corey, Taco)—wilderness therapy counselors Mom—a woman alarmed and fearful about her child’s behavior and her ability to deal with it; the performer also doubles as the Skype interviewer

Watch and listen how…

the performers switch from teens to counselors by donning jackets or sweatshirts.

setting is established using projections of home, school, and the outdoor scenes.

music and movement support the production and reinforce themes. Pay attention for a scene as the teens wrestle with sleep in a movement sequence on the floor.

characters signal with their bodies and tones of voice what they’re feeling toward themselves and others.

Think about…

ways the characters’ attitudes toward their wilderness therapy experience change during the play.

how the parents and children offer differing views of each other and their relational difficulties.

nonverbal cues you, your friends, and your family use to send a message.

In an interview, co-writer Anne Hamburger said that wilderness therapy provides the “setting” for the play. “It’s really about the quest for connection within families, and, when troubles arise, how one looks at oneself differently and how one needs to change in order to heal and make connection possible.” Think about ways you connect with friends and family. What actions do you take when those connections become frayed?

how a lack of communication between parent and child can lead to devastating consequences.

About En Garde Arts

“Do you want to hear something real?”

En Garde Arts developed Wilderness as part of its ongoing mission “to produce bold, unconventional, and innovative multimedia and interdisciplinary theatre that marries content with community and inspires dialogue and debate about the salient issues of our time.”

Anne Hamburger, co-author of Wilderness, founded the company in 1985. Since then, En Garde Arts has won acclaim for its site-specific productions in New York City, ranging from Orestes at Penn Yards, New York, to Father Was a Peculiar Man in the City’s former Meatpacking District. It has since taken productions including Basetrack and Wilderness on tour.

For more information, visit their website.

Take Action: Take a Nature Walk

“It was a beautiful spring night ...” Ah tranquility! Penetrating the very rock, A cicada’s voice. ~Matsuo Basho

In Japanese it’s called shinrin-yoku—forest bathing. In the West, something similar might be referred to as Nature Therapy. This practice involves taking easy walks in a calming natural environment, away from the chaos and noise of daily life. Studies have shown that time spent in quiet natural settings reduces depression, negative feelings, and stress hormones in the blood. It lowers one’s pulse and blood pressure as well.

Try an experiment. Think of a calm, natural environment near your home or school, or find one. Plan a 30-minute visit of walking or sitting in the most tranquil place there. Leave the smartphone and headphones at home. Don’t even bring a book to read, though perhaps carry a notebook to jot down thoughts that pop up. If you invite a friend, make a pact that you won’t speak during those 30 minutes.

Note your thoughts and feelings before you begin. Note your thoughts and feelings at the end. Compare and contrast your state before and after your quiet time. If you want to get biological, measure your pulse rate before and after as well.

Compose a haiku or two based on your experience. Haiku is a short poetic form that often explores themes in nature.

The first line contains five syllables.

The second line contains seven syllables.

The third line contains five syllables.

A haiku by the Japanese master Matsuo Basho appears above. Here is another: A squirrel hurries. It is part of its nature. Worries? Not so much. ~Sean McCollum

Spend some time in a quiet, natural place. Pay attention to your breathing. Listen for words to float up in your mind. Write a haiku and post it to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, or any platform of your choice. Share it at #wildernesshaiku.

Explore More

Go even deeper with the Wilderness Extras.

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All photos by Baranova.

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Theater at the Kennedy Center is made possible by

The Kennedy Center Theater Season is sponsored by

#theater #wildernessat2700F

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siouxempirepodcast · 7 years

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Art in the Darkest of Times

I didn’t expect this to be a dark time. As I approached the end of my 5th decade of life, there was a certain assurance of good ahead. I had overcome many struggles and had worked hard to better myself, to enrich myself of experience and to share the wisdom of that experience with others. My personal evolution seemed to mirror the progressive and positive change I saw in the world, as well. The most formative part of my personal experience and self-identity started with music. Punk Rock was the big galvanizing force of my young life, the influence that would determine the kind of adult I would be. I bristled under authority (and still do) and recognized the efforts of people who acted independently. In the early and mid-1980’s most of pop culture seemed to reflect the “norms” of our society. White, middle-class, picket-fence, Reaganomics, the Christian Coalition, “Greed is Good,” Billboard’s Top 40. None of that resonated with me in the slightest. Give me a barely-lit hole in the wall club in Hamtramck, Michigan with dollar Rolling Rocks, LOUD music and a crowd full of people all dancing together. The punk clubs were a melting pot – predominantly white, but not exclusively so. Ostensibly heteronormative, at least on the surface, but in the dark who knows (or cares) what went on? Punk had a decidedly F-you attitude that resonated for this chick and those I associated with. Weird? Good. Different? Well, okay. This was the counter-culture, after all. We didn’t care if you had a Mohawk, black or white skin, piercings, money if you lived in a nice house out in Rochester or you slept in your car down in the seedy Cass Corridor. We weren’t necessarily all equals (gender norms were still in swing, for instance) but it was close. Sure, there were also dark moments during those punk years. There were those who took excess and experimentation too far, and never came back. There were those who burned out, faded away and now live in some unknown small town in Arizona or Ohio or the Far East. But you got through those dark times with your friends, and whatever talent you could cobble together. For many of my friends, it was music. Sharing whatever raw space on a late weeknight to practice and whatever bar or tavern or club would let you play live on the weekend. I wasn’t a musician (although I did briefly sing in an all-girl punk band when I was sixteen). Nor was I an artist, but I had many friends who drew and sketched and sculpted. No, I was a writer. I wrote and edited a local fanzine, all about the local scene, and I dreamed of being a successful author someday. I had lots of ideas, but it’s hard to get focused when you’re hitting the clubs, hitting the Rolling Rock and trying to be “cool.” It took a long time in life to get serious about my writing practice. But I got there – I’m working on my fourth book now. I’ve long identified with the artists, the weirdo’s, the “others” in our society. I’d rather have a smaller house and a bigger travel budget. I have forsaken corporate work in favor of PBJ sandwiches and a sense that my destiny is MINE. The compromises I’ve made are still acceptable to me and would be even if I hadn’t finally broken through those roadblocks to writing. And I recognize that artists are often the saving grace during times of trouble. Until this past November, I had reached the place I was freaking happy. I mean, HAPPY! Not just content or satisfied or resigned, but truly happy. Life wasn’t perfect, and the world wasn’t perfect, but I said to friends last year that it felt like I was in “the home stretch.” Now, it feels like I’m sitting at the bottom of a massive hill and I can’t even see what’s ahead, let alone how hard it’s gonna be to get there. This made me think about the other times in history when chaos came along and tore up the plans that our ancestors made in their personal journeys. What becomes of society when you can’t make sense of what’s happening? You make art, that’s the simple answer. You paint or your photograph, you dance or your design. You write your way through that nonsense like your life is at stake because of my friend – it is. If you look back at the bleakest and most chaotic times in history, you’ll see that what remains, what is remembered is the beauty that somehow managed to slip through the cracks. You’ll find the desperate souls that fought to write their little stories, songs, plays and performances and then fought to share them and preserve them. If we examine some of the darkest moments in history, you’ll find that what rose out of the ashes of those times were the powerful creative efforts of those who survived. Often, they were those who had to hide in the shadows because they faced imprisonment, banishment or death. When you talk darkness, it’s natural to default to the Holocaust. The years of Nazi oppression, the concentration camps, the brutalities, and atrocities seem to be present with us these many decades later. Not just because of film reels, but by what was left behind. We know and understand the Holocaust interpretively through art. We understand the Nazi uprising as it responded to the earlier Weimar Republic years – the Gay Thirties of Berlin, the era of Christopher Isherwood’s “Goodbye to Berlin” and of Marlene Dietrich, flaunting and tormenting through “The Blue Angel.” We understand the brutality when compared to the Bauhaus art movement, through Dadaism, through Bertolt Brecht’s agitprop. We understand the seduction of Fascism as viewed through the lens of the works of Paul Klee and the operas of Kurt Weill (“Threepenny Opera”) and Alban Berg (“Lulu/Pandora”). We certainly understand the Holocaust through the prism of the art that was created during the War years – Picasso’s “Guernica” alone speaks volumes about man’s inhumanity to man. But we also understand the Holocaust through what came in the immediate aftermath. After that, the world began to process what it learned about mankind’s ugliest extremes and our ability to survive those extremes. In fact, composer Bertolt Brecht wrote, “In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.” World War2 was followed by a period of unprecedented cultural impact by Jews. Writers like Philip Roth and Elie Wiesel, artists like Marc Chagall, entertainers like the Marx Brothers and Bob Dylan. It wasn’t just that Jews were valued, in our society, after having nearly been obliterated. More importantly, it is that they had something incredibly valuable to share, having survived that experience. When you survive the unthinkable, you are poised to become one of the great thinkers. The Holocaust was a striving for perfection. The Great Leap Forward in China was more about uniformity. Historian Frank Dikotter explained that “coercion, terror and systematic violence were the foundations of the Great Leap Forward” and that it “motivated one of the most deadly mass killings in human history.” It is believed that somewhere between 18 and 55 million people died, including during the years of the terrible Famine that plagued China (1958-1962). During the Great Leap Forward, the Chinese Communist Party did permit criticism of the government (including the infamous “Gang of Four”). A tsunami of Chinese literature emerged during this time, including painful accounts of life under Chairman Mao. These included short stories that appeared in official government publications. The Maoist system, like the Nazi’s before, believed in a policy of agrarian reliance. The images, in both totalitarian systems, publicly presented include robust farmers and plump housewives, darling children and industrious teens –all working toward the greater good of self-reliance and integrity of resources. But the Great Leap Forward pushed agricultural reliance to the extreme, resulting in the failure of crops across the countryside. After the famine had ended there was a period in which the Chinese leadership embraced a cultural wave known as “Scar Literature” in which the people of China were able to write honestly about their experiences. Scar literature was cathartic and depicted truly horrific accounts of life during the Cultural Revolution – of persecution and violence, including the state-sanctioned executions of their loved ones. Examples of “scar literature” include “Red Azalea” by Anchee Min, “Mao’s Last Dancer” by Li Cunxin and “Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China” by Jung Chang. In “Wild Swans,” author Chang relates “Father said slowly, “I ask myself whether I am afraid of death. I don’t think I am. My life as it is now is worse. And it looks as if there is not going to be any ending. Sometimes I feel weak: I stand by Tranquility River and think, just one leap and I can get it over with. Then I tell myself I must not. If I die without being cleared, there will be no end of trouble for all of you… I have been thinking a lot lately. I had a hard childhood, and society was full of injustice. It was for a fair society that I joined the Communists. I’ve tried my best through the years. But what good has it done for the people? As for myself, why is it that in the end, I have come to be the ruin of my family? People who believe in retribution say that to end badly, you must have something on your conscience. I have been thinking hard about the things I’ve done in my life. I have given orders to execute some people…” Today’s current literature trend of purging the soul owes a great debt to those Chinese writers, many of whom wrote their true stories under the most horrendous of experiences, often hiding their works until they could be free, or defect, and share them with the world. This included stories of forced labor, brutal rapes, and cannibalism. But perhaps no time in history had as great and as long-lasting a cultural impact as that of the years of the Great Plague. The “Black Death” raged from 1346 to 1353 and claimed the lives of as many as 200 million humans. Our cultural understanding of Death itself, from the image of the Grim Reaper, of Heaven and Hell and Purgatory, stem from those years. Dante’s works bear the marks of the plague all over them. The artistic descriptions of fair maidens languishing away and the bird-beaked plague doctors, aromatic herbs warding off the bug. In fact, our very understanding of the nature of insects in the lives and health of humans came from the Black Death. Whatever would Kafka and Burroughs have written about without first the concept of the insect as the enemy? With every tragic and terrible moment in history, you’ll find a creative burst that enlightens and entertains. World War I brought us Jazz. The Crusades gave us Islamic art. The Depression gave us the works of Dorothea Lange. The Slave Trade gave us Gospel, and later, Rock and Roll. I didn’t expect this to be a dark time in my life. As a writer I understand that my responsibility is to document, to chronicle, to “bear witness” as Victor Klemperer (the German Holocaust-era journalist) wrote. But as a creative soul, a left-brained, punk rock weirdo, I have to find an outlet for my despair and not just an inlet. There’s a tiny part of me that is fascinated by what may emerge, in our future. Like other darker moments in our history, I know that it is because of the determination of our artists, that the future can be brighter.

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