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thanksjro · 3 years

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More Than Meets the Eye #30 - The Cybertronian Judicial System is a Friggin’ Joke

Have I mentioned that I’m not a huge fan of court case stories? I think they’re pretty boring, on average, so the last couple of issues have been slightly dragging for me.

Anyway, back to Megatron’s trial.   Our issue opens up with a full back shot of Ultra Magnus.

Artists take note, he really is built like a capital T.

As Magnus reads out Megatron’s statement retracting his “guilty” plea, we get some decent points as to why. See, telling a guy that you’ll stab him in the brain, so his trial can be over as quickly as possible, maybe isn’t such a hot idea. Megatron wasn’t a huge fan of that, or of how those memories they would’ve yanked outta him would have been used to fuel the Autobot propaganda machine. Why, you may ask?

Well, I don’t know if you knew this or not, but Megatron… doesn’t particularly care for the Autobots, nor the rhetoric they uphold.

I know, I was surprised too!

There’s also the fact that Optimus Prime is the judge on this whole thing. You know. Optimus Prime. Off and on leader of the Autobots, whenever it suits him. The guy who fucked off into space for a year after the war. The guy who threw a hissy fit when someone pointed out that he was compromised the last time they did something like this with Megatron. This guy:

Yeah, there might be a slight conflict of interests here. Remind me again why this had to be a military trial?

Anyway, enough of that, it’s time for a fight scene.

A swarm of Decepticons storm the arena, going after Megatron so they can help him escape. Magnus, though acting as Megatron’s defense, cannot abide by this disorder in the court.

Wild to think there’s a tiny little Pringles man with anxiety in there, isn’t it?

Optimus joins the fray, because there really are, just, so many guys to deal with here. A dude goes to collect Megatron, stating that they brought teleport packs for this little shindig. Megatron isn’t super jazzed about that though, not bothering to grab on before the dude gets shot to death. There’s a brief recess, I guess so the janitorial staff can deal with the mess of corpses littering the courtroom.

Meanwhile, in the present day, Rung’s building a model spaceship in Swerve’s, which is a very brave thing to be doing, seeing how sticky and gross bars can be. Brainstorm’s brought a flask to the bar, and proceeds to pour the contents into a funnel sticking out of his arm.

Our bartender for the evening- I’m assuming it’s evening, but I doubt the concept of time has any real weight in space- is Bluestreak. Bluestreak was stationed on Earth for a while, which is some Phase One stuff, and took a liking to human media while he was there. He’s the guy who handles movie night these days, seeing as Rewind’s too busy being dead to do it, and I doubt Chromedome has the emotional bandwidth to take over for his late spouse.

Bluestreak’s favorite movie is Zulu, a film glorifying the colonialism of the English over the native populace of an African kingdom. Make of that what you will.

Whirl wants to watch À Bout de Soufflé, or Breathless, as it was translated for the English-speaking world, which is a French New Wave film about a criminal who shoots a cop, hides from the police in a journalist’s home, who he seduces and likely impregnates. She eventually finds out what he did, reports him to the police, but then has a change of heart and lets him know what she’s done. He runs, but is shot, and dies in the street. The film is notable for its final scene, in which the following dialogue happens, between the dying criminal Michael, his lover Patricia, and an officer.

Of course, any poignancy would almost certainly be lost on the average comic book reader, and is also somewhat nullified by Whirl praising the film with internet lingo.

Then again, I suppose Whirl would be the type to dismantle any deeper reading of his interest in such a film, lest he be subjected to the horrifying ordeal of being known.

Over with Skids and Riptide, it’s revealed that Megatron’s been teaching classes on the Lost Light, specifically on the Knights of Cybertron. Riptide’s getting an education, because he’s been feeling pretty lost since the war ended- we’ll get to the potential whys of that later on. Swerve isn’t a fan of this community college thing that’s going on, stating that Megatron’s using it as a distraction, so he can devise plots most foul.

Back in the past, Autobot high command is having a talk about what Megatron’s demanding, and man is it a doozy— turns out, since the trial’s happening on Luna 2, the trial proceedings are subject to the laws of the moon. One of these moon laws is the right to request being judged by the Knights of Cybertron. Now, this is a problem, seeing as the Knights of Cybertron have been AWOL for the last several million years, but the law is the law, and you can’t just go ignoring it when someone’s pointed it out.

Bro, your SIC just suggested y’all pull the trial so you could slap it on Cybertron, thus negating any need to pay attention to the Knight law. That’s such a gross miscarrying of justice, it’s genuinely baffling. You’ve got bigger issues going on than flouting. My god, Optimus, you were a cop—

Oh wait, that’s right. Carry on, then.

Back on the Lost Light, First Aid’s checking to make sure that the coffin Rodimus they revealed last issue is true and proper dead. Now, this may seem like a given, but you’ve got to remember that Brainstorm was mostly dead for over a year and a half, and nobody fucking noticed, so it’s probably for the best that they’re checking.

First Aid’s been pretty withdrawn since Ambulon died, so this autopsy is really good for him, since it got him out of his room. Pretty fucked up that it would take a dead body to get him out and about. Has Rung checked in on his poor son of a gun, or has he been spending the last six months getting his professional rocks off psychoanalyzing a genocidal warlord?

Our coffin Rodimus died from having parts of his brain removed, and potentially died screaming.

Yes, that is a Furmanism, thank you peanut gallery, moving on—

Ratchet hands the phone over to Ultra Magnus, saying that a call has to be made, and it can’t be by him, because the callee is mighty upset with Ratchet at the moment.

Oh, I guess he’s fine after all. This must be where the sci-fi bullshit really starts kicking in for the series.

Because seeing your own dead body is likely very traumatic and awful, Rodimus is taking a while to string together his thoughts on the matter. Megatron doesn’t particularly care, because he’s not terribly sympathetic to this sort of thing, and the two get into a spat, where it’s revealed that they’re co-captaining the Lost Light.

Because things weren’t chaotic enough on this fucking ship. Need to mix in some peacocking between the McDonalds twunk and the man who killed half of Beijing.

Back in the past, Optimus Prime visited Megatron in prison to have a little chat. It’s not about that little rescue attempt, though the fact that those Decepticons may have been released from the Lost Light’s brig is certainly interesting. No, Optimus is here to sit way too close to his mortal nemesis on the floor of his room and talk about how Megatron is a sneaky bastard.

You remember the Hellraiser puzzle box from a couple issues back? Yeah, that was a communicube, one that was passed to Optimus to suggest that the trial be held on the moon, so the arena there would be able to hold all the people wronged by Megatron. This seems pretty damn convenient in hindsight, but Megatron swears that the legal loophole wasn’t his only intent when he sent the cube.

Because it’s all about you, isn’t it, Megatron? It’s all about how you’re perceived by future generations. Fuck the guys who had to actually deal with what your personal choices caused to happen.

Megatron wants to make amends with all those who were wronged by him. This doesn’t include being acquitted of his crimes, which, y’know, good- at least he’s being slightly realistic about how this is going to turn out for him.

What he wants to do is find Cyberutopia, so the Cybertronians have a replacement planet, since Cybertron kind of sucks now.

Oh, sorry, did I say realistic? I take it back.

In the present, Rodimus is still bummed out about being dead. Still, the day doesn’t stop just because it’s a bad one, and he calls in the experts.

CHROMEDOME YOU PROMISED TO STOP THIS SHIT

Yeah, no, Chromedome’s fallen off the wagon again, and does his thing on the coffin Rodimus. As he does, Megatron suddenly gets squeamish, Brainstorm pulls out his early early-warning device to lean on the fourth wall, and it’s revealed that the coffin that coffin Rodimus was in was built in the fashion of the Spectralist faith.

All Chromedome can suss out of coffin Rodimus’ memories is the really big important stuff, which includes the speech at Rivet’s Field inviting folks to come join the Knight Quest. Aww, that’s sweet.

With the analysis of the innermost energon complete, the results are in— the coffin Rodimus is a Rodimus. A real one, from the near future. Bummer.

I suppose denial is one of the seven stages of grief, isn’t it?

As everyone argues over whether or not Rodimus is going to die, Nightbeat brings up a good point— there aren’t any numbers carved into the coffin Rodimus’ hand. Rodimus is about to reveal some Ratchet-original wisdom, when things start getting really weird; whole sections of the Lost Light are disappearing.

Over at Swerve’s, Tailgate is regaling his peers with the story of his derring-do against Chief Justice Tyrest. Everyone is very impressed, and this includes our good buddy Getaway.

Jeez, think you’ve got enough antagonist shadows on this guy? It’s almost as if the art’s trying to tell us something about him.

Getaway lays it on real thick, saying that Tailgate could totally be the next Prime, with how courageous and awesome he is, all while completely ignoring Tailgate’s personal space and having a weirdly tiny hand. This seems to seriously bother Cyclonus, who is watching this shit go down from the doorway. Our purple space jet leaves once the drinks start being poured and conversation starts happening. God knows he hates talking about his insecurities.

Then the Pipes is Friggin’ Dead alarm goes off. But Pipes has been dead for a while now, so that must mean something else awful is happening.

Back during the trial, I guess because Optimus has a soft spot for Megatron, he allows him to join the Lost Light’s Knight Quest… even as he says that he could keep the guy locked up until Rodimus and pals find the Knights. However, there are rules to this, and one of the rules is that Megatron must publicly denounce the Decepticon cause.

It is a slow and painful experience for everyone involved, as he reads the statement he was given. It’s an immediate call to action- or rather, inaction.

Geez, think they could’ve made it any more obvious that this was being ghostwritten? I can’t wait to see how long it takes for “Megatron was blackmailed into saying this by the Autobots” to be a plotpoint.

Outside the prison, Ratchet and Rodimus are taking in the brand new Rod Pod, which is genuinely ridiculous in how large it is. Rodimus admits to having taken Atomizer’s list, though he knows that trying to use it to keep those who voted him off would be a pretty shitty thing to do.

Also, no one’s told him about Megatron coming along on the trip. As captain.

Or you could, I dunno, lock him up from the start. Or, if you want to give him a chance to prove himself, slap him into a bottom-rung role, like bilge cleaner, or sewage mucker, or whatever the equivalent would be on a spaceship full of giant gay robots. We don’t have to give the guy any power to hold him to scrutiny— any minimum wage worker will tell you that scrutiny comes far harsher for those who actually carry out orders than those who give them.

But what do I know? I’ve never fought in a several million year war, and I don’t plan to.

Getting back to the list, it seems as if Ratchet and Rodimus are on the same wavelength, in that both agree it’s only going to cause trouble and hurt feelings to keep the thing around. Rodimus destroys it with his usual flare, only to be blindsided by the fact that it was fake this entire time. How does Ratchet know this?

Because his name wasn’t on it.

...Man, that’s gotta sting. No wonder Rodimus was upset enough to not take his calls.

In the present, everyone’s in a panic, as they all bolt for the shuttle bay and start pouring into shuttles. The Lost Light is disintegrating around them, which is sort of a problem. Despite this nightmare scenario happening, Rodimus and Megatron still find the time to be assholes to each other. That’s dedication right there.

As the two bicker, multiple shuttles zip away from the rapidly disappearing ship, including the Rod Pod.

Man, now it really is the Lost Light.

#transformers #jro #MTMTE #world shut your mouth #issue 30 #Hannzreads #text post #long post #overthinking about robots #incoming analysis #comic script writing

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knight-queen · 3 years

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Lunatic Parade Azusa Mukami–(Chapter 3)

[O1] [O2] [O3] [O4] [Final] [Care for Vampire]

Place: Grimmer Main Street, Wagon Street

Yui: (For some reason, I was worrying because his behave was rather suspicious… however...)

Vampire Child B: Excuse me. Is there any bouquet of Gerbera here?

Flower Boy: Yes, there are! These are for presents and you need these kinds of flowers, right?

Yui: (Certainly, I have been depressed lately for everything we went through yesterday...but I think my prediction for him was wrong)

Azusa: Eve, I wonder if he’s hiding his real attitude…

Yui: Who knows...I have noticed that he’s behaving much more cheerful than yesterday...

Azusa: As expected...we better...accompany him...right?

Yui: Yeah, it’s important to search where Butler San is but...we just can’t leave him alone.

(What on the Earth shall we do…?)

Flower Boy: Thank you for your efforts. You can go for the bath right now if you prefer.

Yui: Um...but…

Flower Boy: Please, leave the shop to me! It’s because you were always giving a hand until now...

Today, the stall of Kebab will be released at the plaza and definitely look forward to that!

Azusa: ...

Yui: …kh...

Place: ディアマンテの泉 / Diamante Fountain

Yui: ...Haa…

Azusa: Eve...the kebab we get after a long wait...will get cold...

Yui: Oh, you are right.

Sorry. Even though we are having lunch only two of us together...I was making a gloomy expression.

Azusa: No...it couldn’t be helped…

The boy of that flower-shop...I am also confused about... what to do about him…

Yui: I think we will go crazy making a decision…

(Looks like the people who are having meals and conversations nearby are having fun and enjoying themselves...It’s only us who are not enjoying it at all.)

Yui: Huh…? Come to think...that woman?

(I am not sure whether she is that woman from earlier or not but, I am feeling like I’ve seen this woman before…)

Vampire Woman G: ―So, guess what? That guy was screaming, I think?

(I just want to see your smile. That is the only thing that makes me smile too. Won’t you let me meet you again?)

*Continuing conversations*

Vampire Woman: Right~? It’s making me to laugh...fufu!~

Vampire Woman C: Then? Did you bring him back after all, huh?

Vampire Woman G: No, I didn’t! I want to spoil him one more time!

He said, “If you follow me around like this, I will sue you like a stalker” ya’ know?

Vampire Woman C: Uwaa―… You also do rigorous things like him, afterall~...

Vampire Woman G: I did the right thing! That nonsense boy, he was playing around from the beginning.

Rather, I want him to think it like he is able to play with such a beautiful woman like me.

Yui: (Those women are having conversations about a man…...how cruel…!)

Azusa: Hey...they are talking about...the boy from the flower shop…?

Yui: Yes...it looks like so.

(Their talking’s already enough to make me hurt… moreover, they are having a conversation about him putting on such a smiling face...unforgivable… )

*Yui stands*

Azusa: Eve...why…? Standing up so suddenly…

Yui: Sorry, Azusa Kun. Me...I can’t tolerate this kind of gossiping about him…

Azusa: You can’t...If you want to tell them something...then I will go….

Yui: No, I will go.

*Yui starts walking*

Yui: Um...Can I say something....

Vampire Woman G: Haah? Who’s it, a lil’ girl. Hey, have we met before?

I don’t think I have met such a tiny woman before.

Yui: Are you talking about the boy from the flower shop?

Vampire Woman C: Fu!...Is this girl talking about your ex-boyfriend? Seriously~!

Yui: You are free to ignore your boyfriend’s feelings if you want to, don’t answer to him.

But, talking bad about him by laughing like that…! I don’t think it's a good thing to do…!

Vampire Woman G: Tch!...Annoying. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere and starting to grumble about this?

Won’t you disappear from our sight already? You are a disturbance.

Yui: Impossible…! Apologize to him!

Vampire G: I can’t apologize! It’s stupid to get easily melted just for receiving a little bit kindness from him.

Yui: ...ugh…

Vampire Woman G: What with those eyes? Do you still have any business?

I strongly hate justice minded women like you, ...ya’ know?

Good lil’ girl or whatever, just disappear from here―― AAH!!

Yui: (― I am gonna get hit?)

Azusa: You can’t...I won’t forgive them who will raise a hand pointing at her…

Yui: …!? Azusa kun…

Azusa: You withdraw and step back...I will manage to do something…

Yui: ―...Yes!

Vampire Woman G: You are planning to be “Knight-like”, huh? If it’s the case, then you are ultra super annoying than her!

Vampire Woman C: Two of us were just having fun chatting and you guys are just being troublesome. Why’s that?

Azusa: Your…way of talking was not fun…

Speaking about his feelings... like mud-painting...will turn out bad. That’s all.

Vampire Woman G: Haa? What are you saying? She’s the one who’s the most disturbance.

Vampire C: We meant we won’t withdraw! Do you know that all the complaints we have is about this little girl!

Azusa: I won't accept that.

Because... Yui san is my precious person…

It’s my responsibility to protect...the person I love...if she is facing with evil people

I think...the people who haven’t loved anyone before...won’t understand this spirit…

Vampire Woman G: What’s now...Every single one of you is just raising the facts about the boy that I have thrown away…!

Could it be...that you are just having objections to me because that guy asked you to do so?

Azusa: You are wrong...We are doing it for our own convenience…

He...used to love you...For this...he won’t want you to get hurt…

Same goes for you...you should also...consider to...accompany him more…

If you just continue to hurt others...someday...you will have to...face a critical situation…

Vampire Woman G: ...ugh…

Tch!...I got it. You don't have to say anything.

Vampire Woman C: Hey?...Are you sure?

Vampire Woman G: It’s ‘cuz, they have come here for bending for their own selfish reason. Plus, I am tired now.

Yui: Ah…!

Thank you so much!

Azusa: Yes...Thank you…

Vampire Woman G: .......

What are ya’ saying..? How stupid!?

Really you guys are stupid to go that far for that boy.

Azusa: That’s because...he is a nice person...as far I know…

Yui: We are showing our gratitude for him…

Vampire Woman G: Haa, let’s go.

I don’t want to breathe in the same air.

Vampire C: Isn’t it? Let’s go to our usual cafe~.

Yui: (Even though they don’t understand anything right now, but someday, they should come to realize his feelings.)

Thank you for helping me, Azusa kun.

Azusa: No, you don’t have to thank me...but…

By doing this...we can’t say that he will become...satisfied…

Yui: (Azusa kun…)

Don’t worry...I am sure that he will understand if you explain everything…

Azusa: I wonder…

Flower Boy: ....uuh..*Crying* I understand...everything!...guh, uuh! *Crying*

Yui: Huh? Why are you here...—

Oh no! Are you okay…!?

(Flower boy...His face full of tears is becoming more crumpled…)

Flower Boy: I am sorry…*still crying* I ended up hearing everything…

Azusa: I am so sorry...I couldn’t do anything for you…

Flower Boy: It’s not something like that! Just with those feelings...ugh!...

And also...I am a clear conception now…

I will forget about that person at once…!

I will start finding a new route!

Yui: Now way...which means that you will not continue the flower shop?

Flower Boy: No, I won’t.

I am a dumb who is good for nothing but, together, we were continuing to handle the flower shop in a artistic way.

I was inspired...I will drag myself to work even more…

More importantly, everything you did until now, I must have to thank you for those efforts…

I don’t know whether I will be useful or not, however, please let me join with you for searching Butler san…!

Yui: Thank you so much! Same here, you are very welcome to join us.

*After a while*

Yui: (Like this, we three of us are searching Butler san, but…)

Azusa: Well...I think the best idea will be...to split ourselves into groups…

Flower Boy: Yeah, but remember that he is thought to appear in unexpected places…

Since, at the same time, you have to look for the places where there are strange things at the same time.

Yui: (Places of strange things…)

Flower Boy: I will also have a look one more time at the Saint Honore park, where I saw him yesterday.

You two don't know much details about this street, so, at first, we will divide it into two.

Yui: Then, we will search on the mountain side….

Azusa: Um...come to think of it...I never went there...not even...once…

Flower Boy: In that place, if you manage to find him, then you can use familiars out there to contact me.

Azusa: Yes, understood…

Flower Boy: See you again!

*They split in groups for searching Butler*

Place: 湖 / Lake

Yui: (This is the famous Tilkeys lake...)

(Certainly, this has become a popular date spot for couples…)

Azusa: Even though this place is...quite...but there’s a...lot of people…

Yui: I am somehow...tired…

(As expected...looks like Butler san is not here…)

*Azusa gets closer*

Azusa: Eve, I think that’s…

Yui: That’s a swan boat.

Looks like there’s a huge number of couples who are riding on that. Once two people will swing the paddle, it will take you directly onto the water.

Azusa: Two people…?

…...

Yui: (Azusa kun’s is staring like he has freezed...Did he get interested in that?)

Do you want to ride?

Azusa: Is that okay…?

Yui: It’s fine. We can search Butler san from the lake.

Azusa: Thank you...Eve...

*Fades into CG*

Azusa: Uh!... ...Is it okay like this?

Yui: Yes, it’s perfect I think.

Azusa: Thank you… …. It’s so fun...

Yui: Fufu! That’s true.

(Looks like Azusa lun liked it. I am glad that we were invited for this.)

Azusa: Hey, Yui san… ... Let’s go to the opposite shore now.

Yui: Yea, I got it… ...Oops.

….!Ah! Azusa kun!

Azusa: What is it?

Yui: There is a man who is drinking tea on the opposite shore, his forehead! There is a red Granate

Azusa: Red Granate on his forehead….Butler san!?

*Changed to CG (2)*

Azusa: Let’s go, Yui san….

Since I will paddle.... with all my might. Follow me.

Yui: Follow you?ーー...Ah!?

AAH!

Much faster than before..! Is Azusa kun paddling?

(His paddle is moving too fast...I can’t keep up with this speed…)

Azusa: Try your best. There is … just a little left...

Yui: (ーー! Yes…!)

*CG Fades*

Yui: (ーkh, Phew...Finally we’ve reached the shore...)

Azusa: Eve, hold on...Before going any further...let’s send a familiar to the flower boy.

Yui: Got it.

*Flying sound of bats*

Azusa: Let’s go now, Eve…

Unlike usual days, we can’t chase after him by RUNNING. Don’t let your guard down…

Yui: (Uuh...this time, I have to approach as smoothly as I can…!)

Azusa: Um...excuse me

Butler: Uh… ...It’s you…?

Azusa: I am apologizing at first...I am sorry for chasing after you…

Yui: M-me too!. I am so sorry for suddenly scaring you like this…!

Butler: Ugh…

Azusa: But, we have a serious request to you…

Yui: Anyhow, please accept us as workers for the castle…!

Even if it is an odd job...we will do anything! But let us work for the castle…!

I am begging you…!

Butler: ...haa…

I am really apologizing but currently, we have enough manpower.

By the way, I am not the authority for labourers. I want you to give up already.

Yui: Such a…

Azusa: I won’t give up…!

I can’t move from here...until I say it to you...over and over again…!

Butler: Even if you say that…

???: Isn’t it fine, if you hire them?

Yui: You are…!

(So, the familiars have reached our message to him successfully.)

Flower Boy: Never mind for interrupting you so suddenly.

I work at a flower shop in the castle town.

It should be fine if you give a little time to listen to our story, right?

Monologueー

[Afterwards, the flower boy opened his mouth to the Butler san.

He said that he has been working for a flower shop for the past few days, but he’s very grateful for the work.]

[The number of customers has increased several times, and the products in the store had a good reputation.

[If you try that work even though it’s for only one time, you will be able to understand it’s merit…” We all were complimenting him for saying this.]

End of Monologue

Butler: I see. Umm...how many laborers can be available right now…

Azusa: We want to work for the castle in any condition…

Butler: I want to fulfil your wish, but my priority is not sufficient to do it all by myself…

No...By the chance, my manager may have an interest in accepting something...then you may give it a try..?

Azusa: The thing that Earl has interest…?

Butler: Yeah. He has the treasure that is unique in this world...by some chance…

Yui: (What it could be? We don’t have such a treasure…)

Azusa: I understand. Well then...tomorrow...I will bring that treasure with me…

Yui: Wha!?

(He has declared these words without even hesitating...is that gonna be alright!?)

Azusa: Please...tell Earl that...we will meet with him tomorrow…

Best wishes for you…

Butler: Ho...Seeming like you are well prepared.

I got it. I will pass your words to him.

Place: Rubean Canal / ルビーン運河

Yui: (The view scenery is so beautiful from the gondola…. ) (boat, esp.in Venice)

Umm...Really thank you so much for earlier…!

Azusa: Thanks to you...I was rescued from trouble…

Flower Boy: Nope...it was just a little thank you that I showed.

More importantly, it’s AZUSA SAN who is wonderful! It’s because you accept the deal without any hesitation.

Azusa: Me…?

Yui: ...Oh that’s...at that time, Azusa kun, you were having so much confidence. Do you really have treasure?

Azusa: No...I don’t

Yui: Huh? Then why did you tell him such a thing…!?

Azusa: I didn’t see any chance but this one... in order to help you…

For this...I didn’t want to miss...even though I had to lie…

Yui: (He was thinking it like that...even though in that kind of situation, he thought about me..)

Flower Boy: That’s really amazing…

I also want to become cool like you…

Azusa: I…

Yui: You were cool, Azusa kun.

Azusa: Oh, yes...thank you…

Place: Hotel • Mortstein Guest Room / ホテル • モーントシュタイン客室

Yui: (Since we come in the parade, I am seeing Azusa’s showing so many unusual sights, I think.)

(He has become more like a man, much more reliable than before…)

(But, these are still the nice Azusa…)

*Azusa appeared*

My new pair of shoes is already dirty.

and me.

Azusa: What’s wrong, Eve. You haven’t slept yet.

Yui: Ah, sorry for that. You can sleep before me, Azusa kun.

Azusa: I want us to sleep together...I will be awake…

*Azusa hugged Yui*

Yui: ….uuh…

Azusa: So, if you have any distress...tell me...I want to be a little helpful…

Yui: Umm...Actually, there’s nothing which is bothering me or something…

I am always thinking about you...Azusa kun…

Azusa: About me…?

Yui: Yes...I was thinking that, I am seeing a different Azusa than before…

Ofcourse that Azusa kun was friendly but...the Azusa kun of now is much stronger and reliable, I feel…

Azusa: Say...that means I am cool right…?

Yui: Yes, But I think both Azusa kun are nice…

Azusa: Okay, tell me then, Yui san…

*Azusa get more closer*

Azusa: Which one of you do you like the most…?

Yui: Eeh!?

Azusa: I want to know...what are you thinking about it…

Yui: That’s…

Selectionー

I like the Azusa of before

I like the Azusa of now (+Correct)

Yui: Certainly, I used to like the Azusa before, but…

I also like Azusa Kun now…

Azusa: Thank you Eve...I am happy…

Yui: Uuh! Suddenly thanking me like this…

Azusa: You like any side of me, this is why...I'm thanking you…

Yui: That’s…! Despite these, I am also happy that you said something like these to me…

Azusa: Ne~ Eve, what about “this me right now”?

*Azusa undresses Yui*

*Bed creaking sound*

Yui: …!?

Yui: (I was pushed down by Azusa kun!?)

Azusa: Hehe!...I haven't done it before...looking at you from the above…

Even if you said earlier...I wonder how do you feel...about my unexpected side…?

*Touch her more*

Azusa: Ne~ I want you more…*kiss*

Yui: …nh!?

Azusa: A kiss is not enough for me...Ne~ I want your blood next...nh…

Yui: (ーKh, this time, he’s digging his fangs around my neck…!)

Azusa: Nh…...nnh ...nh...Haa ...

Your face is...turning red...fufu~ how cute…

Yui: ...!?...

(No! It’s embarrassing…!)

Azusa: Don’t refuse...don’t hide your face...just look at me…

You each and every expression is cute...I like only you…

Yui: I also like you, Azusa kun…

Azusa: Yes...Thank you…!

ー The End of Chapter O 3

#old translation #azusa mukami #lunatic parade azusa mukami chapter 3 #diabolik lovers lunatic parade #azusa mukami lunatic parade chapter 3 #chapter 3 #diabolik lovers #lunatic parade #diabolik lovers translations

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kentmwz-blog · 3 years

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Why I am not a liberal

12/26/2015

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.”

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

Madame de Stäel once said, “In Frace, freedom is classical and tyranny is modern.” Nowadays, speaking of freedom, most people would think of “civil liberty” and “political freedom”, and so many “public rights”. But in the feudal era of medieval Europe, political freedom meant private property rights, and, civil liberty and political freedom were the two sides of a coin: private rights dominated so there was no such thing as an independent “public right”. The so-called “freedom”, originated from consequences of evolution – traditions such as property, contract, inheritance, and family. Inside privileged organizations which had been formed spontaneously like feudal nobility, urban and rural communities, and commercial guilds, people were free. Thus, the freedom of the communities ensured the decentralization of power into local institutions. As a result, ‘state’ was reduced to the level of an external form.

This old order was not out of human design, but a result of the spontaneous evolution of civilization. At that time, “freedom” was a historic practice, but not an ideology from theory innovations. In such an order, freedom was but one significant feature and was not this order per se. To maintain such an order, responsibilities must be undertaken and duties must be fulfilled. Those who only enjoy the euphoria of absolute power and interest would never achieve it. It is precisely this spontaneous order that gave birth to an ideology named liberalism. However, ideology is not reality and liberalism is not liberty. The liberty of the liberal era was not brought by liberals, but ruined by such intellectuals who loved talking about ‘-ism’, and had a fetish about Enlightenment and equal rights. The advocacy of Enlightened despotism by the founding fathers of liberalism, i.e. Physiocrats, was one of the most ironic examples of them.

In modern times, many liberals are fond of talking about ‘left liberalism’ and ‘right liberalism’, but the dichotomy of left vs. right came from France, which facilitates the disintegration of community and creates divergence and chaos. Before the bloody French Revolution, different political parties had not had differences as large as today. Under such a discourse system of left and right, many metaphysical ideologies which are neither verifiable nor falsifiable preceded practical interests, which resulted in the dominance of intellectuals who are good at constructive rationalism, undermining the restrictions traditions impose upon power. Paul Johnson once said, “In a French-style pseudodemocracy, intellectuals have considerable influence, at both government and street levels. In a true democracy, intellectuals are no more powerful than their arguments.”

In the theory innovations of such intellectuals who are obsessed by the idea of Enlightening – although it is nothing but cheap sedition and expensive indoctrination – the masses, the following pseudoconcepts are popularized: social democracy, social market, social contract, social justice, social freedom and even – socialism. “Society”, as an imaginary entity which had been nonexistent in the feudal Europe, was created and inserted between state and individuals, to replace the localized old forms of community. The collectivist tendency, I am afraid, is not difficult to see: to love the diversity of moral standards and the behavior under the guidance of them, but to hate the diversity of the consequences of human actions – especially the diversity of incomes, the whole “society” became the aquarium and zoo of the chattering class! Among them, social freedom and “social liberalism”, I am afraid, are the most fashionable Zeitgeist. They love equal right but hate equal duty: happiness precedes responsibility, and euphoria precedes wisdom. In this manner, their view on power is also quite interesting: they enjoy the authority and euphoria of being a leader, but refuse to fulfill corresponding duties, and, moral melodramas are more paramount than practical concerns for them. Even when they are proven wrong by hard evidence, they will try to evade with verbal virtuosity and even to wield power to mute dissidents. It seems to them, the title “the leader of the free world” brings them more euphoria than freedom per se. The fact that the difference between social liberals and liberal socialists is almost as trivial as that between social democrats and democratic socialists, I am afraid, is no coincidence.

Freedom, in their narrative, changed its meaning long ago. From “equality before the law” to “equal opportunity”, to “equal outcome”, eventually to “equal beginning, path and outcome” in “left liberalism”, no matter how much they claimed to be disciples of “liberalism”, their behavior has been undermining the foundation of liberty – private property. Of course, among the many branches of socialism, the tyrannical machinery of Leninism is dystopian and repulsive. But returning to the fascist model of big corporations, big unions and big government, i.e. the alleged “social democracy” is actually “the end of history” which liberals should applaud? On one hand, the real private property rights are infringed upon by such “modern” constructs like fractional reserve banking. On the other hand, imaginary “rights” – such as basic income and intellectual property right – are created to make way for the expansion of bureaucracy. What a wonderful “end of history”!

Among liberals, many not only believe the source of morality is relative but also believe the consequence of following it is also relative, or more directly, neglect such consequences: you can find liberals “helping” sodomites and libertines complain about the insufficient “social” investment on the control and prevention of venereal diseases making the loss of “artists” and “philosophers”, or “helping” dopehead liberals complain about the insufficient “social” investment on dental problems making them losing teeth, and of course, destigmatizing such “disadvantaged” and “marginalized” “communities”! “Spontaneous” becomes “to rid the minds of the younger generations of the prejudice of the older generations”, and “order” becomes “chaos”. A “society” full of alcoholism, drug abuse, promiscuity and sodomy is probably the stable and ordered utopia in the eyes of such liberals?

Furthermore, all those who promote “freedom from religions” criticize and mock western churches and religions with a near-revolution attitude, and even do not hesitate to fabricate outright lies to serve their own “liberal” political agenda, except that an immediate consequence of it, is to facilitate ordinary citizens’ conversion to Islamism and communism. The critical thinking of skepticism becomes uncritical negativism for these “liberals”. However, they follow atheism “religulously” – and maybe Mother Gaia believed by green supremacists (the so-called “environmentalists”)? Freedom is a crucial characteristic of European feudal traditions, and religion is the carrier of such beneficial traditions which was formed spontaneously in the process of civilization evolution, albeit it may be a collection of pure ideals in the beginning. The belief that being irreligious is a tautology of being antitheist, I am afraid, is the kind of stereotype that all those who claim to be skeptic must strongly oppose. Although the omniscient and omnipotent “God” is neither verifiable nor falsifiable, yet if following certain religious doctrines – namely, certain traditional moral standards – results in happiness, I am afraid, for “the not-so-well-educated masses that do not have time, capacity or interest in ‘deep thinking’” (by the way, it is the most favored preoccupations of the self-anointed intellectual liberals), to be religious is not necessarily such a horrible thing as many “liberals” suggest. By contrast, history tells us, it was exactly some of those liberal zealots who believed in the abstract ideological concept of freedom made way for the volcano eruption of the revolutions of Islamism and communism to destroy the thin crust we call “civilization”. If one genuinely respects the scientific attitude, then he should check his own ideology with corresponding historic consequences, instead of neglecting and even distorting facts. Unfortunately, so many “liberals” like discarding the wisdom enduring the ruthless tests of time and disposing of valuable traditions but keep on trying new ideas without checking the consequences. Even when someone points out the problem, they never admit it but always stubbornly force “society” – that is, other people – to pay for their reckless “change” guided by their own “free will”. They utilize eloquence to gain favor from the masses and to oppress others’ individual independent dissent. In such attempts of “improving” freedom, they invite the bloody rebirth of war and tyranny, like they did in late 19th and early 20th centuries. How come the abstract “liberalism” became so enchanting? It is nothing else than the delusion that man could get rid of the constraints reality imposes upon us. For those who want to fly without wings, seemingly, the disappearance of gravity is an attractive idea. However, without gravity, one can indeed fly, but the atmosphere will disappear too, so the atmospheric pressure will become zero, the blood in his veins and arteries will boil…perhaps death is the only consequence.

Nowadays, there are many Wilsonians deemed “neoconsevatives” who also praise “freedom” and “free world”. Self-determination sounds indeed like the necessary conclusion of “national freedom” – a kind of “collective freedom”: relying on the Roman Republic of our times, i.e. USA, to export spontaneous order (“freedom”), using collective security to ensure the independence of the weak nation-states which were created from the thin air, defeating the evil totalitarian empires, and morphing the free world. So what about reality? In the Golden Time of Wilsonianism, Europe was filled with bloody conflicts and violence. WWI was caused by the rise of liberal nationalism originated from France, and WWII and the Cold War were caused by the tragic death of the Habsburg Empire. Even the ongoing substitutions of population and religion in Europe, is also the natural bust of the soap bubbles called nation-states which lack the immunity to resist alien cultures. In the decolonized Third World, there is hardly any Golden Time of nation-states: it is full of all kinds of totalitarian despots. The medicine we call “Wilsonianism”, for them, is just like using Penicillin to treat patients troubled by mood disorders but actually allergic to Penicillin. In fact, there are no “successful” and “unsuccessful” nation-states, but only nation-states that are already bankrupt or are on the way of bankruptcy. The so-called “democratic and secular nation-state with universal suffrage”, is not a new era of history or “the end of history”, but the last radiance of the setting sun of civilization. Relying on Rome to export the order of freedom is no different from transporting ice-cream in a desert: most of it is evaporated on the way. At large, this kind of “liberalism” is actually reducing the degree of freedom, just like redistributing wealth is reducing wealth.

Why am I not a liberal? (Hayek once wrote an article, “Why I am not a conservative”) Because I admire the luxuriant giant tree with the name of civilization, including its roots. So many liberals are so obsessed by the sweet fruits of the tree that they totally ignore the other parts, and even do not hesitate to damage the roots for more fruits. Ironically, they often consider themselves to be THE roots, albeit in fact they are nothing but a bunch of parasites.

#oldblog

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checkoutafrica · 3 years

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Urban Village; A legacy in the making

Soweto based 4-piece band, Urban Village, have released a new EP, UBABA, their debut for Parisian label Nø Førmat! (home to Oumou Sangaré, Blick Bassy & Mélissa Laveaux). Marrying the day-to-day experiences of black South Africans with ebullient elements from traditional Zulu music, Urban Village is the alias of four experimental musicians all born and raised in the township of Soweto at the tail end of Apartheid; singer/flautist Tubatsi Mpho Moloi, guitarist Lerato Lichaba, drummer Xolani Mtshali and bassist Simangaliso Dlamini.

Urban Village’s UBABA 4-track EP is released with a new single and visuals carrying the same title. The video created for Ubaba (which translates as ‘father’) by fast-rising filmmaker Justice Mukheli is an evocative rendering of daily life in one of the many Soweto hostels which in the 1900s housed black male South Africans, forcibly separated from their families whilst working in the city’s mines. Speaking about the video, Urban Village note; “Justice is our brother from Soweto. From the moment we discussed his vision for the Ubaba video we trusted he would bring the song to life on the screen. The video shows the different roles played by fathers in society; to nurture, to care, to love, and to protect their families. Salute to all the Ubabas out there present in the house”.

How long did it take you guys to settle on the name Urban Village and why that name? Did you guys have any other names in mind?

In a simpler way, the name Urban Village had already been formed by Lerato Ntsane Lchiba in 2013 when conceptualising on the vision for the music. It took the first thought on the name to settle on it and the name came from an inspiration of our residential field in Johannesburg- Soweto location and there were no other names prior that we ad tried before.

How long have you guys been a group and how did the group form?

The concept for the ban was formed in 2013 as you know. Lerato Ntsane Lchiba (Guitar and Backing vocals). He invited Tubatsi Mpho Moloi (Lead Vocals, flute, mbira and guitar) whom he met as a teenager at local jam sessions, Xolani Mtshali (Drums and Backing Vocals) was next to join, with Siman Galiso Dlamini (Bass) the final ‘villager’ to come into the group. Each member was originally friends from childhood coming together to pursue their musical dreams together in this lifetime.

What was it like growing up in Mzimhlophe in Soweto?

Growing up in Mzimhlophe has been very interesting due to its a place that was politically driven and most old artists and leather gurus spent their time. It also overlooks the landscape of the city of Johannesburg and thus has the township’s vibrant energy and vibe.

How would you describe Maskandi to people that have never heard this style of music?

Maskandi music is one of the traditional music forms of South Africa sound scape, it’s genre mainly played by zulu culture people and it’s musical language amongst the Nguni people.

How would you describe Urban Villages sound because I see that you guys like to blend a lot of genres together?

The sound of the Urban Village is layered with elements of folk, maskandi, rock, jazz – a blend of the modern and the traditional. Growing up in Soweto played a major role on how we merge the folk/ indigenous sounds and the experimental modern world music sound. Keeping the identity is the deliberate delivery as we are messengers of the values of our culture.

What is the story of your ep, what is UBABA about?

With our first Ubaba EP, we took inspiration from the rich musical heritage of South African soil. A totally original synthesis of Zulu guitars, indie- folk, maskandi, South African choirs, and jazz, all carried along by an undoubtable energy and charisma. The project opens with the powerful folk of “Ubaba”; then comes “Izivunguvungu” with its poetic sanza loops and harmonious choruses borrowed from the Zulu music style Isicathamiya; “sakhisizwe” follows with its contagious riffs and maskandi guitar melodies and message of “building a nation”. Finally, french DJ and producer Chloé has revisited Izivunguvungu with a trippy and techno twist – to spread “the spirit of futurist indie-folk through nightclubs”. This EP is a journey through all the colours of Soweto, a dormitory town designed to better monitor those who were sent there, that has become the laboratory of music where the hopes of an entire people resonate, even today.

Explain the visuals of the UBABA video.

This story is a period piece that captures everyday life in a Soweto-based hostel during the 90s. The song, entitled Ubaba (Father) and the inspiration behind the film is centred around a place that was predominantly for men, most of them Ubaba’s (Father’s). During the apartheid regime, hostels were a tactic from the regime to separate Ubaba’s (Father’s) from their families, most of them working themselves to an early death in Johannesburg’s mines. The visuals explore those spaces and all the activities that happen in the environment. We see all aspects of emotion from vulnerable male figures, unity, love, dedication, and talent.

If you could describe Soweto in 3 words what would they be?

Soweto is vibrant, cultured and legendary

What are your hopes for the future of SA music?

Our hopes for the future of music SA music is to grow more and get more opportunities in our media space for alternative traditional music

Our hopes for the future of SA music is to grow more and get more opportunities in our media space for alternative traditional music.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In 10 years we see ourselves running an art based initiative of sharing skills and engagement to empower young aspiring arts. Feet in the tradition, head in the future.

Listen to their EP here;

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rowleing · 4 years

Text

about.

FULL NAME:

Rowle, Sebastian — his parents always appreciated concision, which is a mindset he always tries to put into writing

FACE CLAIM:

Timothée Chalamet

AGE:

23 years old

GENDER & PRONOUNS:

He would certainly like to be vague about such details, not only to be interesting, but to avoid such harsh sentences, but he dances to whatever tune the society is humming, out of inertia. The norm goes — it doesn’t concern him anyway. It’s a shrugged he/him/his.

SECOND PREFERENCE:

Rita Skeeter, maybe? Though I’d really like to write an application if it comes to rejection, because otherwise I wouldn’t get to know the character before playing them.

OCCUPATION:

Unemployed; when he doesn’t write, he pretends to listen to the many people he insists to surround himself with. Money doesn’t represent an issue for his family, therefore he wouldn’t want to waste any time doing some half-hearted internship, pretending to care about becoming a journalist only because the job uses words too. It isn’t a sign of slacking off, rather than concealing energy for the pleasant and the necessary, which, for him, is (despite the term being scoffed at) art.

SEXUALITY:

He loves love. Cliches are only cliches when half-hearted, insincere and shallow. When the depth beats the popularity of a concept, it’s a classic. So it would be unnatural to write without loving love. He falls in love obsessively with concepts. History pages don’t speak about a young, beautiful, romanticized Tom Riddle, but his imagination made him up almost entirely from scratch. He seeks authenticity, tragedy, maybe even the syrup no one else can stand. An idealist’s sighs meet a rationalist’s stubborn mind, and everyone who is poetry enough steals his heart for at least a second. He pretends to fall in love because of these glimpses of beautiful sincerity in certain people. He pretends it so genuinely that it becomes true. Like a Romeo to a thousands of Juliets a day, albeit gluing his soles to the ground enough not to go insane.

AMORTENTIA:

It would firstly and most importantly be the freshly cut grass — the first sensation he could feel deeply in his lungs, the chlorine of a deep blue, endless swimming pool where he wastes his time in the best ways during summertime and the way a random room would smell when his mother painted indoors. It would change too often, adding certain perfumes, certain ways a book can smell in, but these three remain as key stimuli that make him fall in love, firstly and lastly, with life.

BOGGART:

He refuses to see one. From the shielded, privileged, cozy position he is in, it looks like he doesn’t need to ever face fear. Back in the third year, an old, ugly woman — almost the fairy tale archetype — threatened him, teeth rotten and nose crooked. Today, it would perhaps turn into something less ugly, and more dangerous, like a very close to him snake with the eyes of his father.

CURRENT POLITICAL POSITION:

There is no secret to the fact that the name Rowle still echoes like a mistake in the Wizarding World. The Azkaban that holds his father captive is a reminder that broken reputations don’t heal overnight. Yet, they’re not pariahs because Mrs. Rowle knows the art of charm like she knows her maiden name — more and more relevant every day. She likes society, a solar figure that smiles just like her son, and she never stopped inviting everyone she liked to tea. Meaningless connections she didn’t bother to keep once her husband became a stain unlike paint. But the few figures she was intrigued by, she insisted on keeping close. At first a handful of people, in ‘98. Today, an entire sitting room filled with open minds looking at this woman past a questionable reputation.

Still, Sebastian doesn’t fear the label hanging over his head like a sword. He doesn’t try to prove anyone how kind-hearted he is, how much he believes in equality and how much he hates his father. If anything, he is unsure of his feelings towards the man, but never resentful. He doesn’t mean to follow his footsteps; it’s just that someone talked about redemption and nothing sounded more beautiful. He follows out of poetic curiousness. Tomorrow, he could change sides if someone held a good enough aesthetic argument. His personal beliefs don’t rely on morality. In fact, nothing but art should ever rely on morality, according to him.

REASON FOR REDEMPTION:

Listen, he might want to have something to have to seek redemption for. It’s a noble purpose, makes for good literature and never stopped being a deep and relevant subject. Yet, he might be too capricious to ever see a fault in his own actions. On a surface level, he wants to feel that cathartic regret, that desperation to get better, but, deep down, it’s impossible for his brain to process that he might have ever done something even remotely wrong.

PERSONALITY TRAITS: (+,-)

( - ) Capricious, easily bored, moody, in need of constant change, Sebastian remains the spoiled boy from a good family, blinded by the shiny light of gold and unable to understand there are worse sights to gaze at. He can’t function in any other way, and he doesn’t want to, because he thinks there is no greater value in the world than his time. He has none of it to waste, already running against the countdown, so he becomes careless about what stops interesting him even for a minute.

( - ) When it comes to justice, he is blinded by how boring he thinks it must be to think morally. It isn’t that he is malicious, rather than lacking a filter when it comes to compassion. He has it — any person with the slightest perspective on art has compassion — but it’s isolated in fiction most of the times. When people manage to bring it out in reality, he pretends it’s yet another good book and relies on loving those people for a little bit. But he doesn’t know sorrow himself, so he doesn’t know how to separate the good from the bad. It all comes down to artistically relevant and uninteresting.

( - ) As deep as he becomes in the ways he is authentic in, he has a certain air of shallowness which could ultimately make him despise himself — aesthetically, of course. He is too vain to see fault in his own mindset, even though he doesn’t hold back when admitting to be wrong (never really believing that one). He appears to be open-minded (and there are ways in which he certainly is), but what appears is debatable when it comes to his name.

( + ) Blunt, without a censor, he genuinely thinks there is no one more sincere than him. He expresses opinions, words, moods with ease and Apollonian inner power. In certain ways, Sebastian even glows, out of this confidence that a good childhood inspired in him. He is half as genuine as he believes himself to be, which is still a virtue.

( + ) Imaginative, naturally gifted, the epitome of Romanticism ages later, Sebastian may struggle with authenticity (despite not wanting to), but he never struggles with words. It’s his first nature. Eloquence, grace, honesty all mix into the letters he pronounces, either on paper or out loud. He has the gift of thinking beautifully, even when he is utterly wrong — and perhaps that’s what everything is about.

( + ) Every bit of his personally naturally equals in charm — but it isn’t quite the schoolboy heartthrob magnetism, rather than the same effect of a prettily finished painting. He becomes inspiring, he provokes reactions in people, he always comes up with a new perspective, which is more often than not, fresh and interesting.

HEADCANONS:

I think I sprinkled plenty of details in the other sections of the application, but the best would be to elaborate, in case I wasn’t very clear.

His father, Throfinn Rowle, went to Azkaban following the Second Wizarding War. His father had rough edges, but never so sharp that Sebastian got cut in them. His father loved him, believed that he was doing the best for his family and for helping conserve the traditions of purity which are the very identity of his family, in his opinion. Sebastian doesn’t insist on talking too nicely about his father — in fact, he doesn’t speak at all about him. It’s not shame, it’s not censor, rather than an inner feeling of not needing to elaborate the rose light in which he still sees his own father. If addressed properly, he wouldn’t have any problems elaborating that out loud. He’s a pretty free-spirited, open-minded person.

His mother, Germaine Rowle, comes from a pureblooded family as well, yet her education exceeds purist norms. She studied muggle art and passed on the affinity for it to her only son as well. She is a painter and an odd creature overall. She brought color to her son’s childhood always inventing bedtime stories that would end unconventionally, yet beautifully.

He doesn’t smoke, as smoking would be the most obvious thing expected from a nature like his own. He defeats stereotypes, hating the fact that he is aware of it, therefore turning the process into a conscious, annoying vice. He speaks fluent French and hates every comma of it, although it did help, studying at Beauxbatons and having access to the paradox that is the French culture. He only drinks light drinks, like champagne or whatever is bubbly and pleasantly colored. He adopted his mother’s habit of hosting events, enjoying nothing more than a good party. He writes best in daylight, especially outside. He likes pets, but keeps losing them because he cannot really take care of them for longer than a couple of months. His mother can’t either. They’re somewhat absent-minded and would be lost if it weren’t for the two house elves keeping the manor clean and taken care of. He published a volume of poetry, “The language of peaches” and a novel, “Magenta”, out of which the latter made an impact.

#my application if you would like to browse through it:)#;some see a pen. i see a harpoon (about)#;i’m spitting up poetry as water gathers in my hollowed out ribcage (biography)

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vix-x-gaze · 5 years

Text

Holy shit an ART POST

Even though my bio says I do art, I realized my blog lacks exactly that

Now

Behold

I decided to sit down and play each of these 9 songs and let my creativity take over. These are sketches for a soon-to-be painting that I have already started. I've posted this on my Instagram, but this is where I'll go ahead and explain in full detail what the story is behind the characters/stills.

Falling ; This song pulled me out of my head and saved me from myself. The lyrics really connected with me and what that panel captures is the lines "I see an ending. Take it all in. I'm gonna fall".

Suicide Circus ; Ringleader has been a character in my mind for quite some time now, I just had no idea how to bring him to life. All other ideas I had before felt forced, but whenever I listen to this song I have my own little music video going in my head featuring Him. Even his design has reason. His odd looking hands holding the banner really came from the "tick-tack-tack-tack" in the song, mainly because I imagine Him coming for me and tapping on the walls. Of course, I have my own meaning behind this as well being that you may seem happy playing with danger, but are you really fully satisfied with yourself? He embodies that as his head does seem inviting at first, but when you see Him as a whole its obvious thats not the case.

Vortex ➡ Fadeless ; I actually included Vortex because it was the song that really got me into GazettE. After about a month of running a complete blank, I switched to Fadeless which is in the painting process currently.

The Mortal ; Just as a heads up, if any of you get the blessing of hearing this live, no professional sound system will ever do Reita's bass justice. His bass shook my soul in Dallas. Anyway, I actually had 2 ideas in mind and multiple listens had said 2 ideas stick out the most. The second is on the second page thats the "floating" panel. It just gives me such ominous vibes and hearing it live, I may just go with the original panel.

Devouring One Another ; Another character of mine which never came about until this song. I honestly love this song beyond BELIEF and as much as I'd love to hear it live, fray screamo absolutely SHREDS your throat and I'm not trying to make Ruki go through that. Anyway, Teddy is heavily based off of the lyrics. Although he has participated in the gruesome acts that surround him, he's deeply terrified of it all and is constantly contradicting himself.

Derangement ➡ Red ; I know its already drawn in, but I couldn't get anything that I actually liked. I continued to blank on a design after the hand was drawn so I've changed it to Red.

Ominous ; THIS mf right here. From the moment I heard it, I absolutely LOVED it. I enjoy Dogma as a whole when it comes to the creepy, mysterious vibes. I wanted to create a blood moon with a clock face which, if you haven't guessed, is mainly pulled from the lyrics "Sleep, count me down again" and a bit from "true dread". That last bit comes into play as every time I hear songs like this I always think "ah yes, he's killed a man and now it burdens him".

Dawn ; This is honestly my jam. I was a bit sad they took if off of the setlist for the World Tour, but I still wouldn't change a thing about that night. It does tie in with the Ominous panel a little as Dogma's entire concept blew my mind. I wanted to create a story through those two songs. Althought it is supposed to be a sunrise type of setting, I'm very determined to make sure it still embodies the album, Dogma.

Two of a Kind ➡ Abhor God ; Two of a Kind is actually my second favorite song off of Ninth because of how well it worked in terms of the actual song, but I wasn't able to come up with anything for that either. When I taped off the canvas I was going to make it Babylons Taboo, but after getting back from the concert I was torn between Gush and Abhor God. Gush was a little too obvious for me and seeing as there's enough murder themes in this project, I'm going with Abhor God. I have the idea in mind, I just need to execute it.

And that is all for THIS GazettE related project. Something I enjoy doing is putting myself in music videos and drawing out what my outfit would be and such. GazettE has really brought out all of my artistic talents from sketching, to poster making, to nail art, to dancing. They've really made me hone in on what I'm good at as a way of coping with life. Im not sure when the painting will be done, but I will make sure to keep updates going. As of now, there probably won't be much with finals and EOC's going down in school currently.

#the gazette #sixth gun #ruki the gazette #reita the gazette #kai the gazette #reita #aoi #aoi the gazette #kai #ruki #uruha #uruha the gazette #art #dogma #ninth #gazettE

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ariannjs · 5 years

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HAPPY | A SasuSaku Short FanFic (2/4)

For Day 4 (City Lights) of SasuSaku Month 2019 - @sasuxsakumonth

This fic was inspired by the Filipino celebrity pair/loveteam called “AlDub” (based from their screen names: Alden & Yaya Dub) or “MaiChard” (their real names: Maine Mendoza & Richard Faulkerson, Jr.). The plot and content have nothing to do with the said actors, but I based the idea for this fic from the themes of Maine’s two most controversial blog posts.

Rating: K+

Summary: The truth was loud and clear, that the combination of pink and green wasn’t meant to be with black and blue – both professionally and realistically.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and AlDub.

Warning: Get some tissues.

Enjoy reading!

…or not.

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(Happy - PART 1)

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Life seemed to go on like the usual after Sakura’s recent blogpost, despite the pang in his chest.

Thankfully, they didn’t cross paths in the studio, in the management’s office, nor anywhere else. And he wanted to keep it that way.

Besides, how else could he extinguish the fire in his heart if he’s exposed to the one that ignites it?

But then, in a few weeks time, he would have to see her again. Although he could opt to make up excuses in attending the upcoming Konoha Star Awards, he just couldn’t figure out anything to say and he knew he shouldn’t lie to his manager who knew him so well.

He didn’t know what to do. As the said event was fast approaching, his internal turmoil kept on increasing.

For he wasn’t sure if he was ready to see Sakura again, clinging into the arms of her official boyfriend, and smiling ever so genuinely at him with a chemistry that is beyond a mere onscreen dimension.

He wasn’t prepared to face the new normalcy, wherein another man would be standing on what used to be his place for the past four consecutive years.

And he wasn’t looking forward to the ambush interviews that would come his way for they would be in the same venue for the first time since her announcement that she now has a boyfriend, one that was not him. Despite the curiosity of his fans as to who he would bring to the event, he didn’t even bother finding a date. He didn’t want another talk of the town to arise once he appeared at the red carpet with another woman holding his hand, for he was sure that being there on his own was already something the fans would ramble about in itself.

After all, there’s only one woman whose hand fit in his like a puzzle piece.

If her open letter was merely a hoax, and the arrangements to cut the ties between SasuSaku didn’t happen, he would surely be in front of her doorstep an hour before the event just like the past years, waiting for her to open the door and reveal her dazzling self in a gown that emphasizes her natural curves and enhances her beautiful face.

But no, he had to face the truth that it was already the endgame for SasuSaku, so that wouldn’t happen anymore.

He stared at the mirror while he fixed his black bow tie. This year, he didn’t need to worry about matching the color of his suit or tie with her dress. But it was only in pretense that he wasn’t bothered about it, for without preamble, her face entered his head once again.

“I’m ready, Sasu—!” There was a long pause as widened green eyes stared back at him by the doorframe. Sakura swallowed thickly, looked away, and then pouted in that adorable way that Sasuke remembered. “That’s so unfair!”

He raised an eyebrow in question.

“You can’t just come here looking so damn good and make me look like a little rotten peanut beside a humanized angel!” She crossed her arms, causing the off-the-shoulder lace top of her gown to slightly rise in disarray.

“You don’t have to use a lot of words just to say I look handsome, Sakura.” Sasuke grinned in amusement, reaching out to straighten the said part of her top against her shoulders just a tad below her shoulder blades. “Also, you’re not a little rotten peanut. You’re a flower. And flowers are blooming.” He then turned his back and smirked, slightly catching a glimpse of her reddened cheeks and widened eyes before he walked towards his car.

“I...uh…h-hey! You don’t have to use a lot of words just to say I look beautiful, Sasuke!”

He tipped his head over his shoulder and snorted when he saw her smirk right back at him, but with her cheeks still pink from the compliment. “Hn. Let’s go.”

Grabbing his navy blue suit jacket from his bed, he quickly brushed off the thought that there was already someone else complimenting how beautiful she was right now.

Sasuke stared at the folded card in his hands. When he received the digital invitation a month before, he was already informed that he would be one of the announcers of the award-winner for a certain category. He had conflicted feelings, however, when he learned through the card that the name he would be calling onstage was the one that he was actually trying to forget.

He was, yet again, proud of her. But he knew that this wasn’t something they could celebrate together anymore, making it difficult for him to move on. To think that she never even became his to begin with.

“Sasuke, I really don’t think I could give justice to my role as Leah,” Sakura admitted after a concept meeting with their director. “It’s just my second year as an actress but this is such a huge production and I don—”

“Tch. Everyone here believes in you, except you.”

“Everyone? You mean...you really think I could do a KSA-deserving performance for this role?”

Sasuke smirked. “I wouldn’t allow myself to be paired with someone who isn’t capable of doing just that, Sakura.”

His leading lady slowly grinned, eyes becoming glassy. And then in an instant, Sasuke was being engulfed in a bone-crushing hug that unexpectedly warmed his heart. “Thank you, Sasuke. I...I really...appreciate you. I wouldn’t be able to do this without you as my leading man...without you always believing in me.”

He sighed but returned the hug as tightly as he could, smiling against her hair in the process. “You know what? You’re annoying.”

She only giggled. “This annoying girl would win something in KSA soon though!”

And that was what indeed happened – she was nominated for three awards and won as Best Supporting Actress on her first time at the KSA’s, a year after their pair was officially established. Other than that, SasuSaku was awarded as that year’s Best New Loveteam.

This year, there wasn’t even any doubt anymore that the Best Lead Actress Award belonged to her. After all, he was with her in that movie – their last project together – that showed every bit of her acting prowess.

She worked so damn hard just to be the actress and the woman that she is now. For Sakura Haruno, there was no easy way out. Even if she had to go through a hole in a needle, she would willingly and passionately do so until she improves and reaches her dreams.

That’s one of the things he loved about her. And that’s what made him so proud of her as he journeyed with her in the industry for the past years.

Yet of all the other artists who could possibly announce for the category she was in, why did it have to be him?

He heaved a sigh at the realization that there was no turning back. As much as it pained him, he still had to face it. He still had to face her. Even after successfully avoiding seeing her since the red carpet entrance hours ago.

Stepping on the stage after his cue, Sasuke scanned his card again and delivered the exact script written there with ease despite the galloping sensation in his chest, “As flowers bloom, artists excel in their craft as well and all of our nominees have exemplified such. Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner for this year’s Best Lead Actress Award is...Miss Sakura Haruno.”

Thunderous applause filled the huge auditorium as a tinge of maroon caught his eye from the other end of the stage. His lips were on a thin line, but he was mindful enough to show a small smile before turning to glance at the awardee in front of everyone in the room, the result of years of acting manifesting for all to see.

And then there she was, approaching him ever so gracefully, clad in a maroon gown with a halter top and long train studded with tiny diamonds that made everything else in the venue nothing but dull. Her face was more blooming since the last time he had seen her. And it was accentuated by her now long pink tresses tied on the side with its ends loosely curled.

He was at a loss for words. For the first thing he wanted to do after meeting her gaze was to kiss her right then and there.

She was so, so beautiful. But, she wasn’t his.

“Congratulations,” was the only thing that came out of his lips once she reached him with a huge beam on her face and leaned for a usual announcer-awardee onstage hug.

He wondered if she felt how awkward that was too. But when she murmured “Thanks, Sasuke. I miss you…,” he knew he had to hand her plaque as quickly as he could and exit the stage without meeting her eyes again.

When he reached the backstage, his chest was heavily rising and falling as he tried to calm himself. It’s been three months, Sasuke! Three months since she announced that she’s now happy with someone else!

If only she knew how much he has missed her too. If only she knew how much he wanted to tighten that casual hug while twirling her around and whispering in her hear that he was so proud of her.

If only...if only she was his.

It wasn’t too long until Sakura appeared at the backstage too, happy tears glistening on her cheeks before her gaze landed on Sasuke who was casually leaning against a wall with an unreadable expression on his face and clenched fists hidden in his pockets.

The leading man didn’t even hear anything from her acceptance speech, but he was sure that it reflected her happiness not only about her award but also about pretty much everything else in her life right now.

That fact made his heart constrict again.

He tensed when he looked up and met her eyes, mentally scolding himself for not returning to his seat immediately after his announcement. But it was too late now.

While smiling with that dashing smile of hers, Sakura walked up to him, not even having the slightest idea that he was trying so hard to forget about his feelings for her in the past few months. “Hello, Sas—”

“Sasuke! Sakura!”

Their heads instantly turned towards the direction of the voice, making Sasuke thank the Heavens for having such perfect timing. For heading their way was the organizer of this year’s Konoha Star Awards. Saved by the bell.

“Hi, Shizune-san.” Sakura was quick to greet the running woman.

“I’m sorry this is all too sudden. But we’ve just been notified that Naruto and Hinata wouldn’t be able to come in time for their part in the program.” Shizune panted in front of them while grasping the clipboard in her arm. “Their flight from Kiri after their movie premiere was delayed. So we realized, who else could announce the winner for this year’s Best New Loveteam other than the ones who bagged the same award a few years back?” She smiled, albeit apologetically. Besides, she had no other choice. “Here’s their script. There’s just a few more categories left before this one. It’s really short and I know you’re so used to this so I really hope it’s okay.”

So much for being saved by the bell. There was a short pause as Sasuke processed the situation. He knew it was just a part of their job. But he was also aware of how awkward it would be to stand with the woman he’s in love with onstage while doing something that they used to do so well together, before things had changed.

Sasuke observed how Sakura’s smile seemed to falter a bit at the sight of the script. There was that slow movement in her hand as she reached for the small card but before she even accomplished it, he cleared his throat and spoke, “Wouldn’t this cause an unnecessary issue?”

Sakura whipped her head towards him, hand retreating in surprise.

“Oh.” Shizune continued to smile. “I get what you mean. I don’t think it would.”

“Us being on the same stage again after a long time already stirred a reaction from the crowd moments ago.”

“Don’t worry, Sasuke, it’s just a short announcement. I believe a small SasuSaku reunion wouldn’t go against the new arrangements you both have.”

“But Sakura’s boyfriend is in the audie—”

“Sasuke, it’s okay.”

While his eyes travelled to the person who uttered those words, he felt a sudden warm sensation due to a mere touch on his forearm. It was as if his skin has been frozen for such a long time that the unexpected contact caused it to have a meltdown, only to be left freezing again once she retracted her hand and grabbed the script in front of them.

Was she really agreeing to this?

“It’ll be fine.” His former leading lady smiled at him, and he almost internally screamed about how he wanted so bad to be the reason behind her smiles all the damn time. She chortled then. “Besides, I’m your best partner in crime, Sasuke. Don’t you want to be with me for another time?”

No. He wanted to answer. I want you to be with me for a lifetime, Sakura. Not as my partner in crime but as my partner in life. He looked away, and then his gaze fell on the other script still extended right in front of him.

Soon enough, he curtly nodded in resignation, reminding himself that this was merely a part of his job. “If there would be no complications then.”

“Thank you so much, you two! I know you’ll both do well! I’ll prompt you once you’re up next.”

Sakura beamed yet again as Sasuke finally accepted the other small card. He wasn’t sure if she was really into this or it’s just her innate always-ready-to-help self manifesting.

“Wow. The last time we did this was–I think...what?–more than a year ago? Makes me excited to host with you again, Sasuke! Do you want to have a quick runthrough of the script?”

“I need to go to the restroom. Excuse me.”

Sasuke heard her giggle as he began to walk away. “Alright. I see you still prefer rehearsing your script alone.”

He wished it was just as easy as that to walk away from his feelings too.

The restroom was fortunately empty when he entered. Heaving a loud exhale, he firmly placed both hands on the countertop and faced his own reflection in the mirror. Looking at it closely, there were dark circles under his eyes that he didn’t notice before. It only proved the fact that he has been denying to himself: he had been dreading the arrival of this day way too much. And now that everything that he wanted to avoid has happened in a span of a few minutes, he didn’t know what else to do.

He wanted to be as professional as he could be, but as much as he wanted to focus, all that dominated his brain after seeing Sakura in that damn maroon gown was her. Just her. But his thoughts about her weren’t ones that were filled with wonderful memories and favorable possibilities.

Every time he met her gaze, it reminded him that those eyes were now looking fondly at someone else not because of a script, but because of a real deal love.

Every time he saw her smile, his heart constricted knowing that another man was already the main cause of that.

And every time he focused on her lips, he couldn’t stop himself from imagining how those same soft lips he used to kiss could lock with someone else’s not because she had to, but because she wants to.

He shook his head and snorted at his reflection, unconscious of the fact that his hands were now clenched into fists, leaving creases on the card he barely remembered he was holding.

How did I end up like this? We are just actors, right? Nothing more than that.

His brain pointed out the fact that whatever they did together was just a part of their job, oftentimes coming from a script and instructed by a director.

No one told him to feel something deeper than a professional connection for his leading lady.

But he was the loser who fell for the woman he was paired with onscreen. The loser who didn’t know how to stand on the thin line dividing work and personal life. The loser that Sakura didn’t choose for whatever reason that only she knows.

This time though, he had to be solely professional in dealing with her despite his hurting heart. For no matter how dragging the night was, it would still eventually end.

And she still wouldn’t be his.

Sasuke absently scanned the small card given to him as he returned to the backstage. The glam team was giving Sakura a touch up so he thankfully didn’t have to communicate with her. But the moment she glanced his way, he mentally repeated the words “Be professional. Short announcement. Quick exit.” as if a mantra that would let him survive the rest of the night.

She was staring, he realized. But it wasn’t the kind of stare that made his heart skip a beat. It felt like a stare of someone that you only used to know. “You still look like a humanized angel.”

There was a momentary widening of his eyes at the realization that she remembered that scenario which also resurfaced in his mind before tonight’s event. He had to avert his gaze.

And you still look like a blooming flower, he wanted to say. One that isn’t mine. But he settled with merely nodding in thanks, until they heard Shizune’s cue to standby.

The hardest part came, wherein as a natural gentleman – and a “professional”, he reminded himself (though the other part of himself noted that it was simply out of habit specifically with her) – he had to offer his arm for Sakura’s hand to curl around it. There was that feeling of being melted in place again, but he only heaved a sigh and nonchalantly led them to the stage.

As expected, the responses of the audience were more intense than those they’ve given to any other artist who have stepped onstage throughout the entire program. It was the first time that Sakura and Sasuke would be doing something together – as SasuSaku – after nine long months. And even just a short hosting segment was already enough to somehow quench the thirst of their longtime fans.

Flashing cameras and raised phones were visible here and there. Sasuke was aware enough that even their slightest movement could be watched and interpreted in the wrong way, which could eventually cause another unnecessary worldwide trend on social media. If this happened months ago, he would’ve said that he was already used to such commotion; in fact, he would’ve thought that it was good for their marketing. But not anymore. Not now that SasuSaku was merely a chain from a failed past.

Still, as prim as he usually was, he flashed a rehearsed smile to the audience. Be professional. Short announcement. Quick exit.

Sakura, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear, her grip on Sasuke’s arm slightly tightening. Sasuke knew it was the sentimental part of her taking over. But again SasuSaku was over now and he couldn’t expect her to suddenly approach their manager and breach the contract they’ve signed a few months back, just so she could be with him again.

He cleared his throat and leaned closer to the mic in front of him, relaying the exact script Naruto was supposed to deliver. “Good evening. It is our privilege to announce tonight the best pick among the newest pairs that captured your hearts since their appearance on national television this past year.”

Then Sakura’s melodic voice filled the venue. “A few years back, we were overjoyed to be heralded with the same title. And personally, being on that journey with Sasuke was one of the best things that ever happened in my life. I couldn’t wait to see how this next loveteam will not only touch the fans’ hearts but also each other’s! Right, Sasuke?”

That wasn’t even a part of Hinata’s original script. Each other’s, huh? If he was able to touch her heart, then why did she allow someone else to claim it fully?

He refrained from clenching his jaw as he saw how his partner was now glancing at him. “Aa.”

But then, he forgot how Sakura was so good at improvising spiels live that he almost felt like snapping right in front of the hundreds of fans and celebrities in the venue.

“Now to add a little suspense, before we reveal to them the winner for this year’s Best New Loveteam, why don’t we share a few stuff about our time as SasuSaku? Do you want that, guys?” Sakura giggled as the audience cheered with such exuberant voices. “Alright! So Sasuke, what is the best thing about being in SasuSaku? For me, it’s getting to meet lots of people who believe in me and what I can do. How about you?”

A pregnant silence consumed them as Sasuke found himself staring at Sakura’s green orbs. He didn’t know how long it took him before he finally answered, but when he did, there was a slight widening of Sakura’s eyes for he said, “Meeting you.”

It was too late when he realized what he had uttered over the mic for another uproar was given by the crowd. Then he felt the absence of the hand that was clutching his arm moments ago. Damn it, Sasuke! Be professional! Short announcement! Quick exit!

“Now off to the big reveal,” he quickly called the people’s attention without waiting for any reaction from his partner. “Everyone, we present to you, this year’s Best New Loveteam is…”

They both leaned closer to the mic and declared, “NejiTen!”

Everything else happened quickly as they congratulated the awardees and then returned backstage. Again, out of habit, he offered his hand to Sakura to assist her down the stairs, but instantly let go of her hand once she reached the last step.

He mentally prayed he’d be able to let go of her that quickly too.

Then just when he thought that he’s already okay now knowing that the only thing left for him to do was to have a quick exit back to his chair, his eyes suddenly caught sight of Sasori mouthing congratulations as Sakura reached their designated seats, before kissing him right then and there on her soft lips.

Sasuke shifted his direction and went straight to his car.

From: Naruto Uzumaki

Oi, Teme! We’re finally in the area! Don’t you dare ditch the Konoha Star Awards After-party! I have an announcement to make and I need a boost so my best friend should be there! See ya! ;)

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(Happy - PART 3)

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Here’s the second part of “Happy”! Any thoughts and feelings about this part? :D

Check out my other works here! It you like what I do, kindly consider supporting me on ko-fi or patreon. I’m also saving up for a special post-birthday trip this November so your support would mean a lot to me!♥️

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June 2019 | AriannJS

#SasuSaku #SSM19 #SSM19D4 #SasuSaku Angst #Happy Part 2 #ariannjfics

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lurlenecissell7-blog · 5 years

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cupcakesandmisandry · 5 years

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My speech at FILIA 2018:

“#MeToo and the fall of idols: about the beginning of the end of impunity for criminal artists.”

“So my name is Lise Bouvet, as you can hear I am French, I am a philosopher, a political scientist and a feminist author. I am also a voluntary translator for the abolitionist collective “Ressources Prostitution“. I am very honoured to speak at FILIA today and I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the wonderful team of women whose remarkable work allows us to be here together today. I have been a feminist activist for over 20 years now, and I know – almost painfully – to what extent the women’s movement depends on women’s time, on women’s labour, in joy as in sorrow. For so much love and dedication, I am endlessly grateful.

This year, my first book has been published, on the impunity enjoyed by powerful men, whether artists or politicians, notably pedo-criminal filmmaker Roman Polanski. It is called Untouchables: people, justice and impunity, and is co-written with lawyer Yael Mellul. Today I would like to share with you my thoughts about this impunity of criminal artists, especially filmmakers, which the #MeToo movement has begun to put an end to, especially because it started at the heart of the film industry, with the denouncing of a major Hollywood producer.

How and why pedo-criminals such as Woody Allen or Roman Polanski have been praised worldwide and almost washed of their crimes for nearly half a century? In the name of what? How does this way of thinking work? On what sociocultural mechanisms is this defence based? I will try to deconstruct the arguments put forward by the unconditional worshippers of these filmmakers.

Let’s start at the beginning by analyzing what Allen and Polanski’s defenders are telling us. They are basically telling us that these men are not litigants like the others, nor really men like the others, because they are accomplished authors. According to them, one cannot really judge these men because they are great artists, because they have created an extraordinary work. First, there is a suspicious logical connection between their talent (which is undeniable) and its relationship to the criminal justice system. Listening to Polanski’s defenders, especially in France where the film industry is very elitist and authorist, one would almost believe that he is a unique being, in short, that one cannot do without him and that it is out of the question that we could consider him losing a day of his precious life in prison.

But who gets to decide about this extraordinary social utility? Let’s take an example: in the middle of winter, when we are cold, and our heater breaks down, who can do without a good plumber? We would surely be very angry if our excellent plumber went to prison for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in the middle of winter, but the law is so made in a democracy that even exceptional and indispensable professionals are, like all other citizens, liable to the same penalties for the same crimes. Nevertheless, let us try to go further in this comparison. Polanski’s defenders would oppose us, that indeed it would be unfortunate that our highly competent heating engineer were imprisoned in the middle of winter at the time of our heater’s breakdown when it is very cold, but that, certainly even with difficulty, we would be able to find another competent professional, while nobody else in the world makes films like Roman Polanski or Woody Allen.

Thus, they make a point: indeed, one can say that the particularity of the artist, and of a gifted filmmaker, is that, unlike the shoemaker or the baker, he produces a unique work. In our capitalist and industrial society, the artist is considered exceptional because he creates something non-reproducible and out of fixed market value, an object in total contradiction with all the others, which would be likely to give him an almost sacred status. We must therefore examine the underlying link between the work of art’s status and that of the artist.

In a fascinating essay (1), “From the humanization of divine creation to the divinization of human creation.” (De l’humanisation de la création divine à la divinisation de la création humaine), art historian Lucile Roche brilliantly analyses this theme of the god-artist in modern aesthetic theory in the West. She writes: ‘’It is then in its distance from the divine model in favour of a refocusing on the artist, subjected only to the whim of his views and teleological requirements, and focused on his own creative abilities – originality, imagination – that the analogy Artist-God and God-Artist closes. An inexhaustible creativity source of which he is the sole source, the romantic artist is part of the divine (with whom he shares the ex-nihilo) without submitting to it. In his humanity, the artist is then, paradoxically, deified.’’ It’s all said and done: the die-hard defenders of authors such as Allen and Polanski are caught up in an outdated social representation that carries a deeply romantic vision of the artist, which will be illustrated by this sentence from Victor Hugo: “Art is to man what nature is to God”. If these men are at the gods’ level then they escape the justice of men, here is the fundamental unthought of the defenders of Polanski, Woody Allen and other criminal artists, not only guardians of their social castes and its corollaries impunities (impunity of men and the powerful), but especially, according to us, bogged down in outdated conceptions of art, which are put at the service of this impunity.

In a recent interview, the art theorist Carole Talon-Hugon (2) shed light on these unthoughts around the artist: “A rape committed by an anonymous person and a rape committed by an artist are both the same thing – because the crime is just as reprehensible – and not the same thing. Because he is an example, the artist enjoys a special status in society. At least since the 18th century. At that time, we were starting to consider art as a separate field, totally distinct, subject only to the rule of beauty and independent from the question of good. Thus, for Diderot “there is a moral proper to artists that can be in reverse of the usual moral”. This idea can be found in Oscar Wilde’s (19th century) or André Breton’s work (20th century). The artist then becomes a “wild and singular individuality, in rupture, in opposition and totally independent of ordinary morality”. This image, built over more than 200 years, prevents us from facing the reality of these assaults. It is here that the emperor appears naked: in profound contradiction with our democratic values, artists have become the new aristocracy above the laws. By consecrating some to the detriment of others, the community of citizens is abdicated, and it is said that there are values superior to human life. Our role as feminists is to perpetuate the effects of what was initiated by #MeToo, that set in motion a healthy social movement to get rid of these rotten idols, including by taking on the desecration of art and artists. Basically, it is time to stop giving into confusions that only serve sex offenders whom profession is to be artists. It is not because, for a few centuries in the West, art has been thought and affirmed as a distinct and independent domain, notably of society, that this autonomy grants a particular political status to artists. Moreover, this aestheticism has been challenged by many 20th century artists such as the communist play righter B. Brecht and especially women and feminist artists of the Second Wave. Thus, not only is it more than debatable that art can claim to exist outside any social or political sphere, but even so, what could apply to works of art does not logically concern artists at all, especially those who use their work or their talent to guarantee themselves criminal impunity. The art world may pretend to escape morality, good for it, but in no way can artists use it to escape the law and the justice system.

We now understand that the underlying thesis of “Polanski’s friends” is that this man’s exceptional talent should be able to transcribe itself into an exceptional derogatory political status. It will be noted with irony that these people often claim to be left-wing, while carrying a feudal vision of a society where the talent and status of some would grant them special rights over others and their bodies, let alone minors. This position is all the more fragile when one understands that the requests for exceptionality of treatment for the filmmaker Roman Polanski are based on conceptions discussed as debatable art theories. And after all, Polanski’s or Woody Allen’s friends have a right to hold on to a particular theory that we do not share. What is indisputable, however, is that we live in a political system in which artists, however gifted they may be, are citizens and citizens like the others. We hear that Polanski’s fans cannot do without the pleasures that his talent brings them. However, only the judiciary as an independent institution can say whether Roman Polanski should spend another day in prison. And from the moment he has fled the legitimate court about to try him and we are asked for our assent and our audience, it is our right, as the public, to grant it or refuse it. Roman Polanski has the strict right to do what he wants, since he is free in Europe, but from the moment he makes movies that the public is invited to see, it is necessary to accept that this public, or a part of it, refuses. The great unthought also present here is that the public is us. It is us who are asked to go see and applaud the Polanski or Woody Allen films. However, no one has to follow any injunction to remain silent or forget that a man praised to the skies is also a man who admitted to having drugged and then raped a young teenage girl, and who is accused of similar acts by other women. The impunity of these men rests largely on a conception not only of the demiurge artist, but of a passive and docile public in its reception of this sacred work, and as if, not by chance, these qualities cover the values traditionally associated with the masculine and the feminine… We see here that we are basically in a religious and reactionary way of thinking, paradoxically carried by “leftists”.

Another element of defence heard ad nauseam is the injunction to separate “the man” from “the artist”. But it is precisely because the “man” and the “artist” are one and the same person that we are constantly being ordered to separate them. But how is that possible? By what miracle? To “save” who or what? Creation is a complex and highly personal act: when Polanski starts directing, there is not another Polanski who arrives to make films and then leaves to make room for “the man”, it is completely absurd. This irrational injunction of separation is a blind spot of thought, a dead angle, that in my opinion rests on a social taboo induced by an archaic conception of artistic creation. The presupposition here is “Kalos Kagathos”, our pillar of Greek thought according to which Good and Beautiful are inseparably linked, which prevents us from imagining that one can be both a sex offender and a great artist. But art has long since become amoral in our contemporary societies and artistic creation is by no means antithetic to perverse activities (3). Further still, when the artist is a famous and powerful man, his very function as “director” places him even more in a position of power and predation over actresses who owe him everything (4). If we were to go to the end of this reasoning which consists in wanting to separate things, it would rather be the art that would detach itself from the artist, as Roland Barthes and structuralist thought suggest: “once his work is finished, the author is no longer bound to it. The art work exists by itself. (5)”. It is therefore urgent to leave creation, art and talent where they are, for what they are, that is to say, something other than a system for defending sex offenders. Just as the crimes committed by an artist do not detract from the quality of his work, so this work, in the name of his existence, does not confer any derogatory status to the artist, who, like any citizen, is subject to common law.

We can hear Polanski’s worshippers’ screams: ‘’but then, what is left of these wonderful films?’’

To add insult to injury, Chinatown, for example, is a film about incest and rape… We are here perhaps touching one of the greatest social injustice and the greatest male privilege: these men, not only rape with impunity, but then, of these rapes, make masterpieces, acclaimed, awarded and applauded. And, forever, it is the rapist’s masterpieces that will remain engraved in art history, while, dust, the devastated life of the victims will return to dust. This brings us to an important point about these directors’ movies, particularly pedo-criminals. Among the injunctions against us, there is the corollary prohibition not to judge the movies of the man whom we are urged not to condemn (particularly in France as denounced by the film critic Paul Rigouste (6). Yet, feminist critique has developed as an autonomous and academic theoretical field for a long time, including in France, thanks to Geneviève Sellier’s work. And of course, what grieves our devoted fans is that we can conduct a feminist film criticism of these men’s work. For example, an attentive viewing of Woody Allen’s films allows to notice his pedophile obsession for very young girls, just as it seems to me that Polanski faces very personal problems of crime and guilt in his work, and this, in an almost systematic way. By definition, the process of thinking and analysis cannot be limited, criticism must address art as a whole and it seems both implausible and counterproductive to limit the field of cinematographic studies by prohibitions under penalty of ‘’lèse genius’’. We must denounce this double injunction on which these criminals’ defense is based: not only would the judicial institution have no say under the pretext that they are artists, but their work would be immune from any reading in connection to their crimes, a reading which nevertheless seems to me very interesting from an art theory point of view. We have here the incredible opportunity to analyze the work of criminals who precisely do not hesitate to create from their own crime, so in the name of what would we deprive ourselves from this research? We must go frontally against the popular opinion: Not only can we not separate the man from the artist, as we have just seen, but it is specifically relevant here to link the artist to his crimes in order to study his work from his criminal activity, without of course reducing it.

Another very important point on this subject was raised in a stimulating article in the New York Times. Journalist Amanda Hess (7) suggests that to all the clichés’ users defending rapist artists and to the incantations to distinguish them from their works, one can object by referring to the existing relation between the artist and the industry which produces it, what seems particularly relevant for cinema which is indissociably an art and an industry. She rightly notes that the Hollywood machine’s artistic alibi has deprived itself of all the human resource infrastructure present in other major North American corporations, including sexual harassment laws enforcement, and thus allowed Weinstein to prosper with impunity. She adds that our habit to treat artists as creators transcending all materiality instead of ordinary economic agents protects them from the basic requirements of labour law, also making us forget that, as for any industrial product, movies are also consumption objects, made in specific conditions, the suffering and sexual assault of actresses being part of them. Finally, and as others did during the Weinstein scandal, instead of focusing on the now “soiled” art by their creators, we can also mourn all the talents that were destroyed by these attacking artists. The victims of Weinstein, Louis CK or others never saw their creativity blossom, never had the leisure to create their art (8). Perhaps we should ask ourselves about these shortcomings, too.

Another aspect that also seems important to me and needs to be considered in the analysis of these speeches defending criminal filmmakers, is the phenomenon of the wide public’s fascination for these abusers. Fascination rapists use to assert their defense, which of course can only benefit from confused feelings that must be deconstructed.

In La Photographie, art theorist André Rouillé makes a remarkable analysis of what a “star” is in our contemporary societies. Star in English means an object that shines, even in the night, and by extension the image of this aura that rests on the media exposure, which is also an optical exposure machine. The stars are apart beings, beings of light, glittering, illuminated in reality by the celebrity machine which, according to us, works on a fundamental ambivalence: these people are familiar to us, they look like us, but they are different, they live in a higher social sphere that arouses fear and respect. This situation of multiple levels of reflections allows movements of identification-evasion, a confusing but rewarding phenomenon, and above all, deeply dual. The public is caught in contradictory positions: men in a patriarchal context are tempted to identify with the famous and powerful accused, as the feminist philosopher Michela Marzano rightly notes, and women are trapped in several conflicts of allegiance. Who among us didn’t grow up laughing at Woody Allen movies or Bill Cosby shows? Who didn’t like Polanski’s movies or Morgan Freeman’s performances? They are familiar to us, they remind us of good memories, they are figures of attachment who have our a priori sympathy more than anonymous victims who, by their denunciations, are breaking these positive feelings. Let us be reminded here of what we now know about our social reflexes in the face of these denunciations. Researcher Judith Herman warns us that “it is very tempting to take the perpetrator’s side. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering.”

We can observe it in each of us in these specific cases: there is a conflict between the citizen and the spectator. The citizen condemns the artist’s crimes, but the viewer wants to continue enjoying the criminal artist’s work. Because we loved these creations, because they are now part of our life, of our culture. Because the work of art is considered unique and its author is worshipped, because creators are the new gods of our secularized society. This resistance around the artist is certainly due to a powerful impregnation of art conceptions from the last centuries and contemporary neoliberal myths; the artist in capitalist mythology embodies at once the exceptional individual, freedom, transgression, moral exception, and a form of archaic sacred.

The only counterweight to these confusions enabling this untouchability of criminal men, the only authentic democratic force, is feminism. Only the feminist analysis of male domination in its functioning makes it possible to dismantle these hypnosis effects in order to demand strict equality of treatment between citizens. The main feature of the rapist’s discourse is the inverted presentation of reality; the feminist argument opposes it with a materialistic analysis in terms of revealed power relations, associated with a return to the world in an egalitarian order.

I will close this presentation, in which I have tried to face up to the arguments of the criminal filmmakers’ defenders, who, in my opinion, divert certain aesthetic concepts and take art both as an alibi and as a hostage. My conclusion here is that art and artistic creation have more to offer to the world than a system of defending pedo-criminal rapists.

I will leave you on a personal note: Like all of us I was not always a feminist. As a teenager, I passionately loved Woody Allen’s or Roman Polanski’s films and today the question of their re-viewing arises. I am at the front line to experience this conflict between the citizen and the viewer that I have analyzed, and in my case, it is a conflict between being an assiduous cinephile and an equally demanding feminist activist. A sister once told me that she had decided to no longer impose the works of rapists on herself, particularly because, as a survivor, she analyses them as elaborate perverse devices, which double the effects of hypnosis and confusion that I have mentioned. Adverse effects according to her, because women are once again ordered to remain passive, to dissociate themselves, to anaesthetize themselves as female spectators in order to escape yet another annihilation, thus reproducing the most fundamental patriarchal violence. I recognize that this is a very fair view and a consistent as coherent feminist position. I must admit that, for many years now t, I haven’t been able to watch any of these movies again, whose DVDs take dust on my living room shelves…

Thank you so much for listening to me!”

Lucile Roche, « De l’humanisation de la création divine à la divinisation de la création humaine », Academia, http://www.academia.edu/6710025/Dieu_crea_l_artiste_a_son_image_Le_theme_du_Dieu-artiste_dans_la_theorie_artistique_moderne_XVe-XVIIIe_siecle_

Marie-Adélaïde Scigacz, « Pourquoi les scandales sexuels à Hollywood bouleversent-ils notre relation aux artistes et à leurs œuvres? », France Info, le 14/11/2017 http://mobile.francetvinfo.fr/societe/harcelement-sexuel/pourquoi-les-scandales-sexuels-a hollywood-bouleversent-notre-relation-auxartistes- et-a-leurs-oeuvres_2461788.amp

On this topic see the excellent work, under Joyce McDougall’s direction: ‘’The artist and the psychoanalyst’’. Presses Universitaires de France, 2008.

In an interview given to Le Monde on 10/23/2017, Juliette Binoche analysed clearly these power relations: “Women are easily mocked, ridiculed, we need to reduce them”. http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/10/23/juliette-binoche-deuxou-trois-choses-que-je-sais-d-harvey-weinstein_

Roland Barthes (1967), La mort de l’auteur. Aspen Magazine.

Paul Rigouste, ‘’The Ghost Writer (2010: Polanski and the French critic’’. Le Cinéma est Politique, January 10, 2013. http://www.lecinemaestpolitique.fr/the-ghost-writer-2010-polanski-et-la-critique-francaise/

Amanda Hess, ‘’How the Myth of the Artistic Genius Excuses the Abuse of Women’’. The New York Times, November 10, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/sexual-harassment-art-hollywood.html_r=0&utm_content=buffer9fd04&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Caroline Framke, ‘’Instead of mourning great art tainted by awful men, mourn the work we lost from their victims. Some sexual abusers made great art. Countless more of their victims never got the chance’’. Vox, November 13, 2017. https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/13/16637250/sexual-harassmentabuse-art-legacy

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– Speech at FILIA 2018: “#MeToo, #Polanski and the fall of rotten idols.” My speech at FILIA 2018: "#MeToo and the fall of idols: about the beginning of the end of impunity for criminal artists."

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quirksofartstuff · 6 years

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Searching For The Perfect Mother's Day Gift? Look No Further Than This Handy Quirktacular Guide!

Mom, Mother, Mama-there is not a word we can call the woman that gave us life, took care of us, or took us in that can do justice for what our mothers have done for us. Whether it is a biological mother, adopted mom, grandma, a very special Aunt, a dad that had to act as both, or even a friend that was able to take on that motherly role for you, we all think of someone that means the world to us when we hear that word. Sunday, May 13th (look at that reminder I made sure to include. YOU. ARE. WELCOME!) is the day we in the US celebrate our very special someone, and this year Quirks and The Sideshow have gift ideas to help you find the perfect token of your love, Friends!

We have gone through some of our very favorite Mom gifts in the galleries, and have made a handy dandy list just for you, Dear Friends! These whimsical items range from the classic jewelry to the oh so sweet and beautiful art-all guaranteed to make your Mother over the moon ecstatic that you remember and appreciate all she has done for you since you came into her life and made her world shine a little brighter! AND we even have a code for you when you check out! Don't forget to use quirksblog when checking out for a surprise discount!!

10. "Love Mom" 3' Art Pole by Painted Peace

From artist Stephanie Burgess, who is the first artist to introduce the concept of the art pole, this This 3-foot Art Pole features bold, bright colors and sentimental messaging "All Things Grow From A Mother's Love". It makes a uniquely beautiful addition to any lawn or garden. A Studio M exclusive, Art Poles are an impactful way to bring beautiful artwork to any landscape. Ultra-durable for years of enjoyment, and best of all, there's no digging required!

9. Crown Handbag by Mary Frances

Mary Frances beaded handbags fuse whimsy with elegance, femininity with functionality. Richly embellished with opulent natural stones and trims from all over the world, each piece is handcrafted in intricate detail.

8. Fabulous As Fuck Slouchy Women’s Tee

Screen printed right here in Williamsburg, this subtle and unique tee with The Sideshow’s logo on the nape of the neck, the soft as kittens Fabulous as Fuck Women's Slouchy Tee lets everyone know your Mom is fabulous and she knows it. #momgoals

Don't forget to check out other prints available now at Quirks and The Sideshow stores and websites!

7. Bird Sculptures By Mullanium

Mullanium’s song bird scultures are not only gorgueous and unusual pieces of art, but each one is different because the props are all made from found objects. That does mean each one with vary slightly from the photos, but this also means each gift is 100% unique! Check out this Cardinal, which is especially perfect for the special lady in your life because a cardninal stands for beauty, vibrancy, and nobility-something the ladies of Quirks and Sideshow know an awful lot about!

6.Colorful Bobtanical Art Glass Sculptures by Kliss Glass

Kliss Glass is one of the newest artists to join the Quirks and The Sideshow family! Bob and Laurie Kliss create sculptural blown glass objects with a playful use of color, form, texture, and shape. They take pleasure in each handmade piece they create and strive to enrich the lives of art lovers everywhere, and that includes you, Friends! Like flowers from a fairy tale, this trio has whimsical blossoms sprout from colorful blown glass vessels that are sandblasted and acid etched for a soft, matte finish. Each vessel is dotted with glass cane, and the flower's striped stamen serves as a removable stopper. Signed and dated on bottom. Each is unique, so size and shape will vary slightly.

5. Spicher and Company EB I Love You Mom Sentiments Quotes Framed Print Wall Art

Perfect for any of your mom’s home, office, class room, dining, hospital, restaurant walls, this inspirational Wall art by Spicher and Company will let your favorite mother figure know that you are always thinking of them, and love them with all of your heart. It's also available in multiple sizes!

4. Sticks Wine is Good Lazy Susan

Sticks lazy susans make art functional for your kitchen aid – All printed and made with love in Des Moines, Iowa. This beautiful American Folkart is not only useful, it is perfect for the wine and art loving Mama. This roomy 18-inch lazy susan is a functional conversation piece. Words are etched by hand directly into the 3/4'' thick maple plywood and then hand embellished with paint. Finished with numerous coats of protective semi-gloss finish, so no worry about those wine spills! Note: shipped with wording ''Wine is Good'' in center. This item is available to be personalized, though...just message us with details.

3. Single Diamond Sterling Silver Bangle Bracelet By Rene Escobar Jewelry

Rene Escobar is the namesake jewelry label launched in the early 90s. A family-run label now in its third generation, Rene Escobar's collections bring together artisanal design techniques with precious metals and stones in a collection of jewelry, featuring necklaces, cuffs, earrings and rings.

2. Chickenscratch Cherry Blossom Pin by Lisa and Scott Cylinder

In a time when personal interactions are at a minimum, Chickenscratch jewelry creates a narrative that invites conversations through stories, humor, and clever anecdotes. It is this human aspect that gives the work a warmth that is sometimes nostalgic, often curious, and usually joyful. This playful piece features blackened and green patinated leaf and stem with a nickel silver, felt and a brass flower. A copper worm crawls on the stem, adding that quirky vibe and look that let's everyone know your mom isn't a regular Mom, she's a super cool Mom!

1. Houston Llew "Miracle" Spiritile

Handmade molten glass on copper art collectible, "Miracle" was made by the Houston Llew Studio in Atlanta, GA. The beautiful saying on the side is "When you need a miracle, just look at your child and realize you created one.". It is perfect for a truly heartfelt gift for the Mom you love to spoil, and the artisanship is flawless, and it is practically impossible to choose just one for this list. We managed to do it for you, my dear Friends, but come into Quirks to see even more! Trust us, there is a veritable plethora to choose from!

Which of our picks is your favorite? More importantly, which one will you be getting for your Mom for Mother’s Day (SUNDAY MAY 13TH, DON’T FORGET!) to celebrate how wonderful she is? Tell us in comments, or come on in to Quirks and tell us in person! As always, don’t forget to follow Quirks on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and Don't forget to use the code quirksblog when checking out for a surprise discount!!

Check out our sister store The Sideshow, has it’s own Instagram, Facebook, and, of course, website, and we can’t wait to show you how we’ve made the new gallery our very own. Good Shot Judy, one of our favorite bands in the world, will be clowning around for our Grand Opening!

Jenn's newest gallery adventure will not only carry fantastical furnishing and art, but it will also be Colonial Williamsburg's very first "tattoo" parlor! Curious? Join us on Sunday, May 13th at The Sideshow for our first artist trunk show!

Always,

XOXO

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cryptoevent · 3 years

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Galaxy Digital’s Sam Englebardt – Cointelegraph Magazine

Sam Englebardt produced zombie films, founded Gold Class Cinemas in Australia and pioneered crypto in the early years. Now he is investing half a billion dollars to create a metaverse.

Sam Englebardt, managing partner of Galaxy Interactive, met billionaire and former hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz during a tumultuous trip to Haiti in 2016. Englebard’s fiancée, Megan, invited him at the last minute to a party organized by Artists for Peace and Justice.

It was a fun weekend, Englebardt said. This is Paul Haggis’ organisation. Susan Sarandon and Ben Stiller were there. It was a big celebration of the great school they built.

Mike and I got along really well. We realized we had a lot of overlapping interests in technology: in bitcoin and crypto, and especially in VR and AR, he says. Nine months later, after their friendship had grown, Novogratz told Englebard to join him in New York to help institutionalize his family office.

He loves Megan, my fiancée. I remember we were sitting at breakfast one morning and he said: ‘You know, Sam, if you don’t come to New York to work for me in the family office I’m building, Megan will leave you! – he said, smiling.

Galaxy Digital’s original plan was to make money in a more traditional way, through venture capital funding, debt and late-stage private equity, but it was swallowed up by the events surrounding the incredible crypto bull of 2016-17.

The plan went out the window when we realized, wow, we��re in a better position than anyone to really build Galaxy Digital and pursue this mission of institutionalizing crypto and blockchain, says Englebardt, official co-founder. And the rest is our crazy adventure.

Interactivity

Galaxy Interactive is investing in breakthrough technologies in virtual and augmented reality (including Polyarc), artificial intelligence (Hour One) and blockchain-based games (Playable Worlds). To date, they have invested approximately $200 million in interactive studios and social platforms, as well as the infrastructure and technology that powers this space.

Remember Block.one’s initial coin issuance of $4.1 billion for EOS in 2018? Some of that money went into a $325 million fund originally intended for general EOS development, but it was converted into a $256 million fund under the name Galaxy Interactive after Englebardt and his partner Richard Kim developed more enthusiasm for the field. They will raise an additional $300 million by refocusing on interactive content.

There is a lot of money at stake in the gaming industry. Newzoo predicts that by 2013, the industry will attract 3 billion players and bring in $217.9 billion, three times more than the film and music industries combined. Englebardt believes that games have prepared the world for the explosion of non-fiction tokens and ownership of virtual digital objects that we have seen this year.

Over the past 20 years, people have become incredibly accustomed to the idea that digital objects have value, he says. The sword could be worth something in the form of real money in the game, and people would want to buy, sell and trade it.

And by the way, these are the same people who created the systems that enabled the creation, trading and monetization of digital objects and games, and then created much of the same technology that is behind the whole blockchain and crypto explosion.

Philosophy on the subject

I was born in Ohio in 1977 – which makes me the dinosaur you think of in cryptoland – and studied law at Harvard and philosophy, political science and economics at the University of Colorado and Oxford. He was so fascinated by Plato, Descartes, David Chalmers and the philosophy of mind that he considered becoming a teacher of philosophy. This may explain why he is more interested in the virtual worlds in which the games are embedded than in the games themselves.

I think all this prepares you to accept the possibility that we are currently living in a simulation, and certainly to understand why people can and do spend so much time building their alter egos in these digital worlds, and even the possibility that the alter egos they build are as important as the physical bodies they inhabit.

What I like about philosophy is that you just have to study the thought process and practice being open-minded, exploring ideas and having fun exploring them. Not only is it great fun and intellectually stimulating, but it’s also a great way to become a venture capitalist, he says.

He also took a course in film history, which fueled a lifelong obsession with film and filmmaking and led him to found a film finance company. When I was in law school, I started funding a company that produced and financed an independent film, he says. That was the beginning of my professional life.

Movie years

During his career, Englebardt has produced or directed zombie films for George A. Romero (Diary of the Dead, Surviving the Dead), the Sin City sequel (Lady to Kill For) and the more recent AMC series, Night Manager.

He also created the concept of Gold Class Cinemas in Australia – premium cinemas with big seats and overpriced food and drink – and co-founded the fourth largest cinema chain in the US called Rave Cinemas with Michael Lambert of Lambert Media Group, which they sold to Cinemark in 2013.

From about 2003 to 2013, I managed or invested in all sorts of old media companies that were declining secularly, Englebardt says with a wink. The winds of change are beginning to blow.

It was impossible not to notice what was happening with digital media and digital content. As I delved into this, I came across some people who are now the real pioneers of cryptocurrencies and who created the gambling industry.

Although he made his first investment in a game studio called Seismic in 2010, it wasn’t until 2013, when Occulus was acquired by Facebook, that he began to realize that interactive content was the future. He made his first investment in VR that year, in an eye-tracking technology called EyeFluence, which was later sold to Google.

At the time, venture capitalists didn’t consider games investment-worthy; they were seen as just another form of content, not a real technology, he says. I just saw it and thought: Oh, my God, it’s so obvious. That’s what people are getting at.

The passion for these young demos, the opportunity for people to have much more autonomy in the content they consume, and to actively engage and build on their experiences with the content.

Stung by the Broca Crypto Bug

Like many others, it was the founder of Blockchain Capital, Tether and Block.one, Brock Pierce, who introduced Englebard to the world of cryptocurrencies.

Brock was the first person to tell me the word bitcoin with certainty, he says. She is really the person who took the time to teach me why it was important, why it mattered. More than any other person I know, he has been one of the leading evangelists of decentralized technology in the world.

At the time, Pierce and Englebardt were living in Venice and hosting regular cryptocurrency dinners with William Quigley, co-founder of WAX, Scott Walker of Casper Labs and Johnny Steindor, managing partner of Distributed Global.

There was a whole group of people from Los Angeles who became pioneers in their sphere of influence in the crypto world. And we got together once a week or every two weeks to eat and talk about what was happening.

While the world is currently immersed in NFT mania, much of which dates back to the CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties of 2017, Englebardt says digital ownership has been an inevitable development for some time.

There were a million reasons to look at CryptoKitties and say: Oh, yeah, this is all crazy and won’t work. But if you understood the huge world of in-game properties that were such a huge part of the overall game business three or four years ago, and especially if you understood blockchain technology, I think it was impossible not to see that this was an opportunity for a whole new industry.

We’ve seen millions of people consume digital objects and spend tens of billions of dollars on them, he says. People aren’t just bringing game articles, but just game behavior and gamification into all other areas of their lives.

The more I delved into the games, the more certain I was that this behavior would be reflected in other areas of our lives and in things other than the games.

Snow Crash and Metaverse

With a 10-year horizon for his venture capital investments, Englebardt is used to living mentally in the future, and he sees the Metaverse fast approaching. The term was made popular by Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash and refers to the virtual world that connects all other virtual worlds and where players spend most of their time.

It’s essentially an immersive version of the Internet, and Englebardt believes digital ownership through NFT will become a mainstay. That’s because people are more willing to put time and effort into a project if they know it’s theirs forever and not subject to the whims of the owner of the virtual world, as is the case with games like Fortnite or World of Warcraft.

We are a species that wants to do things, and the more incentives we have to do things and monetize them, (the better), he says. To build a methaverse, people need to be encouraged. Content itself cannot be created from the top down; it must use the incentive systems and tools created today to encourage people to create and distribute content.

Once you give people the ability to create and make money, it really changes everything in terms of what they talk about, how they participate, how they sell you a certain place.

Users create more value

He cited a comment by Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, that the main reason Bitcoin and Ether have become so valuable is that they have tens of millions of super-passionate users building on or around them and spreading the word.

Not a single dollar was spent on marketing, and that’s because you take the users and make them creators. And that’s what’s happening in the game industry, and why it’s so exciting.

In a post on NFTs in February, Dixon expanded on this theme, arguing that NFTs can free users from centralized platforms that take their content and keep the revenue, and instead build on the original ideals of the Internet: Users and creators are globally connected, not constrained by intermediaries, share ideas and have economic potential.

The first manifestations of the metaverse can be seen in blockchain-based virtual worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland, where users can already buy and own goods, as well as create and exchange content and digital objects with each other.

But before we get to the future Ready Player in one style, a few things need to happen.

No one and no company will build the entire metaverse. His tool is under construction, but it takes so many different parts to reach the level of Snow Crash, he says. You need the power of the GPU to support all this; there are a million things that need to happen. So we have a long way to go.

But we’re clearly past the point where people are spending much of their time in digital worlds, making a living out of it, creating jobs, etc. It’s happening.

Keeping digital objects in the digital and physical world, being able to share the objects we own in a decentralized, peer-to-peer way, buying a digital object and transferring it from one environment to a physical environment and passing it on to someone else, all of these things are now being created. It’s not that far.

Related Tags:

bitcoin magazine,bitcoin magazine subscription,21 cryptos,Privacy settings,How Search works

#Crypto #Bitcoin

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vvsnotes · 3 years

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[Forefront] The outbreak of Crypto Art

Regarding any events in the world of art, the Crypto Art was the one that I was following the most closely. The NFT (Non-fungible token) started going viral around the beginning of this year and it seems to get increasingly more popular with every minute. This happens mostly because of constant news reporting that the artists sell their work for millions of dollars. Most recently, just few days ago, on March 11th, Christie, the auction house, sold an artwork of Beeple’s for $69.3 million.

But what is an NFT art? It is a non-fungible token; non-fungible means that it is one of a kind and unique and a token can be understood as a certificate of this uniqueness. That NFT can be any digital art that was saved in a Block Chain. When I first heard about it, I was quite confused. Because digital art is reposted everywhere, however, by putting a digital art piece on the Block Chain, only one copy of it becomes original. To give an example, we see Vincent van Gogh paintings printed and hanging on the walls of many houses, but only the original work of the artists is valuable. Now the digital artists can create the original piece of their work and make it function like any other artwork in the world. Besides the fact that by buying the NFT you are not actually buying anything physical, but rather only a certificate.

A lot of people get confused with this concept but for me it was exciting to see. Finally, a digital artist could be appreciated for their art. Because an NFT can be a still image as well as an animation it concerns anyone that creates digitally, also musicians. I was ready to jump on it as well, however, it seems like nothing can be this good. And unfortunately, the downsides of NFTs are quite large.

NFTs are created by ‘mining’. That means that for the uploaded piece to be unique the computer needs to create a unique code just for this art piece. To do that the computer basically solves several extremely complicated problems. That is called the Prove of Work, once the system can prove the work, it is awarded with the unique token. And there would not be anything wrong with it if the amount of energy the computer is using to solve it wasn’t anywhere near these numbers.

It is said that one mining of a token can be equivalent to an EU resident power consumption for 77 years or a plane flying for 1.5 thousand years. And people are mining art pieces every minute, they also make limited collections of certain artworks, where the artwork is not minted once but can be minted up to thousands of times. We live in the world that is facing huge environmental issues of the global warming and the emissions of C02. Crypto market is enforcing those issues.

Till some time ago, this wasn’t that much of a problem since the market wasn’t popular. However, over the past few months, the platform has been joined by many people and the websites are constantly spammed with new digital artworks.

On top of that, to mine an artwork the artist needs to pay so called ‘gas fee’ which can fluctuate anywhere between $40 to $1k. It is said that the NFT market could finally help the artist to earn money for they work but there is already a lot of people losing their money. Partially because the websites are flooded with new artworks but also because most of the artists don’t fully understand how it works.

The ones that actually have a chance of selling anything are the popular artists, that already have a huge following and can easily promote their NFTs. And these artists are also invited to certain special websites where only the chosen ones can add their work.

That shouldn’t be any surprise. NFTs are a part of a market and a market is about making money. However, because of the huge hype caused by social media, there is a lot of artists that are losing their money because NFT was promoted to them as something easy.

On top of all that the art community is dividing into two groups: the ones that sell the NFTs, called greedy and narcissistic and the one’s that chose not to sell NFTs, so the responsible ones. The fights seem to have no end. Just following some of my favourite artists I can see how much hate some of them that chose to sell NFTs get. I don’t really agree about participating in the market but the art community was always about support because being a digital artist is difficult. Seeing all of the fights, artists getting death threats is alarming.

When I first learned about NTFs, I thought that there is finally something where the artists can be valued. It is no mystery that digital art isn’t treated with respect as it should be. There is a constant misconception of the art being done by the computer and that it doesn’t require that much of skills. The artists are very often underpaid and overworked. So, the Crypto Art Market could be a big game changer. It still probably is. A lot of artists can make and are making money on their art. But there are also a lot of artists and other people that learn about the consequences of NFTs and boycott the artists that take part in it. It became a hot trend and a lot of people are joining it without much research.

I like to create short looping animations of my painting and use animation to bring my paintings to live, but these scenes are very short and minimalistic. With NFTs I could consider adding it there and maybe that could become my job instead of making full long animations with narrative.

Personally, I won’t be joining this any time soon. It saddens me because I really thought of it as a justice for digital artists that create amazing art works and spend hours upon hours on them. However, considering the current environmental issues, it is not something I want to take part in anymore.

Since I finished the Academy of Fine Art I thought I didn’t want to make art just because I love creating digitally. With NFT becoming popular I considered going down that path. But until this won’t become more safe for our environment and the legal issues, like art theft, won’t be regulated I don’t think this is worth investing time and money at this moment.

References.

Barber, G. (2021). NFTs Are Hot. So Is Their Effect on the Earth’s Climate. [online] Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/nfts-hot-effect-earth-climate/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2021].

Akten, M. (2021). The Unreasonable Ecological Cost of #CryptoArt. [online] Medium. Available at: https://memoakten.medium.com/the-unreasonable-ecological-cost-of-cryptoart-2221d3eb2053 [Accessed 14 Mar. 2021].

Pipkin (2021). “BUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES WITH CRYPTOART WILL BE SOLVED SOON, RIGHT?” [online] Medium. Available at: https://everestpipkin.medium.com/but-the-environmental-issues-with-cryptoart-1128ef72e6a3 [Accessed 14 Mar. 2021].

www.abc.net.au. (2021). Artwork that only exists online sells for $90 million. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-12/nft-digital-artwork-sells-for-nearly-us-70-million-beeple/13241076#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20such%20sale [Accessed 14 Mar. 2021].

#practice 2 #forefront

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this-artist-is-screaming · 3 years

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04/02/21 New Feminist Perspectives and the Emergence of Intersectional Critique

Adrian Piper - The mythic being 1973/74

- First wave feminism looked at the Suffragettes in the late 19th century

- Feminist critique in the 70s, mid 20th century, second wave feminism

This is a feminist mytholodgy

Feminists which first emerged were white, middle class, American. This came to an end in the 70s. African American, Latina, First Nation people and minorities ec were all excluded before the 70s. It was a very heterosexual narrative.

Feminist aesthetics don't refer to a particular aesthetic or style but question assumptions in art and as an aesthetic we’re looking at stereotyping the defined between men, women and gender.

Feminists argue that despite seeing being neutral or inclusive the way people think about art and a static influence by sex roles eg. men and women.

Feminist aesthetics:

A tool for analysing how art is understood using gender issues.

Audrey Lord was an incredibly influential writer. She delivered a conference paper, very angrily. at a feminist conference. She delivered this paper called ‘The Masters Tool will never dismantle the pastors house’ - this changed the way that feminism looked at itself.

“If white American feminist theory does not deal with the fact that women will clean your house and look after 10 of your children while you attend a conference of feminist theory are poor people and women of colour. What is the theory behind racist feminism.”

Lord was the only other woman of colour speaking at this conference. Both women were invited as an afterthought.

Unless we address and embrace the diversity between us and see us as a strength, then it will undermine any of the change, changes that we’re trying to make in society.

“To read this program is to assume that lesbian and black women have nothing to say about the existentialism, about the erotic, about women culture, womens silence, they’ve got nothing to say in developing feminist theory or heterosexuality or power”.

Historical Narrative Recap

Two ways women have been depicted in art:

Botticelli - Judiths return to Bethulia

- Chopped of the 10th invading Palestine generals head

- got him drunk, seduced him, hacked his head off

- picture shows Judith returning to Jerusalem with the head

- No viscosity, there's no blood, no brains dripping everywhere, the maids just carrying the head along, not a care in the world.

- Judith herself has a very ‘idealised’ Botticelli style face, no emotions, she doesn't look upset or stressed or angry, she's just walking back with a clean silver sword.

-does not look very realistic, she’s meant to have just murdered this man!

Gentileschi - Judiths slaying Holofernes 1614-20

- Has been raped, not a lot of contact

- very different depiction of women

- these women are strong and powerful

- it is very contrasting from the Botticelli painting, its more realistic and really looks like the man is in agony

Hannah Hoch

Hoch was known for her political collage and photomontage work. She appropriates her images from mass media, by doing this she is critiquing the government in Germany. She was deeply inspired by early collage artists such as Picasso. She preferred to talk in metaphors rather than direct confrontation. She is recognised as a pioneering feminist artist

‘The beautiful gir’l - 1920 looks at the visual reaction to advertising and the ideas of beauty. She takes clippings from car parts, takes female figures from magazines and she makes a juxtaposition of the role of women in a modernising society. She wanted to emphasize this problematic phenomena between the reality of the experience of real women in Germany, and the rise of national socialism.

Yoko Ono

Her performance interactive piece from the 60s saw Ono sat on a stage, fully dressed with a pair of scissors next to her, she invites the audience to come and cut a piece of fabric from what she was wearing. People started very gently, by cutting only a tiny section of clothes and then as people got more and more involved in this process they started to get more and more aggressive. She was incredibly passive, she sat their, submissively. People started to cut away at her underwear, she does nothing as part of the performance but security guards stop the audience from cutting before she is fully naked.

Investigating what changes, what makes people who would generally credit themselves as behaving well, what makes them submit to these very predatory and aggressive people who would cut away very intimate garments.

Marina Abramovic

In her performance piece titled ‘Rhythm Zone’ Abramovic is stood in front of a table with different implements on it. She invited members of the audience to use these implements to cause an interaction between herself and the instance of the objects on the table eg. feathers, pens, knives (someone cut her jugular) also a loaded gun where someone began to pick it up but security would step in.

Abramovic had been stripped, we have someone here who is vulnerable and defenceless - she cannot defend herself

- this is a process of transformation of the audience

- The role of Women as submissive and they’re expecting violence accepting these things happening to them - and unable to respond.

Judy Chicago - The dinner party 1974-79

A collaborative piece, organised by Judy Chicago, it is seen as a seminal piece in feminist art. The narrative of the piece showcases her inviting women who throughout history have been renowned or made a difference. Women such as Mary Woolstonecroft and Mary Shelley. In the centre of the piece are other woman's names.

Intersectionality

Is a concept often used in critical theories to describe the ways in which oppressive institutes ( racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from each other. Your not telling the whole story if your not including all oppressed institutions. You are as guilty as I am guilty of leaving people out of the narratives history.

It suggests that we cannot separate the effects of race, class and gender.

‘Personal is political’ Carol Hanisch 1969 **look more at this**

This term was founded by Hanisch in 1969

- it means that political and personal issues affect each other.

- The experiences of women is in the grounding of feminism is both personal and political

- You bring your own experiences to feminism because it is a political movement

Multi Racial Feminism - Becky Thomson

“This feminism ( second wave ) is white led, marginalises the activism and world views of women of colour, focuses mainly on the United State, and treats sexism as the ultimate oppression. Hegemonic feminism de - emphasizes or ignores a class or race analysis, generally see’s equality with men as the goal of feminism and has an individual rights based, rather than a justice based vision for social change

Hegemonic: Who has the overwhelming power.

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auutintiug · 3 years

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“In her own words, Hoda Katebi is “a Chicago-based angry daughter of Muslim-Iranian immigrants,” author of the book Tehran Streetstyle, community organizer, and the voice behind the radical, political online fashion publication JooJoo Azad. Here, she speaks with Palestinian-American human rights attorney, artist, educator, and writer Noura Erakat, who has time and again stunned and stupefied the media in bold, brazen, sensibly unapologetic interviews. Katebi and Erakat’s conversation is akin to two streams flowing parallel to one another, embarking upon the surfaces and diving into the depths of politics, art, activism, identity, and gender norms, ultimately joining forces in the same body of water, not in competition but in support of one another—level and determined, headstrong, open to the elements.

—

Hoda Katebi: Do you think that all art is political?

Noura Erakat: I mean, I’m trained as an attorney. I’m hesitant to make such an absolute statement. Politics is basically the negotiation over scarce resources, and it’s the work that’s being done to actually negotiate that distribution. Art is expression, some sort of expression, any kind of expression, right? It’s a visionary aide. It’s a manifestation. That could be political in two ways: What is it that the artist chose to represent as opposed to anything else, and then how does creation implicate a discussion around the distribution of scarce resources?

I don’t identify as an artist because it’s political. I identify as an artist because I think that it’s a way of being. An artist is someone who can transcend an immediate material reality to be able to define yourself on your own terms, and to want to see the world on terms that may not yet exist. So those are the things that I think define an artist, which is not being bound by what is, but instead being in the constant act of creating what could be. A lot of the time it does come from people who hold privilege who say that they don’t want their art to be political or simultaneously call out Palestinians or black folks and say, “Oh, why do you always create political art?” It’s almost like my entire life. It’s triggering to you.

HK: What role does art play for you, and especially as a Palestinian, why is it important?

NE: So, I just want to be clear: I identify as an artist because I think that that’s the best way, because a lot of people see me, and they’re, “Oh, Noura’s a lawyer. Oh, Noura’s a teacher. Oh, Noura …” You know what I mean?

HK: Yeah.

NE: And I feel like rather than be defined by the actual profession, I want to be defined by the way I relate to the world in it. Me being an artist is not me defining my career or my productivity. It’s my relationship to time. I’m also identifying as queer, right? it’s not who you’re attracted to; it’s how you’re manifesting yourself in the world outside of binaries. I want to live.

I’ve written two plays, and I’ve fallen out of that—it’s a practice, like anything, and I haven’t been keeping it up. But last fall, the Kennedy Center invited the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival, which I am a co-founder of, to curate a program for the Millennium Stage. I got to direct the program, which meant musical direction, light direction, you know, all the stage work, plus it’s a play that I wrote, and I directed the professional actress who performed it. It was actually such a miracle, because we only got to do one stage rehearsal an hour before the program started.

The DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival began because in 2011, I had been co-leading something called the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and we had created a local chapter in D.C., and all of the work that we were doing as part of that network was, I thought, very reactionary. No to negotiations. No to these terms of the peace process. No to the split. I knew, I knew that that was not going to last because that’s not something that sustains. It creates a lot of toxicity.

On a trip to Toronto, I was speaking in Toronto and my good friend introduced me to her project, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, and I thought to myself, oh my God. That’s it. We have to create something that will outlast the politics of rejection. We have to create something that lives on its own terms. So when I got back, I and two other women co-founded this project, and now we’re in our eighth year. It is not a Palestine film festival; it is a showman arts festival. Our whole purpose is to showcase the artists, whoever they are. You could be talking about your favorite color or your favorite candy or the way your mom screwed you over and still left it in your head. The whole point is to showcase the artist and all of the different media that they use, visual, performing, cross stitching, cooking, music, dance, the whole thing.

This is where we’re dreaming of the future. This is where we’re creating. Who are Palestinians? Who are young Palestinians don’t know anything about it? From what they feel, from what their family passed onto them—how are they expressing that? And that is the future of Palestine. We’re trying to cultivate the space where they can dream. What the diaspora looks like and what the community looks like beyond just, what are the political terms upon which this will be resolved? Instead it becomes a social question, more like, what do people look like? What does trauma feel like? What is joy? What is internal conflict? What languages do we speak in this space? It also becomes one of the best tools for mainstreaming the question of Palestine. We’re bringing out audiences that probably feel like the whole thing is toxic.

HK: Yeah, it’s like a language that transcends border and culture. You create really accessible work. So, how are you able to transcend that really difficult box that lawyers are taught to be sitting in?

NE: I went into law school because I wanted to fight, and I thought, if only we had these tools we could just reason through this, then we can get out of the binds that politics had created for us, and we’ll just reason through it through some arbiter. We just listen to each side, and we can figure it out, and in fact, that was a really jarring lesson, and one of naivety, and it’s become the source of inspiration for my forthcoming book, Justice for Some: Law in the Question of Palestine, which will be out in March 2019. First of all, I barely survived the damned thing, because it is the single most white, heteronormative, classist, stifling space—

HK: Say it.

NE: —you can ever imagine. It is basically where you go to protect and revere the status quo. My issue with law school is that you take that for granted. Nobody admits that that’s what it is, and you start to act like everything that you’re studying is objective when everything is so not objective.

HK: Everything that you produce, whether it’s academic in the legal industry, you’re coming from your particular perspective of the world. Oppressed or oppressor.

NE: True, but there’s a different kind. Let me give you an example. When you’re studying property law in the United States, all property law is built upon a logic of dispossessing native nations, indigenous nations in the United States. And here you are studying concepts like liens, trusts or estates, possession, but you never ever talk about, well, what is the root of this whole model? The root of it is the dispossession of indigenous nations. Or when we talk about criminal law: We want to talk about the death penalty as a jurisprudential matter, which means we’re just going to look at the case law, but we’re not going to talk about, how is it that the law itself and the way that the death penalty becomes instrumentalized is specifically to punish black people?

I had a really hard time in law school. I ended up getting a big award at the end, which was like a vindication, but I almost didn’t even go to my graduation because I was just like, this was miserable. Afterwards, I didn’t even take a traditional law job. I went to Berkeley Law, and after law school, I got a fellowship for something like 30, 35k. That’s insane for a recent law graduate, and then there was no such thing as working as a Palestinian-rights lawyer, so I had to create my own job. It was a coup to even get the fellowship.

I’m now in a place where I have some stability, but from the time I graduated until now, I came onto the tenure track in the academy basically hustling. Nobody wants to … It’s just a difficult story. I mean, you have to be crazy to be doing this work. If I wasn’t crazy, I wouldn’t have lasted this long.

HK: What has got you through?

NE: I kept pushing. I kept being a lawyer. I went back to school, and I kept writing like a lawyer. I kept appearing on television like a lawyer until more recently. I think until last December, when I started to appear on TV and in public spaces, a little less as an attorney and more like as a human being and a Palestinian, that, I think, was a major turning point for me and for people receiving me, because when I’m talking as a lawyer, you know, I’m basically trying to be removed from it, just making the argument and letting it stand, but when I step into my skin as a Palestinian, as a human being, it’s me.

I’m still going to use logic as my primary communication tool, and everybody has a different way they like to communicate in public. Some people like to tell stories. Some people like to move you, just really deeply move you and rally you to fight and believe. I think logic is really compelling. I do it in the same way when I’m in my classroom. I don’t ever tell you what exactly to believe. I want to give you enough facts and information for you to make your own decision. That’s so much more powerful when you have to engage with me and do the work with me. You have to think about it.

For me, legal practice basically means that I’m an advocate. Because what is human rights advocacy? There’s no courtroom. What does it mean, then, to be a human rights attorney? It means that I am making a case in the world of public opinion. That’s my courtroom.

HK: What got you out of bed every day during this period? Were you also doing art at the same time, or did art come later?

NE: I was producing art while I was in law school as a writer. I dabbled in poetry, but I did the theater work. My first play is based on oral histories that I collected.

I’m in the West Bank in 2000, when the second intifada begins. I’m a student at Hebrew University [of Jerusalem], which was a whole story unto itself, but I’m the only student at Hebrew U that is a Palestinian and living in what’s known as the West Bank. And so basically, school gets shut down, because the intifada has started, and I had come eager to do an oral history project. I thought it was going to be about young girls and women. I started traveling to interview families of the slain, of the killed, and to get the stories of those killed, and so I collect all of these stories and come back. I transcribe them, and then I turn that oral history project into a revolving monologue, which is like a one-act play for about an hour where you get to hear almost all of the stories being told by the characters themselves as they’re describing their loved one who’d been killed.

So, I write that while I’m in law school. I produce that. I direct that. It takes its own life, and it’s performed in different places. I then come to do another monologue, but this time it’s a one-woman show, and I perform that one everywhere. And that was it. That space just killed my creative spirit.

HK: Do you see yourself within the legacy of any artist that you look up to? Whose tradition do you feel that you belong to, if any?

NE: The first person that comes to mind is Arundhati Roy.

HK: Bae!

NE: Right? Here is this woman completely committed to revolutionary justice and transformation but who is expressing herself also as a dreamer, as a novelist, and as an essayist, and so I really like that. It’s these visionary women who are immersed and accountable to a base and to a movement. They don’t see themselves as above or as being revered. They see themselves as being a part of something bigger than them. What you’re seeing in their work is homage to it, paying respect to it, and creating space for it.

HK: Situating yourself in the West as a site of knowledge production in academia, which is heavy orientalist, perpetuates a lot of racism, the same ways that you mention about the law. What are your experiences there, and what made you become an educator?

NE: I think in everything that I’ve done, I’ve always been an educator. Even as an activist or when I’m leading workshops at different universities from before I got into law school. The difference about entering the academy is now you’re producing knowledge in a way that’s refereed and becomes subject to academic and scholarly scrutiny. A lot of circumstances pushed me into that field, and also because I’m increasingly unfulfilled by the legal practice, which I find is so hampered by the question of politics and by political issues. I’m increasingly frustrated with the limitation of the law, but also more curious about it. Why is it working in this way? What is it about the law, what is it about politics? And so these became scholarly inquiries that push me out, like make me more disenchanted with being a lawyer.

Once I’m in the academy, now it’s like a whole different set of challenges. It becomes the most stark when people of color talk about justice issues that are difficult conversations. So, if I was talking about FGM and the Muslim community, I don’t think people would receive me harshly. It might even be kind of okay, because I’m not challenging the establishment. But being of color, producing knowledge that is counter-hegemonic is when you raise a lot of flags, and immediately people begin to question whether you’re an academic or an activist. It’s one thing if somebody was studying these things. It’s another if you’re invested in them and studying them. That’s been a really difficult challenge, how to toe that line.

It’s a lot of unknowns, like you’re saying. For me, I’m leaving the choice to myself. I write about what I find the most interesting, intriguing, because that’s what’s the most authentic, and that’s the work that I do best, when I enjoy what I’m doing. But there is great risk in doing the work in that way. I feel like that’s the risk that’s worth taking. I want to know that I spent all the time I had breathing, able-bodied and able-minded, to produce the work that I thought was critical and necessary, rather than produce the work that I thought was going to help me climb some sort of career ladder.

HK: Because at the end, you always get exposed anyway.

NE: Maybe it’s about getting exposed, but I feel like it’s between you and yourself. What is it that you want at the end of the day? What is going to make you happy? So, yeah, I’m taking a risk, but everything else that I’ve done has been a risk. Right?

HK: Yeah. And with all of these risks, what are the joys of being an educator?

NE: Oh my God, the students. There’s so much tremendous joy. There’s so much tremendous joy in their capacity and their imagination and their passion, and the community that they create with one another. In finding folks who want to create an alternative world based on a place of love and a place of vision and a place of hope and a place of faith. All of that is joyful. I believe that the revolution will be full of joy. I know the revolution to be full of joy. It’s also full of tremendous heartache, but we already know that, right? But when we fight, we don’t just fight because we’re sad and because we’re angry. We fight because we believe we can. We believe we can. We believe we should.

HK: And we have no choice.

NE: We believe we are better. And that’s so joyful.

HK: And that also takes me to the very last question that I’ll ask: What is the world that you’d like to see?

NE: Well, there’s the really nerdy answer, which is to see a world where if we are to have governments, the governments are to be run by people for the sake of people, where profit is not a determinative logic, where the distribution of wealth is not concomitant with some neo-liberal equation of productivity and earnings and market formulations, but rather based on need. That’s a world that I would love to live in.

I would like to live in a world where we’re actually honoring the earth. We are depleting this earth at such a fast rate, at such a disrespectful rate, that we’re not going to have an earth to even divide by the time we figure out how to get along with one another and get over our human conflict. That’s why billionaires are trying to figure out their exit route to Mars and life elsewhere. Environmentalism isn’t this side thing. It’s central to everything that we do, and it’s entwined with indigenous justice as well, people who have already told us how to treat this earth and how to make it sustainable.

HK: That’s beautiful. Well, thank you so much. Is there anything that you wanted to say that we didn’t get to touch on?

NE: One of the things that made me most excited about the invitation by Suited, the first thing I thought of, was that I wanted Rami Kashou to dress me, because I saw him on Project Runway and he didn’t identify as a Palestinian. I knew he was Palestinian, but he was just out there being a designer, and in watching him, I found freedom. I thought, that is what freedom will mean for Palestinians, when they can just be in the world and not have to be defined by our fight. We can just be defined by whoever we want to be. “I’ve been fangirling you for 12 years. You want to dress me?” So we meet, and he dresses me, and if you notice … I don’t know if you’ve seen the photos.

HK: I haven’t.

NE: It’s like artwork. Literally the only other person who’d worn what I wore for this photo shoot was a mannequin at a museum. It is exactly what I envision the future of Palestine to be, which is taking our tradition and our history and our past, but not going back to it or being stuck in it. It’s taking it and creating something absolutely new and visionary. It’s Palestinian futurism, and it was … that is such a central piece of the photo shoot, of this story, of what art is doing, of my own vision of: What does it take for us to create these new futures? And at the heart of it, it means not being afraid to dream.

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