#and then when i zoomed it i got an idea for analysis and Man.! art is sooooooooooo cool.............

[junikshanasar]

bnha Chapter 318 thoughts

?

?????

Where’s Shouto’s scar Horikoshi?

Nah jk, u can acc see it just barely if you zoom in, the slight discolouration. But like, you can bet my eyes searched for my favourite boy’s smile first when the panel showed up, and this is the only thought runnin’ through my head as I write this, so I hafta to go back and reread the chapter now XD 

>>>>>>

All righttttttt, what do I even say? Deku was falling deeper into his spiral of martyrdom, to the point the pro-heroes, and even the vestiges were worried about him:

You can bet I was intrigued at this part, wondering if maybe they would do something to purposely render him unconscious to let him rest or smthing, but man what we got was so much better:

please, Bakugou has no business lookin this pretty.

Anyway, I can’t be the only one who felt such incredible elation at his appearance, and then like a double shot of serotonin: “I found him guys”

the gods answered my prayers for the return of class-1a. Altho, we all totally knew his friends were looking for him, there’s no way they wouldn’t.

There’s not much to analyze this chapter, just reaffirming previous posts, so I might stop these chapter thought posts and save them for when I have actual analysis.

That being said, the recurring symbolism of Deku’s hero costume is used in the above image. As we know, his initial costume that blatantly imitates All Might represents his state of mind/being at the time - that is, an ‘imitation’ of All Might, or an attempt to copy him in order to act as his successor.

As Deku gains his own individuality and style, so does his costume, such as his leg braces, and closer to the beginning of the War arc, we see the influence of figures other than All Might, such as Gran Torino’s expectations shown in the cape Deku gets from him.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Deku’s costume lately has been getting more worn and torn along with his image of a hero, to the point where he notably looks more like a villain. Deku has shrouded himself so deep in the idea of being the hero that we actually haven’t seen his face since the “You’re next” from All for One.

(No the cover of 317 doesn’t count, let me have my cake)

And when Bakugou jumps in, Deku’s face in finally uncovered:

He himself uncovers it (Edit: I’ve been informed it’s the attackers pulling Deku’s mask off XD - either way his face is finally exposed), which we can take as the fact that Midoriya Izuku has finally surfaced from beneath Deku. Yay!

I also wanted to talk about this amazing scene here:

I didn’t notice this until now, despite how blatant it was, but yes, obviously we were all aware of the parallel between One for All and All for One, but my friend actually noted before this chapter came out that Deku is now eerily similar to All for One. And with the release of this chapter, I myself now realize it’s vice versa as well.

Initially, we were under the impression that All for One amassed a buncha other quirks for himself, while One for All shared one quirk amongst a buncha people. However, with new revelations about both abilities, the line between AfO and OfA is blurring. 

Midoriya has amassed the quirks of the users that came before him. Notably, he is like AfO in that sense. On the other hand, AfO clearly has the ability to share the quirks he has collected, amongst multiple people, which is notably similar to OfA. 

Aaaaand that’s it for this week, to say I’m excited for the next chapter in an understatement ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪

Unfortunately we hafta wait two weeks, but Horikoshi deserves a break because life as a weekly mangaka is tough work, and the art in the Final arc has been so blessed, so I won’t complain!

#spoilers #manga spoilers #boku no hero academia #bnha #deku #midoriya izuku #all for one #one for all #vestiges #bakugou katsuki #todoroki shouto #chapter 318 #manga thoughts #Final arc #character discussion #light in the darkness! #manga analysis #class 1-a is finally hereeeee #more parallels #paired with #blurred lines #but hey this whole story turned grey so #rest well horikoshi! #i literally wrote this at 2am lol #but it's abt to be queued #so

[organic-guacamole]

showtime

episode 211 let's go

ok first of all, this is the second to last episode guys... I don't even wanna think about how much pain I'll be in after next week's episode

mr mazzara doing the recap-

this is so weird to me and I don't know why

WHY DIDN'T YALL JUST ASK BENJAMIN FOR HELP, THATS LITERALLY HIS THING

is Nini giving out the cards a callback to season 1 when Natalie Bagley said that Nini gave her a card or something on opening night of another musical?

STEPHY AS THE ENCHANTRESS OMG YES

Ricky in the crown gives me Harry styles in that photoshoot vibes

he's so pretty.

ok but why did we never see Ricky and Ashlyn interact before? it's been like 5 seconds and I already love how they bounce off each other and it's just so natural

OH THEY REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY UNDERSTUDIES-

well that explains a lot...

so Ricky fell on top of Ashlyn and all that broke for both of them was their wrist-

insert Jake Peralta *coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool no doubt no doubt no doubt*

of course howie was amazing as the beast, were we expecting anything less??

Ricky is so beautiful and I will not shut up about it....

let me enjoy this before the makeup crew slaps mud on his face.

Nini and Ricky talking to eachother? in a civil manner? wasn't she avoiding him just in the last episode? hm ok

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH THEY CANT EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS JUST LIKE ME HAHAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS, WHATS NEXT? THEY CUT EVERYONE OFF CUZ THEY CANT HANDLE EMOTIONS? ...ha

yes Kaden and Rico, my favourite east high boys 🥰

I mean....where's EJ?

THERE HE IS

EJ AND GINA IN THE BACKGROUND... doing something idek

KOURTNEY'S MOM IS BACK YAY

Howie is a shining star, ofc ofc

the smallest fOrk

can't wait to see the fork burst into song about how she deserves more than to be used to eat salad😌

the duster and the bluster.... ok😃

hi Gina!

hi- oh wow I didn't know Robbie Rotten was in this show!!!!!

the portwell look.

that my friends, is a married couple's look✋

GOSH EJ WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU

aww Gina's so excited for this

D word?

Die?

Delicious?

Dom Toretto?

"good, clean fun all alone with someone I dig...a lot"

sir that does not sound very clean to me

SEBLOS

Seb looks so cute standing there next to pope Carlos

DID THEYEY REALLY LIGHT ANTOINE ON FIRE-

I NEED TO SEE THAT

Seb's reading Carlos better than big red read the script in episode 102, this is great development after the "fight"

Kourtney really just made the best outfit for herself and let the rest of them suffer

the way Gina immediately goes to hold on to EJ after the announcement

"tonight we're going to put the U in UTAH"

...

"hey where are you from?"

"TAH"

SEB'S SINGULAR CLAP KILLED ME-

he's officially salt lake city's resident thanos

just wity clapping because for some reason I have a feeling he doesn't know how to snap his fingers...don't ask why

Ms Jenn do you mind encouraging your leads before the show? idk just an idea

pepto bismol product placement smhsmh

those flowers are bigger that big red himself-

*bops along to the opening theme*

that whistle at the end slaps everytime

WHY IS THE AUDIENCE SO MASSIVE

I guess they're all here to see Ms Jenn go on as a fork after Nini decides to *go her own way*

wow i am so funny

so they couldn't do many group scenes cuz of covid, but this 300 person crowd is cool? nice

OO THE VIOLIN GIRL FROM EPISODE 6 IS IN THE ORCHESTRA

HOWIEEEEEE

"Mr Caswell", he said, in the loudest voice possible while backstage at a show that's about to start.

Mazzara what are you trying to pull-

I usually like Benjamin but I don't like his tone

"iS yOuR wHoLe FaMiLy HeRe?" LIKE YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW THATS A SOFT SPOT FOR EJ

"we've had some good conversations these past few weeks"

right so what's going to happen after you graduate?

what does he think of you not going to Duke?

what did he say about you giving the sweatshirt that's been in the family for 3 generations to a girl you're not even dating?

good old Mr. M

therapist Mr. Mazzara, they all need it.

start with Ricky though.

"Michael Bowen"

dude why did you shave, now you look less like "hot lumberjack" and more "creep at the gas station"

OH-

does she not like Mike anymore?

why does it sound like jennzzara started dating and now they just sit back and talk smack about everyone in their freetime

break the fourth wall-

uhhhh im scared

why am I scared

he's scary

hehe flowers for Ricky, obviously for Ricky, ObViOuSLY

oh boy poor Michael

this man is in love, rip

why does Ms Jenn always look at people with her eyes open so wide

LILYYYY

I'm only excited because I really like the idea of lily and Ricky being friends, nothing more.

ha this guy's got jokes

a MOAT AROUND THE SCHOOL

wheeze

also he's very pretty.

"the wolves and very talented humans"

how dare he forget to mention the very talented wolves and normal humans, smh erasure

"being nice, what a concept" ted talk by Lily who still doesn't have a last name

did she just say lol out loud

same with the hug emoji last episode-

go touch some grass babes

the way he didn't say no, but said he didn't know how the east high kids would react-

not saying he does want to date her but that's an interesting thing to think about, also another thing to write an essay analysis on just to leave it in my drafts for a few months

awww lily genuinely trying to help him

sorry guys, I've been taken by the Lily charm (didn't know it existed until now but oh well)

REMEMBER WHEN I SAID I'LL NEVER SHIP PORTWELL?

just look at me now

the Lily wink I can't she's so cute-

HELP ME I'M BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY LIL-

David Attenborough?

oh nvm it's Benjamin narrating the show in a really weird British accent for some reason.

STEPHY GOT MORE LINES YAY GOOD FOR HER

also is this to show that Nini doesn't care about being the star of the show anymore? the way she's supporting everyone else even though she's a fork?

I would pay for a special of the full musical ngl

OOO THE TRANSFORMATION WAS SMOOTH

shockingly

yo where did the makeup come from

man I wish I was a theatre kid

THIS IS STEPHY'S EPISODE NOW IDC✋

my girl is starring

"needs an X-factor"

Simon Cowbell creeps in

"it's a yes from me"

and them boom, he takes Nini and mistreats her horribly and then she comes back to theatre after deciding music isn't for her👍

"I thought she just hog-tied him?"

don't ask sebby, it's better if you don't know.

imagine they spotlight the wrong person and this dude is just some random person that likes writing down stuff during shows.

Ms Jenn just let them do what they rehearsed (at some point we never saw) or else this is gonna end horribly wrong

"help"

same Carlos, same

I love how seb is just his translator rn

I thought he said "great displeasure" instead of "greatest pleasure"....help?

big red coming out from throwing up to see his girlfriend star is the cutest thing in this show.

Ash and Gina dancing is so fun

I'm imagining them practicing at night at their home, watching the movie for the 100th time and making sure their one dance together is perfect

KOURTNEY YES

HOWIE IS IN LOVE AHHHH

I LOVE HOWIE SO MUCH

SEBBY

THIS SCENE HAS SO MUCH GOING ON I CAN'T KEEP UP

THIS IS SO GOOD

HOW???

no because I'm actually crying

I'm dead serious.

we need this musical released as a special

big red is so proud and I love to see it

Natalie: "if you do not by at least 20 dollars in concessions, you do not support art"

rando in the audience: "but I pay for ad free Spotify"

Mr Mazzara clapping in the distance

Gigi, the guy you like is talking to you, complimenting you and hyping you up

YOU LUCKY LITTLE FEATHER DUSTER

aw EJ teasing her about the chocolates in a way that doesn't make her feel bad? take notes Richard

JORDAN FISHER

there is no rest of the show idc Jordan is it for me

THE WIG CAP ON RICKY OMG

they look like they're high and having "deep" conversations on the floor

THE MEAN GIRL WITH THE EYES-

@sunshine-julie-molina YOU HEAR THAT

Natalie really just be coming for them all

Howie what is happening rn

I'm scared

"did you enjoy it"

"very much"

dude wants a kiss so bad

ASHLYN OMG

NO DON'T DO IT BECAUSE OF LILY, PUT YOUR OWN TWIST ON IT

I want a Jordan autograph please

just keep swim- oh pushing...

Gina is literally a giant next to him and I live for it

am I about to cry for the 3rd time in this episode?

yes.

Ricky's leg kicks under the table makes me so happy aw

the portwell glances will kill me.

ah yes, mashed potato snow

Mr. M.... I'm not a theatre kid but even I know you can't have your phone on backstage.

Howie please just do it

CHIP'S BIG LINE I CANT

I LITERALLY HAD TO PAUSE IT AMD SCREAM INTO MY MASK FOR A SOLID 2 MINUTES (I'm not at home rn) HES SO CUTE

oh ok bye Jordan

oo tea

NOT HIM BEING STARSTRUCK BECAUSE HE'S MEETING HIS FUTURE BROTHER IN LAW-

"we're all just glad Gigi has a big brother figure in her life"

excuse me for a few thousand hours while I laugh hysterically

THE CAMERA ZOOM ON EJS FACE AND EVERYTHING-

STOP EJ LOOKS LIKE HE'S GONNA CRY BUT I CAN'T TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY WITH THE STAGE MAKE-UP

someone else said this already but I think it's hilarious that they had to bring in 2 guest characters to create some portwell angst

omg this really is Cici's episode, found family is their thing

elevator music lol

I'm gonna bet that big red took the harness for his surprise for Ashlyn without realising what it was

did Ms. Jenn just....tell her most mentally unstable student....to commit suicide....on a disney show...was that....I'm very....well....what the actual-

oh and there she goes running off instead of trying to make it right

oh wow Nini's the hero, she's gonna save the show 🤩

😐

the judge is doing a sudoku

honestly if I went to the hsm show as well, I'd come prepared for this one too

Lily why are you looking like that-

I WAS JUST STARTING TO LIKE YOU DON'T MESS THIS UP

wow ok, there goes that.

omg

what if Howie was acting weird because he knew what Lily did and wanted to tell Kourtbut Lily threatened him so he was scared to-

anyways see y'all clowns next week when we all simultaneously lose all motivation for the week without Fridays to look forward to.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2 #hsmtmts season 2 #hsmtmts spoilers #ej caswell #gina porter #ricky bowen #nini salazar roberts #seb mathew smith #carlos rodriguez #big red #ashlyn caswell #kourtney greene #howie my pizza king #lily hsmtmts

[2manyfandoms2count]

Alix's rom-com night

The June event of the @mlwritersguild was to create bonus content for one of our fics - I decided to seize the opportunity to finally sit down and write one of the bonus scenes of You can count on me (I will be there for you), and to do draw a bit of fanart to go with it (4 panels, including a Marichat piece)! Let me tell you that the Burrow is a pain to draw, but I'm actually quite proud of the result :)

About YCCOM: It's an aged-up, one-sided reveal with "fake" wedding fic, based on Sallteas' art. The fic is 9 chapters and 20k words long. It was written before season 4, so it's no longer canon compliant in terms of who knows who's identities at the beginning.

Synopsis: Ladybug's identity is compromised, and somebody is after her. After a lot of pondering, she and Chat Noir come to the conclusion that her best bet is for her to marry Adrien Agreste. It breaks her heart that she is not marrying Chat Noir, but she knows that she's buying them time to figure out who is behind the anonymous letters she's been receiving, and hopefully to find Hawkmoth. Whatever the situation might be, her wedding day should provide a moment of respite. And maybe it would have, had Chat Noir refrained from coming to visit her just before the ceremony...

About Alix's rom-com night: it's a one shot that's chronologically set before the main fic, but I recommend reading it after reading the latter since it contains spoilers for it. It follows Alix (obviously), and includes Ladybug revealing her identity to Chat Noir and the set up of their "fake wedding" plan.

Hope you enjoy!

---

Alix opened her door and dropped her keys in the bowl as she kicked off her shoes with a satisfied sigh. Home, sweet home.

Her studio apartment wasn’t very big, but then again, she didn’t need a huge surface when she had a whole extension waiting for her just a transformation phrase away. She’d mentally thanked Marinette more than once for choosing her to wield the Rabbit Miraculous, rather than somebody else, just for the savings she made in rent.

She whistled happily as she made her way to her kitchen area, grabbing a bag of popcorn out of a cupboard and shoving it in her microwave.

She deserved the treat. She’d been running around all week, trying to slide letters to her targets without being spotted, spending hours on end to find the perfect stationary, and then staying up at night to get the wording exactly right, a delicate mix of subtlety and threat to elicit some sort of response from them. It had taken a lot of trial and error, especially for Ladybug. Her friend had always been surprisingly oblivious on many fronts, and it seemed that her honeymoon phase with Chat Noir reinforced her optimistic ability to brush ominous details aside. It had taken three letters for her to start freaking out and to promise Tikki she would talk to her partner about them, whereas Hawkmoth had started the analysis phase upon the first one he’d received.

Alix had only been mildly surprised by the identity of their nemesis when she’d decided it was high time she knew who they were facing; it was all too fitting that the man who leached off Paris’ most intense negative emotions should be the most embittered person she knew, and the one who, in retrospect, had been the cause of many an Akuma (she still shuddered at the what-could-have-been of Chat Noir’s akumatisation).

The microwave dinged, bringing her thoughts back to her timeline. She took the bowl out and called for her Kwami.

“Fluff, clockwise! Burrow!”

A white portal appeared in the middle of her living space and she walked through it, emerging in the ovoid room covered in screens. She made her way to the furthest point, hung her umbrella up on the coathanger she kept in there, and grabbed a folding chair. It was a director’s seat which supposedly had belonged to a rising name in the cinema world before their career had been shot down for obscure reasons, but she didn’t really care about its story; she’d bought it for a very low price at a yard sale, and that was all that mattered to her.

“Right, where are you…” She muttered, scrutinising her surroundings, until she found the screen she was looking for.

She unfolded the chair, zoomed in on the empty (for now) rooftop, propped down in her seat and threw a fistful of popcorn into her mouth, waiting for the show to start.

Unsurprisingly, Ladybug was the first to arrive on the scene. She paced around, mumbling to herself as she wrung her hands together. Alix felt a pang of guilt as she watched her rehearse how she would break the news to her partner, but reassured herself that the ordeal would soon be over.

Finally, Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug, and she flung herself at him, holding him so tight he had to untangle himself from her arms to breathe.

“Well, well, well, my Lady, I know I couldn’t make it to patrol last night, but I didn’t think you’d miss me this much,” he chuckled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Alix rolled her eyes at just how lovestruck he looked as he did so. How could her friends be so sappy, and yet still be at square one in terms of knowing who the other was?

Some might have said that it was romantic, that they loved each other regardless of who they were; but those people did not have to deal with the constant end of the world threat.

“What was so important that you couldn’t just text me?”

Ladybug took a deep breath. Her fingers slid along his arms as she relaxed her embrace, taking his hands in hers at the end of the line. “Somebody knows my identity,” she said quietly, looking down. “And I don’t know who they are.”

“What?!” Chat’s voice detonated in the previously peaceful quiet of the evening, making a couple of pigeons take off in a loud flutter of wings.

“I’m so sorry, I must have been careless when I got home one night, they must have seen me, I bet it was last week when I was tired and I-”

“My Lady, no offence, but I don’t care about the when and why, just... are you okay?” He tilted her chin up, gently turning her head to each side, checking for any signs of injury.

She placed her hand on his, making him stop, and gave him a soft, sad smile. “Yes, Chaton. Just a little rattled; you know you were the first person I wanted to reveal my identity to. Not including Bunnyx, although technically I never told her who I am.”

“And technically, I’m still the only person who knows who you are,” Bunnyx smugly commented between two handfuls of popcorn. “Now come on, I want to see how you react when you reveal your identities to each other.”

“How do you know somebody knows, though? And do you have any idea what their intentions are?”

Ladybug’s expression darkened. “I received some letters. They’re not signed, but they’ve got enough butterflies on them to make me think that even if they’re not from the biggest pest in Paris, then they’re probably from somebody who’s up to no good.”

Chat Noir swore under his breath, then regained his countenance. “So, what do we do now? Do you think we can hunt down the bugger?”

“We definitely will, but…” Ladybug bit her lip, and Alix leaned forward in her seat. This had to be it. “Chaton, I think the time has come for me to tell you who I am.”

“YES! Finally!” Alix cheered, almost spilling her popcorn bowl.

“Are you sure, my Lady?” Alix didn’t have to be on site to tell that Chat Noir’s heart was beating faster than usual; the corners of his mouth twitched as he repressed a smile, as though his excitement could make her change her mind.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I really want you to know.” In case something happens to me, Alix was pretty sure her friend had left unsaid.

“Okay, okay.” Chat Noir took a deep breath, buzzing with anticipation, so much so that he apparently missed the whole subtext of her previous words. “Do you want to do this now? And how do you want to do it? Do you want me to close my eyes? Are you going to write it on a piece of paper for me to read? Are you going to detransform? Should-”

“I was thinking the latter, and yes, now,” Ladybug said timidly. “Up to you if you want to look or not.”

“For some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t.” He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles without breaking their eye contact, then took another deep breath and closed his eyes, a blissful smile on his lips. “Ready when you are, my Lady.”

“Ok, here goes.” She let out a shaky breath and called off her transformation. The soft pink glow engulfed her and receded, her suit melting away to reveal her true appearance.

“Wow, Marinette, you actually broke out your favourite dress for this? Glad to see all of this isn’t affecting your ability to think straight.” Alix smirked. If her friend had gone home after a long, stressful work day, and found it in her to change and doll herself up to make a good impression on Chat Noir, things couldn’t be that bad. She had to agree that her dress, simple, white, with little red hearts embroidered on it, was perfect for the occasion, though.

“You can open your eyes now, Chaton.” Marinette gave his hands a squeeze.

Chat Noir obliged, blinking slowly as he took in her appearance, her identity, her. Marinette squirmed under his gaze, his expression not giving away any of his thoughts.

“H-Hi,” she stammered when she couldn’t take it anymore. “I, erm, I guess I should introduce myself? We’ve run into each other before, when we were younger, and even if you actually had lunch with my family that one time, I guess it’s been a while… My name is-”

“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Chat’s smile finally broke free, spread from ear to ear, almost literally illuminating his face. Alix wondered if anything could ever wipe it off. Love and admiration twinkled in his eyes as he picked her up and started spinning her. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling giddily, before Chat Noir closed the gap between their lips.

Bunnyx modestly looked away, allowing them to have their moment. Her eyes landed on a rerun of Plagg putting an end to the dinosaurs’ reign.

“I should have known that it was you, Princess.” Chat panted slightly as he carefully set Marinette back on the roof. “Everything makes so much more sense now, I-”

“Before you finish that thought, I can’t know your identity.” She placed her index finger on his lips. “Yet, of course.”

“What?” Chat froze, and so did Bunnyx, her hand pausing midway between the popcorn bowl and her mouth. “But why?”

“I don’t know what might happen to me, but I don’t want to put you in any danger.” Marinette cupped his cheek. “And I don’t want to lose my memories of you. Of us.”

“Oh for Kwami’s sake.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Boo!” She threw a fistful of popcorn at the screen as her friend continued to list all the reasons Chat couldn’t reveal his identity.

“My Lady, Marinette, if you’re worried about your safety, maybe we should do something about it. I could move in with you, or in a flat nearby, maybe, stay transformed or wear a mask at all times so you don’t know who I am, we can figure it out… Of course I know you can protect yourself, but I could stand guard while you sleep, or...” Chat raked his hand through his hair as he thought.

“You know I love you, Chaton, and that’s why I can’t let you do that! You can’t live like that, I can’t ask that of you. Not to mention how difficult it would be for me, do you really think I could resist having you so close, and not trying to get a glimpse of who you are?” She joked, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.

“Then we need to get you a bodyguard,” he insisted.

“I thought about it, but… Well, I can’t really afford it, and how could I justify suddenly needing personal security? I’m just a designer, and nothing I’ve ever done has been avant-garde enough that I should be worried about my safety.” She shook her head.

“Damn, I knew I should have targeted Chat Noir,” Alix swore under her breath. “He would’ve had to reveal his identity, and she definitely wouldn’t have been a pushover on her kitty’s protection matter. Come on Adrien, do something.”

She could tell that he was up to something just by looking at him. He’d been silent for a little too long for it to be natural. Cogs turned in his head, making him squint. He let go of her completely and paced around the roof, almost pulling his hair out as he did so. Alix sensed that whatever was on his mind was going to be big. She leaned forwards in anticipation.

Finally, Chat Noir came to a halt in front of Marinette, the fever in his eyes and his dishevelled hair making him look slightly unhinged.

“Buguinette, I think I’ve got a solution,” he whispered.

“You do?” Marinette’s voice was full of hope, although she looked slightly concerned about him.

“You’re probably not going to like it,” he warned her, lifting a finger.

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She shrugged, taking a step forward.

“Right.” He gave her one last look, an opportunity to stop him before the words tumbled out. She nodded encouragingly. “Okay, here’s the thing. I have it on very good authority that Adrien Agreste is being pressured into getting married by his father.”

“I see Gabriel’s just as delightful as always,” Marinette shook her head.

“Unlike good cheese, he definitely doesn’t get better with time.” Chat smiled bitterly, eyes losing focus a little.

“What’s it got to do with us, though?” Marinette prompted, placing a hand on his arm.

“Oh, Agreste, you absolute genius, I think I know where this is going.” Alix took another handful of popcorn.

“Oh, yes, right.” He cleared his throat. “See, Adrien’s not dating anyone at the moment…” Right, Alix snorted. “And he’s not really planning on starting a relationship with his father breathing down his neck, but, well, he happens to owe me a favour, and I’m sure that he’d be more than happy to put his security detail to good use…”

“So you’re suggesting that I marry Adrien.” Marinette deadpanned.

“Well, er, I actually thought you could just date, but thinking about it… It would be less strange for you to request a bodyguard if your relationship was more serious…” He trailed off.

Alix was impressed by how well he concealed his emotions. His poker face was truly exceptional.

“And you think Adrien would be ready to marry me because of a favour he owes you?” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips and squinting at him as she tried to pick at his lie.

Alix winced for Chat. Maybe he should have waited a bit before blurting out the (as it turned out) probably only sane option in that situation so he could work out all of the details for himself. Marinette was very good at trying to shake plans to see how solid their foundations were.

“Please. Adrien had a crush on you when you were younger, if anything I could probably smuggle it as another favour, given how perfect the fake scenario would be. Although I guess that since you also liked him… It might just cancel out.” He tapped his lip pensively.

“Adrien had a crush on me?” Marinette frowned. “Oh, you must mean Ladybug. I think Nino mentioned it once.”

“Well, yes, but he also had one on you, Marinette.” Chat stepped forward, mischief twinkling in his eyes as he poked her on the nose.

“Really, now,” she muttered to herself.

“The main reason he didn’t act on it was that he thought you loved somebody else.” Chat smiled ironically.

“Wow, what a pair of idiots.” Marinette chuckled.

“You don’t know the half of it.” He kissed her forehead.

“But you know what?” Marinette didn’t pick up on her partner’s comment. “I’m actually glad we didn’t get together. It probably would have delayed us getting together.” She pressed a peck to his lips. “If we’d gotten together at all in that timeline.” She smirked.

Alix snorted. Out of all the timelines she’d watched unfold in an attempt to keep things in check, there wasn’t a single one where Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir, didn’t end up together, and not just because of her interventions to help them, and the rest of the planet, stay alive.

Marinette’s face fell at Chat Noir’s lack of response. Alix knew her friend didn’t particularly believe in soulmates, but she understood that she would have liked a sappy Chat Noir special comment on how he’d told her he’d grow onto her anyway, and that she would have soon discovered that the Agreste boy had nothing on him. She assumed that he was too busy restraining himself from saying the wrong thing.

“Actually… What about us, then?” Marinette cleared her throat and looked up at him, eyes glistening slightly in the half light.

“My Lady… If you really think that you being a divorcée will spur me away…” Chat Noir looked down at their entwined hands, locks of blond hair falling in front of his eyes, concealing his giddy smile from her. You sneaky cat, Alix thought.

Marinette followed his gaze, letting out a long sigh as she watched their hands sway lightly. Alix knew her brain was probably trying to find all the flaws in the plan. She crossed her fingers, hoping that it would be enough for her friend to accept. It was perfect, whether they got their act together and figured everything out before the event, or not.

“Fine,” Marinette finally said with resolve, making Alix mentally thank whoever was out there. “I’ll do it on two conditions.”

“Anything, my love.” Chat let out a sigh of relief.

“Firstly, we’re honest with Adrien from the get go. No lying about anything.” Chat nodded along. “Secondly, we get cracking on finding Hawkmoth, and after we do and the divorce is settled, if we even get that far with Adrien because obviously if everything is settled before the wedding we won’t be going through the whole plan…” Chat smiled fondly as she took a deep breath. “After all that, we are getting married.” She gestured between the both of them.

“My Lady, are you proposing to me right meow?” Chat Noir all but purred.

“I guess so.” Marinette shrugged, a smile and a blush spreading on her cheeks.

“Wow, then, I’m definitely putting Adrien in charge of the proposal planning,” he replied with a smirk.

“Chaton!” She stomped her foot, her mildly amused smile cancelling out her frown.

“What?” He teased her.

“Will you? Marry me?” She held his gaze.

“Do you even have to ask?” He chuckled. “You know, my Lady, I’m pretty sure that, in my head, we’ve been married since that speech you gave on the Eiffel Tower during our very first fight. Well, I’ve been married to you; you do whatever you please.”

“You’re such a dork,” Marinette laughed, brushing her nose against his and throwing her arms around his neck.

“And yet you still love me.” He pulled her closer.

“Unfortunately, I do,” she sighed dramatically before pressing a kiss to his lips.

Alix dismissed the screen. She’d seen what she wanted, and it seemed like a good place to stop; a happy, sappy ending. Also, she’d finished all of her popcorn.

Everything was on track, her friends would start their Hawkmoth hunt, and soon everybody in Paris would be able to live without fear of their own negative emotions.

(Of course, that was the theory; she’d soon find out that she’d underestimated Adrien’s will to organise the perfect wedding for Marinette, and that, my friends, was no small oversight.)

#miraculous ladybug #the miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #ml #mlb #miraculous fanfiction #miraculous fanfic #miraculous fanart #alix kubdel #bunnyx #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #half-reveal #one-sided reveal #aged-up characters #elle writes #elle sketches #yccom

[shirtlesssammy]

6x06: You Can't Handle the Truth

Then:

Soulless Sam was a psychotic work of art

Now:

Calumet City, Illinois

Jane, a cute waitress at Biggerson’s, talks on the phone with a friend about whether a boy likes her (Bechdel who?). “I just need the truth,” she implores, as the camera zooms in on her mouth. 

She gets the truth. After ending the call, her coworkers start telling her VERY mean things, and a customer admits to running over a homeless man once. People just poor their worst thoughts out at her. Feeling like she’s going crazy, she calls someone to pick her up. Her friend just throws out more mean things at Jane. It’s then that Jane pulls out a gun and kills herself. DARK. 

Meanwhile Dean’s on the phone with Bobby about Sam. Bobby says he’ll look into it more and tells Dean, “Don’t shoot him yet.” Once off the phone, Sam brings food and a case. 

They head to interview Jane’s sister. She tells Sam that Jane was having a bad day, and she tried cheering her up. Sam --ruthless and blunt-- calls her out on her lie and asks what she did. Dean watches, perplexed. The sister starts crying, and admits that she wanted to console her sister, but it’s not what came out when she talked to her. They leave wondering what could have caused the fatal exchange. 

At a dentist’s office, a man sits in the dreaded chair, chit chatting with the dentist. He suddenly admits to not liking his wife anymore, and he’s actually a raging pedophile. 

Dean’s back on the phone with Bobby, hoping for answers on whether it’s Sam or Satan that’s Dean’s copilot. Dean’s struggling with the idea that this could just be Sam. 

Sam comes back to the motel to report another death --this time a guy got drilled to death. (But by the “non-sexy kind of drilling”, as Dean points out. DUDE.) Dean tells Sam to go interview the dentist alone. He’ll stay behind and do research. Uh, not suspicious at ALL , Dean. 

Turns out, the dentist hung himself before Sam could talk with him. They’re thinking that all the truth telling around the deaths point to a curse. While Sam heads to the morgue to check out the body, Dean heads to the dentist’s office. Once there, he finds a receipt for “Harry’s House of Horns” and remembers that Jane also had frequented the store. 

He goes to interview the store owner.

The owner asks about progress on his stolen horn. It was a museum piece, a thousand years old, one in a million. It was stolen the same day Jane died. 

Later, at the motel, he looks up Gabriel’s Horn, and sarcastically prays to Cas to check out the “loose nuke”, not really expecting the angel to show. 

GUYS. I haven’t rewatched this episode in --forever!--and didn’t think Cas was in it. But HE IS. AND we get a “Hello, Dean.” 

Dean’s a little (!) pissed that Cas will come for this stupid horn, but not otherwise. Cas reassures Dean that Sam is not Lucifer while pouring him a consolation drink.

Dean asks Cas what’s wrong with Sam, but Cas doesn’t know (Like, doesn’t Cas honestly not know he forgot Sam’s soul or is he lying on purpose?). Dean then stares (and stares) at Cas. He wants to know what Cas’s deal is --when did he stop being human (*whimpering noises*). “I’m at war.” 

For Science:

Dean mentions Gabriel’s Horn of Truth and says they think it’s in town. Before he can continue, Cas is gone. (*whimpering noises*)

Dean takes a drink, and Cas is back before he can finish swallowing. He searched the town and didn’t find Gabriel’s horn. Dean turns his back and tells Cas, “Nice seeing you anyway.” Cas tries mending fences a bit by telling Dean that he does want to help with Sam. He tells Dean that he’ll “make inquiries”, and is gone. Dean looks around the room forlornly, and takes another drink. 

Sam takes a look at the dead dentist and asks to see the rest of the bodies. The coroner says, “They’re gone.” Gone gone. They’re gone. 

Dean sits at a bar, nursing his Cas wounds, and watches the news on the television. Sam calls with the news. He’s at a missing person’s apartment now --and since she died a whole week before the others, he’s thinking the curse started with her. 

Dean orders another drink for the road, and utters the words, “I’d just like the freaking truth.” The bartender unloads some serious truths on Dean --and he realizes that he’s cursed. 

He calls Bobby to test out his new cursed skills, and learns that Bobby’s drinking milk in the middle of the day and watching Tori and Dean. Lol, nothing to confess at all, Bobby! “I guess it does work over the phone,” Dean laments. Bobby also confesses to pedicures and that Dean’s his favorite (but Sam’s the better hunter). OOF. Said flippantly, but this is one truth siblings never want confirmation on. Dean tells Bobby that he’s cursed --and then he gets an idea.

Dean calls Sam strategically now that he’s carrying the truth curse, and asks him to call him when he has a chance SO HE CAN SPILL. Sam can’t come to the phone right now because he’s going over the case with Corey’s sister. She confesses that her sister was obsessed with finding out the truth about her potentially-cheating boyfriend.

Back with Dean, Lisa calls at the WORST TIME. She confronts him about his behavior - storming in and shoving Ben. “You've got so much buried in there, and you push it down, and you push it down. Do you honestly think that you can go through life like that and not freak out? Just, what, drink half a fifth a night and you're good?”

Lisa then tears into the reappearance of Sam, tagging the Winchesters’ relationship as unhealthy. As soon as Sam reappeared, she knew their relationship was over. Once everything’s laid out, Lisa pauses. “That came out so much harsher than I meant,” she says, softer this time. Dean absorbs her criticism like a towel specially designed for soaking up loathing. She tells him they’re done.

Sam tears through the bedroom looking for evidence. He finds a cat skull under the bed. “Yahtzee,” as they say. Dean storms in and demands the truth about the vampire hunt. Sam goes dewy eyed. He froze when Dean was attacked! And he feels super duper extra duper bad about it! For REALS. 

Later, they uncover the truth - quite literally - while doing research back at the motel. The cat skull was part of a ritual to invoke Veritas. Now everybody in town calls on Veritas whenever they demand the truth. Bombarded with the truth, victims kill themselves and become tributes. 

Cut to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it montage of stealing a hard drive from the TV studio of Ashley Frank, local TV anchor. They (mostly Sam) watch cut footage until dawn.

For Pretty Motel Science:

Nothing suspicious appears until a barking dog makes an appearance on film. While the dog barks uncontrollably at the news anchor, they FINALLY notice an eye flash. Monster target LOCKED.

At Ashley Frank’s palatial home, they ready their weapons: blades coated with dog blood. (Sam does NOT want you to ask where he got it from.) The Winchester’s creep through her house, and finally locate an altar-like setup. There are candles, a sculpture of Veritas, and many cute widdle kitties. Veritas arrives and immediately knocks out the Winchesters.

Later, they wake to find themselves tied to posts. Veritas strolls in wearing a fabulous gold gown and gets right in Dean’s face so she can absorb some delicious emotions. 

Dean confesses that he feels better about Sam now, but before he thought he was a monster and wanted to kill him. Dean explains that the hunting gig is that you’re either covered in blood, or dying in it. He tells her that he’s good at slicing throats - he isn’t a father. He’s a killer. I SCREAM BECAUSE 15X18 AND 15X19 LEFT US A GIFT (and then 15x20, well……..doesn’t exist).

Sam tells Veritas that their lives are hard, but he and Dean watch out for each other. He’s EXTREMELY chill about the situation. Veritas listens to this calm analysis and then freaks out and accuses him of lying. She demands to know “what” he is, which is SO RUDE. 

They could stick around and talk some more, but Sam’s finally done sawing through the ropes holding him down. He escapes, then Dean frees himself as well. Veritas gets stabbed first by Dean, then Sam. She perishes dramatically, but after that foe is defeated, Dean raises a knife to Sam. Dean demands the truth.

Sam reveals that he knows he is “Sam,” but he understands that there’s something wrong with him. He lied, and he let Dean get turned into a vampire because he knew there was a cure, and that Dean could fight it. He admits that old Sam wouldn’t take the risk of Dean turning forever, or killing an innocent person. Sam tells Dean he doesn’t feel anything - and this is what makes him a better hunter. Sam concludes that he needs help. 

Dean knocks Sam to the ground and starts throwing several punches at him until he passes out.

The Quotes Hurt:

Dentist drilled a guy to death

I'm here hittin' the books while drinking a nice glass of milk, while watching Tori & Dean

I'm not saying don't be close to Sam. I'm close to my sister. But if she got killed, I wouldn't bring her back from the dead!

It’s the gig. You're covered in blood until you're covered in your own blood

 Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #cas #spn 6x06 #you can't handle the truth #bobby singer #supernatural season 6

[kae-karo]

Hi Katie! I just want you to know that I want your analysis of this new sims video more than anything and I'll just patiently wait for it... Have a nice day!

hi dear!! new sims vid, did u mean dnp simulator?

dorks spending the first ten seconds dancing in fake snow 

why virtual friends???? ??

my daddies gave to me y’all,,,,,,there’s knowing your branding and then there’s acting on that knowledge and i think this may have been one time where acting on your knowledge maybe was not a good call like ily and u do u and all but

i love phil loving his branding it’s cute also shoutout to @dnpscloset​ thanks for finding it (x) bc i want one now if anyone needs a last minute xmas idea i’m lookin at u mom u always wait til the last minute

same dan, same

‘we all have new faces and new lives and everything’s changed, this is gonna be hella dramatic’ *inhale* *exhale*

‘when u imagine the howlter family’ god they’re such adorable n sentimental nerds i love them

phil’s actual default is bein a leany boye

dnp arguing about what ‘desperate’ actually is as if the entirety of their first year after meeting they weren’t talking as often as they could five hour skype calls amirite

get away from me stalker lmao bold of u to say that danny

phil sweetie i love you with my entire heart he’s so so excited abt the virtual snow i love him

tiny zoom in jumpcut at 2:08 overlapping audio interesting

a mood and a half

phil immediately going ‘yeahhhhh thin walls family hearing things they gotta get out’ abt dab and evan like m8 we get it all u think abt is sex we get it god u and ur husband really are made for each other aren’t u (dnp = devan reference #1)

‘i presume evan is also jobless’ ‘i hope so!’ phil is it really,,,,,,smth to be excited about,,,,,,,

dan’s doin a lot of the hand phone lately u cute boy

we should have a redbull what is wrong with them phil can barely handle having too much sugar y’all thought it was a good idea to have a redbull also we should have a redbull they share literally everything which tbh is probs for the best lbr phil on a whole can of redbull hmmmmm yes ik it’s v possible and in fact probable that phil had his own can let me live

‘it’s a sensible lightweight jacket’ in the fucking snow wow dan u really did just set urself up for phil to drag u about not dressing for the weather

dan’s fucking laugh at 4:39 gives me life literally there is no purer and more adorable sound like that’s up there with kittens purring

‘i think he’s gonna be a bit of a diva in this relationship’ did you mean: dan howell (dnp = devan reference #2)

[slight bit of ankle is showing] dan: ‘and now you’re wearing shorts’

where’s the lie tho honestly that lil pause before he said mate

this clip will live in infamy bc i want this in every fucking phan edit for the rest of time like i can’t even think of the right out-of-context clip right now but anything that can be answered with phil saying ‘it’s dan’ i need it

mandatory phil covering his mouth and bein a cutie

yes destroy gender roles in the snow universe (although seriously dan’s ‘life is just about uncon-doing the horrible conditioning of all these gender stereotypes, phil’ is so important also i stan phil recognizing that before dan i think it’s really easy to forget that just bc up til recently he’s not been as expressive as dan of his opinions on how stupid gender roles are doesn’t mean he doesn’t have just as if not more progressive a mindset than dan)

‘it’s like a dan vs phil’ dnp = devan #3

dan has such a lovely singing voice i miss him singing

dude phil’s eyebrows are making a Solid appearance v expressive

i s2g this is a different moment from the one above he’s just so fricken cute???

‘but they’ve got each other’s backs, phil, just like dab and evan’ yeeeeaaaa i’m gonna go ahead and go with dnp = devan reference #4 here i think that’s fair

snow angels are the least fun thing to do and yet (x - it literally won’t let me put it in bc it’s a privated vid rip)

amazing they just started having a snowball fight how cute n domestic am i talking abt dnp or dab and evan hmmmm - dnp = devan #5

i get that infinity war was a meme but lads it’s time to let it go

‘and they’re called the howlters’ lmao as if u ain’t an honorary lester daniel (dnp = devan #6)

i’m living for phil’s excitement i mean if that’s what redbull does to him i’m here for it i guess?

hi they’re dumb this was cute

‘we don’t want to be those people, but for us personally, we very much found that you just need to just move into a big city of some kind and just jump into life with both feet’ this is not only adorable advice but also where dnp simulator comes into play aka we did this so uhh dab n evan should do it (dnp = devan #7) also dan speaking for them both singular pronouns are quaking

‘don’t trust that’ what on earth are u on abt phil what don’t u trust the fuckin desert or?????

scalyburg phil stop pls we know we get it dan’s a furry ur a scaly we got it

why does dan spend an entire 7 seconds (8:40) adjusting is he moving closer to phil? switching which leg he’s sat on? idk but it lead to me pausing at this moment which was a gift in and of itself

‘the deposit on that one, plus the weekly went would make us instantly broke, so that’s fun, us when we moved to london’ bih do u hear me crying

does dan remember phil’s first manchester apartment what kind of question is that phil have u met dan he probably remembers every bloody inch of that place i mean he did remember that there wasn’t a bedside table so

stop that

middle of the city, romance festival, geekcon, pretty views and cherry blossom trees sounds like dnp’s ideal location do u get why i’m calling it dnp simulator yet also dnp = devan #8

we don’t want to move next to the karaoke legends wow dan bold of u to say after belting helena at 2am real bold

phil having flashbacks to the apt they toured where they found out people died there

hi phil just looks so excited by everything

look i’m not saying anything except they’re managing to find a lot of similarities b.w their lives and what they’re doing for dab and evan okay like this apartment is great for people-watching? which is what phil did in his manchester apt?

context whomst? idk her

shoutout to the wardrobe

big bold life-changing steps

anon spitting truth up in this house (but like,,,,,my thoughts exactly lmao i was like they’re such introverts they would’ve avoided meeting their neighbors at any cost including apparently smacking into a locked door trying to avoid small talk phil we love u bab)

casually mentioning dan saying ‘we are dil-’ was he gonna say dil’s son, maybe but i like to remember the bloops of dan repeatedly calling dab dil so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

omg okay so from like. this point on, when dan’s like ‘here is my vision’, i’m absolutely getting queer eye vibes like amateur queer eye tho like two gay nerds trying to embody queer eye in their lives a bit oh wait

okay okay okay dan u said an ensuite bathroom and then failed to add a door to the bedroom do u understand how frustrating that is???????? do u understand how stressful it was for me to watch that whole damn vid and know that u forgot the door????

a space for hobbies what hobbies who has hobbies

they learned nothing from building their house before: phil should take the mouse away from dan immediately look at him he is such a sugar baby in this jfc

god dan is so cute get these idiots a penthouse apartment super high up so he can have his bath next to a window okay he deserves that in life

stop it they’re literally agreeing on almost every single thing god they literally share a single brain

amazing

leany boye

‘they are young adults moving into their first apartment, you don’t have art!’ okay first of all don’t even go there daniel second of all i’m sorry you’re the one arguing for spending literally all their money but u don’t want to get some art bc it’s unrealistic????

dan saying lovely

phil’s mr carpet

navy??? navy? when did they? why? 

i would get involved in a criminal plot to have that / i’m gonna throw you out of one

wow pro tips makin a comeback

phil is Losing Steam

oh my god okay so i was joking but literally phil is losing steam lmao 18:35 he says ‘ayy’ and it’s so tired-sounding

leany leany boyes

okay look ik dan’s going into ‘aww poor philly’ mode but also he knew that very quickly like honestly that’s not a Thing i would ever notice about someone tbh i’m not saying it’s like Significant but damn danny was really into phil to know that shiz man

the high-fashion gigantic rug of our dreams

okay look i can’t make this up phil literally leans away for a bit and then

hello daniel’s Curl

i stan phil getting excited over plants

dab and evan will be having a mario kart fest will they (dnp = devan #9)

mirroringggggggg

dude big mood god they’re so fond and full of memories 

honestly dnp made it that way like u cannot convince me they didn’t purposely decide to do that mmkay

‘see they are ready to have their romantic dinners. and then they can pretend they have another friend and it’s fine!’ am i talking abt dnp or dab and evan who knows :) (dnp = devan #10) 

cold in the middle what on earth i literally have no memory of that i mean it could just be my shit memory but jfc they just remember that stuff goddamn

scrunchy boyes also phil where’s ur arm at hm

like i’m not fuckin joking where is it

you can’t exist without a computer i mean

what is important in life / the internet

they don’t even have fucking doors and dan’s like ‘uhm they need a terrarium’ dan i’m stressed

oh my god i’m sorry phil is so done with this now it’s actually comical

hi they didn’t add a door for the ensuite

give dnp an interior design series honestly give them any series

phil reached for dan’s hand u cannot convince me otherwise

‘not my personal taste’ really,,,,,really

when dab n evan hug dan looks at the screen n phil looks at the camera things u didn’t need to know but now u do

lmao jumpscared by the kiss

‘i feel like i’ve never nailed anything more in my entire life’ hmmmm hmmmmmmmmmm hm

the fuck was dan’s ‘getting a job’ that’s his fnaf voice u stop that

doon doon doon doon

tongue

hi uhm what the Fuck was that jumpcut at 28:30 i hate Obvious Jumpcuts with a burning passion specifically bc of dnp

#dnp #dan and phil #dapg #phan #danandphilgames #sims #devan #vid analysis #anon #ask #kt

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

They Shall Not Grow Old

All throughout the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, everyone claimed that Peter Jackson was a real-life hobbit. Turns out, he’s a wizard. Jackson, commissioned by the Imperial War Museum and the BBC, has combed through over 100 hours of footage and 600 hours of audio interviews with surviving World War I soldiers to create this remarkable documentary. His goal was to cobble together a story of the standard trajectory for an average British soldier from enlistment to armistice during the conflict that changed the world’s perception of the word “war” and to, at the request of the IWM, show this footage in a new and unique way. Did he succeed? Well...

I can think of few history lessons that have ever felt this vital or this visceral. Jackson creates a larger-than-life spectacle that comes alive before your eyes and reaches down into your guts in a way no epic fantasy battle ever could. They Shall Not Grow Old relies ONLY on archival footage and the voices of real WWI veterans who served on the Western Front to tell his story. There are no historians here, no political analysis or wartime strategy deconstructions - there are only the voices of them who served their country and watched their friends and brothers die for it, many of them without knowing why.

Some thoughts:

It was just a job. That’s what I can’t get over. They say, “This was during a time when a man didn’t question it, he just did what he was told.” I can’t help but think this was partially because they imagined it would be a gentlemanly war like previous conflicts, when instead it unleashed horrors that these men could never have dreamed of in their wildest nightmares.

Some other fun bits of history include all the propaganda posters encouraging men to enlist (conscription didn’t begin until 1916, and before that the enlistment age was 19). And enlist they did - there’s an extended section of soldiers describing how they attempted to enlist at age 15, 16, 17 and the recruiters would lie about the age on their forms; or they’d be told “you better go outside and have another birthday, then come back.” They were just so YOUNG, so many of them, and war seemed like a game to them. The idea of it makes me sick to my stomach.

Also remarkable - how many men had no idea what they were fighting for. And when they came back, how many of them couldn’t find jobs. There were shops that would post signs: no veterans need apply. It’s a shameful and disgusting reminder that in almost 100 years we still haven’t come up with a better system to take care of our veterans. 

The shift from black and white to color is not so vivid, but just as breathtaking, as Dorothy’s landing in Oz. It brings the Western Front to rich, teeming life in a way that feels like magic. 

It’s not only the images that are mind-boggling in the way they spring to life. Jackson worked with a team of professional lip readers to determine what the men were saying in these silent films and dub the voices in. He went so far as to determine which unit the footage depicted and where it was from, like Manchester, Gloucester, Liverpool, Newcastle, etc, then chose voice actors from those specific regions to read the lines. The attention to detail creates such a vivid and moving portrait of these men’s faces, no longer relegated to fuzzy black and white smears, but startlingly alive and present for the first time in recorded history.

Another tactic that feels like witchcraft is that, with the wide shots now in much sharper focus, the camera is able to zoom in and use pans to make these static frames feel so much more alive and modern. It’s the kind of re-imagining of what you thought an art form could be that makes you just shake your head with wonder. It’s akin to seeing a still image come to life as a moving picture for the first time.

You know what I never ever want to see again? GANGRENE. Also like, so many dental issues, but I’ll take some of those teeth over long, lingering shots of trenchfoot any day.

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I sure wish there had been subtitles. I’m an Anglophile to an intense degree, but I was having a h a r d t i m e understanding a lot of what the veterans were saying over the soundtrack of shells falling and men digging trenches and just general war mayhem. 

Very Important: there are not one but TWO dogs in the movie. Both of them are Very Good and are not harmed in any way.

My two favorite Peter Jackson quotes: “Well, that was the movie.” and “I’ve got a few bits of World War I artillery...as you do.”

This is a documentary that must be seen to be believed. If you can go see it in theaters, make it a priority. It’s an incredible piece of history that has been archived in such a way as to become completely new, and I’m so grateful to Peter Jackson for allowing these men to have their stories told in a way that highlights, more than ever, the cost and senselessness of war.

#119in2019 #they shall not grow old #they shall not grow old review #documentaries #peter jackson #wwi #the great war #movie reviews #film reviews

[withastolenlantern]

When Yokota arrived back to the laboratory, Midori was again occupied by the object of his affection, bent at the waist as he loomed over the short wall of the nurse station. A video, no doubt the latest net sensation, played on Eiko-kun’s holo as they both giggled quietly. Yokota smiled, as fifty years ago one might have found him in the same position, laughing and flirting in the student union with the art student who would become his wife. Yokota had many apprentices throughout the years, and all of them were talented in different ways. Some were destined for greatness as epidemiologists, or primary care, or even, as with Takahashi-san, hospital administration. In Midori he had found something else. The young man’s energy and impertinence were emblematic of his age, and he still needed work on his bedside manner. An earlier patient nearly died of shock when the young physician callously described test results confirming a rare form of cancer, more taken with his prognostic prowess than considering its effects on the afflicted.

But whatever his latest protege might have lacked in self-control or compassion, he made up for with his brilliance in diagnostics. The doctor was a tireless researcher, willing to chase every and any strange symptom or bizarre condition, and an expert at multiple cutting-edge metrology and analysis techniques. Yokota was increasingly convinced that this was his last kohai, and Midori would make for a more than capable replacement managing the research laboratory.

The elder man’s hands were becoming arthritic with age, and his knees creaked loudly in the mornings, a testament to one too many years of kendo practice. He’d squirreled away enough savings to last a few years, and while he would never accept it, his daughter would no doubt offer him a place with her family. But he would never allow himself to become a burden like that. The Japanese government, much like it's global counterparts, had largely exhausted its ability to support its elderly population through any type of entitlement programs. Both domestic and UN politicians continued to pay lip service to the important role the aged played in modern society; here in Japan there was even a federal holiday for it. But that was not the first opioid-addict oba-chan he'd laid to rest, and likely would not be the last. Shinto was arranged around the worship of the already deceased, not those dying in a piss-alley gutter. No, Yokota-san would take a long walk into Tokyo Bay before he let himself become a burden. He would fade away from the changing world, leaving only his daughter and his work to succeed him. Just like Tomoko.

He approached the nurse station slowly and quietly, allowing the young professionals one small fleeting moment of distraction before they returned to their responsibilities. Eiko-kun gasped in surprise at the holo, lifting a hand to her mouth as a distraught cat scurried under the a table, fleeing the buzz of a drone bird flitting around an apartment. Her other hand, Yokota noticed, was resting quietly atop Midori’s. He stopped behind his assistant and cleared his throat loudly to announce his presence.

“Doctor Yokota,” Midori said, turning quickly and becoming ramrod straight. Eiko-kun blushed a bright crimson in embarrassment and killed the feed to her holo. “We, uh…”

“Am I interrupting?” the older doctor asked with mock severity.

“No, no. Eiku-kun and I were just discussing…” Midori stammered.

“It’s fine, Midori-san. Relax,” Yokota said reassuringly. “We all need a break sometimes."

The younger man sighed, his shoulders visibly releasing tension. He turned to Yokota, bowing his head low and away from the nurse. “Did you bring the sample?” he whispered, his tone conspiratorial.

“Of course,” Yokota replied, opening his bag to display the vial.

They hurried into the lab, where Midori had already been preparing. “I ran additional tests against the patient’s blood samples,” he explained. “ELISA measurements did not yield any results for hemorrhagic proteins, and visual scan results returned no signs of unusual viral strains.”

Yokota opened the vial and withdrew a small amount of the viscous fluid into a syringe before injecting some into a spectrum analyzer. The machine whirred and hummed to life as it processed the sample. Midori busied himself depositing an additional specimen between two glass plates and sliding them under a high-powered optical profilometer. The viewscreen kicked on and the younger doctor began scanning across the surface of the fluid, looking for any anomalous variations in uniformity that may indicate any particulates suspended in the emulsion. Yokota stepped behind his protege and watched idly as the constant surface aspect flowed by on the screen.

A small colored blip flew by the edge of the monitor, almost imperceptible. Yokota blinked, not sure if what he’d seen was real, or simply an illusion of his aging eyes. Perturbed, he wiped his glasses with his akita kerchief. Then it happened again. “Wait, what was that?” he asked. “Go back.”

“I didn’t see anything,” Midori said, confused.

“No, there it is again,” Yokota pointed as another colored blotch, larger this time, quickly came in and out of frame. “What magnification are you at?”

“Uh… ten nanometers,” the younger man said.

“Back out. Five-hundred nanometers,” Yokota instructed.

“That’s awful big for a viral infection, don’t you think?” Midori cautioned.

“Humor me.”

“You’re the boss, Midori said with a shrug, resizing the scan envelope to a larger sweep size. The servo-controller squealed as it lifted the interface head further away from the sample, then whined as it auto-adjusted its position for optimal clarity. Taking up the small joystick, Midori again panned slowly across the surface, now less uniform in coloration with several distinct rectangular structures dotted across the landscape. “What the hell?”

Yokota leaned in closer, his nose near to the screen. He reached over gently and took the joystick from Midori’s hand, centering the view on one of the structures and zooming in slightly. It was several hundred nanometers in length, with a pointed structure on one end of a tubular structure, and a flattened wider section at the other. “That… doesn’t look like any virus I’ve ever seen,” the older man commented.

“Is it some kind of bacteriophage? The overall structure looks vaguely like that, but I don’t see any of the landing fibers, and I have no idea what this... is,” Midori said, gesturing toward the non-pointed end. “That’s typically where the attachment fibers would go.”

“Agreed,” Yokota said, equally perplexed. “There’s a bunch of these, whatever they are, scattered about the suspension. Look, there’s more,” he commented, steering the profilometer across the surface as several more of the structures came into view.

Behind them, the spectrum analyzer blurted that it had finished its assessment, and the readout came to life displaying several chemical formulas. Yokota walked over to the instrument and hit the button to generate a print-out. A sheet of paper listing the chemical contents slid out from a slot in the front, and he laid it down on the bench to review, Midori behind and peering over his shoulder. “Well, we’ve got sufentanil in a sucralose suspension, just as we suspected. Explains the color and viscosity.” He read on: “caffeine, corn starch, trace organics…”

“Does that say tungsten?” Midori interrupted, pointing to the bottom of the chart.

“That doesn’t make any sense. And I don’t recognize this here below it either,” Yokota said, indicating a complex chemical formula.  

“I do,” Midori said, a quizzical expression on his face. “It’s an esterase.”

“Not one of the pancreatic ones,” the older doctor countered.

“No. It breaks down certain types of plastics and polymers. Polyimide, in particular, if I remember correctly from my Biomechanics classes.”

“Why would anyone cut that into a street drug?” Yokota wondered.

#this is super-fillery #we'll return to the quote-unquote good parts later I promise #(if there are any in this monstrosity) #The World Ocean

[douchebagbrainwaves]

EVERY FOUNDER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THINGS

If you're going to have to trick yourself into doing it. If we ever got to the point that their culture prizes design and craftsmanship.1 It would take a book to answer that. If you see pictures with man-made things in them, it will automatically push you away from things you think you're supposed to. A recession will if anything make it cheaper still. And being a boss is also horribly frustrating; half the time talking to executives at cell phone companies, trying to arrange deals. It's a lot harder on stuff they like, 2 that the standard office environment is very unproductive, and 3 that bottom-up.2 And if, like most people, who are still in denial. Better how?

Blub programmer is looking down the power continuum, however, and I wrote a signup program that ensures all the appointments within a given set of office hours are clustered at the end of 1997 we had 500. That is one of the reasons I disliked the term Web 2. Within the office you now have to convince instead of commanding. I should be working. They notice that people who write them win Nobel prizes. But the first time, is that they don't try hard enough.3 There was that same odd atmosphere created by a large number of people have rejected the idea that succinctness power.4 One drawback of this approach is that it won't produce the sort of distribution you'd expect, the number of startups per capita in each. Our case is an unusual one.5 People who like New York, where people walk, but not, probably, than the offices of their investors.

The atmosphere of the average site in the late nineties. They're too busy trying to spend all that money to get software written faster was to use a more succinct language, and have a compiler translate it into machine language for you.6 In any purely economic relationship you're free to do what you want to slow down, your instinct is to lean back.7 Such centralizing forces make it harder for new silicon valleys are Boulder and Portland. When designing for other people you have to remember to do something in an ugly way to get the scale he needed. So some founders impose it on themselves when they start the company.8 That about sums up my experience of graduate school. Every programmer must have seen code that some clever person has made marginally shorter by using dubious programming tricks. The SEC defines an accredited investor as someone with over a million dollars worth of stock will not, as VCs fear, cause most founders to be any less committed to the business. In most American cities the center has been abandoned, and the answer is: not much. But this was less costly than giving in, which would probably have destroyed the company. Startups are very counterintuitive.

There's more to it than that. At best you may have a couple internships, but not as misleading as it might seem. Why did no one propose a new scheme for micropayments?9 So they never realized they were zooming confidently down a blind alley. If it didn't suck, they wouldn't be any easier to read, because the board of directors might be composed of two VCs, two founders, and one that it would be misleading even to call them centers. What we know of their predecessors comes from fragments and references in later works; their doctrines could be described as speculative cosmology that occasionally strays into analysis. He did the research that won him the Nobel Prize at Bell Labs when he started asking such questions. That's what compilers are for. And newspapers and magazines. Among other languages, those with a reputation for succinctness would be the ones to look to for new ideas: Forth, Joy, Icon. 0 conference turned out to be more specific than they suck or we'll work really hard.10

We did the first thing we thought of. But if we make kids work on dull stuff now is so they can, for example, if you want to do on the maker's schedule?11 And a startup is to get bought, and acquirers are less prone to irrational exuberance than IPO investors. Anyone can do this or not, that you were rejected by another several months ago, while visiting Yahoo, I happened to get hold of a copy of The Atlantic. I still have it somewhere. That is a fundamental change.12 And when they did, the founders could get nothing.

It doesn't even have x Blub feature of your choice. That last has to be more specific than they suck or we'll work really hard.13 Lisp our development cycle was so fast that we could hold our own in the slightly less competitive business of generating Web sites for art galleries. Answer: immediately.14 In principle anyone there ought to have been able to work on what you do enough that the concept of spare time seems mistaken. The other reason you need to launch is that it's such a risky environment. The best way to prepare yourself to start a startup and tell everyone that's what you're doing; even if you're never called on to solve advanced problems, you can expect to have a nice feeling of accomplishment fairly soon.15 And it's not just that the risk is decreased.16 At the time that this was the final state of things, began to realize it wasn't the last word I'd use to describe the way good programmers write software.17

Notes

He devoted much of it.

A professor at a friend's house for the future as barbaric, but corrupt practices in finance, healthcare, and then being unable to raise the next round. So starting as a type of proficiency test any apprentice might have done all they could just use that instead of using special euphemisms for lies that seem promising can usually get enough money from the rest of the economy, you can't mess with the buyer's picture on the side of making a good plan for life. While environmental costs should be.

That's a valid point. These two regions were the people who currently make that leap.

That is where all the free OSes first—A Spam Classification Organization Program. That wouldn't work for startups is that you're paying yourselves high salaries. I think the usual way will prove to us that the middle class values; it has to grind. They did better than their lifetime value, don't worry about the paperwork there, and partly simple ignorance.

But while this is not just that if you know about this trick merely forces you to test a new search engine, the second clause could include any possible startup, both of which he can be times when what you're doing.

Historically, scarce-resource arguments have been peculiarly vulnerable—perhaps partly because it doesn't commit you to agree. It's interesting to consider how low this number is a self fulfilling prophecy. It's to make it harder for Darwin's contemporaries to grasp this than we realize, because what they're going to get only in startups tend to be obscure; they may try allowing up to two of each type of x.

Mueller, Friedrich M.

If you wanted to have a competent startup lawyer handle the deal for the difference between surgeons and internists fleas: I should degenerate from uppercase to any-case, companies' market caps do eventually become a function of the causes of the most successful startups looked when they decide on the young side. But there is some kind of secret about the right thing to do good work and thereby subconsciously seeing wealth as something you can hire unskilled people to claim retroactively I said that a their applicants come from going to use some bad word multiple times. And they are so different from money raised in an era of such high taxes? Since I now believe that was a false positive if the public conversation about women consists of fighting, their voices will be inversely proportional to the yogurt place, we used to say exactly what they're doing.

In practice you can ignore. An influx of inexpensive but mediocre programmers is the case of the anti-dilution protections.

Even Samuel Johnson seems to be combined that never should have become good friends. Its retail price is about 220,000. Till then they had in school math textbooks are similarly misleading.

Since people sometimes call us VCs, I had zero false positives reflecting the remaining 13%, 11 didn't have TV because they are so much a great programmer is infinitely more valuable, and this tends to happen fast, like arithmetic drills, instead of uebfgbsb.

It's worth taking extreme measures to avoid faces, precisely because they had to both. Instead of making a good grade you had to pay dividends. And maybe we should at least a partial order.

The word boss is derived from the moment the time I did when I was writing this. For most of the mail on LL1 led me to do this all the combinations of Web plus a three letter word. In this essay.

This is not a remark about the smaller investments you raise them. There is no grand tradition of city planning like the stuff they're showing him is something inexperienced founders. There's no reason to believe is that you'll have to factor out some knowledge. When we work with me there.

Startups Condense in America. I'm thinking of Oresme c.

And the expertise and connections the founders realized. This is why search engines. I think lack of movement between companies combined with self-interest explains much of the canonical could you build this? Incidentally, the closest most people haven't noticed yet.

On their job listing page, they will come at an academic talk might appreciate a joke, they sometimes describe it as a kid.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #deals #people #Nobel #LL1 #founders #internists #reason #problems #internships #tricks #languages #taxes #value #protections #test

[theseadagiodays]

May 25, 2020

Orchestrators of Attention

Hayati Evreni’s Persistence of Covid

I typically have a very vivid dream life.  Whole evenings of movies with characters I’ve never met and settings I’ve never seen.  It’s one of the reasons I so love to sleep.  Every night, I have an imagined altered reality to look forward to.  And most mornings, to keep the stimuli of these vistiations fresh, I regale Geoff with a detailed recollection of these colorful fictions.  But last night my reverie was disturbingly similar to my waking life.  Zoom calls with real music students that I’ve been teaching.  The delivery of our commissioned fence mural, which is actually scheduled for this Wednesday.  It’s like so much else during this period, where everything seems to be bleeding into each other.  Days to Weeks.  Work to Home.  And now, even the treasured boundary between my subconscious and conscious life has been compromised.

The fluid nature of perceived time in our current reality is problematic in so many ways.  We are animals who’ve found real comfort from the compartmentilization of our lives.  Separate spaces for every endeavor, from offices to gyms to libraries.  We mark time in dozens of essential ways, with calendars, outfit changes, meal routines, holiday celebrations, happy hours - most all of which have dramatically changed during Covid.  This weekend, I read the best explanation for why we find the circular time that has been foisted on us so difficult.  Man Booker International Winner, Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights is part travel-fiction, part-memoir.  Each vignette is a musing about the human propensity to wander.   Here, she explains why perhaps only those of us truly tied to natural cycles, like growing seasons, can thrive in circumstances like we face today.

Sedentary people prefer the pleasure of circular time, in which every object and event must return to its own beginning, curl back up into an embryo and repeat the process of maturation and death.  But nomads and merchants, as they set off on journeys, had to think up a different type of time for themselves, one that would better respond to the needs of their travels.  That time is linear time, more practical because it was able to measure progress towards a goal or destination, rise in percentages.  Every moment is unique; no moment can ever be repeated.  This idea favors risk-taking, living life to the fullest, seizing the day.  And yet the innovation is a profoundly bitter one: when change over time is irreversible, loss and mourning become daily things.  

So, given that most people in modern society are far more aligned with the nomad/merchant class, it makes sense that we are sentenced to this inevitable grief once our “Just Do It”, “Follow Your Bliss” plans get derailed off-course.   This analysis does not provide any solutions. However, I do think it absolves us of a certain culpability, so that we can stop blaming ourselves for feeling bad or for not handling the new norm as well as we should.  Meanwhile, I think it can still be helpful to look for coping mechanisms, and I’ve found some from Jenny Odell, the unintended Queen of Quarantine who I crowned such after the cogent messages from her 2019 book,  How To Do Nothing, came to be the perfect precepts for our time.

An avid bird-watcher, walker and observer, Odell is a proponent of slowing down to make space to notice.  She calls her book a “field guide to doing nothing as an act of political resistance to the attention economy.”  Her suggestions serve as antidotes to the distracting and fractured nature of attention that the limitless connectivity of our plugged-in lives demands.  So, while most of us are still highly connected online, there are so many other ways in which we’ve become uplugged from life as we knew it.  And I think she is suggesting that, perhaps, instead of seeing this as disconnection, or as an untethering, we can appreciate the space that this is creating for us to develop subtler forms of attention.

Odell describes herself, and all artists, as “orchestrators of attention”.  She sees artists as curators of objects and ideas, re-imagined in ways that allow us to see things differently.  I certainly turn to artists and writers to help me do this.  And ironically, it is a circular journey of a different sort that brought me to her wisdom in the first place.  Lately, I’ve found myself in a strange intellectual fractal.  A quest for philosophical nuggets that has me spinning inside a loop of similar thinkers.

I regulary subscribe to BrainPickings, the source of many such nuggets.  And that’s where I found Victor Frankl’s Yes to Life quote (from March 28 in this blog) about “the power to choose our response”. That newsletter also quoted Rebecca Solnit (Hope in the Dark), who I checked out further on Krista Tippet’s podcast, On Being.  Looking at older episodes of this show, I found an interview with Ezra Klein (Why We’re Polarized), whose podcast just featured Jenny Odell on May 8th: On Nature, Art, and Burnout in Quarantine. https://www.vox.com/podcasts/2020/5/8/21252074/jenny-odell-the-ezra-klein-show-how-to-do-nothing-coronavirus-covid-19  This inspired me to purchase her new book, with its page 9 quote of none-other-than Solnit, again, this time from her book, Paradise Built in Hell. Back down the Solnit rabbit hole, I found another Frankl reference in this book, now from Man’s Search for Meaning.  And so, the perfect circle was complete.  

May 26, 2020

Unproductivity

Labyrinth project by Emily Carr university mentor, Kitty Bland, and student, Mary Rusk - https://www.ecuad.ca/news/2020/kitty-blandy-and-mary-rusak-find-focus-during-pandemic-with-meditation-pathway

Circular time makes me think of labyrinths.  Mandalas of pathways that lead to nowhere, whose hypnotic ellipses draw our single-pointed focus towards the simple act of walking.   I have always loved these places of reflection.  And I find it erroneous that the term labyrinthian has come to refer to complicated places where we get lost. Because I feel that I actually find myself in such places. The only thing lost is a false sense of destination as the purpose in life.  

Odell subscribes to a similar viewpoint in How to Do Nothing.  Rather than a plea to escape reality, quit our jobs, or shrug our responsibilities, her book is an invitation to question what we perceive as productive. I think our current reality has many of us doing this.  My morning walk has me literally “stopping and smelling the roses” each day, as I’ve seen so many others do during this altered time.  

So, while it has encouraged me to see normally overprogrammed-teens watching sunsets and families chilling for endless hours on front lawns, I have also observed a pattern of apology amongst my peers, when they acknowledge having been “less-productive than usual”, during this period.  So, I’ve taken to meet this only with permission.  This is something I’ve increasingly given myself ever since my excessive drive, as a flutist, left me with a chronic overuse injury that was a wake-up call I’ve only recently been able to truly appreciate.

After this major uninvited “halting” of my career, I became acutely aware of how often people answer “How are you?” with “Busy.”  Particularly artists, who have perhaps been undercompensated, underemployed and underappreciated for so long, it feels like being “busy” is a badge of honor that implies their work is in-demand.  So, I get it.  But still, I have made a point, since this realization, never to answer that question as such.  Busy is not an emotion.  The truth behind the word - feelings of anxiety, overwhelm and fear - are perhaps too telling to reveal.  Because admitting them might mean we have to shift something.  They might force us to slow down and stop busying ourselves, which is maybe the scariest thing of all.  Because then, we have to face who we truly are when we are not “doing”.

To track my own “doing” during quarantine, I’ve been particularly careful about limiting my screen time.  So, I check it weekly.  But it was only this week that I finally went to the second page of the iPhone screen time data, where I found a strange categorization of time.  It breaks it down into Productive, Creative, Social, Entertainment, Reading and Educational use.  However, what they place in each category runs quite counter to what happens to be true for me now.  Photos are listed as a Creative pursuit, however many of my hours have been frittered away deleting unnecessary shots (attempts to capture moments that might have been more mindfully spent camera-free).  So, this endeavor doesn’t feel that creative to me.  Whats App is marked as Social but, of course, it’s now become the arena for some of my most my productive work, since I’m using it as a teaching tool.  And Notes is in the Productive category, even though, as a self-admitted list-addict, my worst time-waster is making and remaking these itemized scrolls intended to render me more efficient, when I can’t even imagine how much “productive” time I must have lost just writing them.

So, we all have something to learn from this clever street artist, whose balloon art gives us an important reminder.

May 27, 2020

Covid Art Museum

So far my “efforts” to do nothing more (as ironic as that sounds) have gone swimmingly.  I deliberately cancelled one of my Zoom calls this week, two other meetings conveniently got cancelled for me, and I was left with many more hours to spend spontaneously. Some of these involved lying in the grass eating gelato.  Others watching passerbys from my front stoop.  And one I spent biking the new “slow street” circuit in Vancouver, which has been designated a car-free zone to create more safe, physically-distant space for cyclists and pedestrains to roam.   That even our roadways are now on a diet from their usual busyness, seems to me a beautiful metaphor.

Of course, some of this time also involved digital daydreaming, as I prefer to romantically call surfing the web.  But using the intentional lens of seeking artistic responses to share on this blog makes even this indulgence feel more guilt-free.  So, this week, it landed me on a very cool Instagram page, full of visual reflections about this time (digital illustrations, photographs, sketches, watercolors and more).  In fact, it’s where I stumbled upon the balloon art, above, which evolved into my entire week of blog entries.  Quite a few pieces reference circular time in some way (above).  And a remarkable number of them depict doing nothing (below).  Jenny Odell is clearly on to something...

https://www.instagram.com/covidartmuseum/?hl=en

May 28, 2020

Hidden Symphonies

Udo Noll, a Berlin-based media artist and founder of Radio Aporee, a digital global sound map, documented before and during the pandemic

The music of my environment has always captivated me. In fact, I dedicate almost an entire chapter of my novel to birdsong.  I love the voice memo feature on my phone, which I use like an auditory camera, as I travel.   I’ve learned that this is not a habit many people share.  Until recently, that is.  Because it seems that suddenly, we are all beginning to listen more.   Now, with less traffic, quieter commercial corridors, and other colluding factors, there is left an amazing amplification of the soundscapes which always existed behind the din.    

Before Covid, a long tradition of deep listening has been cultivated by various sound artists.  American composer, Pauline Oliveros founded the Deep Listening Institute in 1985 (originally called the Pauline Olveros Foundation).  Here, she invited musicians to improvise and record, in particularly resonant and reverberant spaces like caves, to inspire extra-sensitive responsiveness.  

In the 70’s, Canadian composers, Hildegard Westercamp and Murray Shafer, started the World Soundscape Project (https://www.sfu.ca/~truax/wsp.html), which recorded Vancouver’s sonic landscape to illustrate the negative effects of noise pollution, ultimately resulting in more positive guidelines for urban acoustical design.

Acoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton says that silence is not the absence of sound, but rather the presence of everything. In the short documentary, Sanctuaries of Silence, he offers tools for seeking silence amidst noisy urban life.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUxMdYhipvQ

But his suggestions probably never could have predicted Covid, which has achieved this result with alarming swiftness.   British sound artist and field recordist, Stuart Fowkes has been tracking the soundscapes of this disquieting time on his website, Cities and Memory.  https://citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds/

Here, you can click on one of 3,000+ global coordinates and listen to everything from empty flagpoles, and ticking radiators, to kites flying.  Anyone is welcome to contribute, using #stayhomesounds.  And this is my own addition to the catalogue:

Bullfrogs mating: https://youtu.be/ZoKT-RlDfs8

The New York Times, has tracked the music of the pandemic in another interesting way.  Measuring by decibels (below), they compare the soundscape of a normally busy Manhattan street, before and during quarantine. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/22/upshot/coronavirus-quiet-city-noise.html

Pre-covid nights sound more like quarantine days, averaging around 64 decibels.

Another bi-product of the pandemic is a trend towards birdwatching.  The world’s attention was brought to birding this week, due to an unfortunate racist incident that occurred in New York’s Central Park.  Christian Cooper was drawn to the park because of the orioles and yellow warblers he could find there.  While birding, he politely asked a woman if she would kindly put her dog on a leash. When she refused, he insited and she proceeded to call the cops.  Cooper was armed with little more than binoculars and a camera.  But apparently, his crime was being black.  The woman was white.  Luckily, he caught her ridiculous cry for help (“I’m being threatened by an African-American man.”) on camera.  The video immediately went viral and resulted in her being fired from her job. Graciously, he remarked today in the Times, that this punishment did not fit her crime, and while he wants to hold her to account for her racist behavior, he doesn’t believe that “her life needs to be torn apart.”

Whatever her fate, if this time inspires deeper listening for you, let’s hope your soundscape walks are far less eventful than his was.

May 29, 2020

Covid Shuffle

Brooklyn’s usually bustling Fort Greene Park, during the pandemic

From the beginning of social distancing, I have been quite fascinated by the complicated choreography we are collectively participating in.  I would give anything to be an eagle, looking down from above, just to witness the maze of interwoven patterns that our sidewalk dances create.   And I am not the only person interested in this do-si-do.  

If you search “six feet apart” on YouTube, you can’t imagine how many musicians, famous or otherwise, have composed new songs with this exact title (IE. country singer, Luke Combs, teen pop star, Alec Benjamin).  It’s just one of many things that illustrate the uncanny global resonance that is happening right now, even while there are still vast differences between the ways people experience this pandemic.

Personally, I’m partial to this rap, written as a PSA for UNC Health, by The Holderness Family, a modern-day Al Yankovich-style parody band comprised of former FOX sportscaster, Penn Holderness with his wife and kids. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XjfCeY4D2QI

Deeper into this search, I found another music video, by a different family band in LA, called Haim.  These three Grammy-nominated sisters have written the song, I Know Alone to express how quarantine living has felt for them.  Meanwhile, they appropriately dance to their lyrics six feet apart.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.vulture.com/amp/2020/04/haim-i-know-alone-video-album-release-date.html

In the dance world, old colleagues of mine, from Flagstaff, Arizona, will host a virtual Festival that starts this Friday, May 29th, featuring original socially-distant choreography from movers all over the Southwest.  Fittingly, it’s called the Six Feet Apart Dance Festival.

https://canyonmovementcompany.org/cmc/upcoming-events/

Documenting the Covid shuffle in a very different way, Toronto geographer, Daniel Rotszdain created a “social distancing machine” to demonstrate just how difficult a genuine 6-foot radius is to maintain in public space.

And finally, this hip hop dance compilation, made in 2019, could be the anthem for our times.

MC Hammer’s Can’t Touch This - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJskIJGEsd8

[polandspringz]

Predicting for Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu 2 (LONG ANALYSIS)

Alright, so I finished season one tonight and watched episode one of season 2 and the new opening theme, and after reading some other theories I think I have an idea about what is happening in the opening theme.

So, the entirety of season one was focused around the need for art to evolve to live, and in rakugo’s case, all the characters had their own opinion on how they would keep it alive, but none of them really offered how to help it evolve. Sukeroku said he would do it for the people, and although he did stress the need for the stories to change to get more people to come to theater, he never did much to change it other than how the stories were told. However, even then, rakugo was changing in that it was being broadcasted on radios and possibly on tvs at the time, so the way Sukeroku’s style changed the presentation of it was not bold enough. He was sharing it with a different tone or overall mood, but because technology was making its presentation different too, he was more adapting to rakugo being changed than changing it himself. His more bombastic dialogue worked well in the theater, but his strong voice would work for broadcasts, while Yakumo kept it true to form so it would only work best in theater, his expressions and movements being part of his style.

Thus, we move into season two! Based off the first episode, we can see that rakugo is going to be changed this season. Yotaro and the author (I didn’t catch his name) talked about writing new stories for rakugo, one’s that possibly involve more modern situations or jokes. This is revolutionary, as since all of rakugo is classic stories, bringing new texts into the art would mean even the old generation would potentially have to study these new stories. More so than the author’s tangent about the life or death of art forms, which really existed to hammer in the themes of this season, I was caught more on Yakumo’s reaction to Yotaru’s proposal. He called it “heresy”, which is understandable, but he then told Yotaro that he wants rakugo to die with him. When I saw this, I immediately thought, “Well, that’s a selfish thing to say,” but I wasn’t thinking this because I thought he was being inherently rude or unnecessarily depressing. Yakumo in the last season was always talking about being abandoned, feeling like he had to work twice as hard, believing that even then he didn’t deserve anything. As a character, the way this is only worsened by how he acts with Miyokichi (talking about how he let his love build up inside always) and the death of a man who was his brother, makes for extremely strong development. We can see in the new opening theme countless references to the Shinigami story, however, I don’t think Yakumo is going to die this season. He might come close to it, and the eerie sound the music gives off would certainly warrant it, but I believe that as Yotaru works to actually change rakugo and add to it to bring it to life again, we will see Yakumo become more and more “dead” to the world. 

In the first frames of the opening, all of the characters glance at Yakumo with expressions laced with confusion and a mix of anticipation and displeasure. It looks as if they are bracing themselves for Yakumo to respond to a question they feel he will give the same response to. The only two people with different expressions in the beginning are the child of Konatsu and herself, with the child having a smug grin and Konatsu looking scared but biting her tongue. The child seems to know something, perhaps he represents the new generation’s inability to understand the old’s inability to adapt, and that he is excited to see how this “old man” reacts to such an outrageous change. His expression just says that he is waiting for something, and that he knows something, but it reads with a very smug attitude. Konatsu’s expression ties in more so with the others bracing themselves, but she looks more anxious than the rest of them for some reason. We see Yakumo then shut his eyes and turn away, possibly representing the way he feigns indifference towards the changing world, as he has become a mere tired, depressed old man (His statements in the past season about hanging himself from the tree and the way he kept muttering to himself at the opening performance in the current one show this). Now, most people are assuming Yakumo will die because of how he walks into fire or hell in the next scene, and by the light going out at the end of the song. A lot of people are also worried about what seemed to be the opposite of what happened last season: Last season everyone was worried about how Yotaro was the main character, but it focused on Yakumo and Sukeroku. Now it seems that because Yotaru is our true main, they don’t know how Yakumo’s lingering on Miyokichi and Sukeroku will tie in. We see Yakumo start drawing in something looking like bile or acid, but a drop of rain(perhaps a tear) is what stirs Yotaru to look up to where his master is, which is actually flipped, so even though he is on the ceiling, he is technically on the floor. This was a similar shot to how Yotaru talked of his head being bowed and his feet in the recap in the intro of the episode. (I think that means there is something important in this symbolism about things being flipped or something). We also have seen a shot in which Yakumo is reflected in Yotaru, suggesting his strong impact on the boy at first, or possibly his connection to his master. Yotaru reaches for Yakumo, but Yakumo merely turns away and falls into the acid. He shuts his eyes again. 

Now, in most forms of literature, eyes shutting would be someone dying or something connected to that, but we see multiple times in this opening that the characters stare at Yakumo, but the second time someone reaches for him(the scene where all of them are reaching) all of the characters no longer have uncertainty etched on them but rather determination and are smiling. They want Yakumo to come to them and to leave his depression. When Yotaru reaches, he looks to the ceiling with an unwavering expression and extends his arm with his brow furrowed and mouth slightly parted, not straining for Yakumo but merely making a stronger effort to get to him. Yakumo gives a pained look in return ducks under the acid, even though he had popped above the surface a second ago in a previous scene. This could be a part in the story where he starts to come out of his depression, but ultimately something makes him fall backwards. The way the pool of yellow turns to Miyokichi and then to a record is also important, as the fact that its spinning could be a representation for how Yakumo still ultimately revolves around her, and the way the music kicks up when the needle hits the track reminds me of how Yakumo is literally playing a broken record. It’s depression, so we cannot blame him for it, but he cannot escape the same things that we heard before, specifically Miyokichi’s dependency that damaged him when he tried to teach her about abandonment. I already addressed the next scene, but I like how all the characters are floating a top the record, not attached to it, even Yakumo who is in the center of it all, is not touching the record directly. They are above it, literally. However, when Yakumo looks at them, they are spinning, despite not touching the disc, showing that he must be turning, and that he is still confused about the events of his past. Yakumo glances at everyone but ultimately turns away once more, his expression not saddened but empty before everything becomes ash and Sukeroku appears.This is one of the other main Shinigami references, as Yakumo is revealed to have a mere skeleton underneath his clothes, perhaps a skeleton of who he once was, but the way we zoom in on where his heart would be says otherwise. It could be what remains of his rakugo, the one thing he holds so dearly and despises so much. Sukeroku could be revealing to him what he already knows, that his rakugo means nothing now. When the video rewinds fast, the faces all turn away from him now, and their expressions don’t show waiting or anticipation but frustration and disappointment as they give up on him and essentially walk away. 

Now, here is why I think Yakumo is not going to die, DESPITE ALL THAT.

Right before the candle goes out, we have a few frames of Yakumo smiling at something, looking down. His eyes start to widen, and he goes from a look of bittersweet happiness at being left to “perhaps” die to one that shows something almost like regret and realization. Then the light goes out. We also see when Sukeroku opens up Yakumo’s chest that he eyes him from over his shoulder strangely. There is a lot of evidence against me, yes, but I do not think Yakumo is going to kill himself in this season or die from some other reason. Mainly, I want to know from this season why Konatsu’s child seems to know something.

I feel as though it doesn’t seem right for Yakumo to die. Last season, Sukeroku and Miyokichi had to die, they both were victims of a post war world in which they had no families and grew up with dependency issues. Miyokichi had to die for a changing world to occur because when Yakumo brought up how women and men were going to live independent of one another, she became outraged and upset, because she only knows how to survive of a system in which men use women. Sukeroku was not what I would argue too avant garde at the time, even though he tries to play himself up that way in the show, he is stuck in a constant spoiled rebellious phase that got played with and manipulated with by Miyokichi when his world was turned down. Now, we’ve got a lot of small characters from last season popping up now, the author, and the boy who seems to be the son of that man who showed Yakumo the picture in one episode. These guys could be ghosts of the past, and with every sentence I sound like I’m making a bigger and bigger case for Yakumo to die but I SWEAR I THINK HE IS NOT.

It’s really hard to work with limited information for this season, but I feel this way(and I’ll try not stray into digging my own grave again). Yakumo doesn’t have dependency issues, he has independency issues. We see him tell others not rely too heavily on people and to find ways to survive on their own, now he has Konatsu, a child, and Yotaru again living under his roof. He is going to have to learn to depend on people, especially in his old age. I first thought Yakumo might end up being the villain of this season, but then I also felt bad vibes from the author. My main theory right now for Yakumo not dying is based on what Sukeroku said in season one, that there needs to be the old rakugo and the new rakugo simultaneously, and Yakumo’s selfish desire to take rakugo to the grave with him cannot happen. As he is the last of his generation, he truly is all of what rakugo is. If he dies now, it dies with him, but then Yotaru cannot build new rakugo off of it, for new rakugo to exist they must identify it and guide it using the old form so it still is what rakugo is. The story cannot continue without Yotaru managing to move forward in the rakugo world, and if Yakumo dies, then Yotaru will not be able to move forward without damaging his character. He has neither dependency nor independency issues, but if Yakumo dies then Yotaru will end up either falling into depression or acting like every cheap anime character and powering through it regardless which is not realistic. The opening does show a lot of death symbolism, but that could be Yakumo’s near death I discussed very early on and just symbols of his depression instead. A lot of the opening involves him standing above it with others and them looking towards him offering him a chance. 

WHEN WE GET MORE EPISODES AND INFORMATION ILL REPHRASE IT BUT IT WOULD FEEL WRONG FOR YAKUMO TO DIE IM SORRY

#shouwa genroku rakugo shinjuu #sgrs #poland is in denial #poland posts