do you remember back in december when i was brought on for this rebrand and had to like. rewrite this entire brand direction and voice in the span of a month. and then i had to write every single piece of text on their website in like two months. and then i was like "i hate this client!!! i hate this account!!" well maybe giving birth feels like that because now i love this account more than anything. this client is my baby. i will drop anything to do work for it

I wrote a really long post about playersexuality about a year ago mostly targeting other crpgs, but I updated it a bit and decided to throw it on this blog too. It’s a bit repetitive, and it isn’t perfect, but it’s important to me that I’ve been trying to parse my direct feelings towards the phenomenon for a long time and I wanted to write it out. 

It mostly came from this article/post, and then kind of grew from there. It isn’t a direct criticism of Baldur’s Gate 3 or how Larian studios is writing queer sexuality, but if the shoe fits...well...

First of this all comes from someone with a trans and bi perspective. So it’s all subjective obviously. None of this is about discrediting bisexual characters, but critically analyzing how games depict queer sexuality. I just want more people to understand how playersexuality does hurt gay people who want gay characters, and hurt bi people who want more tangible representation and not a “schrodinger's” bisexuality.

Bisexuality/pansexuality isn’t necessarily being attracted to someone regardless or despite gender. It’s being attracted to more then one gender. Gender does, in fact, matter In relationships. Its frustrating really. My relationship to gender means a lot to me. It’s shaped my whole life. When I want someone to love me, I want them to love me for me AND acknowledge my gender. It’s a part of who I am. I don’t want it to be ignored. I’ve never had the privilege to ignore my gender, and I’ve never had the privilege of other people ignoring it either, since I’m trans. It’s not my only quality, but it’s a big part of my personal story and growth. Whenever I want to date anyone, I always have to have a conversation with them about our sexualities and my gender.

When you make a game with a story about fictional characters, you usually want the audience to care about said characters. You want to make it possible for the audience to empathize with them in some way. But in the end, all they ever will be is the game developer’s IDEA of what a person is, never an actual person. How sexuality and gender are presented in the story is all but an idea of how the game developers want sexuality and gender to be presented to the audience.

The bottom line is this: game companies have incentive for making money first. Game devs rarely care about giving lgbtq people a character that has an experience that the audience can empathize with. The audience that includes cishet people, because when everyone empathizing with fictional lgbtq characters, that’s what gives us “representation”. Because that’s what that actually means. Representation is about speading stories about our experiences being lgbtq to help other lgbtq people know that they aren’t alone, and also that it’s not a bad thing to be lgbtq. Playersexual characters don’t acknowledge that experience in their narrative, they aren’t representation.

And I real human being doesn’t need to tell you their sexuality. An actual gay or bisexual person doesn’t need to disclose anything about their past to “prove” their gay or bisexual. That’s because it’s an invasion of privacy, and when someone does tell you these things its because they trust you. It’s why “coming out of the closet” is something that exists. We are NOT entitled to know these things, yet everyone is assumed straight because that’s what is expected, so telling someone these things is an act of trust. But when it comes to fictional characters, there’s never that invasion of privacy. There’s no need to respect their boundaries, because as an omniscient audience we’re able to see different, imaginary perspectives. A game developer can always give us a clear indication of a character’s sexuality, and they can even do it without the characters stating it (although they should because that helps normalize people talking about their sexuality). It never has to be obfuscated or ignored. If it is obfuscated in some way, it’s because it’s the game developers’ intention. They don’t want to make a character’s sexuality clear and therefore, don’t actually care about lgbtq people.

So you play a videogame. There’s a character who admits they have feelings for the player. This character never talks about the gender of your character when it comes to the relationship. The character also, interestingly enough, never talks about a history of relationships with the same gender or mentions their attraction to the same gender. Even if they do, it’s a one off comment, innuendo, and/or never a full admission, something small that can be missed and ignored without deeper thought. (Also using correct pronouns isn’t acknowledging you’re in a relationship with someone who’s the same gender btw, it’s just common fucking courtesy).

The only way you ever even know that the character even is willing to date the same gender is if your character is there, and willing to date them. If your player character didn’t exist, you would never know this character dates the same gender. It’s schrodinger's bisexuality! The npc’s sexuality is not there unless you, the player, make it a part of your story. It doesn’t belong to the character. I hope that makes sense, because in the end the player is doing all the work for the writers. I also find it extremely unrealistic that in these situations, the characters are in serious romantic/sexual relationships and never talk about their history with dating the same gender, even casually.

What truly makes me sad though is how fandom, especially other bi people, will claim playersexuality as legitimate bisexual representation. It’s truly depressing that videogame writers have been able to find this loophole, use it, and abuse it. It gives game companies, that absolutely do not care about actually representing lgbtq people in their stories, credit where no credit is due. Of course I’m not trying to go after bi fans, and they aren’t wrong to claim these characters are bisexual, because that’s the whole point of calling it schrodinger's bisexuality. I personally don’t think infighting with other fans about whether a character is actually bisexual or not will get anyone anything except a migraine. What I do think, is people should be more critical about how videogame companies are presenting sexuality in their stories, and focus on criticizing that.

Edit: On a personal note, I also hate fandom using playersexuality to try to say the character’s sexuality is up for “interpretation” so they “headcanon” said character as straight or gay. That’s just biphobic. But, when trans/bi/gay people are talking about playersexuality, it’s usually from a more constructive outlook, where we just want the game studios to be held more accountable for erasure. This is also why I prefer the term “schrodinger's bisexuality”. Bisexual when you want them to be, not bisexual when you don’t want them to be.

I know people want the comfort, the ease, and the simplicity that playersexuality brings. I know it’s been used in games for years, and at one time it was the only queer content and representation games had. But times are changing, and game companies need to change. We need actual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans characters, not a schrodinger's bisexuality. If you allow anyone and everyone to be able to romance any character regardless of gender, then you don’t have to worry about straight players being mad a character they want to romance is gay, or lgbt players being upset a character is straight.

Continuing to use playersexuality isn’t an “everyone’s happy” solution to people asking for more gay/bi characters in videogames. It’s obvious this has everything to do with money, since it’s making games viable for a wider audience and not actually giving queer people representation. It’s also painfully obvious when you have so much undeniable m/f that is central to the story.

I know game studios aren't a monolith. I know developing a game is usually convoluted and rarely linear. I also know it’s a company, and there are “layers” of writing, and things tend to go through a grind before they get green-lite. I know there’s never a singular person making decisions how character’s sexuality are depicted, and theres always more going on behind doors we may never know. Maybe game studios using playersexuality are trying to depict more lgbtq representation and some “big man” up top wont let them. But I highly doubt it, and think it has to do with marketability, because this is a product that is on the market.

TL; DR: I’m an annoying transgenderer who’s entitled and believes videogames should cater to me. Making companions/npcs playersexual, especially all of them, is a horrible, lazy, homophobic, and biphobic writing decision. Game companies don’t care about lgbtq people. Support lgbtq people, help donate to lgbtq content creators when you can, and help lgbtq people in fandom feel safe.

Aka Donate to my ko-fi lol

But uhh, I just wanted to ask questions?? ANYWHOS, INTERVIEW TIME👏 How do you come up with your plots for stories? And do you have a layout on how things will go or are you a "go with the flow" type of writer? How long would you say it takes for you to write a chapter? Do you make drafts before starting and publishing your final piece? Or do you just add on from what happens in previous chapter? Last question, do you have any advice for new writers? I'm sorry for being a nuissance😔❤️

Alright baby! Don’t worry I love asking questions when it comes to writing! I can’t say I’m the best person to ask but I’ll give it a try! If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask! :)

How do you come up with your plots for stories?

Anything and I mean anything can become an AU if you’re creative enough. The sky is the limit baby! There isn’t a day that goes by where I’m consuming something that is non BTS and my brain is like: 👀 ay that could be a good AU. Funny but true! I’m open to anything that could show for a potentially good plot! More times then less I’m usually struck with an idea from literally nowhere I go from dead for months idea wise to brainstorming in the matter of seconds, it’s a bit offputting given I like a steady flow on content but what can I do? 😅

Do you have a layout for how things will go or are you a ‘good with the flow’ type of writer

It depends story to story for me! Some stories like tease are better off planned as there’s a lot of background and messy emotions involved, others fics like 3C are more go with the flow. I’ve found I prefer planning things as this makes the story a bit more cohesive in my opinion but I’m not extremely rigid with it

How long would you say it takes for you to write a chapter?

Like the last question it depends chapter to chapter! I don’t really aim for word count quotas anymore but I do like to hit about 5k, most of my chapters range anywhere from 10-18k though on average 😬 that can take me nearly 8 hours to write if not longer if we’re talking on the 18k side of the spectrum, which that’s not including the the two rounds of edits I make and then the final proofread.

Do you make drafts before starting and publishing your final piece? Or do you just add on from what happens in the previous chapter?

I find the more I write the more I prefer drafting, I used to just add on from the last chapter but as I said before, some of my plot lines like tease have so many complex factors that it would be filled with so many plot holes, time jumps and undeveloped characters if I didn’t draft before hand. In fact, that’s originally how it went. I’ve written tease twice, the first time was intentionally done as a draft, I wrote everything down and just moved on to the next chapter.

I didn’t care about grammar mistakes, I didn’t bother to change the fact that I switched Seasonella from being a week long to just a weekend and instead of MC having to skip a week of school it would take place during the summertime (that was utter HELL to dissect when I started writing final!tease) All of the side plot lines: Taehyung attempting to propose to Yeri, MC’s parents coming to visit etc, extra scenes: MC going over to celebrate Jimin’s birthday, going out clubbing with Jungkook, MC and her Mom at the market, all of MC’s interactions with Alex and his miniature arc, hell even some of the smut (half of chapter tens smut during the draft I was like: and they’ll fuck a lot but I’m lazy so future me will just do it later 🙃) all of that was ignored and put into my ideas for the ‘final version of tease’

The draft holds the same plot line but it looks nothing like the final version of tease you guys have read. The basis is just putting nothing but the main plot line down, my word count rarely ever hit above 5k and it was kept short and sweet. This method, is very taxing to do. I’m not going to lie about it, but it was a very necessary step in order to properly tell this story and it’s something I’m very happy I did! I don’t know if I’d go to that extensive depths of drafting for another story just because it’s so time consuming but it’s definitely something I do for oneshots all the time!

Do you have any advice for new writers?

Enjoy writing and do it for yourself. Please, always write because you like to write, sometimes we get too caught up in who’s liking our stories, who’s leaving comments and who isn’t. But never, never let that dictate your writing and whether to stop. Whether you’re telling your story to an audience of ten or ten thousand shouldn’t matter at the end of the day. I will never be able to stress this enough, always write for yourself.

Another piece of advice I wish somebody had told me: play around! Just play around with how you edit, play around with drafting and see if it works and if it doesn’t??? Who cares!! Play around with different writing apps and spell checkers, never be afraid to explore different writing styles and techniques! You’ll never find what works for you if you don’t explore, I went through a whole year of attempting to copy others writing techinques to try and see if I could make it work or if I liked it (it was actual ass and I have proof but still),

I went through a whole year of having to play around and see whether I should draft, or whether I should just keep writing and posting immediately afterwards. Whether I wanted to outline my plots or just keep it casual (hi I hate outlining there I said it), just because it works for one writer doesn’t mean it’ll work for you and that’s okay!! With time you’ll find what works for you but it’s a process, be patient with yourself. I hope some of this helps and I wish you good luck baby! 😚🖤

Please Read 2.0 Part 4: EUAAAEO

That mess of vowels that served as a title stands for Expelling Unnecessary Accounts And Altering Existing Ones. Because that’s basically what this whole bit of news is about. I was originally going to have it split into multiple parts, but they’re all similar enough that I changed my mind. So, straight to the chase: I find that I have too many social media accounts and I think it’s time to change the ones I will continue to have. Now, I know that it’s a good marketing strategy to have as many social media accounts as possible, but honestly? I’m willing to risk my marketing taking a hit in exchange for maintaining my sanity. And actually? I’ve not gotten rid of as many accounts as you might think (not as many as I want to, that’s for sure). Only 2, Wattpad and Fanfiction.net. Yes, my longer being on Wattpad means I no longer have access to stories posted there. But I never honestly liked using Wattpad, whether for reading or posting, so I really only held onto the account because I felt I had to. Really, I just needed an excuse to delete it. There are some stories there that I am sad that I’ll never get to read again, but *shrugs* that’s something I can live with. As for fanfiction.net, I just don’t feel like risking going against their rules, particularly when it comes to rating. I know that some have gotten away with posting lists or explicit smut and stuff on there, but still. It is a risk, and I’d rather not end up pushing my luck too far and facing the wrath of FF.net’s admins. So, there’s that. Also, no, I didn’t actually delete my FF.net account, because they don’t actually let you delete accounts over there. But I have altered it so I can’t sign in there anymore. On the plus-side, this means the stories over there are still up so you can still read my first 20+ fics over there if you want. Just know that I won’t be able to interact with anyone over there. Next up are some accounts that I’m not deleting, but I will no longer be active on as a creator: DeviantART, YouTube and Facebook. Yes, I’m still very unhappy with DA Eclipse and I would rather use it as little as humanly possible. So, even after my hiatus, I won’t be posting there anymore save for rare exceptions (like if I made a post for/inspired by/in collaboration with my brother, who is still on DA). I also won’t be super-active there in terms of messaging and chatting, partly because I just prefer Tumblr’s PM method now. So, yeah, as sad as I am to mostly-leave my first ever platform, I’ve finally settled on this decision and I’ve made my peace with it. I like to think of it as my “growing up and leaving the nest” kind of thing. Again, not abandoning DA entirely, but it will no longer be my primary and most active social media platform. For YouTube, it’s more that I just don’t want to make AMVs anymore, and, quite honestly, I think a lot of that has to do with Raptor of the Opera. It was just such a long, grueling and so negative experience that it just put me off making AMVs and soured the whole hobby for me. Video-editing is a lot of work and I sincerely applaud those who make it their livelihood! I also know that it can be very fun work, and I will admit that I had lots of fun moments when making AMVs in the past. But it’s not quite enough fun for me in comparison with all of the effort and work that I have to put into it. Add onto that the negative experiences and emotions now associated with AMV-making for me, and I hope you can understand why I’m not doing it anymore. But another reason I don’t plan to make videos anymore (at least for the foreseeable future) is because that’s just not the content I want to focus on. It’s not my most important content or the kind of content I want to be famous for making. I’m a writer. My writing is what I care most about and, when I get back from my hiatus, I want to focus more on writing and making more written content. It won’t be easy, and I admit that I still love drawing and will doubtless continue drawing a lot, but this is what I want to put more time and effort into, and I feel it’s more worth it than any of my videos, whether it’s AMVs, MFMs (dear god, someone please explain to me why those are my most popular videos *epic facepalm*) or Speedpaints. So, yeah, I’ll still be on YouTube a lot (maybe more than I should be, honestly, that site is just so distracting) to comment and like and stuff, and my old videos will still be there. I just won’t be posting any new videos, at least not for a LOOOOONNNG time. BTW: I’ve put all of my old videos into a playlist, and I’m thinking of making said videos Unlisted, so you can only view or find them via the playlist. Maybe. I haven’t quite settled on that decision yet. As for Facebook, I think I’ve made it no secret at this point that I just DO NOT like Facebook! Honestly, if I felt I could get away with it, I would delete my Facebook account entirely. But I still need it for IRL stuff on occasion, so *sigh* better safe than sorry. Someday, though, I’ll be happy to kick that account to the curb. Which leaves the sites I will be remaining very active on: Pinterest, Tumblr and ArchiveOfOurOwn. Pinterest because I really like it and it’s a great place for me to gather images that inspire me or that make me feel better when I’m down (I have an entire section of one of my boards dedicated entirely to Keith Kogane because that boy is my self-care and I’ll be making a similar board for Karna because he is my emotional-support-husbando). Tumblr because, despite being a hellsite, I’ve come to enjoy my own little corner there, because I met my best friends there (and because I like the PM system there, though not as much as Discord), because I can find a surprisingly huge amount of good content there and because, since I’m dropping DA, it’s the next best thing I’ve got to a place where I can post all of my content. And ArchiveOfOurOwn because…actually, do I even need a reason? As long as people are smart enough to tag everything appropriately, it’s pretty fucking fantastic! So, yeah, when my quasi-hiatus is over, I’ll be back to posting frequently on these sites. Until then, I’m afraid I don’t have much else to say about this. I guess I…hope you guys will follow me on Tumblr, Pinterest and Ao3 because that’s where you’ll see me most once I’m fully back? *shrugs* You do you, guys. Thanks for reading/watching this, stay safe and take care of yourselves in this crazy world of ours! (oh, and if you’ve been reading/watching all of the parts so far, stay strong, there’s only one left, then you’re free)

Our Reylo Discord server, The Writing Den, held its first ever fic gift exchange! We are incredibly lucky to have so many talented writers among us to participate in this and make it an amazing experience. Plus, we got tons of new Reylo content to enjoy!

+ fic is mature/explicit

* fic is a WIP/ currently incomplete Just for Tonight by @aknightofwren for @reylo-ology :  Leia departs this life for the next, becoming one with the force. Rey and Ben are the first to notice.

Lights On by @reylo-ology for @reylocalligraphy :  Modern AU, Rey is insecure about her body weight being too heavy and/or Rey and Ben admit their love to each other for the first time.

+ The Life You Always Dreamt Of by @kylotrashforever for @avidvampirehunter :  Ben Solo has always followed his obligations. He is expected to take over his family’s enterprise, Skywalker Steel. He is expected to marry a reputable girl who will make him a fitting wife. He is expected to do as he’s told without question. He had long accepted his fate in this regard, until he met Rey. Her presence in his life was like that of a storm, blowing through his calm existence over the better part of a decade and leaving him wrecked on the other side. She was not his, but if he had his way... she would be.

Paradise Island by @ashtyntaytertot for SaveThePorgs : Ben Solo is a Porg conservationist on the remote pacific island of Ahch To. Only a few hundred Porgs remain on planet earth and Ben is adamant the species WILL. NOT. DIE. OUT. Rey is a poacher, an orphan and poor pacific islander with no, money and zero future. Porg eggs are highly prized on the black market, a rare delicacy. So she steals them from nests so that for at least a while she can eat. But what will happen, when Kylo catches her in the act? As the Clock Winds Down by @reylocalligraphy for Erulisse17 :  Who is Ben Solo, Crait High School’s star point guard, hiding from? And why is he suddenly taking pointers from a random nobody? High school Reylo AU featuring tech nerd Rey (who seems to be the only person Ben listens to) and arrogant but actually soft basketball star Ben.

+ Surf with Me by @j-dryless for @reylorobyn2011 :  Rey and Ben catch some much-needed vacation. Swells, kisses and smut.

+ A Demon is A Girl’s Best Friend by AmberDread for @asongforjonsa :  Rey finds a mysterious box, it seems impossible to open, yet there is something rattling inside it... 

+ Our Disparate, Naive Souls by SaveThePorgs for @reyssolo : Once a year the Smuggler Ben Solo, visits Jakku to trade with junk boss Unkar Plutt. Whilst there he meets the scavenger Rey. Talented and enigmatic, over the years he watches her grow up. But as Rey’s burgeoning connection to the Force grows, can Ben continue the hide the truth of who he is. Or will he help her become who she is meant to be?

+* Beneath the Sea by @asongforjonsa for @lilia-ula :  Rey and Ben meet working at The Royal Treat in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Sparks fly immediately.

+ Taste of Elysium by @lilia-ula for @mallie-3 : Thanks to the presence of a tall, dark and handsome classmate, Rey's Greek Mythology summer course was hotter than hell. She'd given up trying to concentrate, and so had he, drawn by their chemistry into a game of enticement that couldn't last. Weeks of endured longing end in a tryst steeped in the mythical elements of their focus.

+ Raising Hope by @spiegatrixlestrange for @dalzonii :  Ben Solo is a single dad with a crush on his daugher's far too pretty, young and kind nanny. He doesn't have a chance obviously, or at least that' s what he had thought until now.

+ The Prince and the Scavenger  by @reylorobyn2011 for @gopherbroke :  Kylo (or Ben) is the sole heir to the Skywalker Estate. He comes across a hungry young woman, scavenging outside the kitchen for scraps after the staff has gone to bed. Despite his icy treatment to her face when he orders his men to capture her, he has her washed, clothed, and fed. She is unrecognizable when she is next presented to him and is immediately taken with her. + Diet Coke and Mentos by @gopherbroke for @ever-so-reylo :  Alpha Rey Jakku is in charge of a major project at Rebel Enterprises, an architecture firm. Her bosses son, Alpha Kylo Ren is added to the project near the completion, sharing the leader role with Rey and immediately stirs the pot, causing rifts and arguments. Rey is not used to backing down. She also isn't used to the way her body reacts whenever Kylo gets too close. With two top dogs, who is going to be the one coming out on top?

+ Firefighters and Puppies by @kpopandstarwarswhynot for @ashtyntaytertot :  Just because Kylo puts out fire for living, doesn't mean he can't start one.

+ You should see the things we do by @ever-so-reylo for @loveofescapism : “Maybe Ben will come home from his business trip and bend me over the nearest piece of furniture and fuck me hard and fast.” In which they are roommates, and they hate each other until they don't.  

+* forced out (into you) by @dalzonii for @spiegatrixlestrange : “Alright kids. There’s no other way around it.” Maz paused, her wide beady eyes regarding the pair carefully, face unnervingly too serious. “You two might just have to, well... engage more intimately.” When Rey woke up in Senator Ben Organa’s body, she never thought fixing the problem could feel so good. Only, the Force simply isn’t letting up – and Jedi aren’t supposed to develop feelings for hot-headed, impulsive, politically-inclined men. Or, the force really wants Ben and Rey together and will go to great lengths to achieve this.

+ Other Voices by @reyloandotherfandoms for AmberDread :  Just a random day aboard the Millenium Falcon.

+ Consider...  by @loveofescapism for @kylotrashforever :  Rey Kenobi has a new job as an editor for K Trash Magazine where she has to edit the infamous Ben Solo's work. Things don't get off the best start and they instantly hate each other. The one thing that is making her days worth while is the handsome stranger she keeps bumping into in the elevator and the hungry, dark looks he continues to give her.

Come Home by @reyssolo for @aknightofwren :  Ben Solo enlists in the army to better his future, and the future he dreams of building with his girlfriend Rey. He just hopes he can come back from his deployment in Afghanistan in time for one of the biggest, most important events of his and Rey's lives.

+ Screensaver Sweethearts by @avidvampirehunter for @kpopandstarwarswhynot : When Clyde's new cell phone connects him to a woman halfway around the world, he never expected to fall in love. But, as luck would have it, that's exactly what he did. Reylogan.

Sex on the Beach by @kylohhh for @reyloandotherfandoms :  Rey walks into Ben's world renowned cocktail bar and just wants a beer. Ben sets out to convince her to see the error of her ways.

* Echoes of Memory by Erulisse17 for @kylohhh :  It couldn't be. What are the chances she'd be here? At this college? And yet... When Kylo catches a glimpse of his childhood friend, he has to follow her. To see if it's her. To see if she remembers him. If she's forgiven him. Getting doused in pepper spray was not part of the plan, but it did answer one question. She *definitely* remembered him.

Every single one of these fics was so amazing and well thought out! A huge thanks to everyone who participated, we can’t wait to do the next one! <3

Episode 6 - Tsing part 1

Episode link; https://open.spotify.com/episode/3x0cMRYDmN5M8lDCZIZxEK?si=07ec23a2d8ac485e 

The sound of a temple bell is heard in the cedar forest at dusk,

The autumn aroma drifts on the roads below. 

The moving cloud fades away, and I smell the aroma of the mushroom.

Oh Matsutake:

The excitement before finding them. 

This episode isn’t about Japan. It’s not about Mushrooms. It’s about living in our own mess, it’s about international relations, it’s about capitalist trading. But the same way we can trace politics through cows, or social relations through cockfights, the art of anthropology is in noticing the small things which might teach us more. In the face of global capitalism a mushroom might seem humble but that is what Anna Tsing would call a problem with scale, because as the most valuable mushroom in the world it couldn’t be further from ‘humble.’ 

This is notes from the field desk 

(Theme)

(Sounding sleepy) 

It’s about, ummm quarter to five. I’m in Tsukiji whole-sale market in Tokyo. I’m maybe jet-lagged but that would make it like 9pm to me and actually I feel significantly worse than that. I’m here this early because the auction runs from around 5am to six fifteen. Whilst the market is famous for its tuna auctions, if you’ve seen Jiro Dreams of Sushi then you’ve seen the market and it’s ginormous frozen tuna, but they also sell mushrooms here. This market is in fact so famous they had to ban tourists on several occasions. Thankfully it’s not currently one of those times,i’m sat in the tourist section, i’m in the back because of the desk and well because the guards said I was a disruptive influence. 

I’m paraphrasing he actually said “move it, Deku” before shoving my desk to the back. My translation app couldn’t really figure out Deku so if anyone could help me out with the meaning? It doesn’t really matter, seen as almost everyone is here for the Tuna, I have a pretty clear view of the auctioneers arranging matsutake on a trestle table. The staff are wearing, what kind of look like, bowling shirts (kind of questioning) and baseball caps which have a little board on the front which have some kanji which I can’t read. Really someone else should have come on this trip. 

This is maybe petty but to be honest now I’m doing this because I have to, i’m not enjoying it as much. Is there something wrong with me? Anyway that’s a discussion for another time. 

They are organising the mushrooms by, size, value and origin. These mushrooms have probably been sorted at least twice before by value but origin has a significant impact on their eventual sale price. As one Japanese importer explained to Anna Tsing “Matsutake are like people, American mushrooms are white, because the people are white. Chinese mushrooms are black, because the people are black. Japanese people and mushrooms are nicely in between.” Okay, I recognise that we’ve gotten slightly ahead of ourselves here. How does a mushroom come to cost between 1000 and 2000 dollars per pound? 

Matsutake first appears in a poem from 8th century Japan which praises it’s smell which would go on to become synonymous with Autumn in Japan. The mushroom had started popping up around Kyoto and Nara, areas which had been deforested for timber and fuel. In fact, deforestation is the reason why matsutake became common in Japan. This is because these mushrooms have a symbiotic relationship with red pine trees. Red pines tend to grow most successfully in mineral rich soil left by deforestation and could grow more easily without the shade from broadleaf trees which had been cut down. 

This is the start of Anna Tsing’s interest in these mushrooms, not because she’s just really into foraging, although she is, but because of what they symbolise, think Geertz. In the wake of capitalist ruin, here read deforestation, this mushroom thrived. This is so generally understood about Matsutake that people say the first thing to grow after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima was a Matsutake. 

Written in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and with the results of climate change becoming undeniable Tsing wants to find a way that people can pull off the same trick. And she found a parallel in the forests of Oregon, but that is for next week. 

So how does a mushroom you literally find in the trash become the most expensive fungus in the world? Well by 1900 in Japan it had become the culturally ubiquitous idea of Autumn. Think lambs in spring or incredibly drunk, sunburnt bald men with a union jack tattoos and British summer. Matsutake were everywhere, in Kyoto, they became the generic term for mushroom. So far, so cheap commodity right? But then in the 50s people stopped using wood as their main fuel, woodland was cut down and paved for suburban development, broadleaf trees grew back and in the shaded forest, Matsutake started to disappear. By the 1970s Japanese Matsutake were incredibly rare. This coincided with rapid Japanese economic development. The culturally significant and now rare mushroom became gifts, bribes and perks for businessmen. Consequently the price skyrocketed.

Huge demand but limited supply in Japan meant the international market suddenly gained importance. And non-Japanese mushroom pickers from around the world flooded into the market. 

Oh hold on the auction is starting. I wanna see if I can buy one. 

Umm I have no idea what is happening. 

Excuse me. Nope ignored. 

Umm. 

Hello. 

13,000 yen! 

(Awkward silence. Fade out.)

Okay so umm, I won the auction. Is that how you say it? But I bought one mushroom for 120 dollars and then they asked me to leave. So we’re set up in a cafe outside the market. If you’re wondering, yes, the guy who has been following me is here. 

Hi mate. You alright? Cool. 

He was in the auction too but I've decided to live and let live. In part because of what i’ve learned from reading Tsing. 

I guess uhh lets see what the fuss about this mushroom is about. 

Smells mushroom nervously

Yep smells like dirt. Cool. What am I going to do with this now?

Okay smells like dirt. Great. That’s 120 dollars for some dirt. I don’t even like mushrooms what the fuck am I doing. Okay, I guess we should talk about isolation and contamination which is where Tsing starts to get confusing, so, sorry about that. I can really understand why the students don’t get it and I think if the last few weeks have proven anything it’s that the students seem to understand anthropology better than I do. But I’ve done the reading and I've got notes so let’s give it a shot. 

Tsing says capitalism is based on a growth and progress model. Wow, we’re off the rails already. In other words, and I'm not an economist so don’t @ me, the health of an individual, company and nation under capitalism are measured by their ability to generate more than they did previously. The aim is for GDP to grow, for company profits to increase, individuals to earn more etc. One way to achieve this end is to focus on scalability. Which is the ability to create more of the same product without changing the product. This is often achieved through isolation. 

Yikes this episode is like “dictionary corner.” For isolation think of old Henry Ford and his assembly line. Instead of 5 guys working on every aspect of a car, the assembly line isolates each component and has one person make that part. Now you can make lots of cars quickly. Take this podcast, I write it, record it, edit it, and upload it. If I hired a writer, an editor and a social media person. I could just record the episodes and we could all be working simultaneously, produce more podcasts, get more listeners, then maybe this podcast could generate a profit. 

Good news right? More of everything is made more quickly for less money, which means we can all have a car. Or a podcast. But Tsing sees some problems. She takes a different example of scalability. Portugese sugar plantations in Brazil. Sugar cane was grown by splitting a sugar cane and sticking it in the ground. Functionally it was a clone brought from New Guinea and planted in Brazil. As a farming product it couldn’t be more isolated. Unlike a matsutake say, which can’t be scaled because it grows almost by random in relation to the soil and the trees around it, the sugar cane has no relationship to its surroundings. 

Now let's talk about the farm workers. Sugar plantation workers were slaves brought from west Africa to Brazil. Like the sugar cane they were isolated with no social relations in Brazil which prevented escape. This is why slave traders split families, social and cultural groups. Their alienation and isolation made them a controllable, standardized workforce. Portugal made huge profits from this and could keep the uncomfortable effects hidden, seen as the whole project took place in west Africa and south America, far away from the Portugese eyes. This is maybe the first example of what academics call “space-time distanciation” I know what the fuck is distanciation other than a great way to be the most hated person at a dinner party or the pub. 

Basically it’s just a bullshit way to say doing things from far away but in real time. So like ugh I don’t know, (Rising anger) a kid in America can snipe you on COD and call you a homophobic slur and you experience it as it happens even though he’s thousands of miles away. And however much you threaten him he won’t experience any consequences because he’s far away and you’re thirty and trash at shooters. (awkward pause) Not a real thing that happened to me, just a random example. 

So this scalability and distanciation were created and spread around the world by European colonists but it was Japanese markets which modernised the idea. In the 60s to the 80s Japan actually gave American economic dominance a little scare because of its shift to outsourcing. Instead of Japanese companies making products in Japan where labour was expensive they made products abroad where labour was cheap and took advantage of increasingly speedy global supply lines to turn huge profits. 

Matsutake picking is an example of this which we’ll talk about more next time but in short, casual workers pick and sell them for a fraction of their market value in America, the middle men then transport it to Japan where it’s market and cultural value is increased and sell it for a huge profit. 

Another example would be fast fashion. Everyone remembers the scandals when it came out that gap or nike or primark had their clothes made in terrible conditions. A lot of brands defended themselves by saying they had no idea about the conditions. To an extent this is true, but it was deliberate ignorance. They put their production in the hands of intermediary companies in countries far away from their shareholders, employees and customers creating plausible deniability.

There is another problem which is obvious really. Scale can only go so far, which is until all the resources are gone. Then the project has to move on and do something else. Think of Japan after they had cut down all the trees. Or if you really want to depress yourself, fossil fuels. 

Okay, okay what’s the point! Tsing says all this stuff, the distanciation, the scalability, the obsession with more profits, the isolation is the cause of the precarious lives more and more people are experiencing. Think of zero hours contracts, or uber driving or amazon workers pissing in bottles. It’s easy to cut wages, to allow bad working conditions, to strip mine the rainforest when we are distanced from the consequences. So long as it happens somewhere else, to someone else, when we have no relationship with the products we consume, or create. Think of the podcast again. If I hired all these people it would be more efficient but then I wouldn’t have the same relationship with it. I would become alienated from it. That’s how little by little people have less of an understanding of the things around them. That’s how we can separate the petrol we put in our cars from the environmental damage that doing that causes. 

Wow. Depressing. Jesus. Remember when this show used to be about cows and magic? 

(sigh) 

Taking things seriously sucks. Okay but Tsing reckons that by looking at these expensive mushrooms there is hope. Capitalism can make us feel lonely but looking at Matsutake reminds us that even in capitalist ruins like a destroyed forest new things can grow. Those things grow from relationships, the encounter between the mushroom and the pine tree and the soil from deforestation. It’s a reminder that we aren’t actually alone that there aren’t any “challenges we might face without asking for help from others, human or not human.” Through relationships we change and Tsing says “The important stuff of life on earth happens in those transformations.” So you know, join your union, talk to your neighbour, forage for mushrooms. It might just make the world better. And if it doesn’t, well at least you have some friends and mushrooms. Wait did i just say join a union? Am I woke? Must be the jet lag.  

Time for the extract; 

How does a gathering become a happening, that is, greater than the sum of its parts? One answer is contamination. We are contaminated by our encounters; they change who we are as we make way for others. As contamination changes world making projects, mutual worlds - and new directions - may emerge. Everyone carries a history of contamination; purity is not an option. One value of keeping precarity in mind is that it makes us remember that changing with circumstances is the stuff of survival. 

But what is survival? In popular American fantasies, survival is all about saving oneself by fighting off others. The “survival” featured in U.S. television shows or alien-planet stories is a synonym for conquest and expansion. I will not use the term that way. Please open yourself to another usage. This book argues that staying alive - for every species - requires livable collaborations. Collaboration means working across differences, which leads to contamination. Without collaborations, we all die. 

The problem of precarious survival helps us see what is wrong. Precarity is the state of acknowledgement of our vulnerability to others. In order to survive, we need help and help is always the service of another, with or without intent. When I sprain my ankle, a stout stick may help me walk and I enlist its assistance. I am now an encounter in motion, a woman and stick. It is hard for me to think of any challenge I might face without soliciting the assistance of others, human and not human. It is unselfconscious privilege that allows us to fantasize - counter factually - that we survive alone. 

How do you conclude something as complicated as this? Okay how about this. Often you’ll hear people talking about capitalist alienation and it’s not really clear what that means. I think what Tsing is saying is that capitalism wants people to be individualised. That way labour can be scaled up, because the products aren’t related to the context that they are made in. So you can make a ford car in a factory in Detroit or Dhaka and the product will be the same. But Tsing is giving us a warning and a reminder that we aren’t individuals. That we have a relationship with everything around us and forgetting this can destroy our surroundings. This means humans and non-humans too! If we’re going to survive late capitalism and climate change we have to re-engage in these relationships. 

Monthly Reads | August 2017

OMG! August was such a good month - I’ve read lots of amazing fics! Please make sure to also check out the fics under the cut! ❤ THANK YOU TO ALL WRITERS FOR YOUR HARD WORK AND FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES! ❤ Top 5 6 + 11 more under the cut:

Pray for some sweet simplicity

by delsicle | a/b/o | enemies to lovers | 237k Louis is the only omega to ever make it in the cut-throat world of competitive motorcycle racing—that is, he would be if anyone actually knew about his identity. Now, his sights are set towards competing in—and winning—the European Grand Prix, the biggest and most difficult race of the entire year, so he can disappear underground for good. He’s close enough, too, until an alpha sports journalist is assigned to follow Louis’s every move as he prepares for the event of his career. Or, an AU where motorcycle racing is the biggest sport in a heavily divided world, Louis is trying to take control of his own destiny, and Harry is in for more than he bargained for.

[*edited*]

Chasing Empty Spaces

by domesticharry | historical AU | 1930s | 79k The year is 1934 and Harry Styles was to inherent the largest tobacco firm in the south. His parents have picked out the “perfect” girl for him to marry and he has the privilege of receiving the highest education possible. The problem was, Harry hadn’t realized he didn’t actually want any part of that future until he met a mechanic named, Louis Tomlinson.

We’ll Be Seamless

by dinosaursmate for HL Fic Fest (2017) | Tumblr AU | pining | exhibitionism | voyeurism | 52k Green reblogged an old photo of himself. It was from back in October, a Halloween special. A pulse shot all the way through Louis because this photo was his absolute favourite, and it had taken the rest of the year for him to wean himself off of it. Green was on his knees, arms stretched out in front of him with his fingertips digging into the surface of his bed. He was wearing a pair of cat ears on his head, his curls falling forward. His back was arched, and in the foreground of the picture, Green’s bum was high in the air, a long, black cat tail sitting neatly between his cheeks. — Louis spends all his spare time scrolling arty nude blogs on Tumblr but amongst them all, Green is his favourite.

Given a Chance

by Fabby | Future Fic | canon compliant | slow burn | coming back together | anxiety attacks| 173k Five years after One Direction took their last tour, the last thing Louis Tomlinson ever expected to happen while on a tea run at the local Piggly Wiggly was to run into his ex-boyfriend and ex-bandmate Harry Styles. The odds of them ever running into each other again had to be super slim, right? Wrong. What happens when you mix ex-boyfriends with a large serving of Small Town America? Will Louis and Harry be able to set aside their differences, or will Louis be able to stay breezy as fuck in the wake of Harry’s arrival? (or, the one where Louis and Harry run into each other five years after One Direction ends and learn how to love each other again. Featuring: Reggie as the overweight labrador, Niall as Louis’ last grip on reality, and Nowheresville, North Carolina as the setting for Louis’ worst nightmare to come true.)

No sooner loved (series)

by benzos 1| As the winter to foul weather Trans character | mpreg | abortion | hurt/comfort | 45k AU. An unplanned pregnancy throws a spanner into Harry and Louis’ relationship. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. 2| You and you are sure together Trans character | eating disorder | hurt/comfort | 48k AU. The first day of fall term, Louis hits one of his residents in the face with a door. Later that day, said resident seeks refuge after a fight with his roommate. It becomes a thing. And then it becomes something else. 3| Baby, i’m speeding, and red lights are run pwp | 7k Louis really would’ve liked to just order the damn thing off the internet, but Harry insists that anything going inside your body ought to be thoroughly researched, which, apparently, mandates going to a sex shop. Knowing how ludicrously uncomfortable Louis is with the whole thing, Harry devises the ingenious solution of bringing Eleanor along and having her pose as Harry’s girlfriend who’s interested in trying out pegging, with Louis tagging along as a supportive best mate. It’s not Harry’s worst plan to date, but it’s somewhere in that range.

Under me, you

by hazzafrazza | friends to lovers | superheroes | 12 k You Won’t Believe Who Was Spotted Leaving Harry Styles’ Primrose Hill Pad! If Harry was being completely honest, it probably wasn’t the best idea to be a world-renowned popstar and an infamous vigilante. (Especially when all the comic books said never reveal your secret identity to keep your loved ones safe – which was all well and good, until Louis.) Or: Harry wants a lot of things – fame, glory, Louis – but that last one is particularly hard to get when everyone thinks you’re dating your secret superhero alter-ego and suddenly you’ve become your own worst cockblock.

Such Good Luck

by casuallyhl for HL Mpreg Fic Exchange | Historical AU | 1910s | mpreg | secret relationship | class difference | 66k Louis smiles at Harry’s words, leaning into his touch. “Tell me again.” Smiling, Harry takes Louis into his arms. Pressing gentle kisses to his face, Harry murmurs, “In six months’ time, I will have my twenty-fifth birthday. On that day, my portion of the inheritance will become legally mine. And I plan that very day to announce to my family that I have found love.” Harry chuckles as he runs his lips lightly along Louis’ cheekbone. “That, in fact, I found love when I was twenty-one years old, and that I have loved and been loved every day since.” Or, an Edwardian AU where Harry is a young aristocratic lord and Louis is a working class dairy farmer. Secrets are a necessary part of their relationship, but Louis has one that could topple their whole world.

What A Life I’d Have Missed

by harioandlouigi for HL Mpreg Fic Exchange | mpreg | established relationship | 27k It all started with a prank, tears, and guilt. Louis has been pranking Harry since the day they met. Now, seven years later, Harry has finally come up with the perfect plan to prank his husband back. He has a borrowed positive pregnancy test in front of him, he’s perfected his facial expression, and he’s dead sure Louis will fall for it. He doesn’t exactly get the panicked reaction he expected, though. As a matter of fact, nothing ever seems to turn out the way he expects it to, but that’s for the best, really. Or, the one where an insensitive joke soon becomes a very real, happy pregnancy.

Small Doses (Loving You It’s Explosive)

by Anonymous for HL Summer Exchange 2017 | personal trainer Harry | boxing | dom/sub undertones | 38k Louis Tomlinson finds himself at Vitality Fitness to try and turn his life around after having left his cheating boyfriend of four years. The gym’s owner, Liam, quickly becomes a good friend, but his right hand man is rude and dismissive from the get-go. Louis and Harry continue to clash all while Harry is trying to move his way up the ranks in Manchester’s amateur boxing circuit, but they can’t seem to stay away from each other.

Sound Like a Song

by allwaswell16 for HL Fic Fest (2017) | 14k In high school, Louis Tomlinson lit up Harry’s world like nobody else, even if Harry did most of his pining from the safety of his tightly knit circle of friends. Ten years later, Harry is ready to make some changes. He’s tired of having so many regrets and not taking charge of his life, and he still hasn’t forgotten how brightly Louis shines. He’s about to get a long awaited second chance. Or the one where Harry helps out at a farmer’s market and gives Louis free vegetables.

Take Me Back to Where We Started

by amory | exes to lovers | famous/non-famous | 27k Harry and Louis haven’t spoken since they broke up four years ago. As boarding school sweethearts they once spent every waking moment together, but now they can hardly stand to be in the same room. When their five year class reunion comes around, both boys decide against their better judgement to return and (hopefully) have a good time. The only problem is, they’re both still hopelessly in love. Starring Harry as the petty ex, Louis as the new James Bond, Niall as a boy genius and fake boyfriend extraordinaire, and Liam and Zayn as two friends just trying to make it out of this weekend alive.

Tightrope

by Anonymous for HL Mpreg Fic Exchange | mpreg | exes | friends to lovers | 33k Louis knows he and Harry are going to be together for the rest of their lives and one day they were going to get married and have three point five children, a dog, and two cats. But life hasn’t matched up perfectly yet and that time is not now. So they are both happy to be best friends and casually date other people until life decides they really should get their shit together. aka Louis gets pregnant from “one last time” sex and he and Harry somehow think they’ll be able co-parent without it being weird for anyone (most especially their new boyfriends).

Souls; Plural, Parallel

by Anonymous for HL Mpreg Fic Exchange | mpreg | soulmates | 19k Soulmates are rare, the sort of rare that means everyone has a story about a friend’s sister’s coworker or a brother’s roommate’s cousin. But the fact of the matter is that most people never meet theirs. It’s unfortunate then, that Louis finds out the hard way that he met his soulmate in a club, and the guy never texted him back.

Friend Request

by Anonymous for HL Summer Exchange 2017 | 11k This was written for Kassio as a pinch hit for the HL Summer Exchange, from the prompt: “ Louis is bored on Facebook and in the “People you may know” suggestions, he sees the name Harry Styles. The profile picture doesn’t show the person. He thinks it’s an old family friend who he misses – maybe a middle-aged or elderly former neighbor or babysitter who he was fond of as a child - and sends a friend request. Turns out it’s not old man Harry from their old neighborhood, it’s hot young Harry (who he’s never met before) who accepts his friend request…”

If the Surface Begs You Home

by Anonymous for HL Mpreg Fic Exchange | mpreg | mermaid!Harry | 17k Harry is a mermaid from the underwater kingdom of Mercadia who is a little too fascinated by life above the surface. He’s kicked out of his home after he winds up pregnant, and has to figure out how to make his way in the world. Louis is the darling of the small neighbouring seaside village who came home after university to take over their local library, and can’t seem to stay away from the mysterious pregnant mermaid his friends introduce him to.

Out of the blue corner

by fallingaway | boxing | slow burn 85k Louis is a boxer banned because of doping. Harry is a journalist following the story. * * * “It seemed like a normal morning, but he had a feeling it was the quiet before the storm. And by storm, he meant getting involved in Louis Tomlinson’s life.”

T1: Trainspotting, Part 1

Trainspotting was a Euro phenomenon ready to invade America – it smelt like teen spirit but as we all know they who smelt it dealt it.

Trainspotting was a zeitgeist phenom when it premiered in 1996. Flash forward a generation later and the sequel T2: Trainspotting opens locally this weekend. Free Press Houston spoke to director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Shallow Grave) about his newest film. In an effort to merge the past with the present this interview is presented in two parts: the first part is an interview with Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge that was conducted at the now defunct Italian restaurant Mia Bella on Lexington right before the American release in 1996 by your humble scribe. The second part, which will be posted before the end of the week, was conducted by phone in 2017.

Trainspotters have their own clubs, compare notes, and even feel a chill up and down their spine if they should spy, say, a rare steam-driven train. Kind of like Americans on vacation on the interstate, counting cars, dividing them by make and model. The Boy Scouts give away merit badges for that shit.

Trainspotting has become something of a European sensation. The book by Irvine Welsh started the branch of a literary movement. The book spawned a hit play. And now, the movie, directed by Danny Boyle, who impressed audiences with his audacious debut Shallow Grave, makes it to domestic screens after becoming the second-highest grossing native film in England (after the decidedly less daring Four Weddings and A Funeral). Dealing with a gut level portrayal of heroin addiction the film actually has been embraced by real conservatives as their kind of anti-drug film.

The American release, well mapped out by Miramax, as well as a totally involving CD soundtrack that covers the gamut of classic punk to alt rock to techno, house and rave, will not make or break the phenomenon that is Trainspotting. What audiences will discover is an energetic film with a momentum that becomes a nervous energy, staying with you throughout the film.

Hodge and Boyle sat down with me to compare notes, and as the interview progressed it became obvious we’d seen the same great film. “We work very closely together,” said Hodge who adapted the first draft by hand. “We work as equals,” Boyle added. “It’s easier if you’re not tightly bound, so we stay loose,” Boyle said, referring to his editor, camera crew, art designer, costume designer and lead actor, Ewan McGregor. Where Shallow Grave had a plot driven narrative, Trainspotting relies on character arc and vignette-like episodes. “Unlike the book, the film isn’t a kaleidoscope of characters,” Boyle said.

At one point the film had an Altman-esque Short Cuts script that contained interactions by several characters leading to development of and comment on the story. Subsequent cuts before principal photography, and after in the editing room, led to the story of squalid heroin addiction and redemption as seen mainly through the eyes of Mark Renton (McGregor) with his droogs Spud, Sick Boy, Diane and Begbie providing solid counterpoint. Boyle promises that the eventual video release will include cut-sequences, including one in which Sick Boy recites the entire filmography of post-Bond Sean Connery.

Producer Andrew Macdonald is the grandson of writer-producer Emeric Pressburger, associate with Michael Powell on some of Britain’s finest films. Macdonald pushed Boyle to have a stills photographer on set every day. “‘It doesn’t matter if Danny likes him or not, he’s going to be there and take pictures of each scene,’” Boyle said, quoting Macdonald. “Of course, now I’m so grateful. You turn up in Germany and you’ve got these amazing photographs on the brochure. It looks like the way Seven was marketed in Britain: atmospheric, fascinating, textured, something that draws people into the experience of the film.”

With Macdonald’s producer acumen, Hodge’s medical background, and Boyle’s directorial finesse, it’s easy to see why the trio was sitting pretty on the recent sale of domestic rights to their next film A Life Less Ordinary. The story of a man who kidnaps his employer’s daughter (Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz have been signed), A Life Less Ordinary was hotly sought by Polygram, Fox Searchlight, and Miramax. Certainly the trio remembered who brought them to the disco yet managed to please all concerned. Polygram gets certain Euro rights, Fox gets domestic rights, and Miramax has the guys gladly waltzing across the U.S. promoting Trainspotting. A Life Less Ordinary ending up at Fox is also a way of saying thanks to the studio for letting Macdonald and Boyle out of the deal to produce and direct Alien Resurrection. (At one point after the domestic release of Trainspotting, Boyle was attached to the fourth Alien sequel.) “I think that’s entirely reasonable if you take $30 million off some guy you can’t just expect him to fuck himself. You expect the guy to say ‘I don’t want that in my film,’” Boyle said about working for a big studio.

The budget for the Alien 4 franchiser is actually in the $65 to $90 million range, but studio topper Tom Rothman saw Boyle as the person to give the film a new spin. “Despite the fact that the script is a very, very good script – which is one of the things that attracted us to it – we sort of naïvely thought we’d get John involved at some stage and keep our working method intact,” Boyle said. “Directing a film that big is the opposite of the way we work. You have to storyboard a film like that completely before you begin. And the process of working with the actors becomes of minimal importance compared to the other ingredients.

“Partly, we didn’t feel qualified to do it. I can never imagine how someone like Spielberg can entirely storyboard a film beforehand, and completely work off the storyboard, and yet the film is spontaneous and energetic. Certainly for me, the inspiration comes as late as possible.”

Big question: how will American audiences react to Trainspotting’s blatant bathroom humor? Hodge and Boyle laugh if only because many of the sounds from Renton’s encounter with the dirtiest toilet in Scotland came from their encounter with Dumb and Dumber. The English haven’t cornered the market on scatological humor. Boyle explains that junkies “are obsessed with bodily functions; how your body functions, how it doesn’t, how drugs affect your fluids, where you find veins.” While the people in Trainspotting are objectively repulsive, repugnant human beings, Boyle notes, “Your relation with them in cinematic terms is quite seductive.” Boyle had Ewan watch Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange, and Michael Caine in Alfie, also the guys in Goodfellas.

Trainspotting was lensed in Glasgow even though the action’s set in Edinburgh. The first reel of dialogue was re-looped in part to please the distributor’s fear of people not understanding the thick accents, but mostly to re-mix the music closer to the front of the mix. Yeah, well, even British movie-goers have a hard time understanding the accents, Boyle assures. Perhaps, not oddly enough, the more you listen to Trainspotting the more your brain unscrambles the words.

T1: Trainspotting, Part 1 this is a repost