#but i guess this is a good reminder that this is a BOOK-CENTRIC blog!!
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Did Louis ever fear that Lestat might seek retribution for his murder in TVL? Lestat is already such a direct and volatile guy, it doesn't seem unlikely. He already took out his issues with his mother and ex-boyfriend and hostile upbringing on Louis in IWTV, because Louis was an easy, available target. Louis is everything Lestat is not and didn't have.
I know you are probably going to say "no". But the idea of probability is a little skewered for an eternal time limit. And the new fans of the show know some serious psychology to make you believe what is and isn't beyond the realm of possibility.
I mean you’re right, my answer is no for a few reasons lmfao!
Lestat is definitely volatile, there's no doubt about that, but I don't particularly read his actions towards Louis as a way of "taking out" his issues. To me, it always felt almost the opposite— that he saw Louis as his last saving grace, the last person through which he might be redeemed. He failed Nicki, he couldn't keep his mother, but Louis is someone with whom he has a completely clean slate, which of course makes Louis' rejection hurt even more, which when drives Lestat to desperation, which makes him incredibly cruel.
You're totally right that Louis represents everything Lestat never was and can never had, and I'm sure that brought up so much resentment in him!! But it never felt like a malicious target, if that makes sense. The abuse, for Lestat, was about control rather than a rage outlet. It was always about controlling Louis, breaking him down until he has no choice but to accept that Lestat is right, because if he can just get Louis on his side, maybe that means all the bad things he ever did weren't so bad after all.
But ANYWAY on to your actual question— I think first and foremost, Louis did genuinely believe Lestat was dead after their last encounter at the Theatre des Vampires.
This is Louis' description of the very last time he saw Lestat, just moments before he learns of Claudia's murder:
‘Yes…’ [Lestat] whispered now, his hand struggling with the thing he concealed beneath his black cloak. But then he looked at me, and the tears spilled down his face. ‘Louis,’ he said, his voice deep and rich now with what seemed an unbearable struggle. ‘Please, you must listen to me. You must come back….’ And then, bowing his head, he grimaced with shame.
...
“And Lestat sat there with his eyes closed, his face transfigured with his pain. It seemed the double of Lestat, some wounded, feeling creature I’d never known. ‘Please,’ he said, the voice eloquent and gentle as he implored me."
the last interaction they had in canon was fucking heartbreaking!!!!!!! That's not a man seeking retribution, that is a vampire out of his mind with grief, guilt, starvation.
And by the time they finally do reunite in TVL, Louis has seen Lestat's rise to fame. By this point, if Lestat wanted revenge, he had plenty of opportunity to do it. But he chose to focus on his rock career instead. Plus, Louis was the one to come to him for their reunion, not the other way around!
"You let me see you and you let me follow you, " he said. "You drove up and down Divisadero Street looking for me. "
Louis is a smart guy. He knows how to survive. If he ever for a second thought Lestat meant to truly hurt him, he would have kept his distance.
"And the new fans of the show know some serious psychology to make you believe what is and isn't beyond the realm of possibility." LMAO the new fans are also dealing with a physically abusive monster of a character who never showed up in canon so they can have fun with their weird "was it raining" meta nonsense all they want to try and side-step that one. we've been psychoanalyzing these vampires for decades, get in line my dude.
#;answered#SORRY i didn't mean to get heated at the end there#but i guess this is a good reminder that this is a BOOK-CENTRIC blog!!#louis de pointe du lac#lestat de lioncourt
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Read Along: For Women Only: The Performance of a Lifetime
Subtitle: Why Your Mr. Smooth Looks so Impressive but Feels like an Imposter
My Mr. Smooth is currently doing all the household chores including my share today so I can have a relaxing Mother's Day sitting in my pjs, drinking coffee, and writing snarky blog posts. I'm not too worried about him because he is impressive, but let's get to the chapter so I can learn more about all the ways I can harm my marriage in this chapter.
So, this chapter looks like it's going to be all about what is more commonly called imposter syndrome. Which studies have shown is actually a bit more prevalent in women but yes of course men experience it too. Let's just be clear though it's not a man-centric problem.
The first part of this chapter just describes fairly normal types of imposter syndrome that men might face at work. This is normal. Women experience it constantly in the workplace. A good relationship should help anyone stay grounded and be reminded of their value. The key to working through imposter syndrome is not being propped up and told you are good though, it's the self work of learning to affirm what you are good at, acknowledge where your weaknesses are, and realize that everyone is human and figuring it out just like you.
Feldman then quotes a man that wrote her and told her that some men might withdraw an active role in his family if he thinks his wife challenges his decisions or is displeased with him. I often think that men in particular discount the weight that is placed on women constantly in these types of books that if they don't keep their husbands happy that their husbands will leave them or cheat on them.
FYI: Imposter syndrome is someone not recognizing their actual strengths and capacities. It's not the same as someone being held accountable for actually not fulfilling their roles or responsibilities.
So what do we do, ladies, so our husbands don't leave us?
"Affirmation is everything" This is where we take a little roadtrip over to Proverbs and visit the seductress woman who is temping the young man with flattery. Ladies, your husband is supposed to be getting that flattery at home and if not, well, you get the drift of where he might go for it, and it will be your fault (queue in a circle of red caped women pointing at you).
Oh wait, sorry, correction, at home it's "affirmation" not "flattery". Not really sure the difference since Feldman has made it clear over and over that you pretty much just affirm whether it's based on reality or not.
There is actually a sub-title in this chapter "He'll seek affirmation somewhere" just in case you think my summary is exaggeration.
And three whole paragraphs on giving "supportive sex". I'm guessing we will more clearly learn that our husbands will cheat on us if they don't get enough "supportive sex" but I'm guessing that will be most clearly explained in the sex chapter.
We end the chapter with learning that "we can give our husbands confidence". Again, there is plenty of good stuff here if you would just remove the he's going to leave you messaging, broaden it out to be something that we all need versus a man thing, and also recognize that it's not just about affirming someone but encouraging them to be the best version of themselves. Sometimes that might include helping them address weaknesses too.
And that's chapter 3!
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Hi!
I saw your contribution to the "unpopular opinions on whump" and can I just say that I agree so much omg?? Like the whumpee default always being by default male and white (I guess you could add light-skinned Asian) is something that I noticed too.
The irony is, I actually avoid reading the so-called femwhump, because it makes me a bit uncomfortable. Sex-based oppression, especially in the Middle East, medical misognyny and AFAB people making up the majority of victims/survivors of trafficking, class oppression and domestic violence is a harsh reality that femwhump reminds me of. I am also a bit uncomfortable with featuring a dark-skinned character in certain types of whump too, for OBVIOUS reasons - because it is still a lived reality.
But sometimes you just want to imagine your (not /always/ light-skinned) WLW or NB4A OTP or BroTP caring for each other when one has a fever, or talks about a traumatic childhood event or deep s**cidal ideation, or just falls off their bike, like a wholesome whump lite, so the white cismale default is a bit tiring
YES! also to my followers who have no idea i'm part of the whump community because i never post about it ever, hi welcome i like pain, this post got long so it's under a cut now
i totally get why people are more willing to default to "white man" whump when it comes to the more graphic and violent stuff because they fear either coming across as bigoted (especially if they're a less experienced writer) or they just personally don't want to think about racial violence & violence toward women; i won't fault the second reason and the first reason is just a matter of gaining experience until you feel like you can handle it without any implications.
so that's all basically fine in my book. but then like... when i'm scrolling and i see a generic character-A-character-B type sickfic prompt (and i love sickfic), there's no reason for the post to use he/him for the generic whumpee, and people really need to watch out for when they describe something in a manner that only works for light-skinned people; my default character in generic prompts happens to be an afro-asian dude whose skin straight up Can't do a lot of things in prompts the way they're described. i don't care what kind of whump other people write, but when a prompt blog fails to account for what i feel should be a pretty well-known fact (dark skinned people exist), it's immersion breaking and disappointing.
that theoretical blogger can write whatever they want when it comes to their own fiction, but maybe don't say "prompt" if it's not broadly applicable. i can't demand that prompt blogs account for the breadth of human creativity and make it so nothing in the prompt could contradict anyone's character design, that would be impossible. i just think people should be more mindful of what they write, especially since everyone here knows different skin colors exist.
hrngh long rant. tl;dr i get why violent whump would shy away from anyone but "white man" but all other forms of whump have no good reason to be as white dude-centric, and prompt blogs need to be more conscious of how they write their generic prompts
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Wasnt gonna submit a kakashi cause i figured youd get a bunch already like ur tags said lol. So if someone else hasnt already suggested him then kakashi for that ask thing :^]
hehehehe!!!!
answers under the cut!
favorite thing about them —there's a lot to love abt kakashi if i'm gonna be honest, but the biggest thing for me is that he DOES care for these kids immensely. he drops by naruto's apartment to give him vegetables, he constantly puts himself in danger to protect the kids, on a couple of occasions he straight up ignores + disrespects the hokage just to listen to naruto ramble about ramen. similarly with yamato—even when sai joins the team, kakashi does make a point of telling sai he's a member of the team, not just Yamato's responsibility, but Kakashi's too...like. he's not great with kids at all. but my god does he try!
least favorite thing about them — 100% the convo with sasuke before sasuke booked it. he fucked that up so royally that i just know the rest of his life he's going to be laying awake in his bed thinking "why did i say that? why did i say any of that? why was my first instinct in that situation to belittle sasuke? Who let me be in charge of children. why did i let myself be put in charge of children." like. it makes sense for him, he really has no children skills, but also im not going to lie thinking about that scene makes me insane. i want to attack kakashi. good god dude, you could've called gai in!! or tenzō!!! why did you say there was nobody in your life who mattered to you. why did you say that to this kid, who like it or not, looks up to you both as a teacher and as the only person left with any attatchment to the uchiha clan + the sharingan, who isn't his murderous brother. i genuinely have to think that he forgot that kids want to be understood, and was just straight up dealing with sasuke as he might a rogue soldier.
i'm so. ugh. kakashi...
favorite line
— "In the Ninja World, those who break the rules are scum, that's true...but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."
its really good for not only understanding kakashi but also the central theme of naruto, but mostly i picked it as my favorite because i remind kate of this when we're playing fortnite + laugh like a hyena afterward.
brOTP —okay so. Gai is canonically Kakashi's best friend and i love that so much and respect that and as far as Kakashi is concerned, that is the absolute brotp. If you like Kakashi I think you have to respect this immensely. Gai is without a doubt the most important relationship that Kakashi has!!! they better each other in all ways and they have an undying and complicated friendship built up over decades with trust and dedication.
but also.
this is transparently a Yamato-centric blog, and Kakashi is 100% Yamato's favorite person, so Yamato and Kakashi's friendship is the most important to me personally, even if Yamato is not Kakashi's best friend.
OTP —i'm not a huge ship person, but if i had to pick one it would be kakayamagai
nOTP —ehhh?? i'm not a huge ship person. kakaobi puts me on edge a bit i guess? really not my thing.
random headcanon
— i think his grandmother on sakumo's side was an inuzuka. because of this, after sakumo died, a handful of the inuzuka clan were very adamant that kakashi, by right, should belong to the inuzuka clan as next of kin.
kakashi, five years old and freshly traumatized, now the only surviving member of the hatake clan AND incredibly wary of bonds and friendships because he's seen whats happened to sakumo, contested this. they actually got in a legal dispute in front of the hokage. fucking five year old kakashi dully but determinedly saying he's Not going to be an inuzuka, and the inuzuka clan (represented by a headstrong teenage tsume) going "what's is wrong with this ungrateful kid! not every orphan gets this kind of opportunity!"
eventually hiruzen sided with kakashi, because hiruzen is morally bankrupt and doesn't care if children raise themselves.
once kakashi becomes the 6th hokage, he's subject to occasional visits from tsume where she comes to bully him about visiting the inuzuka compound (under threat of inuzuka clan rebellion without. Peace Talks. over dumplings that kiba's been trying to perfect), and telling him how nice it is to have an inuzuka beneath the hat, and he's just like. ma'am...please...have mercy...
unpopular opinion
— i think he would look soooo bad in a suit. he would not look suave or sexy. he could make like the fanciest most well made three piece suit look like a tracksuit he pulled out of the laundry before it went thru the wash. and like. he would! he would delight in that! if you forced this man into a suit, he would purchase one at least two sizes too large for him and hed slump around in it.
he has the hair of a half dried paintbrush, the posture of a puppet with its strings cut, and the general vibe of a dog with a tail between its legs.
not to say that can't be attractive to u if ur into that. its just. u know. he's not going to be james bond if you put him in a suit, u feel me?
he's going to look like a temp who is going to get let go from his accounting firm for making all the cups of coffee from the same keurig pod not realizing that after the first one its just vaguely coffee flavored water, and also for not knowing how to save a file. He probably would know how to save a file but just pretended he didn't to get on somebody's nerves
song i associate with them
— Why Can't This Be Easy by Red Vox
So tell me, tell me
Why can't this be easy?
I've heard it once
I've heard it all before
So settle down
Relax yourself, completely
You can't get down if you're always in control
Here out so far
It's a long way
Long way back
I've never been so far before
favorite picture of them
this one legitimately makes me rlly happy bc like. the original context was funny enough, but since trans naruto tumblr has had fun with it in regard to passing, its SO funny to me!
you pass. 💛
#saturnsexual#towardbetterthings#yamswers#kakashi#he doesnt wear socks in his dress shoes either. shame him
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Wayfaring Stranger
by friight
“I’ve never heard of that. What is it? A book?” Wilbur asked.
“No, god no. You’d never catch me reading a book.” Puffy laughed and shook her head. “It’s an American movie from the 1950s. I think it’s a musical in technical terms. There were some problems with the movie itself, but a popular song came from it that just. . .I guess it just reminded me of this.”
He looked up beyond the brim of the umbrella at the gloomy clouds. “Must’ve been a pretty sad movie.”
“Some parts.” She agreed, lifting her free hand into the wall of water. “But that’s what makes it exciting, you can’t be happy all the time. If everything is happy then nothing is happy, so you lose that good feeling whenever you get it.”
Or: Wilbur travels across a post-apocalyptic Europe in attempt to find his little brother, Tommy. Risk, empowerment, and grief coils alongside his journey as he navigates through lines that were civil just a generation before. He travels, and with that, he learns what exactly it means to be a survivor.
Words: 11669, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Categories: Gen
Characters: Wilbur Soot, TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Cara | CaptainPuffy, Niki | Nihachu, Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo, Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs, Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Kristin Rosales Watson, Alexis | Quackity, Liam | HBomb94, mentioned shubble
Relationships: Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot, Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, Cara | CaptainPuffy & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot, Ranboo & Wilbur Soot, Wilbur Soot & Kristin Rosales Watson, Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Jschlatt & Niki | Nihachu, Kristin Rosales Watson/Phil Watson, Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, feeding my The Walking Dead fixation, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, as per usual with my fics, Wilbur Soot-centric, Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Phil Watson is Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit's Parent, Wilbur Soot Has an Anxiety Disorder, author has an anxiety disorder, naive wilbur -> badass wilbur with issues character development, Wilbur Soot Has Daddy Issues, that's a tag lmao?, BAMF Niki | Nihachu, Protective Niki | Nihachu, BAMF Toby Smith | Tubbo, Toby Smith | Tubbo Has Trust Issues, BAMF Cara | CaptainPuffy, Cara | CaptainPuffy Needs a Hug, Protective Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Bad Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), <- i guess that's up to you to decide, Emotional Baggage, Grief/Mourning, Crimeboys - Freeform, Radio Communication, shoutout to all my avid johnny cash listeners, researched country culture through native friends, the situations that some characters are put in DO NOT reflect my opinion of them in real life, these are characters., Medical Procedures, Medical Inaccuracies, Implied/Referenced Character Death, <- characters WILL die. dire consequences WILL happen., Implied/Referenced Suicide, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author Is Not Religious, Author plays guitar, author is american, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, other characters to be added - Freeform
source https://archiveofourown.org/works/37368358
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11 Questions
Rules: answer the 11 questions posed by the person who tagged you, then write 11 questions & tag 11 people to answer them.
OOF this took me a long time to finally do ahahaha
Hallooooo !! now I know this is very far from the kind of things i post on Tumblr but my friend @readmancy tagged me and I genuinely enjoy being tagged in stuff so here ya go !!
Questions for me !!
1. When are your most productive hours of the day?
Tbh I’m very inclined to say I have no productive hours of the day because I’m usually always procrastinating AHAHAHAHA but uhhh for weekdays I’d have to say 6-10 PM (or 4 AM when I occasionally have to cram something) and for weekends 11 AM-4 PM
2. What’s something about yourself that you really like and/or are really proud of?
Not gonna lie, I actually had to think about this question for a while. . .
I guess I’d have to say my emotions and my ability to convey them? Usually I really hate it when I get emotional, but I found that when I’m acting (which I find so much fun to do) being really emotional is an absolute must so that makes me kinda good at it !! Also occasionally my singing voice on really good days
3. What tips would you give to someone who has to stay up really late for school-related projects but doesn’t drink coffee?
I actually fall under this category since coffee does not work on me lmao
Here’s the stuff that I usually do (I hope some of them work out for other people out there !!)
Splash some really cold water on your face (sometimes I literally just dab ice on my face ahahaha)
(If you don’t get easily distracted) play some really loud music, TV show, or YouTube video in the background
Eat some chocolate or some other form of sugar
Take a five minute break to do some jumping jacks or do some really energetic dancing
Motivate yourself using fandoms !! (Ex. “If I finish my math hw right now, I bet Pidge would be really proud of me.” • “If Hamilton could write the other 51, I can write the last three pages of this research paper !!”)
Drink lots of water
Take 10-15 minute naps after completing a certain amount of work (BUT MAKE SURE TO GET BACK UP AGAIN)
4. What do you listen to when you study?
I listen to this playlist I made that consists of instrumental songs/piano covers (so I don’t get too distracted while studying ahaha). It contains songs from Waitress the Musical, Your Lie in April, Doki Doki Literature Club, Yuri On Ice, Angel Beats, Anohana, Undertale, Dodie Clark, and Liana Flores !!
5. What are you like when you have a serious crush on someone?
OOF I am a total mess omg
I can’t speak when I’m near them (or end up saying something really stupid in a futile attempt to impress them), I freak out over every little thing they say or do to me and spend up to weeks overthinking and over analyzing it, i daydream A LOT, I write about them A LOT A LOT, I plan to low key give them things or do something to express my attraction towards them but in a super subtle way but I usually just end up chickening out, I talk about them to all my friends (and apparently if I really like them enough I start blushing like crazy)
So uuhhhh yea,,,,
6. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever done to you?
So many people have done so many nice things to me that I really wouldn’t be able to determine the nicest thing ever.
But the one that immediately came to mind when I read this question was this one time my best friend helped me out when my house almost burned down on my birthday. I was a complete mess and I couldn’t stop crying because my house might burn down and on my special day no less. My best friend’s mom came over to me and asked if I wanted to stay over at their house first (since we were neighbors back then). At their house, they ordered pizza in honor of my birthday and we watched movies and played and joked around a lot. My best friend and her whole family made me feel so much better and they genuinely made me forget about all the stress I was feeling at that time :))
(Also if anyone’s curious, my house didn’t actually get burned down BUT it was very close to)
7. Why did you join Tumblr and is it still the same reason you’re still here?
Well,,, I joined Tumblr because I wanted to find a place where I could find people who had the same interests and fandoms as me !! I also really wanted to see some really cool fan art and read some amazing head canons and fanfics. Oh and a lot of my friends had Tumblr and I was just really curious about what all the hype was about.
It’s still the same reason, although my blog has become ahmm way more Voltron & Plance-centric that I intended it to be AHAHAHAHAHA
8. What’s your favorite soda?
Hmm I’d have to say either Coke or Royal
9. What makes you weird?
Uhhhhh,,, I used to think I was a really weird person but then I interacted with people on the internet and I realized what I thought was weird about me wasn’t actually that weird or that some people were way way way weirder (and I generally mean weird in a really nice way !!) so um idk if any of these things are really that weird:
I am allergic to dogs but I own one and I will absolutely pet yours and hang out with them even if that means that my allergies will attempt to kill me later on
No matter what is happening, I will leave a room if someone mentions “mangoes” or “Havana” starts playing
No matter the context, I will start laughing so loud if anyone says “watermelon” or says “You’re cute, but you’re not my type”
When I find something really really really funny, I start crying
I talk to myself A LOT and I’m pretty sure people question my sanity because of that
I feel really bad about calling anything “it” *cough* because of DBH *cough* also I apologize to inanimate objects profusely when I hit into them
I get really triggered by colors ((I blame Voltron for this one))
10. Where do you like staying that’s all yours?
I guess I’d have to say my room. I don’t really have any other place that’s completely mine. It’s cozy and is one of the only places where I can genuinely be alone in my house.
11. How many things do you know how to ride?
Um,, cars, trains, and jeepneys so three things (yesh, Idk how to ride a bike,,, embarrassing, I know)
Questions for you !!
1. What’s your favorite book quote ?
2. Stargazing or cloud gazing ?
3. Sunrise or sunset ?
4. What’s an object that reminds you of home ?
5. What’s your opinion on handwritten notes ?
6. Who are the people that inspire you the most ?
7. What‘s the funniest/most creative ship name you’ve ever heard ?
8. Song that you will always dance/sing along to, no matter what ?
9. Hobby that you’ve never tried, but really really want to?
10. Would you rather swim in the ocean or in a freshwater river/lake ?
11. If you could live in one fictional universe, which one would you pick ?
Tag, you’re it
((Oof i don’t know enough people to tag 11 people ahahahaha))
@starsofaurora
@neutraladvocate
@misoan
@cxmp-14
@sirkookiekat
@ anyone who sees this and wants to do this, you’re very much welcome to do this !! <3
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I feel like I haven't as active lately, although I guess that's a matter of perspective. Work's had me busier than normal, and my sleep schedule's all fouled up from that. Right now my goal is to spend all day writing, and since there's no new episode of Dragon Ball Super to talk about, I'm gonna discuss the four Star Wars novels I re-read.
I'm a big fan of the Sith. My favorite characters in the Star Wars movies are all Sith Lords, followed by Luke, Chewbacca, Lobot, and Wat Tambor. None of that Dark Jedi crap, or whatever Kylo Ren is supposed to be. I get genuinely irritated whenever I see Sith fanart that includes Asajj Ventress, because even though I like Ventress, but she's no Sith and she never will be.
Consequently, I never had any use for the "Star Wars Expanded Universe" unless it delved into Sith lore. This didn't happen a lot, since the Sith were key players in the movies, and there were stricter editorial controls on how they could be used in the books, comics, cartoons, edible underwear, etc. The Sith would appear in a lot of other media works, but generally they didn't introduce a lot of backstory like the Prequel Trilogy did.
Fortunately, they did publish some novels in the late 2000's that scratched my itch. The Darth Bane trilogy expanded on the life of a Sith Lord mentioned very briefly in the novelization of "The Phantom Menace". In the movie, the Jedi Council initially believe "the Sith have been extinct for a millennium". When they learn otherwise, Yoda notes that there are always two Sith at a time, "no more, no less". The novelization connects these two ideas by establishing that there were once many Sith Lords in the galaxy, until a visionary named Darth Bane reformed the order by establishing the "Rule of Two". While the rest of the Sith were driven to "extinction", Bane and his apprentice, Darth Zannah, continued their order in secret, and the Sith in the movies are the inheritors of their efforts.
For a lot of years, this was all anyone really knew about Darth Bane. In 2001, there was a short story entitled "Bane of the Sith", and Dark Horse Comics published a miniseries entitled "Jedi vs. Sith", which depicted the climactic battle that saw the destruction of the old Sith order. Darth Bane was a minor player in the story. He stayed out of the fighting mostly because he had no respect for the Sith leaders, and so while they were all getting killed in the final act, he was recruiting a child to join his new order. Mostly, though, these stories simply illustrated the same basic points made in the Phantom Menace novel.
Published in 2006, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction went further than that by assembling these stories into a Bane-centric story. The author, Drew Karpyshyn, detailed the entire early life of the character, from his early adulthood as a miner, to a brief career as a sergeant in the Sith's army, to his training in the Sith Academy on Korriban, to his disillusionment with the Sith status quo. While the events of "Jedi vs. Sith" are used in the novel, Karpyshyn added the twist that Bane was secretly engineering the Sith defeat.
It's a really good read, because it does a great job establishing an anti-hero as a protagonist. Bane is one evil dude, but he also has a refreshing sincerity and pragmatism about him. He's grateful for the opportunity to learn at the Sith Academy, but when he realizes the Order's shortcomings, he refuses to compromise. His colleagues think he's wasting his time consulting old scrolls written by the ancient Sith Masters, but if you've watched the movies, you know Bane's way works, at least for a thousand years longer than the system he replaced. As cruel and malicious as Bane is, you can still root for him as a man with a vision. His opponents can't see past the ends of their noses, and that makes them more frustrating than the atrocities they commit on the battlefield.
The two sequels, Rule of Two and Dynasty of Evil, mostly focus on Bane as he pioneers his new order. He trains Zannah to be his apprentice, works to accumulate as many old Sith records as possible, and tries to become as powerful as he can while Zannah tries to decide when and how to kill him and take over. Re-reading these, I realized they weren't quite as good as they were the first time, mainly because Darth Zannah doesn't have a whole lot going on. She basically agrees with all of Bane's teachings, so there's not as much conflict between them as there was between Bane and his teachers. When I finished the last book, I really wanted a sequel about Darth Zannah or her eventual successor, Darth Cognus, but now I'm not so sure it would have been worth the trouble. Bane had a messianic quality about him because he altered the course of history. He changed the game, while Zannah and Cognus were just following the trail he had already blazed for them.
This sort of brings me to the fouth book I read, Darth Plagueis by James Luceno. Published in 2012, Plagueis was sort of a spiritual successor to the Bane trilogy, as it also attempts to expand lore introduced in the Prequel Trilogy. This time, the story focuses on the "Sith legend" Palpatine shared with Anakin in Episode III. In the movie, Plagueis was used as a way to suggest that the Sith possessed the means for Anakin to save his wife from dying, and Palpatine deliberately crafts the tale to imply that Plagueis was a somewhat decent fellow who only used his dark side power to protect "the ones he cared about".
The book exposes that idea as a distortion of the truth. The only things Darth Plagueis "cares about" in the novel is himself, and his menagerie of test subjects used for his bizarre experiments. This doesn't come as much of a surprise, since Palpatine always twists the truth to suit his purposes. Besides, Darth Plagueis wouldn't be much of a Sith Lord if he didn't put himself ahead of the rest of the universe. The problem is that it's not enough to build a novel around. The key aspect of Darth Vader, for example, is that he really was a tragic, conflicted villain. He really did get into the Sith game because he had loved ones he wanted to protect, and he was brought down by this noble quality. It's that extra complexity that allows Vader to star in six whole movies.
Plagueis--at least the version provided by Luceno--has no such redeeming quality. He's just an asshole who doesn't want to die, which isn't particularly innovative as motivations go. Several other Sith Lords in the Expanded Universe pursued the same goal. The only hook to Plagueis is that he might have actually succeeded, except we already know he didn't succeed because Palpatine told Anakin that he was killed by his apprentice. So most of the book feels like an exercise in futility. Plagueis spends the entire book working on plans and projects which will be abandoned or perfected by his more charismatic sucessors. In the end, he manages to survive all the way into the events of "The Phantom Menace", which is a pretty brazen retcon, but it serves to demonstrate how he's outlived his usefulness. Even if he can cheat death, he no longer has a place among the living. He's reduced to a bit player in his own story, but Plagueis himself never really catches on to this, and it's kind of dull watching him meander through the second half of the book without a clue.
I struggled with this book the first time I read it, because Luceno seemed determined to namedrop every fictional name, place, species, or event that he could cram into the story. It sort of suits the concept of the Sith as clandestine power brokers with a hand in everything that happens, but the Sith in the movies never had to go to such lengths to get that idea across. The second read-through just confirmed my original complaint. Much of the book is an extended callback to other, unrelated EU stories. If Darth Maul hurts his arm in a comic book, you better believe Luceno mentions it in the Darth Plagueis novel, even though it has nothing to do with the plot.
The reason I'm discussing all of this on a Dragon Ball blog is because when I re-read these books, it reminded me just how much of an influence they had over the fanfic I've been writing for the past couple of years. Like the Bane and Plagueis novels, I'm trying to expand a handful of lines from one episode of DBZ into a fully realized character. In particular, I always took some cues from the way Darth Bane was a forgotten figure from a thousand years ago, but he still managed to leave a lasting legacy. And I liked how Bane was a transformative figure to the Sith, but his peers rejected him as a heretic and a fool. It nicely mirrors the way the Jedi of the prequel era failed to recognize what they were dealing with in Anakin Skywalker.
Both orders sort of adopted this mediocratic system. The Sith of Bane's early years were basically warlords, fixated on glory and honor more than the underlying principle of the dark side of the Force. They thought having lots of Sith Lords working together made them stronger, but it only encouraged individual weakness. They embraced passions, but without any overriding sense of purpose. So they'd kill and conquer and make love but they weren't really fufilling their true goals. The Jedi of Anakin Skywalker's career were obsessed with micromanaging the Force. They'd take custody of Force-sensitive beings at birth, forbid any and all attachment to the physical world, and basically do whatever they could to suppress emotionalism. This was all meant to prevent any resurgence of dark side practitioners, except this only exacerbated the problem. The Jedi never wiped out the Sith to begin with, so trying to prevent a revival of their kind was pointless. The sterile, unfeeling nature of their order probably did more harm than good.
In the same vein, I've been trying to establish the Ancient Super Saiyans as similarly transformative figures, since Goku was clearly a repudiation of all the Saiyan culture Raditz boasted about when the Saiyan race was first introduced. Like the Jedi, the Saiyans tested their people's potential from birth, and showed little tolerance for dissent or new ideas. Like the ancient Sith, the Saiyans were constantly undermining their own efforts with their infighting. A strong leader could force them to work together, but only up to a certain point. More critically, that strong leader couldn't risk letting anyone else rising to his level, which means that his political survival would necessarily be at odds with the natural evolution of his people.
I haven't really delved into this in my story yet, but I'm getting closer to it, which I guess is why I'm trying to get the idea sorted out in my head. What I've been driving at this whole time is to establish a Super Saiyan who's clearly beyond her people, but they're too stuck in their ways to appreciate it. Lord Kaan was skeptical and somewhat afraid of Darth Bane, but he couldn't really get rid of him either. Mace Windu didn't trust Anakin Skywalker, but he couldn't really do anything about it.
And that may be what's been holding me back with Luffa's conflict with the Saiyans. I need them to be able to do something about her, but that flies in the face of the analogy I've just drawn. Unlike Darth Bane, Luffa has to fizzle out, and get lost in the dustbin of history. Whatever she's trying to sell to the Saiyan people, it won't get accepted until Goku brings it back a thousand years later.
On second thought, that isn't so unlike Darth Bane after all. Something that stuck with me on my second reading was the opening scene of the Path of Destruction. Before Bane joined the Sith, he was a cortosis miner basically living out the lyrics to "Sixteen Tons". To offset his enormous debt, he would try to hustle people at card games, using his nascent Force powers to manipulate their emotions. In the book, this backfires, because he manages to win a large pot one night, but he inadvertently drives one of his opponents into a murderous rage. Bane has to kill him in self-defense, and since the dead man was in the Republic Navy, he's forced to leave the planet and join the Sith military to avoid arrest.
So while Bane had the skill and patience to win the game, he never got to collect his prize. Even if he had collected, the money would have just gone to his creditors, so it would have made no difference. At first, it seems like his joining the Sith is a sign of success and greatness, but it really isn't, at least not for him personally. Bane founded a Sith Order that went on to take over the galaxy, but Bane himself never lived to see it. For all the work he put into it, he still ended up dying on some backwater planet, which would have been his fate if he had stayed in the mines. Similarly, Darth Plagueis was trying to bend fate to his will, only for fate to bend back in turn. Even if he had accepted his obsolesence, he would have been no better off.
I suppose this is the point to being an idealist. None of these characters were planning to enjoy a peaceful retirement. They weren't even trying to accomplish great things in their lifetime. They were just following their beliefs as far as they could possibly go with them. The final outcome was irrelevant.
#/#//#///#////#/////#writing#luffa#star wars#this feels like something i should be posting to livejournal but i ain't goin' back#i figure if you stuck with the blog for six months of jojo you can handle a little star wars eu commentary#join us next week as i discuss the intracacies of early 1980's happy meal ads#no i'm kidding#or am i?#you never can tell
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Do you have any favorite fics?
This is going to be long.
Disclaimer - I often hunt fic purely to look for smut, I have a short attention span and it’s hard for me to commit to an actual lengthy story and follow through to it. This will also span several fandoms because I am vast and contain multitudes like the rest of us.
There’s a zillion short smut fics in my favorites - Kastle (which I only half ship but greatly appreciate), Negan (y’all already know Cunninglinguist or @hannibalssweaters is hands-down the best for Negan insert-fic), some Skyrim (I know, whatever), John Winchester (my personal kinks usually revolve around this motherfucker, so help me). A lot of American Gods now too, mostly smutty things revolving around Mad Sweeney.
I’m not going to go into the smut-only pieces for now as that’d be a whole ‘nother question to answer, but here’s some that are plot-y foremost and any sexiness is incidental.
For shorter pieces -
The Beginning & The End are two short pieces by insulpherblue (MCU, Iron Man comics) and are probably two of the most original pieces on AO3. The concept can be hard to follow at first but if you love Tony like I do - or even if you’re just sick of people getting his character wrong - go read them. They’ll stick in your brain.
Served Faithfully by Zooey Glass (Supernatural) is a John Winchester song fic set around one of my favorite Ani DiFranco songs - ironically, months before I found this fic, I sent the song to my wife and said “wow, this really reminds me of John Winchester.” Apparently I wasn’t alone.
In The Middle of The Night by unourssongeur (MCU) is my vanity entry since it’s a response to my short Stucky piece Our Love Comes Back, but I loved seeing it mirrored back from Bucky’s perspective.
It’s Called Google Translate by Mozzarella (Iron Man comics) is ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES ON AO3, EVER, AT ALL. It’s an extremely rare pairing from the Matt Fraction run of Invincible Iron Man that broke my fucking heart and STILL haunts me to this day - the piece is sweet but man, if you know the story behind it…
Judas by MumblingSage (Constantine) is a really sharp, smart BDSM fic based on the Constantine TV show (my wife is a giant JC fangirl) and centering John and an asexual Anne-Marie. The sex drives the plot here but the character exploration here is priceless - this immediately became my canon vision of Anne-Marie.
For longer pieces -
we did not make ourselves by MLeigh (MCU) is probably the first fic I read on AO3 - I was a late bloomer on the site and had more or less sworn off fanfic for a hot minute but this was the one that made me make an account. It’s dizzyingly good Stucky, probably one of the best known Stucky fics if I had to hazard a guess, and it should be required reading if that’s your bag.
Better Natures by etirabys (Punisher, Daredevil) is really, really incredible. It kept my incredibly shitty attention span on lock the entire time with it’s incredibly subtle but beautiful S/D dynamic between Frank and Karen while simultaneously giving me zombie apocalypse to boot. It’s a really gorgeous piece, you have to read it to really understand it but I definitely recommend it.
Hell On Wheels by LastAmericanMermaid (MCU, Avengers) is the roller derby AU Stucky fic you didn’t know you needed - it’s adorable and fun, and I love their characterization of Natasha.
All The Kingdoms and Their Splendour by TigerDragon (Sherlock, novels and Downey films) is hands down one of the best OC insert fics I’ve ever read in my life. It’s SACD and Downey Film Sherlock-verse - full disclosure, I’ve never seen BBC Sherlock and I doubtfully ever will but I loooove the Downey films - and it’s written in period appropriate prose the way the original novels are narrated, which is a risky gamble for a writer but they pull it off magnificently. It’s got a great build and a gorgeous, perfect ending that had me quite literally smiling when I finished it.
Conversations We Didn’t Have In Skyrim by wshaffer (Skyrim) is one of my favorites even though it’s a big niche piece. Basically I fill in all the open holes in the stories for my Skyrim characters with conversations, exchanges, etc and I was SO thrilled to see that not only did someone else did this but she wrote them all out. I can’t imagine that a lot of people would find my OC’s all that compelling in an open-world video game but goddammit this seems like it would be really, really fun - I loved reading about her Breton’s love affair with Farkas.
The Darcy, Loki and the Yarn Store series by Hermaline75 (MCU) is probably the only multi-part series that I’ve ever just sat down and powered the entire way through - it was so perfect that all the author would need to do is change a few names and this book would absolutely sell. It is smutty but plot-driven - I’d be lying if I said the Salacious Saga didn’t have influences from this story all over it. If I’d picked this story up at a bookstore, I’d have bought it. GREAT pacing, funny and clever and sweet, it’s Darcy-centric and super inclusive.
A Rat’s Life by bardsmaid is widely considered /the/ ultimate Krycek fic (X Files). It’s a detailed, well-planned account of his life offscreen, which is hard to pull off since half of Krycek’s allure is that we know so little about him and it’s dangerous to toy with the foundation of a character sometimes, but this is expertly crafted. Sadly, bardsmaid passed away a few years ago, but her blog and writings remain up and no one has surpassed her in terms of Krycek-centric fic.
I will forever mourn that Kept by becisvolatile (MCU) seems to be completely inactive now - last update was like 2 years ago, but the 5 chapters we got were so, so good. This is straight up smut so I’m violating my rule here, but the characterizations are deep and abiding and there’s so much more to the story than just the white-hot, explicit as hell sex scenes. I love Tony Stark both to play with and read but I so often hate the way people portray his character. This is one of my favorite Tony’s, hands down.
You’ll Probably Go To Heaven by ILookDaftWithOneShoe (MCU) is fucked. up. You get a lot of psychological warfare in a deeply unhealthy, abusive and monstrous Loki and Tony fic (not at all a pairing I’ve ever once given a shit about until this story) but it’s gripping and addictive. Also I only just recently figured out the title was a Scissor Sisters reference.
There were a few others that I can’t find hosted anywhere but suffice to say, when a story haunts you long after you’re done reading it, you’ve found a good one.
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Father’s Day Thoughts
Thought I would post this blog in honor of Father's Day- it is a bit long, but a Top 10 list on things that can help you do something interesting to shake your life up in a good way- especially if you are a dad trying to keep up with kids who growing and getting smarter at an alarming rate. Hope you will enjoy...
Since the moment I let people know I was doing Haymakers for Hope and since the conclusion of the journey, I have gotten a lot of comments from people that are usually either “I would love to do something like that”, or “I could never do something like that”. I have a few thoughts to share that focus on taking on a big challenge and getting out of your routine and comfort zone. Whatever “something like that” is for you- it could be open mic comedy or climbing a mountain, the point is that you should do it and you (almost) definitely can do it.
Here are my thoughts, Top-10 style, on some of the critical things to taking on a new big thing, which are by no means an exhaustive or definitive list- they just stood out to me when reflecting on my journey on the things that made my experience so worthwhile. My thoughts are pretty centric to a parent of young kids- really to being a dad (I feel like taking on a big challenge for a mom is just item #87 on her to-do list that she crushes without much fanfare…), but hopefully anyone can glean some insights and, hopefully, will pursue something big.
0. Take Control of Your Health. This is #0 because, as the saying goes, you have nothing without your health. True saying. For me it was a laundry list of issues from my weight, aches and pains, fatigue.. . Once I took proactive steps to identify issues, and removed plausible deniability on certain culprits, it made all the difference. I knew the issues and the solutions- at that point addressing them was either a priority for me or it was not. Everything was very interconnected, more than I ever could have guessed, and resolving/improving the issues put me in the position to consider taking on a challenge. This is not applicable only for a big, physical challenge either- anything that takes a significant time commitment, and is out of your comfort zone, takes mental and physical resources. You need to be sleeping better and thinking more clearly, at a minimum, to add big items to your life. So whatever issue may be holding you back, take this step. If you take this step and do nothing else, then you are way ahead of the game.
1. Make Sure You Have Support. If you are taking on a big challenge, then you will need support from the biggest components of your life. I was very fortunate to have incredible support from my family, immediate and extended, and my company, TwinFocus, who did not just tolerate my efforts but were proactive contributors towards my efforts. What’s great is that this is a two-way street- the people who spend the most time with me get the benefit of a healthier, happier, and grateful Patrick. On that note, if you have someone in your life taking on a challenge- support them, you will be glad you did and they will remember it. On the flip side, absent the timing being terrible or other extenuating circumstances, if the people around you won’t support you- why not? Just like addressing your health, make sure you have healthy relationships with the people you spend the most time with.
2. Get out of Your Comfort Zone. This is about doing something new, ideally something you have wanted to try but have not. There is a reason you are drawn to this activity, so take a chance and figure out why that is. You can always go for a new personal record or make a comeback in something you have excelled at. Having to learn the most basic, introductory steps of something is humbling, but also energizing when you start building on the fundamentals and put things together. You exercise new physical and mental muscles. I found it particularly helpful as a parent of young kids who are learning new things every day, to be reminded that learning new things is hard. Putting on my wraps, getting in my stance, throwing a jab.. .the most basic stuff in boxing, I am still learning about. I realized how quickly my kids are actually picking things up. I think I have more thoughts about this experience as it relates to parenting that will follow.
3. Define the Objective. You have decided to take the leap- congrats! Now what is a good outcome for you? Be ambitious within reason and adjust accordingly. You may have a hidden talent or maybe it is much harder than you thought. Either scenario is great. I wanted to raise a lot of money and awareness for the fight against cancer, break through on some health and conditioning goals and win a boxing match. Two out of three ain’t bad…Haymakers created an incredible infrastructure for these objectives. You may do something similarly established, but if not, understand why you are doing it and what you want to achieve.
4. Get A Manageable Core Routine (and then push it). Put yourself in a position to achieve your objectives by scheduling consistent blocks of time that you can dedicate to each week- then build around them with additional work that can be more flexible based on your schedule. You’ll have some late nights and early mornings. You will miss time with friends and family. That is the point- if you don’t miss anything then you aren’t working hard enough. This goes for your diet as well, if that is a component of your challenge. I knew I was going to Digg Inn for lunch 4X a week. Have 80% of the time and activities you need booked into a routine. If you have that core time figured out than the rest can be optimization. If the kids have soccer, go to that and run when they are napping.
5. Roll With the Punches. The only thing you can guarantee about your routine is that it will be blown up on occasion. You will have sick kids (who get you sick), work travel, family holidays... Being a good partner and parent, handling your business- those are the few things that should take priority over this endeavor. So embrace the departure from your routine. Some of the coolest parts of my experience were the “departures”, such as training internationally on work travel. Do I look back now and wish I missed parent-teacher conferences to train, or that I avoided my kids when they were sick? Not even for a second. Make up the time later. Whatever you are training for certainly won’t follow a script, so being too rigid will only hurt you.
6. Involve Your Spouse and Kids. It’s more fun, more practical, more inspiring.. If you are trying to achieve something that you really want/need to silo yourself for and not include the most important people in your life, then this is the wrong write-up for you. My family would workout with me, cheer me on, help with all the extra logistical stuff. Incorporating them always was a reminder of why I was taking on the challenge- to wind up a better version of myself.
7. Inspiration Is Everywhere-Use It. No matter what you do it will be hard, but there will be sources of inspiration to draw from. Look for them and use them. Boxing in support of KO’ing Cancer left me inspired every day by people wishing me luck and supporting me. I learned some boxing history and about some of the colorful characters. While your journey will be unique – you won’t be the first to make it, so embrace being a part of something bigger than you.
8. Chronicle The Journey. We have incredible technology that provides us, in the palm of our hands, similar resources to a news truck from not too long ago. Take pictures and videos, capture your thoughts and write them down throughout the process. Maybe you will do lots more adventurous, challenging things - but this will be the one that kicked it off and you will be glad you were diligently tracking it. If you are one and done, then you can remind the kids (and yourself) that you weren’t always so boring…
9. You Have Done It- Now what? Despite being the owner of an 0-1 record with USA Boxing, I had an incredible journey, topped off with a once in a lifetime fight night experience. Now what? Well, I’ll spend some extra time with my family to start. Maybe cheat on the diet a little as well. The benefit to making sacrifices is that you can think about what you really missed when you dedicated all that extra time to the challenge and what you didn’t. Allocate more time to the stuff you missed and a lot less to the stuff you didn’t. I’ll bet the stuff you missed is more meaningful than the stuff you didn’t. I missed playing with my kids after work a lot more than happy hour. There is no need to stop the challenge activity either- I’ll keep up with the boxing. Being lighter and in shape will allow for some other things too- as I mentioned you can always go for a personal record or make a comeback. Now you can do it with new skills, perspective, and confidence.
10. Be Thankful. Whatever you choose to do, it’s a choice. Be grateful you can make it. It means you are healthy and have support all around you. You will make new friends and reconnect with old friends. You will learn new skills. You will have triumphs and defeats (yes, even be thankful for the defeats- if it stings you know you still have some heart...) Taking risks and testing yourself cuts through the BS in your life- the experience will force you to prioritize all the discretionary things that come your way and renew and enhance your appreciation for all the core things in your life - and that is the point.
Haymakers for Hope TwinFocus Capital Partners, LLC The Play Ball Foundation Alethea Harney
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Art F City: Highlights From The Marciano Collection
The Marciano Art Foundation has been the biggest pleasant surprise of 2017. As I’ve mentioned on the blog before, the new museum, funded by the GUESS Jeans fortune, delivers big-time with site-specific special projects from Jim Shaw and Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch. Those installations are so enthusiasm-inspiring it’s almost easy to overlook the “quieter” collection itself, on display mainly in the third floor galleries.
That would be a mistake, because the collection—the bones of the Marciano Art Foundation—has been curated in such a satisfying , thoughtfully-paced manner that the viewing experience stays engaging throughout. That’s a rarity, unfortunately, in so many hangs of private collections, which tend not to have a specific focus beyond showing off their holdings. Here, though, there are narrative interests evident in the Marcianos’ collection, perhaps highlighted by the apocalyptic nature of the Jim Shaw show and the site-specific “behind-the-scenes” vibe of the Trecartin/Fitch collaboration—namely an interest in social tension or upheaval and works that reveal their process, respectively.
Latifa Echakhch, “Tannhäuser,” 2013.
It didn’t occur to me why I found the show to be surprisingly good until the final gallery, standing in front of a Latifa Echakhch installation. “Decline of Western Civilization” imagery from Shaw’s work—namely, the neoclassical in a state of ruin—is echoed in Echakhch’s “Tannhäuser,” a recreation of sets from a midcentury production of the opera, seen here in disarray. The piece’s apocalyptic feel struck a chord—it’s nothing if not timely—but it also reminded me of the Bass Museum’s shamelessly tacky One Way: Peter Marino during Art Basel Miami Beach a few years back. That exhibition, of the architect/minor celebrity’s private collection, featured opera sets as well. That show turned me off of the design world’s incursions into art collecting immensely—it had little substance beyond sleek aesthetic and name recognition and felt like a sales pitch for Marino’s practice rather than a museum exhibition. The Marciano Art Foundation, on the other hand, is thematically and stylistically diverse. It feels artist-centric, and certainly engaged with contemporary concerns.
And, crucially, at no point did I feel like I was being sold GUESS Jeans.
Curator Philipp Kaiser has drawn inspiration from the 1931 Walter Benjamin text “Unpacking My Library: A Talk about Book Collecting”, and Benjamin’s enthusiastic embrace of both critical thinking and the joys of seeing objects is evident here. Don’t let allusions to a nearly-nine-decade-old essay about even older things throw you off though—the exhibition features almost exclusively work from the 21st century. Mostly though, the collection is remarkably smart and even more remarkably fun. The artist list here doesn’t offer the unexpected—it’s the usual blue-chip roster—but the quality of the works from those artists is worth noting. Few pieces here feels like soullessly overproduced art fair booth fodder.
A few highlights below:
David Hammons, “Untitled,” acrylic and spray paint on fox fur coat, 2007.
Danh Vo “Pantoffle II,” gold, cardboard, and ink, 2014.
In the lobby, visitors are greeted by a mural-sized Cindy Sherman print from 2010, in which the artist dons ritualistic attire. I’m told it was offered to the Marciano brothers when they bought the building (a vaguely creepy former Masonic lodge) and its dress-up vibe sets the tone for many of the works here, which frequently have a sense of play. David Hammons’ nearby vandalized fur coat works well as its companion. A Danh Vo piece, hung on a wall of the original travertine, recalls the mid-century building’s gaudy gold detailing—here with gold printed directly onto humble cardboard, mimicking a panel of crushed Budweiser boxes.
Jonas Wood, “Studio Exterior” Oil and acrylic on canvas 2014.
The top floor galleries feature an epic balcony with views toward the Hollywood Hills, and some of the work hung in this part of the museum recalls the indoor/outdoor lifestyle the sprawl below is famous for—L.A. painter Jonas Wood’s “Studio Exterior,” for example, depicts an outdoor space with potted plants and a set of gym weights. There’s a casual nature to the work that makes it feel like a space you’d want to hang out in and have a beer with the artist.
Allora & Calzadilla, “Petrified Petrol Pump #2,” limestone, 2010 and Glenn Ligon, “Double America,” neon and paint, 2014.
Louise Lawler, “Pollyanna (Adjusted to Fit),” adhesive wall material, 2007/2008/2012 with Takashi Murakami paintings.
I’m not usually a big fan of Takashi Murakami paintings (the sterility of his signature “superflat” style doesn’t appeal to me, personally). This flower diptych, however, drew me in. The cheery anime millefleur patterns are surprisingly textured and distressed up-close, revealing some sort of anxiety behind the smile-til’-it-hurts expressions on the characters. The gallery also features Louise Lawler’s “Polyanna,” which is a photograph of another Murakami alongside other blue-chip staples such as Warhol’s “Skulls”. The print has been stretched horizontally to fit the space—again adding a sense of tension to something that could otherwise be dismissed as wallpaper. So too, does the representation of the Murakami beside the originals. There’s a slight discordance—a quality present in only the best Murakami works.
Mike Kelley, “Kandor 18B,” 2010.
Sterling Ruby, “Basin Theology/Dark Plate Helm,” 2016.
These pieces from Mike Kelley and Sterling Ruby also speak to a similar type of viewing—both feel like the tabletop make-believe escape of an introverted child. There’s again a notion of trouble in constructed paradise.
Carol Bove, “Untitled,” Peacock feathers on linen, plexiglass vitrine, 2012 and “Peel’s foe, not a set animal, laminates a tone of sleep,” brass and concrete, 2013.
That’s a recurring motif in so much of the work here—from an exquisitely crafted Carol Bove sculpture that reminded me of Peter Burr’s dystopian architectures to an epic Goshka Macuga tapestry documenting scenes from the Occupy movement. The latter was originally commissioned for documenta 13. It always feels strange seeing Occupy artwork in the private high-end market—oddly reassuring, on some level, that the protestors’ messages made it to the eyes of the 1%, albeit by several degrees of remove.
Goshka Macuga, “Of what is, that is; of what is not, that it is not 2,” wool tapestry, 2012.
Rikrit Tiravanija, “Untitled (Los Días De Esta Sociedad Son Contados,” acrylic and newspaper on linen, 2011.
(THE DAYS OF THIS SOCIETY ARE NUMBERED)
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