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solastia · 4 years

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Author Interview : underthejoon

((If anyone wants to make a cool banner for this, please do. I suck at them))

Today is the debut of a new project. Whether it sticks around for long depends on you guys, but for now the plan is to interview one author a month. Creators are often underappreciated on here (or anywhere, for that matter), so this is me doing my part to connect our readers and writers in a meaningful way. Our first interview is with @underthejoon, someone whose work I myself have enjoyed for many years now. If you enjoyed this interview, please be sure to send in authors you’d like me to talk to for future editions, as well as any specific questions you’d like answered (except for questions about updating, that will get you a ban).

Where can your work be found?

I’m kind of a mess and so while I attempt to cross post, I’m not always great at it. All of my work can be found on my tumblr masterlist but some of my things are on Wattpad and AO3. I’m also underthejoon on both of those platforms.

Links to where readers can donate:

I made a ko-fi account ages ago that I never shared with the public because I’ve always felt guilty. Which is silly, idk why I do. But there it is!

Main bias (and why if you’d like)

So!! I have always been a Namjoon bias. From the very first time I saw them/the very first song I heard I was like yes, you. You are the one, I’m a goner!! He’s so wonderful and unique. He’s very mindful and creative and such a beacon of light to me. Plus, he’s very open with his humanity, if that makes sense? Like he is open about his therapy, his feelings about his perceived shortcomings, his excitement about finding place and things and works of art that inspire him. ALSO THOUGH, in the last year or so I’ve also become a Hoseok bias. He is just so dedicated and loving. He’s insanely talented and vastly underrated, in my opinion. And through all the back breaking work, he is kind through and through. He’s seriously just so warm and makes me really happy.

Hogwarts House :

Okay, the very first time I ever took it I was a slytherin. A few years later, I took it again and got hufflepuff. I like to think I’m a combination of the two but can see myself as more of a puff.

Describe yourself in five words:

Creative, Extroverted, Empathetic, Intuitive, Inquisitive

Current favorite BTS songs:

SO MANY, but I’ll pick 7 for 7 members. Some of these are old as hell but still currently my favorite lol. Love Maze, Love is Not Over, Outro: Her, Dimple, Tomorrow, Like, 2!3!

What was the defining moment when you decided, “Yes! I am going to write the thing!”?

For like fanfic in general? I feel like I had been reading a lot of it after “discovering” k-pop and then after a few months I was just like fuck it, I’m doing it!! I was always super into writing poetry and never thought I would be any good at anything like this but it sounded fun so here we are now.

What do you most enjoy about writing BTS fanfiction specifically?

I think it’s the community of writers. When I started my blog, I met a lot of really amazing supportive writers that I’ve managed to stay friends with and I think that makes a really big difference when you have people that can relate to you and what you’re doing.

Any tropes or au’s that you want to explore later?

I would really like to try writing some sort of supernatural creature fics. I’ve had this werewolf love triangle universe planned out forever that I would like to eventually write. Maybe like a workplace romance?

Which of your fics would you suggest for new readers?

For a completed series i’d say Piece by Piece. My WIP series, Love is Not Over is another one. For a one-shot I’d say, For You. Maybe the sweetness/make it right drabbles too.

Which of your fics is your favorite?

Piece by Piece, no doubt. I really feel proud of it and I have a hard time admitting I like anything I write.

What other fandoms do you wish you had the time to write for?

I used to write for EXO, Got7 and sometimes Monsta X and I miss it sometimes but also, I feel pretty contented in just writing for BTS. There’s a lot of inspiration there and I always felt I was being pulled in too many directions by my readers when I wrote for multiple fandoms.

What are your writing goals for the upcoming year?

I’d like to finish three series I have planned, get caught up on my collab fics and at least finish an outline for my original fiction piece I’ve been putting off!

Which writers do you read religiously?

There’s so many amazing writers on tumblr and I try as hard as I can to keep up with my mutuals when they put stuff out but sometimes it’s hard! I’m gonna be really brief because otherwise my list could go on and on. Okay, first and foremost, Shanna (@kpopfanfictrash) - she’s my best friend and a fabulous, wonderful writer. I would just like to give her a special shout out because not only does she entertain me for hours with her writing, she is very supportive of mine. Other authors I adore as humans and content creators and keep up with most regularly are @floralseokjin and @lamourche !

What is the weirdest thing you’ve had to google in the name of writing?

LOL. Hmm… I’m really boring and feel like I don’t really google that much when writing except maybe like different sex positions when i need a visual or synonyms to certain words. I’ve found some good porn though? Because visuals do help me.

Reader/OC fics within this fandom are often still looked down on and we all have to work hard to make them good enough for readers to look past their reputation. How do you combat the cringe?

TBH, I don’t think that responsibility lies on us as writers. If people don’t like certain types of writing, that’s on them and they can avoid it. Reader insert/oc fics are just as valid a genre as any. I’ve read some of the most beautiful, creative stories on this platform, some of which could be published if names were changed/reader was switched to a named OC. There’s something out there for everyone and it’s all subjective. While I might find certain things super cringey, others love it. To each their own as long as they aren’t shoving it in the faces of the people they’re writing about or being disrespectful, you know?

What is your personal guilty (or not-so-guilty) pleasure trope?

MUTUAL PINING/FRIENDS TO LOVERS. I feel like it’s so basic but I fucking love that trope and I think so many people do it so beautifully it is my absolute favorite.

What is something that you see often in other fanfics that drives you insane?

I think the only thing that really bothers me is when people romanticize abuse or other toxic/triggering topics.

Are any of the boys or ships more difficult for you to write than others?

I think I have the hardest time writing for Jimin and Taehyung but only because I feel I am the most similar to them and for whatever reason that deters me from writing about them often.

We all think we are the most hilarious person there is (even if we won’t admit it), so what is one line or scenario of yours that you like to go back to and giggle over?

Okay this was actually really difficult for me because I don’t write like any humor and don’t think I’m good at LOL. I think my only attempt at humorous writing was The New Guy in which the reader is high off her ass lying on the front lawn and thinking the world is ending then accusing Namjoon of being the Grim Reaper when he comes looking for her.

ONLY IF YOU WANT TO - A scenario as long or short as you want. Maybe 250 words or less. Godzilla is attacking the city and BTS is your rescue crew. How screwed are you?

“D-danger, you say?” Seokjin stutters.

“G-giant lizard monster headed this way?” Hoseok chokes.

The pair exchange glances then turn their focus towards you. Seokjin jerks his head towards the door and you nod in return.

“I hear what you’re saying, gentlemen,” Hoseok says as he stands on shaky legs. He grabs your hand as if to instruct you to do the same.

“And as much as we would LOVE to help you…” His grip is tighter now and you know what comes next.

Before he can finish, Seokjin shoots up from his chair and makes a mad dash towards the door. “Now, now, run, holy shit, NOW!”

Hoseok joins his friend in his haste to evacuate, dragging your nearly petrified form behind him. “No way in hell are we getting anywhere near that thing!”

Seokjin and Hoseok babble horrified nonsense between them but you can’t really decipher much of it. Your heart is pounding in your ears as you replay the name “Godzilla” in your brain.

They wanted you to rescue the city? What were they thinking?

When you reach Seokjin’s car, you have a brief moment of clarity. There are lives at stake, after all. How can you really just abandon the city when it needs a hero?

“What about everybody else?” you ask, voice small and fearful.

“Everybody else?” Seokjin huffs, putting the car in gear. He hardly gives your question a thought before he peels out of the parking lot. “Jungkook can handle everybody else. I raised him on my back, you know? It’s the least he can do!”

#bangtan bards #bts #bts writers #underthejoon #bts fanfic #bts authors #solastia #author interview

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vios-rockland-corner · 4 years

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Rockland: Cops

The date of this post is 5/16/20. Please note that information revealed at this time via Patreon or any of the creator’s blogs may be subject to change after this date.

Pretty much every town has to have some form of police to keep the peace, and Rockland is no exception. Problem is, we know Rockland is a rather dangerous place with criminals getting away with a lot more than they should. What are the cops in Rockland like then?

(Spoilers below for Rumors of Rockland Article 1)

I’ve mentioned the police in different posts here and there when appropriate because we know they exist. We’ve never actually gotten any real confirmation though about what they are like. Only recently do we have the confirmed name of at least one cop in the Rockland canon: Roy. Roy, for those who don’t know, was actually created to be part of the Mark of Belial game even before the Rockland universe had been fully conceptualized. It’s been quite a while since then, but if I recall correctly he was portrayed as more of a tough cop who took his cases seriously and didn’t like people like the news nosing into his business when he’s trying to do his dang job. Not only could I be wrong though, his character could be revamped to a different personality for Rockland. All we know right now is apparently the local drug dealer thinks he looks pretty fine (I don’t disagree with that from old illustrations. I eagerly await Roy’s return).

Lately I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how effective the police operate in Rockland and what these officers even think of their hometown. We know they do their job to an extent, otherwise we wouldn’t be getting a Mark of Belial game in the future. How well and often they do their job is an entirely different question though. Couple of questions I’d had:

1) Are the bulk of police people who’ve grown up in Rockland and lived there their whole life? Or do more of them move or transfer there from other divisions? Is it a mix?

If they’ve been long term citizens, there’s a higher chance they’re more familiar with certain groups, missing casings and other strange things around town. Maybe people move or transfer to Rockland assuming it’s easy work at first but then find it’s a lot MORE work than anticipated due to the sheer number of dangerous individuals living there (this may even drive new officers away). Or maybe it’s the opposite and it feels like there’s nothing either to do (like a lot of illegal activities have just been expertly kept quiet), or that there’s nothing someone of the law CAN do (like they feel there’s too many unknown variables for them to effectively protect everyone, or restrictions in the system).

2) Are they aware of the town “abnormalities” or just think it’s a regular tourist trap?

This is huge. What the officers themselves are aware of is going to greatly affect what they think of Rockland. For example, if they’re a person who’s more conscious of the dangers in town and have a strong sense of justice, they may not have a whole lot of love for their town but still feel the urge to keep it clean. Depending on how long an officer has worked in Rockland though, the persistent crimes that don’t get resolved may start to wear down a person, making them become pessimistic or lax in their duties because “nothing they ever do is enough.” If an officer is completely in the blind though, they may just see Rockland as an easy going place where you’re just expected to get a couple calls here and there about speeding, theft and reckless drunks.

3) Do they tend to greet folks with a friendly face or do they tend to assume most people in town are up to no good?

This kind of works off of the previous question too. The state of the officer’s work may affect how approachable they are. If they’re only used to handling smaller offenses and feel more relaxed, they could be friendlier. Of course, if an officer is completely unaware of Rockland’s darker nature, then how they treat residents relies solely on their own personality. Officers with a lot more work to do or who have a lot on their mind though may not be as willing to entertain folks.

4) What do they think of tourists? What do they think of people who have just moved to town?

If an officers knows that a fresh face coming in is more likely to either end up as a potential victim OR another psycho, they might not be so keen on outsiders stepping into their turf. Then again, maybe they like to see new faces because it’s a breath of fresh air for them. Gets their mind out of their current world and helps them remember that not every place is like Rockland.

For tourists, the officers probably aren’t going to question why they’re there. It sounds like a tourist town, so that’s self-explanatory. With a new resident though, they may wonder why they moved to Rockland of all places. Now sometimes there isn’t any particular reason. It may just fit some criteria for the mover, but otherwise there’s no special meaning or attachment. If an officer knows how Rockland operates though in the shadows, they might not be able to stop thinking, “Of all the places you could have gone…” I don’t know either if an officer will attempt to watch a tourist or new resident more carefully for their protection…or if they’ll actively turn a blind eye because they’re expecting the worst (and don’t want to feel as bad IF something happens to them).

5) Do they knowingly let things slip under the radar or are they simply out of the loop?

This is similar to my second question, I know. I’m just kind of re-emphasizing here that there has to be a reason why so many people don’t get caught in Rockland. If the officers are knowledgeable about all these activities, what stops them from protecting more people? Apathy? Do they not have the resources to stop all of these folks?

6) Are they restricted by their higher ups or by certain groups around town?

Now maybe the officers themselves don’t take as much action as they should due to their own personality and views. But what if you have an officer that’s incredibly gung-ho about keeping everyone safe? What’s stopping them? Well their higher-ups may withhold certain information from them or directly order them to keep their distance from some situations. These higher-ups could either be corrupt themselves, or being coerced to do so by certain groups of Rockland. We know there are people in the Black Market business and groups like the Professionals around. These sinister groups may have a strong hold over Rockland that makes it difficult for the police to perform at full capacity.

7) Are they usually pretty lazy or do they crack down harder in Rockland than they would other places?

This is just another reworded question for emphasis. The officer’s personality, what they know, what duties they aren’t restricted from performing and how much their workload is all affect how serious they are going to take their job.

Let’s talk about one particular viewpoint we have from someone who commits illegal activities in Rockland: Tyler. One of the weirdest things I have to say is that surprisingly selling drugs is probably on the lower end in Rockland of “illegal activities.” Yes, it’s definitely illegal, but if you’ve played “The Misfits: First Blood” demo I think you’d agree that there are FAR worse things that happen in this town.

When Tyler mentions getting out of being arrested by the cops by either providing them drugs or a sexual favor, it’s a little more insightful than you think. This tells us that the local drug dealer doesn’t feel threatened by the cops. Now we don’t know too much about Tyler yet. He could be joking around here. He was half-joking about selling the MC drugs only because he WOULD but he didn’t have any on him at that time. Or he could just be a little prideful. Now the tone he uses doesn’t feel anything like “disdain” or “annoyance” towards the cops. He’d gladly go down on Roy, so there’s even a weird compliment there. He’s just not afraid of them. Maybe that would change if a cop was directly in front of him? Lots of people like to talk a big game when they’re out of earshot from authority like that.

Now if what Tyler says is NOT a joke though, then that means the cops in Rockland are either easily persuaded or just don’t take their jobs seriously. That does not necessarily bode well for public safety. Maybe these cops don’t take the drug dealing as seriously though because they have bigger fish to fry. Who knows.

Never thought I’d analyze a scene where a guy talk about blowing cops, but there you go.

It should be noted that I’m sure lots of these cops have individual personalities and a mix of long-term resident vs. newbie, knowledgeable vs. in the dark, and lazy vs. dutiful means that one common depiction won’t necessarily reflect the entire police force. Depends on how many active officers we’ll end up meeting or hear about I suppose.

I am indeed fully aware that even with a capable police force though, crime will still happen. It’s impossible for the police to nab every single criminal at the perfect moment and keep things clean. Unfortunately people get away sometimes, or you just have to be at the right place at the right time to catch/stop them. Maybe there’s nothing unusual or weak about the Rockland police force after all. Rockland itself is just too much.

I don’t know when we’ll see our first cop in Rockland. We will probably see or hear more about some in the Rumors of Rockland installments first before Mark of Belial I assume. I’ll just have to wait patiently.

#Rockland #Rockland Games #runawayoutlaw #rottenbonethief #Mark of Belial #pre-release

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demyrie · 5 years

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On Comment Culture (fandom/fanfic/AO3/I’m an old)

It’s so fascinating to see the change in comment culture in fandom and the different stigmas or expectations associated with responding to comments over the years. In this essay? In this essay.

(Disclaimer: obviously creators and platforms had different subcultures of communication as well as social norms -- this is my experience and could help inform others of my ilk why some stuff is confusing them!)

Back in My Day! (Early Ots)

On FF.net, we responded to comments in the Notes but it was a hot mess. ohhhhh what a mess, shit, we had it pulled up in two different web browsers and were copy-pasting complicated screen names and ... wow. It was peak shout-out culture, keyboard smashing, and it was a thrill to see your s/n and get a WHATS UP OMG THANKS ^_^ ^_^ XD XD LOLZ in the Notes section. Wow. WowOmgLOL!!11111

Though I missed the boat on that platform, I know on LiveJournal it was a bit more back and forth because of the blog/thread structure and a hearty “thanks!” was always appreciated, and it was definitely a good way to find friends with common interests, but it was all super happenstance and unstructured. Just folks havin’ fun with few expectations.

Between Now and Then (and Including Then)

Look, fandom olds back me up on this. Responses were nice, but you still DIDN’T want to be the person who responded to every single comment because it showed ego -- you were obviously trolling your own page and leaping thirstily at every little keyboard smash, just wanting attention etc etc and you had to like ... chill. Author responses to big, overwhelming comments were appreciated but by no means expected.

Authors who responded to every single comment were childish and cared more about the attention than anything, and/or were wrongfully inflating their comment counts (which is commonly seen as a more "accurate" rating of a fics quality than likes). That kind of cult popularity status, and the diva creators, became tiring really quickly because this was about STORIES damnit. Give me your STORY stop making this about YOU and clogging up the A/N with nonsense responses longer than the actual CHAPTER! AHHHH! (Fandom olds back me up on this? Or maybe just ... old Virgos...?)

Now

As a fandom old reintroduced to the fanfic environ a year ago, I realized there’s a comment/discussion culture in AO3 where responses to comments are more or less expected and discussion is super common, where it’s never been before.

We never had the “facilities” for back-and-forth discussion on most fanfic servers (lj excepted) and so, as a fandom old, I get perturbed when I see a “[AO3] Response to your comment!” in my inbox because I’m scratching my head like ... that was for you. I made those words and gave them to you because I loved your writing. Why are you saying something back???? Did I say something wrong??? Why would you take the time to ...???? ***CONSTERNATION****

99% of the time it’s literally just people being jubilant and appreciating my appreciation, and of course I get really jazzed whenever 1) a personal friend yells back at me over their fic because then we’re just fuckin’ stanning in public or 2) a writer I really admire waves at me, but it still throws me for a loop because the expectations are just so different now. It’s more like a chat room than an "altruistic" (right word?) review based solely on the content/enjoyment of the fic, where people actively expect and then become disappointed or feel jilted when they don’t receive personal feedback from the creator. It seems to be a strong enough social expectation that, when unmet, it may determine whether the person comments in the future. So, like, to me, that is wild, but I’ve also been absent for about 7 years so ... life (fandom) finds a way, right?

With that culture shift in mind, I wanna say that I can’t respond to comments pretty much ... ever now, and for a variety of reasons :(

Mostly, it’s time and energy, because I’m SO GODDAMN BLESSED and have so many sweet folks reading my BNHA dad trash and OH I’m so lucky but also, wow time management and stress and Not Very Adult but Try So Hard OK. It’s definitely fun to play that way, and interact, but it takes a staggering amount of energy over time and quickly becomes an unmet expectation in my mind that triggers my anxiety like Boy Howdy when I’m already juggling stuff. Which in turn affects my ability to write, which in turn affects my ability to participate in fandom, which in turn ... [that whistling noise that accompanies Warner Bros. characters falling off a cliff]

So! Just because I don’t respond directly to your comments doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your appreciation, young fanfic folks!

I understand that we’re speaking different languages sometimes. I was not part of your culture and i don’t have the resources to assimilate seamlessly, but I do hope you enjoy my work in your own way! Go for it! Read and then fap, read and do the dishes, talk about it to your friends or just smile and log off and go to sleep! Fandom, for me, is about enjoying things, so enjoy enjoy enjoy <3

That’s why we do this, after all. We tell stories that we want to see and delight in others delighting, and for those who are inclined, comments are always SO inspiring to your fandom creators -- long essays, keyboard smashing, all of the above <3 <3 They are crack. They are the most likely chemical reagent that will lead to a product of More (excited) Content. They help us feel appreciated for the work that we do, they help us feel motivated to continue to do that same work, and they make us scream real loud, and we love you for even the weirdest, 3am, redbull rant ... even if, per expectations, we don’t get to answer all of them.

Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, thank you for fanning with me!!! I love writing BDSM dads and have had no fewer than 1.3M comments of people spilling their hearts to me about their personal experiences in a way that makes me ugly sob and just feel so crushingly grateful???

So thank you. I’m so happy in this fandom and appreciate you all so much! So!!! THANK YOU <3

I dearly hope you and I cross in a tumblr or twitter barrage someday and I get to personally thank you for reading and/or commenting, but for now, take this utterly accurate depiction of my love for you (you’re the one biting my face, sorry to @ you but it’s true):

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mikegranich87 · 3 years

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The Morning After: Crypto heist hacker returns all $610 million they stole

It’s the weirdest cryptocurrency heist so far. On Monday, Poly Network, a cryptocurrency finance platform, was hacked by “Mr. White Hat” who exploited a vulnerability in its code to steal $610 million in Ethereum, Shiba Inu and other cryptocurrencies. The company now says it has recovered all the money it lost in the theft.

Less than a day after stealing the digital currencies, the hacker started returning millions saying they were “ready to surrender.” They subsequently locked more than $200 million in assets in an account that required passwords from both them and Poly Network. They said they would only provide their password once everyone was “ready.” At that point, Poly Network offered the hacker a $500,000 reward — a fraction of what they had stolen.

It’s not entirely clear why the hacker surrendered, but it may have been difficult to cash out the millions. The hacker says they were trying to contribute to the security of Poly Network. Maybe they just didn’t want to get caught. Poly will breathe a sigh of relief as will those that were doing their crypto trading through the platform.

— Mat Smith

A Razer mouse can bypass Windows security just by being plugged in

The company says it's fixing the flaw.

Security researcher Jon Hat posted on Twitter that after plugging in a Razer mouse or dongle, Windows Update will download the Razer installer executable and run it with SYSTEM privileges. It also lets you access the Windows file explorer and Powershell with "elevated" privileges, which means nefarious types could install harmful software — if they can get to your USB ports.

Since this vulnerability requires someone plugging in a mouse, it's not nearly as dangerous as a remote attack, but it's still not great for Razer. The company's security team said it’s working on a fix.

Finally, the ‘Stardew Valley’ esports tournament is a thing

Farm, mine and fish your way to glory on Labor Day weekend.

ConcernedApe

Esports is most commonly associated with high-octane competitive games, usually with guns. That’s not the vibe in Stardew Valley, where you literally tend to crops. It’s more agrarian, less aggro.

But soon, some of the world's finest Stardew Valley players will face off for thousands of dollars. Creator Eric Barone said the first official Stardew Valley Cup event will take place on September 4th. “It’s a competition of skill, knowledge and teamwork, with a prize pool of over $40k.”

More than 100 challenges have been created for competitors to tackle, with four teams of four players each having three hours to complete as many of the tasks as they can. Best start sharpening that hoe.

NASA’s latest video from Mars looks like ‘Dune’

A new video from the Curiosity rover is here.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory released a breathtaking panorama of the inside of the Gale Crater, as snapped by the Curiosity Rover. It shows off where the rover has been and where it’s going. Apparently, on a clear day when there’s no dust in the air, you can see up to 20 miles away.

PayPal brings its cryptocurrency trading feature to the UK

Even in small units.

PayPal is bringing the ability to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies across to the other side of the pond, the better part of a year after it launched in the US. In a statement, the company said that UK-based users would be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash via their PayPal account. The company adds that users can buy as little as £1 of cryptocurrency, and while there are no fees to hold the currency, users will have to pay transaction and currency conversion fees. And hey, it’s not Poly.

'Twelve Minutes' ruins a compelling game concept

I’ve been waiting a while for this, too.

Annapurna Interactive

Twelve Minutes managed to hook several Engadget editors when it was revealed back in 2015. Even before it gained an all-star cast including Daisy Ridley, James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe, the pitch was easy to understand: a time loop point-and-click adventure. I made a note to keep an eye on the title, and Devindra Hardawar, who reviewed the game, did the same.

Unfortunately, the need to push the story in any — most! — directions leads to some grim choices by the player, and what Devindra calls “mind-numbingly dumb” twists. Tell us how you really feel.

Apple employees are organizing to push for 'real change' at the company

“We’ve exhausted all internal avenues,” the group says.

A group of current and former Apple employees are calling on colleagues to publicly share stories of discrimination, harassment and retaliation at the company. The collective has started a Twitter account called Apple Workers.

"For too long, Apple has evaded public scrutiny," the group says on its website. "When we press for accountability and redress to the persistent injustices we witness or experience in our workplace, we are faced with a pattern of isolation, degradation and gaslighting." In August, the company put Ashley Gjøvik, a senior engineering program manager, on paid administrative leave. Apple hasn’t yet commented.

The best streaming gear for students

It’s not just laptops and keyboards.

Being a student is hard, but just because you’re holed up in a dorm room doesn’t mean you should settle for mediocre entertainment. Our updated Student Buyer’s Guide has everything you could possibly need to upgrade from mindlessly watching Netflix on your laptop. That includes deals for TVs, audio gear and the best streaming devices.

Take a first look at the live-action ‘Cowboy Bebop’

It’s coming November 19th.

Netflix

Netflix's live-action adaptation of classic anime Cowboy Bebop has been a long time coming, and the show finally has a release date. The 10-episode first season will start streaming on November 19th. There’s still no trailer, but we get some stills of the iconic crew, played by John Cho (Spike Spiegel), Mustafa Shakir (Jet Black) and Daniella Pineda (Faye Valentine). There’s a corgi, too.

Virgin Orbit plans to go public

It’ll go on the Nasdaq exchange to fund its space satellite project.

Mike Blake / Reuters

Virgin Orbit, the less glamorous half of Virgin’s space adventures, has announced plans to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a special purpose acquisitions company (SPAC) merger. The deal with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II values Virgin Orbit at $3.2 billion.

The combined company is expected to pull in up to $483 million in cash when the deal closes, and it plans to scale up its rocket manufacturing. The first spaceflight company to go public through a SPAC, and the company that really kicked off the SPAC trend was Virgin Galactic back in 2019, which sought to fund its tourist trips to space. Yeah, the more exciting facet of space companies.

The biggest stories you might have missed

The best laptops for college students

'Outriders' is perfectly average, making it ideal for Xbox Game Pass

Teardown shows the Playdate won't suffer from controller drift like the Switch

Rare commemorative Game & Watch handheld sells for $9,100 at auction

T-Mobile is giving customers a free year of Apple TV+

Data leak exposed 38 million records, including COVID-19 vaccination statuses

The OnePlus Buds Pro feature smart ANC and a white-noise mode

from Mike Granich https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-crypto-heist-hacker-returns-all-610-million-they-stole-111630131.html?src=rss

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luninosity · 7 years

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Hi Luni, I just wanted to say that I love your kitten!Sebastian series!! I feel like the criticism of it being out of character (I don't agree) can't really be applied here because it's not something that would ever happen our world, so how can we know how someone would react, and also, you've said that when you write RPF, it's based on the actor's public personas/images, because we can't really know them. (I'm the person who commented lots on each chapter of AC recently)

Yeah, without getting into a Big Discussion™, I feel like OOC critique is a really odd one for a fic that is both RPF and AU, for exactly those reasons - like, I’ve never claimed that this is the ‘true them’, and they’re facing entirely new SF-future challenges anyway, so they’ve been shaped by that in different ways?

I mean, in general, yes, you want characters to have recognizable core traits that make them ‘Chris’ or ‘Seb’ or ‘Steve’ or ‘Bucky’ as opposed to a random Tom or Jerry, because we’re here for stories about the characters we already love. Obviously that’s the case. But our individual head-canons for those characters will always differ, especially in AU settings - maybe I think Chris would react this way, maybe you think he’d react this other way, and hey, guess what, those are both perfectly fine interpretations! (Assuming there’s at least some extrapolation from what we know about the character and his established values - for instance, I don’t think you could write a believable Chris Evans who - without any explanation of altered circumstances in order to justify it in-text; if that groundwork’s done, that’s okay too, if someone wanted to explore that story - didn’t love his family.)

I think the part that is making me disillusioned with fandom in general (I was saying this to a couple people after the comments popped up) is this weird cultural shift from ‘this thing wasn’t the kind of thing I like so I’m just gonna go find something that’s more my thing instead’ to ‘this thing wasn’t the kind of thing I like so therefore it is BAD and I must TELL THE CREATOR THAT IT IS BAD AND THEY ARE BAD AND THEY SHOULD NOT CREATE ANY MORE’. Like, what?!

Fan creators do their work for free, out of love and affection (or sometimes burning frustration + affection regarding source texts), and fanworks are not measures of a person’s being ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ and you (meaning random anons etc, like mine) do not have any authority to police ‘good’ or ‘bad’ content or whether someone should be allowed to create more works. We can (and should) talk about structural hierarchies and inequalities in fandom culture, don’t get me wrong, but one of the fundamental tenets of fan culture as I understand it (or as it used to be) is that we welcome people who love what we love and who want to create things to share with other lovers.

And maybe we learn and get better as creators; maybe a first fic or art IS out of character, or maybe even a later one is, because the creator’s trying something new. So what? The creator still tried something new and was brave enough and generous enough to share it for free. (Fan works are not pro works, so the only compensation for our labor is emotional compensation, which is why this matters so much more in fandom spaces, and there’s a whole other essay here about how fan culture functions, because of this, necessarily differently from the whole ‘you put it on the internet, deal with it’ argument that sometimes gets made; but moving on for now….)

Ahem. I sort of got into a Big Discussion anyway. My point is, I’ve been talking to a couple people ( @viperbranium, @hitlikehammers )about gradually moving away from writing fic (not any time soon! I have a LOT of WIPs to finish! I still love all my OTPs!), because this culture is starting to…not feel like the fan culture I fell in love with, way back when, where people were welcomed (and I remember the first time I shyly wrote a comment!fic for a serious BNF in Supernatural fandom because she’d made an LJ post wanting a coda to an episode, and I tried, and it probably wasn’t very good because it was my first fic - but you know what? she REPLIED AND POINTED OUT BITS SHE LOVED AND GOT ALL EXCITED OVER MY LITTLE NERVOUS NEWBIE EFFORT, AND OH MY GOD I FELT LIKE I COULD MAYBE BELONG) - and where if you didn’t like a thing (and let’s be clear that I’m talking about likes/dislikes, not something like deliberate malicious misrepresentation) you’d just shrug and move on, where you’d never dream of telling someone to stop creating because you personally felt that one fic of theirs was OOC.

And, to be clear, it’s not about feeling personally hurt if someone simply doesn’t like my fic. Sure. There are many fics I don’t like, sometimes for no other reason than the writing style rubs me the wrong way. You know what I do? I close the tab and move on. And I’m starting to wonder whether (especially given my tiring circumstances at the moment, with Evil Demon Cat likely not going to make it to 2018, and daily vet visits, and so on) I have the emotional energy to devote to something that’s another source of stress: even if I just laugh and delete obnoxious messages, I still have to read them. I still have to see them. I don’t want to write and post a fic wondering how many nasty ‘you should stop writing this pairing forever and go write OC’s since you obviously want to anyway’ (yes, that’s a quote from one of my anons) notes are about to appear this time. (Maybe I will just go write original fic, anon. I have sold some already. Thanks.)

Anyway, that became more of a…thing…than I meant it to. Um, thanks for letting me vent? *laughs* I still have a lot of fic to finish writing, so I’m not going anywhere any time soon. Those are just thoughts. Swirling cranky thundercloud-colored thoughts, probably also colored by my own tiredness. (I am so very tired. We’ve been keeping Kitty locked in the bedroom at night because he’s started trying to hide in the weirdest places and we don’t have the time to hunt him down and then medicate him in the mornings, but he HATES being locked up and screams all night. And daily vet visits. And also it is finals week so I am GRADING ALL THE THINGS and I have an Obnoxious Entitled Male Student this semester who tried to argue his paper grade “because all English grades are subjective and opinion-based anyway right?” OH WOW I GUESS ALL THOSE YEARS OF BECOMING AN EXPERT IN MY FIELD AND DOING TEACHER TRAINING AND GRADE STANDARDIZATION AND NORMING SHOULD BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD SELF, YES, ABSOLUTELY, BY WHICH I MEAN NO YOU ARE WRONG).

Like I said: tired.

I’m going to go and have lunch now.

Oh! But also I didn’t say thank you for YOU being awesome, and all the lovely support in your message, because that’s awfully nice to hear! YOU ARE AWESOME AND I ADORE YOU AND YOU HAVE MADE ME SMILE AND I HOPE YOU KNOW HOW MUCH BETTER YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY.

#anon #replies #fandom #wow #guess i had a lot of feels #ignore me #i am very tired #Anonymous

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thefaeriereview · 4 years

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Inside the Mind: Robert M Roseth

https://ift.tt/3dZxxoX

Welcome to Inside the Mind where we here at The Faerie Review interview authors and creators.

Our guest today is Robert M Roseth, the author behind Ivy is a Weed.

Lily: Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview Robert, I really enjoyed Ivy is a Weed. Mike seems like an unlikely investigator, where does he get his curiosity?

Robert: In his previous career, our protagonist was a journalist. So he was used to asking questions, even if they made people uncomfortable. Reporters, at least the good ones, see themselves as the eyes and ears of the public. So they will ask questions that may seem elementary, even stupid, just to fill out the picture. They don’t assume what they know is true and prefer to check their facts with the source. And that’s how Mike pursues his investigation.

Lily: It definitely makes him tenacious and a great main character. A possible murder on a university campus, why a college setting?

Robert: First and most important, I worked at a university for most of my life. In my final few years of working there, I would have visions – daydreams –of what it would be like if someone found a body on campus, if people had potentially acted on their darker impulses. I liked writing about the paradoxical situation of such a seemingly irrational act taking place on a university campus. The culture of higher education is to extol the intellect and rational thought. But I found in my career that human beings are pretty much the same no matter where they work. Sometimes they behave like rational creatures. But very often they don’t.

Lily: Thinking back to my college days it definitely would have been strange if an administrator had died on campus mysteriously, but I can completely see them trying to sweep it under the rug. Did the story take any unexpected turns as you were writing it?

Robert: Constantly! The way I wrote this book was to invent the characters and watch what they did literally in my mind’s eye. I’ve tried in the past to work from an outline: This happens, and then this happens. It has never worked for me. The characters just refuse to perform in the ways I might expect. I could give you specifics, but those would be mostly spoilers. Let’s just say that as I approached the end of the book I watched my characters ever more carefully, to see what they did, who they met, what they decided, and how others responded. None of that was mapped out in advance.

Lily: I love that approach and I think it worked out well! Will there be a book two with Mike?

Robert: I’m not sure. It’s possible. I’m working on a couple other projects right now, and neither of them are part of the same genre as Ivy is a Weed. But you never know.

Lily: I'd love to see him return for another round of satire infused mystery. Now we’d like to talk about you as a writer. What’s your favorite place to write?

Robert: I keep up a consistent routine when I write. I have a desk and a computer that is in my son’s former bedroom. I try to write around the same time each day. Since this was my first novel, I set myself a goal of writing at least 1,000 words a day. Most days I met or exceeded that total. I thought initially I might write in locations remote from my house, more isolated. But that never worked out.

Lily: A routine is always good when it comes to getting something done. Do you have any quirky writing habits?

Robert: Not sure if this is quirky, but I never permitted myself to cop out with “writer’s block.” I’d encounter rough spots, days where things were tougher than others. But the best way to get through those was to write. Sure, I might later decide to throw away most or all of what I wrote that day. But for me it was like a muscle: The more exercised the ability to write, the stronger and more fluid my writing became.

Lily: That's great that you always pushed through, I don't know if I could do it. Where do you find the most inspiration?

Robert: Inspiration is a funny thing. It comes when you least expect it. The genesis of the core idea for Ivy is a Weed actually goes back to a New Yorker cartoon I saw decades ago that just stuck with me. I remember the moment at which I figured out the book’s dénouement: I was riding on a ferry and the idea lit up my brain. My second book, which I’m editing now, is in some ways more conventional: It was inspired by the time I spend with my mother as she was dying.

Lily: I love that it all started with a cartoon! Let’s finish up with some fun questions and get inside your mind. What’s the weirdest pizza topping you’ve ever seen and/or tried?

Robert: My wife likes to try all kinds of things on the pizzas that she makes. Most recently she tried some kind of jam. I don’t think we’ll be having that again.

Lily: I'm trying to imagine what pizza with jam would taste like and I can't quite do it. I have to admit I haven't been very adventurous with my toppings. What is one thing you would do if time and money weren’t a problem?

Robert: Oh wow. Devote more time to Greek theater and philosophy at its source. I think a lot of what we need as humans and what we can say about humanity occurred in that small city of Athens 2,500 years ago. I’d like to soak it up, study it, debate it with people who were as fascinated with that civilization as I am.

Lily: It's been awhile since I dipped into philosophy but now I have the urge to pick up my old collection of Plato and Aristotle. Do you have a favorite snack?

Robert: Since the isolation of the pandemic we’ve been eating healthier than I might otherwise. I miss greasy fried chicken followed by several teaspoons of a bismuth chaser.

Lily: Homemade fried chicken sounds amazing right now. Maybe I'll make some after we move. What would be the worst “buy one get one free” sale of all time?

Robert: Two terms for Trump.

Lily: Firstly, I agree. Secondly, I probably laughed way too hard. Would you rather 5% of the population have telepathy, or 5% of the population have telekinesis? (You are not part of the 5% that has telepathy or telekinesis.)

Robert: So all I get to do is observe? That’s not fair! If other people's brains work anything like mine, telepathy would be like sitting inside a clothes dryer and watching the different colors and shapes float by. Not pretty. My only reference for telekinesis is in the movie The Fly (both versions). But now, an age in which air travel is described by epidemiologists as putting yourself in a "flying germ tube," telekinesis would definitely be a boon in so many ways.

Lily: I wouldn't mind being able to travel long distances without having to fly in a plane. In college my friends and I started saying "telekinesis" and whatever item we wanted passed to us and it's kind of stuck over the years. What is a piece of advice do you often give but find yourself struggling to follow?

Robert: Don’t lick the screen door in the winter. No, seriously. I would advise people, when possible, to focus on activities that elevate their spirit. My happiest moments are when I’m able to follow that advice. Which can’t occur unless you follow the Socratic dictum Know Thyself. That’s an ongoing struggle.

Lily: Not licking the screen door in winter is great advice too! Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Robert: I’m 71 years old. I began writing a few years ago to see if I had it in me to tell a story from beginning to end. I was skeptical. But I’ve been able to achieve something that has brought pleasure to me and, I hope, a broader public.

Lily: You've definitely brought some smiles to my face. How can readers discover more about you and you work?

Robert: I have a website. There’s more about my book, some really funny stuff, and a story about when I became a writer, at least in my own mind.

Twitter | Amazon Author | Goodreads Author

Amazon | IndieBound | Goodreads

via Blogger https://ift.tt/3fK78fo

#Blogger #interview

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thecoroutfitters · 5 years

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Written by Wild Bill on The Prepper Journal.

As we normal folks prepare for emergencies, disasters and the like, I was curious as to how one might approach this should “money be no object.” I myself have never had that problem, when cost was an afterthought, not a concern. But there are those that are born to or succeed to a point where this is their reality and in such Daniel Williams brought the following to my attention.

I for one found it fascinating, not just for the content and presentation but for the reality that if the EOTWAWKI, SHTF happens some of the “Golden Horde” is going to be its own little fiefdom, replete with private armies and weapons you only see in the movies. Another consideration to take into account as we all try to survive.

If it demonstrates anything it clearly shows that being rich and successful does not mean you are not just as flawed as us little people.

Since The New Yorker unveiled the doomsday survivalist strategies of the super-rich in 2017, the planet’s most monied men and women have proceeded to amp things up.

And you can’t fault the scope of their ambition as they look to inter-planetary escape, de facto states and even immortality to evade the collapse of our planet and the revolt of its stinking, heathen masses.

As such, the content team at Loanable have created an infographic which shows the freshest, weirdest and most popular ways the master’s of the universe will side-step doom should a catastrophe topple the natural order.

Mars Biospheres

Do you believe this better for mankind than to become extinct?

It is possible this dilemma will come to pass. Because what if Musk musters only a few thousand survivalists to colonize the red planet? It will be their duty to spread life on Mars.

Musk’s recent pledge to bring Pizza Hut to his biospheres also extends to some of The Hut’s industry rivals, so his Spaceship X survivalists will see out their days with a heady mix of fast food inside a giant greenhouse with an anti-gravity chamber on hand. Should the world end, some will perhaps consider that an upgrade on our current form of civilization.

Laser Eye Surgery

To prepare for post-nuclear melt down and martial law being unable to contain the baying mobs, then first things first. You absolutely, positively, need to pre-emptively correct the plus 1.2 vision in your left eye, right?

Because this is what Steve Huffman would have us believe.

And if you can’t get round to laser eye surgery before the world goes to hell, then you must face down the existential threats by stockpiling contact lens solution instead.

And who am I to deride Huffman and his survivalist priorities? This man who is the brilliant, billionaire, founder of the “front page of the internet” as against a glib content creator, sitting in pajamas in a tiny basement flat, with pieces of peppermint immovably lodged in between his teeth?

Private Armies

The private standing army is the essential end-of-the world accessory for the financial overlord. And what really matters is how big your force of mercenary soldiers is compared to the next man’s.

In this spirit, a number of American survivalist billionaires recently met in secret in Switzerland – with the size of their squadrons top of the agenda. After all, what’s the point in accruing billions of dollars if you don’t have a system in place to protect it from the antsy hoi polloi when the world is in peril?

But if food and water and law and order are in short supply, and hyper-inflation kicks in as it typically does during extreme crisis, then subordinating one’s troops becomes a real issue.

And whereas in the past, the very rich could trade Givenchy, Chapaud and furs for loyalty, today’s fiscally elite survivalists are largely austere, righteous and lacking in ostentatious possessions (other than, ironically, their anti-armageddon accouterments) This means they’ll be faced with the futile task of trading stock in solar powered hectares in Arizona for the fading loyalty of their soldiers.

Food Mountains

Instead of posing the tired question of what would be your last meal before you die, we can instead ask what’s the best meal to have when the planet dies?

And on this front, survivalist food kits are a multi-billion dollar business. They are also a great leveler: rich and poor alike will typically be reliant on the same, boring types of emergency food: cereals, tinned fruit and vegetable and freeze-dried produce.

Many of the survivalist food kits, though, do offer charming, unexpected flourishes such as the hand wipes provided by leading emergency food kit manufacturer, Gear Hungry. After all, it’s bad enough having the world end before your very eyes without also having to deal with pesky, sticky fingers from your mini-pack raisin and sultana mix.

Survival Condo Projects

Luxury living inside a former nuclear bunker is a special pitch for special times. This form of subterranean existence is perfect for the super rich survivalist who isn’t grandiose or romantic enough to set their sites on living in space.

The full luxury, doomsday units in Wichita Falls, Texas can be yours from around $3 million USD and they will allow 75 people to outlive the real world for up to 5 years.

There is also a special, organic hydroponic and aquaculture facility which is THE place to get your hands on luxury survivalist produce. This means that when the general public run out of food and start eating each other’s radio- active flesh, you can dine on carefully cultivated matsutake mushrooms, saffron and albino sturgeon procured from the Sterlet fish being farmed in the sea water tanks.

The Wichita Falls condo units also offer a further, rich blend of banal and apocalyptic features. So you can enjoy “Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical air filtration” alongside the “Washer and dryer in each unit”. And as well as the “Command & Control Center” you will find “Full kitchens with High-end stainless appliances” lest you endure a nuclear fall out with the added indignity of not having a sashimi-grade cutting knife.

The Doomsday Clock

The time of the clock (which gauges how close the world is to catastrophe) is governed by The Board of Atomic Scientists whose numbers include a dozen Nobel prize winners and experts in various fields.

As well as the present day, the only other occasion the Doomsday Clock was as far gone as 11:58 pm was in 1953 – after the Soviet Union and the U.S had developed and tested “H-Bombs”.

So it doesn’t look good for us then.

It might, perhaps, be said, though, that The Board of Atomic Scientists a doom- laden lot. The earliest time they have ever recorded was 11:43 pm in 1991, after a pact between Russia and the U.S to reduce nuclear arms.

Which means we’ve never been more than a figurative 17 minutes from the end of the world. And this begs the question of what insane level of utopia we’d have to attain to make it, say, 08:27 am?

New Zealand

Many New Zealand media outlets reacted with anger to vast parts of their beautiful country being sold to over a dozen Silicon Valley billionaires. Presumably, it was more irritating still, though, when James Cameron started buying up land there.

All of the above contributed to a change in the law in 2018, restricting non-citizens’ right to buy property in New Zealand. This can be side-stepped, however, by acquiring permanent residency if $7.5m USD is invested in the country year-on year after an initial outlay.

This forms part of a bigger picture of “passport collecting” amongst dozens of the world’s richest survivalists. Because as well as allowing them to find political and economic safe havens, multi-citizenship is the ultimate keeping-it-classy-the hell with-you status symbol; the non-gauche equivalent of the mega-yacht.

Inside the mind of Ray Kurzweil

Eternal life achieved through a downloaded conscience is of long-running intrigue to survivalists, science fiction writers and raging narcissists alike. So let us ponder, then, what it means to exist without bodily movement or sensation for infinity…

…Those billions of years you’d have alone with your biggest regrets. The trillions of years spent with no means of generating new memories. Or perhaps you’d lose your mind and your memories altogether; for there can be no absolute guarantee against that.

So maybe, then, you’d be terrified, trapped and confused ad infinitum. In which case you’d think someone would flip the switch and put out of your misery. Unless you get overlooked in the data base, lost in the system. Forever conscious.

Enjoy it, Ray.

There you have it, perhaps “out there on some points” eye-opening on others. Knowledge is power, and your power is to process it and keep the parts that add value to your life.

Be Safe out there and be sure to check out The Prepper Journal Store and follow The Prepper Journal on Facebook!

The post Survival of the Richest: How the World’s Financial Elite are Preparing for Armageddon appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

#SHTF #TEOTWAWKI #MARTIALLAW #BUGOUT #PREPPERBAG #USAF #USSOCOM #ARMY #NAVY #SurvivalFirestarter #Sur

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vileart · 7 years

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DramaturgyFucker: Cameryn Moore @ Edfringe 2017

nerdfucker

a solo play with bad boundaries

An ode to geek love. A testament to passion. Everything is ready, right down to the polished pawns, but when one wrong move changes the game, a single-minded misfit faces a choice that could change her life. From the award-winning creator of Phone Whore comes this gripping new one-woman play that dives deep into obsession and will leave you breathless. Solo playwright/performer Cameryn Moore returns to Edinburgh Fringe with nerdfucker, her newest critically acclaimed play. Set after hours at a geek convention, nerdfucker is an unexpected tale of awkward passion, which is all the more wrenching for being so recognizable. Audiences can look for sympathetic laughs and loads of cultural commentary amid the rapid unwinding of a woman on the edge of a troubling truth.

nerdfucker will be at Sweet Grassmarket 4 (Venue 18) from Aug 3-27 (not 14th or 21st) at 19:00 (1hr) with tickets priced at £9.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

To be honest, nerdfucker emerged after I had written myself into a corner with a rom-com two-hander (1) I was experimenting on (2), and it was horrible (3). I knew I was going to trash the draft of the script, but I still felt there was something in there, and in desperation I took one of the more out-there premises of one of the characters—when asked what the weirdest thing was that she had ever done as a sex worker, she said, “I was a human chessboard once”—and I just… tilted it:What woman would be a human chessboard for free?

What would she be getting out of that, if not money? What kind of situation would she have to be in? What would her background be? Where would the tension lie? When I followed that path, then I found this play, and I am so fucking proud of it, and grateful to it, that it hurts. Not a two-hander, not a rom-com, something else entirely that people don’t really expect.

FOOTNOTES

Lesson 1: I can’t write straight-up comedy.

Lesson 2: I don’t have to take other artists’ challenges, especially if they’ve been drinking.

Lesson 3: Kill your darlings as needed.

credit: Tristan A. Brand

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

Oh, yes! This is the place where the artists can present ideas as visceral, in-the-now moments, bypassing the exposition of discussion and going straight for those live-wire leaps in thought and feeling.

How did you become interested in making performance?

I first started creating works for plus-sized dancers 16 years ago, because I had started dancing myself and was tired of feeling completely left out of the creative and performance part of the dance world. Over the course of 10 years, my works went into more narrative-driven pieces—dance musicals with a plot—and at the same time I began working as a phone-sex operator, and found myself wanting to write a solo play about that, because again, my experience as an actual sex worker was not really represented well out there in the performance world.

When I toured Phone Whore and found that people wanted to hear what I had to say, and that I was good at it, a whole new world opened up. Part of my internal pressure to create my own works is that if I didn’t, there would be nothing for me to perform in, as a fat person. The roles allowed to us are limited and boring. I create the works and the characters that represent me, in some way, and what I want to see out in the world.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Once I understood the title character’s character, I took her into a defining moment, a situation that would possibly be one of her nightmares, and then followed her responses to the situation as it unfolded further. I had to be really clear about what the inside of her head and heart felt like, which was a challenge, because she’s a lot like what I was 10 years ago, 30 years ago. It wasn’t easy to excavate that, but once I was in it, I was in, and just had to stay there to write out what she would do or say.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Most of my shows so far—the ones that I’ve toured the most—have been autobiographical. nerdfucker is a fictional work (though heavily grounded in my experiences as a nerdfucker). That is significant, at least in terms of my experience of creating this show, but the audience wouldn’t know it, I don’t think.

The part where nerdfucker really fits is how it brings the audience immediately and intimately into the world of the play; they have a role, even if they don’t know it walking in. It’s not interactive, in the traditional sense of the word, but it feels immersive. This is something that nerdfucker shares strongly with my most known work, Phone Whore: you’re not in the theatre, you’re in my emotional world.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I want the audience to feel a real empathy for the protagonist. She’s not a hero, she really is just doing the best she can. And I want the audience walking out of there, mentally reviewing every relationship they’ve ever been in and wondering, did I do that? Did someone else do that? What does that mean about me, or them, if we did?

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

No fourth wall: the nerdfucker and the audience are in direct and frequent contact. Initially I set it up that way in order to layer on the tension for the protagonist, but it ends up making the situation very compelling for the audience as well.

As well as being a playwright/performer, Cameryn Moore is a writer, sex educator, and former phone sex operator. She has received awards at fringe festivals in Vancouver, San Francisco, Victoria (BC), Winnipeg, and Houston, and is bringing nerdfucker to Fringe festivals across the UK and Europe this year. Cameryn is the creator and frequent host of Smut Slam, a storytelling open mic night featuring real-life, first-person sex stories. She founded the UK Smut Slam circuit in January of this year, and will also be presenting a one-hour cabaret version of the Smut Slam throughout the Edinburgh Fringe. WINNER, ARTISTIC RISK AWARD – 2016 Vancouver Fringe Cameryn’s 2017 North American tour is supported by njoy toys and The Slutcracker (Boston). Her company, Little Black Book Productions, is a fiscally sponsored project of the International Sex Workers Foundation for Arts, Culture, and Education.

from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2rYUKnl

#Theatre #Blogger #visual art #Edinburgh Fringe #Experimental Critique

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nofomoartworld · 7 years

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The Everyday Perils of Womanhood Come Alive in a Harrowing Short Film

Prime anxieties of the female experience are succinctly summarized in the two minutes and 45 seconds of HUSH, a short film by artists Avery Wheless and Brandon Tyson. Focusing specifically on the contradictory expectations women are expected to uphold while simply existing in public, the video is powerful in its somewhat direct nature, weaving together common scenarios and phrases directed at women that become much more potent when all its parts come together.

HUSH consists of a single continuous shot of a domestic interior wherein two figures, a preteen girl and a wizened young woman, interact with one another and their surrounding scene, characterized by mystically melancholy blue and purple lights in every corner. Both characters wear the same blue nightgown, a facet that, combined with their difference in age, suggests this to be a past and future encounter of the same woman. As they pirouette through the space, the voice of a young girl calmly narrates.

"What you wear reflects who you are, so don't cry when you become a target. You wore that out," the narrator aggressively states. Immediately after she continues: "Never let them take advantage of you. Stay in control. If things get out of control its likely your fault. Just tell them if you want them to stop. But don't expect them to listen."

The sea of contradictory expectations is neverending: "Don't scream, just stay calm and wait. It'll all be over before you know it. Did you lead him on? Did you say no? How many times did you say no? You are no victim, so hush. This too shall pass, but for the future, what would you have done differently?"

The girl and women, now sitting at a long dining room table, immediately look up to the camera in unison with looks of fearful uneasiness spread across their faces. "Now that's a real smile, see?" spews the narrating voice, as the film cuts to black.

One of the more interesting facts about HUSH is that that impetus for the project came from Tyson, who identifies as male: "The inspiration for this project really happened all within a single moment," Tyson explains to Creators. "Late one Friday night, I was walking a friend of mine to her car for the usual reasons: It's night, it's downtown, and I'm a man she trusts. She leaves. I walk alone to my car."

"It's not safe for girls to walk alone at night. I've heard this, it's not new, but it wasn't until I rephrased the expression that it turned into a much broader instruction: to fear being in all public space for half of one's time," Tyson adds. "It seems hyperbolic and unreal to phrase such a common understanding this way, but it's not. This is a reality she lives in. I realized then that I had such a narrow window of awareness to the more subtle, quiet, and ubiquitous losses of liberty that American women endure, and though I could never actually understand, I wanted to at least try to be informed."

Although eyebrows may be raised at a man venturing to create a film on the female experience, Wheless, the other creator behind the film added a crucial female outlook to HUSH: "Empathy and compassion has its limits for creating—I can't fake deeply personal anecdotes that I've heard. Avery was able to give the piece words that can only come from someone who has heard them, and emotions from only someone that has felt them," Tyson reveals.

You can watch HUSH in full, below:

More of Avery Wheless and Brandon Tyson's work can be viewed here and here, respectively.

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