so that’s what i got from today’s ep
Yes I still am! You can message me directly if you’re interested :)
"I love them to pieces. I think watching them is like watching one of the greats... just endlessly fascinating to watch and so instinctive… they transcend everything else, really."
— Olivia Cooke on Emma D'Arcy's performance as Rhaenyra Targaryen for the UnWrapped
Maiden Rose & Berserk - The Authors who just Couldn’t Do It
I’ve been complaining ever since Inariya Fusanosuke went out of hiatus a couple years ago that her story is stagnating too much.
Before her hiatus the story was progressing at its own back and forth, “toying with it” pace. The whole point of the story was to get Taki to a place where he could move past his learned social inhibitions and enjoy his sex life and relationship with Klaus, someone who gives exactly 0 shit about the superbly and uselessly complex social expectations of Japan Taki’s homeland.
So there’s a lot of back and forth, we see first how Taki and Klaus even become entangled in the first place, we see them explore, we see Taki getting vaguely tempted and just indulging and discovering, then it’s return to the homeland “back to being inhibited” mode, and we see Taki hiding big time and Klaus banging at the door trying to get him out.
This part of the story is pretty much the author’s consciousness going around and toying with the idea of coming out, getting close to the idea, refusing (and thus being repelled away), and then getting back to the idea anyway. That’s why she has Klaus always come back to Taki anyway.
But then, that’s not the only story with the same back and forth “I just can’t fucking commit” kind of dynamic. Berserk had the exact same problem, and that problem was so damn bad, the entire story got completely discontinued, until finally the author simply died.
In my opinion, Berserk was about a pretty similar process as in Maiden Rose: opening up, and transcending something that’s holding you down. For Taki/the author, that’s social sexual inhibitions. For Guts/Kentaro Miura, that was also his own sex issues and being able to open up and connect to someone from that level.
Berserk goes just a little farther than Maiden Rose, in that Kentaro Miura went and stared down what he was supposed to do right in the face.
In chapter 46 to 47, we have Guts enjoying a nice little flashback and nervous breakdown of his own traumas.
But I couldn’t help but sense that there was a pulling away on his end when he did, specifically exactly at the moment Guts moved away from Casca after he ended up strangling her.
Guts had that one job of connecting to his chosen love interest, the female character created almost literally for that purpose, but when the time came for it, I feel like he just, backed away. Like he was just repelled away from the issue and he just ultimately couldn’t do it.
Straight after that the entire story basically goes to shit and Casca is sidelined in the most disgusting, and my god unrealistic way possible, and she remains sidelined up until this day. With the author being dead, it’s unlikely anything else will come out of it.
At the end of the day, these are and were two authors trying to approach seriously crippling and traumatic stuff. I’d be willing to bet the author of Maiden Rose went through some form of sexual trauma, and I’m fairly almost 100% sure Kentaro Miura also went through something even more straightforward. It doesn’t surprise me that the author with the heaviest load died with the story unfinished, and that he couldn’t approach the subject anymore after attempting it the first time.
That being said, it’s seriously fucking frustrating from a story-telling and narrative point of view. Watching Casca getting grossly sidelined and treated the way she was all of the sake of not approaching the topic again I felt was disgusting. And waiting around while Inariya Fusanosuke keeps using violence to draw out her own desires is making me want to ask “well, I get it, but when will you be getting to it, then? When will you finally get to the point?”
Although, regarding Maiden Rose, with the latest chapter’s showdown between Klaus and Suguri where Suguri asks Klaus to take Taki away if he ever was to lose himself in all of the politicking, I’m having hope for the story to finally be going somewhere—it seems even the author can sniff herself making a bad decision she doesn’t want make, and already promising herself to take her self-insert away if it’d ever get to that.
While I completely get their inability to approach the very subject they created their story for: healing, I just also seriously wish they’d come to terms with what they need to face, and would finally put the matter to rest once and for all.
The fantastic sci-fi-themed artworks of Reuben Lane - https://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/the-sci-fi-concept-artworks-of-reuben-lane/
It looks like Maiden Rose IV will be released in September!
I wonder what will Inariya do with the story next.
I feel like, especially since the hiatus, the story has been stagnating, in the sense that Inariya hasn’t gone towards it at all lately and she’s been delaying it and going towards it.
If Maiden Rose is a story about someone who was made to feel socially ashamed of his sexuality, which is what it strikes me to be when looking at Taki being ashamed of and concealing his sexuality so much, then the point of the story is about doing something about that and experiencing a journey towards making changes in that area. That’s what it looks like when there’s another entity like Klaus, who is completely free in this area and unashamed of himself, that stands toe to toe with someone like Taki.
Except ever since post-hiatus, I feel like she’s been delaying the outcome she’s looking for. Like she’s been toying with it for ages, and every time Klaus and Taki intersect it’s like they’re playing on this, getting close to it, aaaand then backing away, aaaaaand then getting closer, aaaaaaaaaaaaand again moving away. But even more so now in how they interact with each other, because there’s been a lot of violence going on, and it’s like she’s trying to extract something from herself by banging at the gates, but it’s not really coming out and in truth she’s avoiding the moment it’ll come out.
I wonder if the story is ever going to be completed because of it, or if it’ll end in something dramatic, like either of the characters dying. Although a story like that you’d always expect someone to die… But if she doesn’t decide on something, to finally have that bit of character development for Taki,
And so I just really wonder what she’ll do in those next chapters.
I’m sick of this. I don’t understand why I can’t receive attention, anymore, and frankly at this point I don’t care who sees this, I just can’t take it anymore, I used to hide it and I still want to hide it but I’m just kind of done.
I don’t understand why it doesn’t happen. I tried everything I could think of, I tried joining almost hundreds of different communities, I tried jumping on every waves, rides and trends happening in different movements, I tried participating along other people even when I didn’t care, I tried to craft content that others would approve of, I tried to do everything I could to follow along what would go viral, even though I never cared, I saw other people who function according to their own slow rhythm act as if they are relevant, act as if it’s normal for people to pay attention to what is happening to them in their lives, and for some reason if I act like I’m relevant, I get people being nice to me, but them not understanding what is happening, they’re nice to me and polite but they’re looking at me and thinking we don’t understand what you’re looking for, we don’t understand what you want, I tried to adapt my speech, my fashion style, my mannerisms, anything that could emulate what works, I went through so many ends of the spectrum from rock to goth to rap to whatever else, I spent ages trying to bring attention to myself and my life by acting out, showcasing myself, being a clown, sometimes shoving myself, showing off, trying to be funny and “hip” and “cool” and what have you, maybe if I tweak this it’ll work, maybe if I change the way I present myself it’ll work, maybe if I listen to the algorithm it’ll work, maybe if I follow social rules it’ll work, maybe if I study social patterns and how other people behave it’ll work (actually that one is rather smart), maybe if I just have a less amateurish way of going about things it’ll work? (Again that one seems rather smart, I doubt it’s a secret I understand nothing of social conventions), maybe if I try again it’ll work, maybe if I try again and again it’ll work, and maybe this time will be the one? Maybe that one will work? Maybe again from this angle? Maybe then?
I don’t want to have to make supreme efforts to achieve this, and I already spent decades going about it as indirectly as I could without going too far, I will never understand why I can’t receive high like counts, reblogs, retweets, favourites, bookmarks, reactions, responses , things that we know are a sign of people caring, of people minding, of people finding something relevant. I’ve been told that people gain traction when they do something worthwhile for the world, the newest plan, but it only seems like an upteenth way to trick people into paying attention to me, and I don’t think I can go far down that path especially with things that may be legit about me.
I’m typing this and feeling subconscious that people will read this and scroll, or just, not read it at all, and maybe I should hide as usual, but I don’t have the time for this anymore
I don’t have the energy or the time to go around in circles and meet walls wherever I go, pretending doesn’t seem to have worked so far, and I’m not willing to down that path any further than this, so, yeah there it is, I just fucking want attention, I just bloody want attention, I just wish people would talk to me, pay attention, look at me, just generally think I’m interesting, I don’t know, ANYTHING. I don’t know what I’m looking for or what I want anymore.
James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) - An Ode to the Ocean / Thoughts & Review (2023)
In the wake of Oceangate’s catastrophic deep dive to the Titanic’s resting place, we’ve heard James Cameron speak up with great clarity and knowledge on the company’s dubious security practices. That, compounded with everything else the director had already accomplished vis-à-vis the ocean, somehow prompted me to re-watch Titanic (1997), and serve you with a fresh review of the story.
For this…
POLISH PREFIXES (basic)
Based on the original picture from a coursebook “Česky krok za krokem” by Lída Holá.
This time I would like to introduce you to prefixes. What are they?
“Prefixes are letters which we add to the beginning of a word to make a new word with a different meaning. Prefixes can, for example, create a new word opposite in meaning to the word the prefix is attached to. They can also make a word negative or express relations of time, place or manner.“ (SOURCE)
In English they are very common in adjectives (happy-unhappy, possible-impossible, legal-illegal) and verbs (to like-to unlike, to do-to redo). Slavic languages adore to use them, especially in verbs. People whose first language is a Slavic one, usually don’t have many problems with prefixes while learning other Slavic languages - it’s very intuitive.
Let’s take a look at Polish verbs with the addition of prefixes:
- dojechać (pf.) - to get to, to approach (by land transport)
Dojechałem bezpiecznie do domu! - I got home safely - nadepnąć (pf.) - to step on
Nadepnęłam na gwóźdź! - I step on a nail! - nadbudowywać (impf.) - to overbuild (to build over or on top of another structure)
Musimy nadbudować dwa piętra. - We have to add two floors more. - obchodzić (impf.) - to go around
Aby dostać się do sklepu, musimy obejść ten budynek. - In order to get to this store, we must go around this building. - odlatywać (impf.) - to fly away, to depart, to take off
Samolot odlatuje o 17.15. - The plane is taking off at 5.15 P.M. - podpisać się (pf.) - to sign (below)
Proszę się tutaj podpisać. - Sign here, please. - przejechać (pf.) - to drive through
Przejechaliśmy przez Niemcy. - We drove through Germany. - przeskoczyć (pf.) - to jump (over)
Umiesz przeskoczyć przez krzaki? - Can you jump over bushes? - przedsmak m - foretaste
To tylko przedsmak naszego koncertu! - It’s just a foretaste of our concert! - przybiec (impf.) - to come (by running)
Przybiegnij tutaj! - Come here! - rozpakować się (pf.) - to unpack
Nie rozpakowuj się, zaraz jedziemy. - Don’t unpack, we’re going right now. - zgromadzić się (pf.) - to gather
Zgromadźmy się na ulicy XYZ. - Let’s gather in the XYZ street. - wejść (pf.) - to enter
Wejdź do środka. - Come inside. - wybiec (impf.) - to run out, to dash out
Wybiegł z domu po północy. - He dashed out from home after midnight. - załadować (pf.) - to load
Załaduj to łóżko na ciężarówkę. - Load this bed into the truck.
It works in similar way in Czech and Russian. Let’s take a look at Czech and Russian prefixes:
Polish - Czech - Russian
- do-; do-; до-
- na-; na-, ná-; на-
- nad-; nad-; над-
- ob-; ob-; об-, обо-
- od-; od-; от-
- pod-; pod-; под-
- prze-; pro-; пере-
- prze-; pře-; про-
- przed-; před-; пред-
- przy-; při-, pří-; при-
- roz-; roz-; раз- (рас-), роз- (рос-)
- z-; s-; с-
- w-; v-; в-
- wy-; vy-, vý-; вы-
- za-; za-; за-
Unfortunately, prefixes have so many meanings, it’s impossible to write all of them down. What’s more, not every prefix can be used in verbs/adjectives/nouns etc. (for instance, it’s difficult to find a verb with przed-; that’s why I used a noun instead of a verb).
If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to message me!
The Last of Us Finale: Thoughts / Violence as a Defense Mechanism
This article contains spoilers
I’ve enjoyed discussing and observing Joel and Ellie’s relationship dynamic, and how Ellie, as Joel’s daughter figure, has subconsciously acted as a cathartic element to Joel’s trauma of losing his biological daughter.
We often talk about the lack a child has when a parent is either absent, or unfulfilling when they are available. But we rarely discuss the other…
Death as a narrative tool — Joel & Tess in “The Last of Us” / The Nature of Trauma
Death as a narrative tool — Joel & Tess in “The Last of Us” / The Nature of Trauma
Welcome back to TOSRC, where in today’s article, we’re analyzing narrative tools used in fiction. The subject of this piece will specifically be death as it is used in fiction, and we’ll take a look at the particular case of Joel and Tess’ characters in HBO’s The Last of Us.
→ This article contains spoilers.
In The Last of Us, we have a post-apocalypse zombie type of setting, centering around…
Avatar: The Way of Water — Slice of Life Filler (That Can be Improved Upon) / Thoughts — Review
Welcome back to TOSRC, and for today’s review we’re taking a look at Avatar: The Way of Water. Avatar: The Way of Water was the cinematic event of the season. Because I don’t usually go the theater, since most available productions are garbage, I made this release into a whole event and went to the best IMAX in my city—and boy, was it worth it. In this sense, Cameron did succeed in making Avatar…
The Hunt for Earth 2.0 — Contributing to our neglect of Earth itself?
The rush to space begins here — down on Earth
I’m fairly fascinated with space, and so most of my social media feeds are filled with space content — since algorithms all around have so helpfully picked up on my preferences. And so, a lot of what I do whenever I’m online is stare at space content.
And most space content, is like this one. Articles, papers and videos, from content creators, to…
