before anyone else thinks to post it

no, people are just supposed to drop dead when you walk within five feet of them, that's how it works

Quote from: Verbatim on May 27, 2020, 12:17:15 PM

Quote from: Ingy on May 27, 2020, 01:27:20 AM

Quote from: Verbatim on May 26, 2020, 09:03:28 PM

Quote from: MetaCognition on May 26, 2020, 07:47:44 PM

What is it you study, again?

english and compsci

Since when were you doing compsci

same moment i realized that i needed a minor to get my degree

went for compsci because i already had a few credits in it from that time i switched

How do you like it

i think it's assfuck bullshit that i needed to take so many math courses just to qualify for the most basic compsci, but once i managed, it was okay i guess, but i still have a lot of resentment towards the system for putting me through the wringer

My point is that these are not present in the text itself. Narrative is textual; we may engage hermeneutically in a narrative-like way with given pieces of text, but I don't think this makes the text itself narrative.

Perhaps I am just clutching, though; if it properly fits my criteria, then yes, it's a narrative.

narrative is textual, but a major part of any text is subtext

it's not invalid to interpret stories at face value alone, but if we're trying to define what a story is, i just think it's needlessly restrictive to write off all subtext, because stories will often contain much more information than can be interpreted literally

this becomes especially important when you consider stories told without the use of lexemes, such as cave paintings, hieroglyphics, silent films with no dialogue, or this story from the SCP Foundation that only uses images to form its narrative (which is a very fun read, by the way)

If you're asking me what I think makes a narrative? I'm not entirely sure. I'd probably say something like the syntagmatic coherence of a representation of a set of events, where the representation (the narrative) is constituted by a structure of diachronic (fictive) emplotment which renders heterogenous agents, events and objects intelligible in the context of the whole.

and the six-word example doesn't fit this framework?

you have a representation of a set of events which syntactically cohere—there are baby shoes for sale (1), and they have never been worn (2); you've already conceded the diachronic nature of these events, so i won't go over that

as for "heterogeneous agents," you have the seller of the shoes (which also serve as an object, including the sign/placard/whatever the text is clearly intradiegetically written on), the baby that they would've belonged to, and (most nebulously) the people to whom the shoes are being offered—these agents are vague, sure, but not unintelligible

am i forgetting something?

I think a major thing for a lot of people as a starting point to liking is that it's just precived as different that what's normally broadcast. Especially in the past like the early 2000s

Back when they broadcast there was a notaby difference between something like Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing and even other action cartoons of the time both stylistically and tonnaly which intreuged people. Sooner or later they would discover the larger context of anime and find something they liked about it which carries from person to person.

that's definitely a good point

some people who are into cartoons in general may find it frustrating that 99% of western cartoons are either 1.) for children, or 2.) completely drama-less adult comedy shows

even shows that i want to enjoy for their serious thematic stuff, like steven universe, tend to be off-puttingly juvenile

anime provides a variety in genres that western cartoons simply lack, and i've actually always commended it for that

This doesn't seem particularly pertinent to me. A narrative can have a self-contained teleological orientation without any affirmation of some metaphysical telos. All this would entail is that there is some mythopoeic element to narrativity (depending on how expansively you want to define myth)--if we think a telos is necessary--and that's a bullet I'd probably be willing to bite.

okay, so before i respond properly, do you have a specific example in mind?

Quote from: Verbatim on May 26, 2020, 09:38:18 PM

note the disparity in my response vs. everyone else's responses

as it turns out, so long as you put yourself in a simplistic enough frame of mind, you can enjoy literally anything

Imagine having such a sad life you have to prove your superiority even on anime

pretty sure i didn't prove my superiority

pretty sure you did lmao

What is it you study, again?

english and compsci

the only ones i've been able to enjoy out of the 300 some odd that i've tried are the ones that are decidedly un-anime in their presentation, with the exception of something like neon genesis evangelion, which could be described as quintessential anime, but i still mainly enjoy it for its thematic elements, vaguely cinematic story structure, direction, tone, and pathos more so than i enjoy it for the things that make it anime—the show just has a lot of pseudo-pessimistic shit to say about the human condition (and sometimes not so pseudo) from a psychosociological perspective, and honestly, i'll eat that shit up wherever i find it

i couldn't tell you what makes it appealing from an anime perspective, because the most "anime" aspects of evangelion tend to be the very worst parts of it—and ultimately, i think that mostly just boils down to cultural friction

like, i'm always going to hate how women have been portrayed in anime—it's just viscerally repugnant to me

but at this point, i've just found that there are some shows with enough positive qualities going for them that transcend any hang-ups i might have towards the medium—because i actually prefer to enjoy things, believe it or not, and it would be a shame to write off incredibly deep shows like evangelion just because it does stupid anime shit sometimes

there's a film called Perfect Blue that you might enjoy—it's a movie person's movie even moreso than Akira, i would say, and it inspired Black Swan if you enjoyed that

you're gonna have a tough time finding a good series, though—there's a show on netflix called Devilman: Crybaby that i really like, for all the same reasons that i like evangelion basically, and it's only 10 episodes. you'll know right away whether it's for you or not

relate to that final point but wouldn’t say I regret it. University has without doubt killed a substantial part of my motivation to read/write things which are fictional, or even just non-academic. That being said, I’m not sure 18-year-old me would’ve invested that time much better anyway.

I’m hoping that the transition to doing a PhD and thus research-based work rather than content-loaded modules will give me the space necessary to pursue some more creative endeavours.

How has university been for you, overall?

shitty, although that's mostly my own fault

because living on campus is too expensive, i have to commute—and since i don't drive, i have to take public transit, which turns a 30 minute trip into a 75 minute trip, every single day of class, both to and from campus

i haven't learned much of anything, and although some of my professors are nice, a lot of them are cunts

i've made no new friends, and i haven't made myself a part of any clubs, orgs, or fraternities—i typically just go to class and then leave—all the friends i did have are out of state, and don't use social media, so it's been rather lonely as well. virtually everything i do is punctuated by the notion that i'm just wasting my time and money

so yeah, it's honestly been quite miserable

although, like i said, most of that is my own fault—i just can't be fucked. too depressed, too anxious

the best thing i can say is that my experiences here have provided a goldmine of inspiration for my writing

i hate work and i hate practice, and learning instruments is a lot of work and a lot of practice

i've dabbled with keyboards and DAWs but never on a serious level, because i already have enough unmarketable hobbies as it is

so how do you think trump's doing, given your support of him

Quote from: Verbatim on May 24, 2020, 02:07:13 PM

it was good of you to specify life itself, rather than my own specifically

that said, it definitely solidified at some point in high school, although the seeds were sown from birth obviously

ghey

fuck kierkegaard tbh

although neat if true, i personally have no use for this—i'm perfectly content with the originals, and i actually need to get back to playing prime 1 (i'm liking it, but it doesn't really grab me the same way super metroid does, hence why it's on hold)

i do have at least one friend who's been waiting for this trilogy to drop on switch, though, so i hope it's real for his sake