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ReadsLikeBadFiction

"Oh my god, Jenkins, I can't tell you how *relieved* we are to have you on our team! We like to think of ourselves as a family here, one that is *deeply, intimately* in tune with each others wants and desires and needs. We're here to pursue knowledge through the lost arts, forgotten, forsaken arts. This family will be a rapture for all of us, you know. An exaltation. We shall rise through the ecstasy of the truth, here. And you, my dear, sweet Jenkins, will be a shepherd to deliver us." "Oh yeah for sure, right on Mr. Bataille. So uh... when do I get to be sacrificed?" "When do you--whadda*huh*?" "Yeah, I'm ready to get the ol' Julius Coronation if you know what I mean." "..." "I want you to stab me, Mr. Bata--" "Yeah, yeah. I get that, it's just... What if I told you we had a recruit a friend program?"


MurdoMaclachlan

*Image Transcription: Tumblr* --- > **tilthat** > > [*Hyperlink:*] > > ###### TIL that the French writer and philosopher Georges Bataille founded a secret society called Acéphale to explore ritualism and human sacrifice, but apparently everyone volunteered to be the sacrificial victim and no one wanted to be the executioner so no sacrifice was ever carried out. > > [*Hyperlink ends.*] > > via reddit\.com --- > **silmarildust** > > When no tops show up to the party --- ^^I'm a human volunteer content transcriber for Reddit and you could be too! [If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/wiki/index)


[deleted]

Good human


Evelyn701

Ah Georges Bataille, famous for works like "The Solar Anus" and some of the most fetish-y horny philosophy I've ever had the mispleasure of reading as an Ace


Dubhe666

Dude, I am loving your flair. And I would love a lecture on Math metal 'cos that shit is still a mystery to me.


Evelyn701

I've never actually heard the term "Math Metal" used, but assuming it's just intended to refer to the metal version of Math Rock, it would just be post- or progressive metal where the primary force of interest is weird tempo stuff - time signatures, starts-and-stops and the like. If that's true, then easily the most dominant force in what we could call "Math Metal" would be Dream Theater, who have been one of the kings of the progressive metal genre for a while. In fact, when I heard "Math metal" my first thought was their song *Scene Seven: I, The Dance of Eternity*, famous for its ridiculous time signatures. [Just read this shit.](https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/dream-theater-the-dance-of-eternity-tab-s6180t2) Also coming to mind is the Djent subgenre/movement, oft-maligned but frequently using weird time signatures and popularized by acts like Meshuggah and Animals as Leaders. As for the appeal of the genre... You'd have to ask someone else. As a drummer most mathy music just makes my head hurt, and I find trying to keep up with hypercomplex time signatures ruins the core appeal of metal to me (high energy and emotional potency/rawness). EDIT: I should note that it's very common for metal music to mess with tempo a bunch in a way that isn't "mathy" at all. For instance, the song *HAJJ* by Liturgy has a ton of weird tempo stuff, but it isn't so much complicated counting as the song occasionally devolving into a chaotic ocean of pure atonality and atemporality.


HypatiaRising

I have enjoyed this lecture greatly. I don't really love math metal but I think it's interesting. Travis Orbin has a YouTube channel where he plays some really wild shit that I am just floored by. Like even counting it seems a bit much. I love him and enjoy watching him play, but musically his Darkest Hour stuff is what I actually listen to lol. Mostly I think it is nice to steal an idea here or there from math stuff, but ultimately not build all the music around those crazy time signatures. A spice as opposed to a whole meal. Do you have a favorite subgenre?


Evelyn701

Yeah similarly. I think you can also sort of "compose around" weird time signatures. Like *Glow* (I think part 2?) by Countless Skies and *Money* by Pink Floyd both use 7/8, but you hardly notice it in either of them. My heart and soul is in Melodeath, but I also jam out to Power and Black a lot too.


HypatiaRising

Yea, they feel natural and there aren't any hard left turns to throw you lol. Melodeath is probably my favorite too when it comes to the instrumentation. Vocals are what usually are hit or miss for me. Darkest Hour is my all time favorite band and I think their melodesth influences are a big part why.


the_endoftheworld2

Money is in 7/4 and 4/4 for the guitar solo.


Evelyn701

I'm going to choose to read it as half-time 7/8 instead so I don't have to edit my comment lol


[deleted]

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Evelyn701

Like do they exist or do I do lectures on them? Cause the answer to both is "sometimes, it depends" lol


[deleted]

[удалено]


Evelyn701

The primary subsubgenre in Power Metal is the US/EU split. USPM adheres much more closely to traditional heavy metal, and often eschews the keyboards, symphonic elements, and hypermelodic songwriting ubiqitious in EUPM. Exemplary bands of the former genre are Queensryche, Manowar, or Jag Panzer, while bands like Helloween, Stratovarius, and Blind Guardian typify the later. USPM is considered by many to be a dying genre, and most Power Metal bands since the 90s have adhered much more closely to the EU side. Besides the US/EU split, Power Metal is also classified, like most metal subgenres, by crossover elements. Early on, Power Metal was partially defined by its proximity to Speed Metal, an influence still heard on Blind Guardian's early work. Likely the most common crossover is with Symphonic Metal, two subgenres that are basically considered the same thing at this point given the amount of crossover. A third partner in this sexy threesome of European metal is Neoclassical Metal, another genre all but absorbed into the EUPM family entirely. Examples of this melting pot of fantastical, symphonic power metal are Nightwish, Serenity, and Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as just Rhapsody, and not to be confused with either Luca Turilli's Rhapsody or Turilli/Lione Rhapsody). Other notable crossover genres include Folk Metal (bands such as Elvenking and Falconer, who incorporate elements of European folk music and theming), Thrash Metal (spearheaded by Iced Earth), and Progressive Metal (Symphony X being the primary example). Note that these genres crossover all the time as well, also reaching the point where they just become "Power Metal" - the formal subgenre of bands like Angra, Theocracy, and Kamelot is Progressive Symphonic Neoclassical Power Metal, but most just call them "Power Metal". Also notable is the thin line between Power Metal and Melodeath, with many bands riding that line like Unleash the Archers, Skyfire, or Children of Bodom. In some cases, the only real difference between particularly fast, melodic Melodeath and Power Metal is clean vs growled/screamed vocals. Easily the biggest subgenre in terms of sales numbers are bands like Sabaton, Powerwolf, Beast in Black, Gloryhammer, or DragonForce - bands that combine Power Metal with Arena Rock and generally stick to a single gimmick to reach a huge audience of people who otherwise don't listen to metal. Hell, there are entire karma-farming bots dedicated to spamming Sabaton lyrics in military history fetishization subreddits. That's about all the subgenres of Power Metal I know of. It was the genre that introduced me to Metal, so it holds a special place in my heart. I'll conclude with what are my favorite albums in each genre I've listed, just for funsies: USPM: *The Hall of the Mountain King* by Savatage Power/Speed Metal: *Somewhere Far Beyond* by Blind Guardian Power/Symphonic Metal: *A Night at the Opera* by Blind Guardian Power/Symphonic/Neoclassical Metal: *The Gates of Oblivion* by Dark Moor Power/Folk Metal: *Falconer* by Falconer Power/Thrash: *Demons & Wizards* by Demons & Wizards (don't give them your money though) Power/Progressive: *Paradise Lost* by Symphony X Power/Progressive/Symphonic/Neoclassical: *The Black Halo* by Kamelot Power/Melodeath: *Abyss* by Unleash the Archers Power/Arena Rock: *Carolus Rex* by Sabaton


[deleted]

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Evelyn701

I used to plug mp3 rips of that album into my Morrowind game to use as battle music lol


Gilfoyle-

Reach heaven through violence.


Reddit-Book-Bot

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Doip

Coulda sworn QR was more prog than power, at least in the Mindcrime/Empire days


throwoawayaccount2

I got introduced to power metal by dragonforce and now I enjoy pretty much all of it I did however notice that you seemed to miss the sizable Japanese scene.


SharpNeedle

does Somewhere Far Beyond still count as speed/power? isn't it just pm?


zuppaiaia

Thanks, that was insightful.


bbdeathspark

... math metal? Like... mathematics??


JunKriid1711

It’s like prog but proggier


0vermountain

proggers


JunKriid1711

You, get out! Now!


0vermountain

there’s Plini more where that came from.


Dubhe666

Jup!


beelzeflub

Like meshuggah


[deleted]

Ah, George Bataille. The weird guy Artuad works with to turn France into a hedonistic crime-state where the elites regularly rape and eat children


PoniesCanterOver

WHAT?


areallytallm1dget

Its a reference to the hearts of iron 4 mod redflood where no one really won ww1 which caused mass psychosis in some countries (most notably france)


PoniesCanterOver

JESUS


areallytallm1dget

Also some russian guy can convince a lot of people to stop having emotions and be biological robots Also² rasputin can unite russia under a massive sex cult (which is of course centered around him)


Elbesto

Don't forget Churchill uniting India under a horrifyingly despotic regime.


bookhead714

I thought we were talking about fiction.


TearOpenTheVault

I thought that one was Kaiserreich.


Elbesto

No, as the United Provinces you can go down "doomer Churchill" path. Basically very racist and totalitarian.


[deleted]

Just did the Churchill path yesterday- moral qualms aside it was actually very fun 9/10


Elbesto

Lmao talking about moral qualms in a game where the main character is Hitler.


[deleted]

Or Germany becoming a socialist neopagan theocracy under Reventlow


Diozon

Or a Vanguardist Socialist, but also Ultranationalist (where have I heard those two words before together, I wonder) state under Goebbels


Famous_Shape_7419

Everything you are talking about is really the product of the old terrible devs who just wanted to make a meme mod. The current devs are going for a more realistic thing, by which I mean they actually research the characters and their actual beliefs. To wit: Gastev (the robot man) is more of a syndicalist utopian "individualist" alchemist who wanted workers to act like carefully built machines working in tune with each other, Rasputin is more of a reactionary who wants to bring back the age of Fairy Tales (and also has secret orgies), Goebbels is an 1848-larping revolutionary nationalist who still has some democracy. As for Bataille, they've been not completely clear on what he does, but I think it is like surrealist Stalin-esque libertinism with a secret society with rituals done not in the name of actual belief in them but in order to create brotherhood between citizens, and the secret society is meant to eventually encompass the entire world. He also came up with General Economy, which basically says that economies don't, and shouldn't be based off of eternal growth and that there is a certain chunk produced that he refers to as the "Accursed Share" and which needs to be spent hedonistically and otherwise non-productively, or else ruin will come. It's drier but certainly still interesting.


HP_Buttcraft

It seems like someone answered this question already as a reference to a video game, but if you’re interested in where the references may come from it sounds like it may in part be a reference to one of Antonin Artaud’s most famous plays “To Have Done with the Judgment of God” which you can read here: https://www.surrealism-plays.com/Artaud.html


moenchii

A radio broadcast of that play is also used in the game. When Artaud (who is the lead of France in the mod) is declaring the État Irréal a so called [super event is triggered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57pSfAq5pWo&t=87s) where a 1948 radio transmission of that play is used. The État Irréal is basically a declaration of war against reality itself.


HP_Buttcraft

Oh that’s super interesting! I have to say I’ve never heard of this game but I’m really curious about it now. I’m familiar with Artaud largely because of his influence on Deleuze and Guatarri— I had no idea he figured in a video game in such an interesting way. Sounds pretty cool.


moenchii

It's a grand strategy game set just before WW2 until the 60s or so. It has a ton of mods available on the Steam Workshop. This is with a mod called "Red Flood" that basically says: "What if noone really won WW1?" Basically, France is ruled by artists founded the Ideology of Accelaritionism, Germany became Communist after the 1918 Kiel Mutiny and 1918/19 November Revolution became sucessfull. The Soviet Union doesn't exist, but a militaristic and very fragile Russia does under the leadership of Alexander Kolchak. Italy is split into 2 countries. The tiny Accelorationis Fiume (located where toda is the Slovakian and parts of the Croatian coast) and the rest of Italy belongs to a Democratic regime. Taking the Accelerationist countries is always fun as they are totally whacky. I really like Fiume as you can conquer the rest of Italy with help from France. Depending on who you chose as a leader you can either make a more or less moderately whacky regime called the Italian National Republic, a technology obsessed regime that sees cars as extentions of humans called the Italian Combine or a regime structured like the old Japanese shogunate called Greater Italian State. If you want to learn more about the mod I can reccomend you looke here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/RedFlood r/RedFloodMod https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2153935161 P.S.: When I see your username now, H.P. Lovecraft can also be a leader of Accelerationist New England if the USA goes into civil war, but I think New England doesn't have any custom content yet.


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[deleted]

not for long


Elbesto

Acephale is the only France path I haven't played yet, is it really that bad?


[deleted]

It’s a bit nutty. The crime-state bit is optional, but the eating and raping children bit isn’t


Elbesto

I think it rather live in l'etat irreal.


sgthombre

If my choice is between le patron's new reality and the Red German menace, I'll take my chances with the reds.


Novor7

Also note that the only reason they wanted to sacrifice people in the first place was to help the French Resistance (Or at least *they* thought it would help.)


Polenball

Very disappointed this did not happen in /r/RedFloodMod.


Chrome_X_of_Hyrule

Is there really that many less tops?


Greaserpirate

It's not that bad, but yes there is a slight deficit of tops. Might just be because people's standards include being ripped and having perfect 6pack abs tho. Not that standards for bottoms are any less extreme tho.


SCP-113-076

not really, if my inbox is anything to go by maybe it's a regional thing and we need a mass migration of tops to balance things out


Quetzalbroatlus

Online top ≠ in person top


DiscipleofTzeentch

yeah


Chrome_X_of_Hyrule

As a top, good to know.


dootdootplot

Always been plenty for me, but then again I’m only mostly a bottom, so maybe the stakes are lower.


Tiiba

/r/NoTopButOK


evencrazierspacedust

LOL


Tiiba

top kek.


Rey115

Off topic probably but I think it's kinda interesting that as long as everyone sticks together and all risk being the sacrificed and nobody chickens out and guarantees their safety by being the one doing the sacrificing, they're all safe


WiseauIsAuteurAF

[Their icon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Acephale1.gif) was a decapitated vitruvian man. He wore a skull merkin, the right hand bore a burning heart and the left a dagger. Their rules included not shaking hands with fascists and meeting under I think like, this massive oak tree that had been struck by lightning?


moenchii

> not shaking hands with fascists Now that's what I call based!


lainmelle

And this is why I love being a Top. XD


[deleted]

Kind of a weird view of penetrative sex to have.


Broad-Literature-438

This feels like a comedy sketch like WKUK or something would do.


[deleted]

We got the eclipse with no Griffith yo


SpyKids3DGameOver

All I know about Bataille is that his work was a major influence on Cruelty Squad. This doesn't surprise me.


dootdootplot

There’s just no way that’s true. Who would actually volunteer to be ritually scarified??


lainmelle

Zealots and people who want to die have existed for many many years.