Here you will find my various discussions and analytical deconstructions of various pop cultural properties. My goal is to share my knowlage about literary criticism, as well as to show that any piece of media, no matter how seemingly banal, can hold deeper meanings to its viewers.
Propaganda and subtle bias
No one is immune to propaganda, and all artistic expression is inherently political. These are two statements to keep in mind, as we approach this year’s eurovision song contest, and examine what choices were made, and which were not. There is much we can learn, simply from the roster of this year’s competition, as well…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 4, Comedy and the importance of narrative points of view
This chapter will discuss how the Orks points of view turns atrocities and horrific events into darkly comedic situations using context and dramatic irony. The primary role of the Orks, besides their use as a constant antagonist to the major point of view factions humanity, do they also serve as a form of comic relief.…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 3, Futurism and facism
Modern facism is intrinsically linked with futurism in their love for violence and glorification of warfare. Power and the subjugation of the week are also concepts that both movements share. These are ideals that can be found amongst the Orks. I will not dive too deeply into either of these movements in this chapter, and…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 2, nature of the beast
Introduction This chapter is meant to be an introduction to those of my readers new to the franchise. This series will focus on the seventh edition Orks, to keep with the rest of the series continuite. These Orks do look a bit different from their modern counterparts. This notroduction will be crucial to understand the…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 1, Introduction
This chapter will serve as an introductory chapter to the Orks as well as to the concepts I will discuss in this part of the series. Because the Orks are the ever present antagonist of the franchise, as well as somewhat of a comic relief, I have decided they are worthy of their own series…
Warcraft 3 and the otherness of the Horde: Orcs
The archetype of the Orc is perhaps most well known today as the primary foil for the heroes of the series Lord of the Rings as well as many Dungeon and Dragons campaigns. The Orcs, just as the other factions discussed in this series have had a history of being portrayed as villains and monsters,…
Warcraft 3 and the otherness of the Horde: Trolls
Introduction In the previous chapter of this series, did we get a glimpse on what in Anthropology for many years has been known as the “noble savage”. The so-called others that the European explorers encountered, individuals and communities though seen as other, and in many cases lesser, they were still seen as “good”, and in…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 4, The Necrons: part 2, The ancient terrors
Ancient Egypt has for decades inspired modern man with their mystery, and seeming fixation with death and reincarnation. The mystery hieroglyphs and monuments of this long lost civilisation has inspired fantasy, horror sand sciense fiction writer since the early 1800s. In this chapter will we delve in to the origins of these tropes, as well…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 4, The Necrons: part 1, The deathless once
The ancient enemy of the Eldar, and the Old once, they gave their souls in return for endless life. The Necrons represents an ageless, unknowable evil in the Warhammer 40k setting, their technology so advanced, they seem to have magical powers. Introduction As always will I begin my series with a quick rundown on the…
Warcraft 3 and the otherness of the Horde: The Tauren
Introduction The image of the Native American “noble savage” has persisted for decades in the public continuousness of the Western world. The image that mostly comes to mind seems to be the red skinned man, dressed in a large feather headdress and speaking “old truths of nature and the spirits”. In this text I aim…
Essay: The immersive world of Morrowind
This text will be my first in a series of essays, more informal texts that are more opinion oriented then my normal research oriented texts. The topic of today’s text is brought to you by Daipanda, a loyal viewer of my twitch stream. If you like to have your own topic suggestion featured on the…
Warcraft 3 and the otherness of the Horde: An introduction
Introduction The concept of othering an individual, or more often a group, is a way of building one’s own identity. By defining what the other is, the individual defines what they are not. In this chapter we will take a look at how the otherness of the Horde faction in Warcraft 3 is used to…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 3, The Eldar: part 6, The followers of the Laughing god.
Introduction Our final segment of this series will describe a faction, that unlike any other Eldar sub faction do not have a direct connection to any fantasy trope per say, but is instead related to a much larger trope, that of the trickster. In this chapter will I once again give a comprehensive overview of…
Dungeons and Dragons and History Part 4: The Sorceress
Introduction The sorcerer is a wildly varied term, and once that has a number of connotations depending on which context it is used in, much like many of the other classes we have discussed so far in this series. As before will this text focus on comparing the Dungeons and dragons class to elements that…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 3, The Eldar: part 5, Nature and the old ways.
Introduction The Exodite Eldar was the first to leave the Empire, and the first to start their new lives away from the horrors and debauchery of the old Empire. The Exodite chose to settle down on planets that had been seeded aeons ago, to become new paradise worlds for the Eldar. We will use these…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 3, The Eldar: part 4, Dark Eldar, The dying shadow.
Introduction The dark reflection of the once proud Eldar empire, and the second to escape its rotting core. The represents the full indulgence of the dark and hedonistic sides of the Eldar. Living in an unimaginably large fortress city located somewhere in the vast web-way, the Dark Eldar constantly raid the galaxy for new slaves…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 3, The Eldar: part 2, Craftworld Eldar, glory of the past.
Introduction The first factions we will take a look at is the stoic and noble Craftworld Eldar. The Craftworld Eldar follows a strict rules of life, in order to try prevent the past from repeating itself. The Craftworld Eldar stands for an age gone by, and the glory of the long lost past. This chapter…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 3, The Eldar: part 1, The children of the Old once
Introduction In the world of Warhammer 40k does the Eldar represent the largest amount of mystical and arcane undertones. This is partly due to their many distinct ties and references to the Elves found in Games Workshops other series, Warhammer fantasy. We will start this series by describing some of the simulates, as well as…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 7, Chaos: Conclusions
Introduction This will mark the last of the chapters dedicated to the topic of the Warp for a while. We have now gone trough the entire human pantheon of deities, both evil and benign. We will return to the Warp periodically across the series as we explore new factions and explain how these unique civilisations…
Dungeons and dragons and history: part 3, the Warlock
Introduction We will in this chapter go back to our series of examining the relationship between Dungeons and Dragons character classes and their ties to real life cultures, myths and practises. This time will we be examining the warlock, an individual that has willingly or unwillingly stricken a deal with a powerful entity, and made…
The use of hallways in Fiction
The hallway has been used as a number of symbolic objects in fiction, from doorways to other worlds, to extensions of characters mood and emotions. I will in this essay present three genres of fiction, and their use of hallways in wildly different ways. Namely will we examine fantasy, science fiction and horror, and their…
Food, in mediaeval fantasy and reality.
This chapter will be the first in a series of texts commissioned by the followers of my twitch channel (link in the references). To get your own chapter dedicated to a topic of your choice (within reason), go to my twitch and collect 8,000 channel loyalty points by watching my stream. Introduction This chapter will…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 6, Chaos: Slaanesh, Master and mistress of excess
Whenever a creature gives in to the pleasures of sensuality and excess so does the master of pleasure of pain share in it as well, for they are the ruler of al sensation big or small. Slaanesh is the master of excess in al things, as well as the architect of the destruction and removal…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 5, Chaos: Khorn, The father of murder and war
For every murder, for every sentient being struck down in fear, anger or vengeance, there is a corresponding ripple in the warp, Khorn is the culmination of al those sensations. Every time a life is taken in anger, is the power of Khorne increased. Skulls for the skull throne No other of the chaos gods…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 4, Chaos: Tzeentch, Master of magic and schemes
Whenever a human lie to another, or schemes against them, Tzeentch hears, and uses them as a puppet on a string. The changer of ways sees and hears al, the ultimate master of manipulation and trick. He is the patron god of politicians, generals and scholars, for he promises his followers endless knowlage and power.…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 3, Chaos: Nurgle, the god of death and rebirth
Every advanced emotion felt by enough sentient species is reflected within the warp. No feeling is so universal, and so often felt then the fear and relief related to the trails and tribulations of death and disease. It is these emotions, these fears, hopes and dreams that fuels Nurgle, the god of death and suffering,…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 2, Travelling trough hell
Introduction Warp travel is a large and mostly deliberately obfuscated topic within the 40k narrative. This is partly because of the first or second hand accounts the writes often uses to describe the world of Warhammer (link here). In other words, does the Imperium for example know very little about warp travel, and how their…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 1, the mage and the psyker
Introduction The powers of the warp has many names, and take numerous forms. In this chapter will we discuss a few of them. This discussion will mostly have a focus on the Imperial side of the narrative, because it is the side that I have introduced so far, and as a result are the easiest…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 1, The Materium and the Immaterium
Introduction This chapter will mark this blogs official return to the Warhammer 40k franchise. In this series discuss the epic and daunting fictional series set in the 40th millennium. With this chapter will we start looking at one of the largest cornerstones of the Warhammer 40k franchise, that of the warp. We will begin with…
The art of the bootleg: An aesthetic analysis of copyright infringement.
Introduction We will in this post take a look at the consent of the Bootleg. Specificity will we look at the bootleg products created after the image of pop culture. The definition of bootleg we will use is the following: any material or content created for consumption by the public, without the knowlage and/or approval…
Dungeons and Dragons and History Part 2: The Cleric (Part 1) – Man of the Church
Introduction This chapter will tackle one of the more iconic classes of Dungeons and Dragons- the Cleric. In this chapter, we will discuss the more common tropes of the cleric, how it ties to the Catholic faith, as well as other fictional representations of the same archetype. In part 2, we will explore some of…
Undertale: an example of multileveld textuality.
Warning: This text do contain several major spoilers for the game Undertale. We will in this examine the games narrative in its entirety. As a result we ask you to only read this paper if you have already consumed the medium in question, or don’t mind being spoiled on key parts of its narrative. Introduction…
Dungeons and dragons and history: part 1, the Wizard
Introduction The modern myth of the Wizard may be traced back to the renaissance in Europe, but the concept of magic and the men and women that could wield it goes way further back then that. In this series will we discuss some of the classes available in the Tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons,…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 9, Final thoughts
This will be the final chapter on our introduction to the humans of the Warhammer 40k franchise. We will here combine al that we have learned in to a uniform image of the Imperium of mankind.
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 8, The holy God Emperor
The Emperor of Mankind is a symbol of many things, some which are direct contradictions of each other. This chapter will work somewhat differently to the previous has, as we will here chronologically follow the life, death, and rebirth of the Emperor.
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 7, In the service of the Emperor
In this chapter we will look at series of different factions al related in way or another to the faith of the Imperium of Man.
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 6, The Emperors chosen.
This chapter we will take a look at the opposite, the elite and superhuman Space marine, or Adeptus Astartes. As with earlier chapters will this one serve as a simple introduction, a starting point on which we can later discuss more deep and complex subjects.
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 5, The Astra Militarum
The wars of the Imperium is presented to be fought on a galactic scale, the size of the war machine to large for a single person to understand even less comprehend. Each life is presented as a mere statistic, each death a decimal point in the eternal bureaucratic machine. Most die unnamed and unremembered. (Hill.…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 4, in service to the machine.
This chapter will, as mentioned in previous chapter, be focused on the religious order/scientific institution by the name of Adeptus Mechanicus. In this, as well as similar future will we discuss the factions codex
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 3, Dark age of techonology
A continued view on the technologies of the Imperium of mankinds technology.
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, IoM, part 2, A Gothic future
In this chapter we will primary discuss the architecture of buildings, starships as well as war machines, and how they help to set a certain tone within the narrative, but first of all I would like to draw a parallel between the term Gothic, and the term for the two common human languages of the…
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 1, Imperium of Mankind: part 1, Manifest destiny.
This begins a series of looks into the large and complex narrative of the Warhammer 40k franchise. We will begin this series by taking a look at the Imperium of mankind (IoM).
Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Introduction
This series will consist of an in-depth analysis of the major concepts, factions and themes that can be found within the Warhammer 40k franchise, created by Games Workshop UK. We will start with analysing each faction, theme and narrative individually. Later we will compare and contrast these different parts against each other, as well as…
Canon: an introduction
This article will serve as an introductory look into the term canon, and how we will use it in the rest of this blog. The term canon is most commonly used to group a series of works together. Usually you discuss one or two connections. The first is a real world, or para-textual connection such…
The game: a definition
Several definitions of games exist within and without the academic world. With this text I will make the case for one of them. This definition goes as follows, “each game must have an implicit or explicit player” Furthermore we will define the player as “Someone with implicit or explicit control over the actions in a…
Pop culture analysis: an introduction
This series will be dedicated to a critical discussion about popular culture. This is made in a hope of deepening the discussion about pop culture and hopefully putting these texts in a broader context. I believe that we can learn much about culture and history from the types of media we consume. In this introduction…
An Unused Frequency 