#acedia

ddzzaaii:

the trailer for my film ACEDIA which will be playing at IndieMemphis next month. cut by @andrewinfante & shot by @abderrahmane-sissako

enjoy.

“In the morning, when you rise unwillingly, let this thought be present: I am rising to the work of a human being.Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things from which I exist and for which I was brought into the world? Or have I been made for this, to lie under the blankets and keep myself warm? But this is more pleasant. Do you exist then to take your pleasure, and not at all for action or exertion? Do you not see the little plants, the little birds, the ants, the spiders, the bees working together to put in order their separate parts of the universe? And are you unwilling to do the work of a human being, and do you not make haste to do that which is according to your nature? But it is necessary to take rest also. It is necessary: nature, however, has fixed bounds to this, too: she has fixed bounds both to eating and drinking, and yet you go beyond these bounds, beyond what is sufficient; yet in your acts it is not so, but you stop short of what you can do. So you do not love yourself, for if you did, you would, love your nature and her will. But those who love their several arts exhaust themselves in working at them unwashed and without food; but you value your own nature less than the engraver values the engraving art, or the dancer the dancing art, or the lover of money values his money, or the vainglorious man his little glory. And such men, when they have an ardent passion for a thing, choose neither to eat nor to sleep rather than to perfect the things that they care for. But are the acts that concern society more vile in your eyes and less worthy of your labor?”

- Marcus Aurelius. Meditations.

Art: Edward Hopper. Summer Interior, 1909.

“This very second has vanished forever, lost in the anonymous mass of the irrevocable. It will never return. I suffer from this, and I do not. Everything is unique and insignificant.”

- Emil Cioran, The Trouble With Being Born

Art:  Caspar David Friedrich. The Monk by the Sea, 1810.

The flattered feeling that you are not belonging to humanity is punishing.

Art: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, 1887.

Dragging in at last, as ACEDIA we have King Regalus D'Navion.

And that’s the last of these! Returning to our regular programming soon, thanks for following~

Been rethinking which storyverse Regalus fits into. There’s a possibility I'mma stick him with Morgan and Magda since they need friends over there, by which I mean they need ANTAGONISTS! Mwahaha!

Regalus’ ancestors were empire-builders, aggressive as hell, grew the kingdom of Kreev many-fold by gobbling up most of their neighbors. Regalus’ reckless father got himself exploded when he was too young to rule, so his mother took over for a decade during which she helped the exhausted kingdom chill the fuck out and descalate into peacetime.

Since Regalus’ coronation, mum and son have run the country as a tight team. They face many perils. Loyalists to the former king who think peace = weakness. Back-stabbing relatives who’d like to yeet this regime right off the throne. A kingdom fringed with regions that were quite happily autonomous a generation ago and have not forgotten this.

And on the personal front, Regalus is sick. He’s had an incurable parasitic infection since childhood that makes him look and feel like garbo. Colonial worms in all the tissues of his body, and a big ol’ queen worm using his guts as a palace. A fun and useful hobby for a king, Reglaus has developed a tolerance for quite a few poisons trying to kill them off. Unfortunately, his worms have tended to develop a tolerance right behind him.  

Reg is a pessimist, a nihilist, and a masochist. He says the only reason he hasn’t tapped out is his mother would lose the throne to his shitty uncle.

But as tough as life can be, you only live once (‘Thank god…’), and the sin of acedia is to willfully waste that life, neglect your duties, to despair, and to stop caring altogether.  

Quite against his will, Regalus isn’t ultimately allowed to do any of these things! As he is taken hostage one day and whisked on a wild adventure with colorful crazy people who ain’t having NONE of his moping. Having to deal with real present danger with no fallback, safety net, nor place to run shocks him back to life. Blood pumping in his veins again, he realizes he is capable of far more than he would have expected (which was to die within days of leaving his castle). He even falls in love with one of his captors.

This becomes uncomfortable when it turns out his kidnapping was orchestrated by several smaller nations with a proposition for the king… to provide doses of treatment for his infestation in exchange for an alliance with Kreev and other favors. Not one to be a puppet king but desperate for anything like a healthy body, back on his throne Regalus unleashes his cunning and seeks a way to turn this deal in his favor, perhaps with a hostage situation of his own…

I never know where to mention this so just throwin it out there that Regalus silently considers himself transfemale. Doesn’t use female pronouns and feels like he can never act on this given his status. But people who know him wouldn’t be surprised. He leverages the royalty thing to wear his hair long and enjoy swishy silky clothes and a bit of jewelry without much comment or suspicion. His infestation stopped his growth as a teen leaving him a modest 5'1" for life, which probably has compounded his disdain of his birth sex. The king just feels like he would have fit into the world better as a lady. That said, he thinks his infection makes him completely revolting, misshapen, and hideous and, and… Regalus has a lot of body issues.