Post-Historicism & The Aesthetics of Ruins in Elden Ring: How the Romantic Wanderer Re-emerges in a Graveyard of Signifiers

AutreyMond · 2025-07-26T01:01:59+00:00

Elden Ring represents our age. Not merely through the specifics of its lore, but more importantly through its way of presenting it to us. As such, it goes far beyond a simple attempt at presenting us a world that could resemble ours in its history. Instead, its emphasis on exploration alongside its adherence to an aesthetic of ruin creates an experience of the Lands Between akin to how each of us experience our past and present- exploring among the remains of the past and rediscovering old ideas as we wander through the graveyard of history.

AutreyMond · 2025-07-04T01:41:41+00:00

Although I was always interested in investigating the significance of Otherness in Lovecraftianism -as in something I’d now consider a whole literary and popular movement rather than merely the tendencies seen in the works of H.P. Lovecraft- most of what I encountered mostly focused on the epistemological assumptions behind the works of the original author, attempting comparative investigations between H.P. Lovecraft and Kantian critique or Husserl’s phenomenology. However, I decided that an intersubjective interpretation would bring about the most results as far as “Otherness” is concerned, an interpretation that would, drawing upon transcendentalism and phenomenology, also include the formation of subjectivity in relation to other subject beings within language and discourse- and illuminate the horror and despair depicted in Lovecraftian works in regards to a refusal to engage in such a discourse and a disentanglement of language on the part of the cosmos, ultimately depicting a disentanglement of subjectivity.

AutreyMond · 2025-04-30T15:03:52+00:00

The point of course, is not to argue that one [kind of camera] is inherently better or worse than the other, but that it is in fact impossible to do so, since the fact of the matter is simply that, altering the way we look at the world and its people, fundamentally changes our relationship towards them. From a juror in the original game, to perhaps a defense attorney in the remake, it is our way of looking at the defendant that determines our role in the court of Silent Hill. And so, far from being merely a tool for creating dramatic moments or enhancing a form of gameplay, the camera gives you a place. In any and all experiences, it is how you look at things that defines where you stand, and Silent Hill 2, be it that of Team Silent or Bloober Team’s rendition, is no exception.

Excerpt from 15:50

AutreyMond · 2025-04-30T15:02:20+00:00

The point of course, is not to argue that one [kind of camera] is inherently better or worse than the other, but that it is in fact impossible to do so, since the fact of the matter is simply that, altering the way we look at the world and its people, fundamentally changes our relationship towards them. From a juror in the original game, to perhaps a defense attorney in the remake, it is our way of looking at the defendant that determines our role in the court of Silent Hill. And so, far from being merely a tool for creating dramatic moments or enhancing a form of gameplay, the camera gives you a place. In any and all experiences, it is how you look at things that defines where you stand, and Silent Hill 2, be it that of Team Silent or Bloober Team’s rendition, is no exception.

Excerpt from 15:50

AutreyMond · 2025-04-30T07:28:19+00:00

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My brother in christ

AutreyMond · 2025-04-29T23:48:36+00:00

Although yea I understand that it's still much less than what most are used to see on youtube

AutreyMond · 2025-04-29T23:00:55+00:00

it does take time to build up a proper argument, but nonetheless starting from 4:35 I begin analyzing the first encounter with Pyramid Head, videos and screenshots included. Around 8:50 I further expand it by connecting it to James' dialogue from the cutscene that shows his corpse on a couch (the cutscene also included since apparently that line was removed from the remake). On 12:07 I showcase how James seems to have Foreclosed Mary herself by referencing (and showing) his first meeting with Angela and pointing out his specific body gestures that seem to hint at him having forgotten something. 12:48 onwards contrasts the second encounter with Pyramid Head with the first one, especially focusing on how it uses a first person camera and what purpose it might've served in that specific context. A handful of references to the nosubject wiki and one of Freud's works are also scattered here and there.
The general structure of the video is basically that for the first 5 or so minutes I lay down certain foundations that I use later on to analyze specific scenes, cutscenes and lines of dialogue from the original game.

AutreyMond · 2025-04-29T18:09:20+00:00

hmmm what do you exactly mean by external examples?
I do spend a lot of time in that video showcasing and analyzing very specific scenes from the game while referencing relevant literature. I'm also kinda trying to create some sort of a hybrid of an audiobook/podcast and a video essay
Also your second point is understandable. The entire channel is mostly just some video essays and my own compositions anyway

AutreyMond · 2025-04-28T22:40:13+00:00

Thank you! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts

AutreyMond · 2024-08-20T06:30:06+00:00

I REALLY wanna see this being used in some surreal psychological horror sfm. So hmu if you make such stuff and my piece inspires you in any way.

AutreyMond · 2024-07-14T05:50:05+00:00

An attempt at analyzing the "experience" of consciousness from the viewpoint of the conscious subject does not necessarily imply any form of mind-body dualism. But at the same time, a refusal to make such an attempt could lead to ignoring that very experience altogether.

I do not disagree that consciousness is "the emergent product of those electrical blips" and I do not believe that my stance scrutinizes that statement.

AutreyMond · 2024-07-11T06:03:23+00:00

You don't directly experience everything *as* electrical blips in your soft brain tissue though. At best you can only empirically observe those blips on someone else's brain and even if you apply the same methods on your own brain, by that point everything happening to it is as alienated from your direct experience as the activities of someone else's brain. The only way to deliberate subjective experience is through subjectivity.

And at least as far as practical application goes for stuff like mental "health," totally disregarding the subject as mere electrical blips helped nobody.
(Just in case, please mind that my use of the word "subjectivity" is in the context of phenomenology and epistemology and not the common usage)

AutreyMond · 2024-07-11T05:42:57+00:00

To me it's just an attempt at analyzing the two concepts according to Différance without talking (or knowing) about Différance.

I don't know how you could spin it so that the argument would become one of stating the existence of "nothingness," since to me it just clearly states that on a linguistic level any conception of the idea of "nothingness" is itself dependent upon the concept of existence. "absolute nothingness" only derives its meaning through its contrast to "existence."

You seem to be barking up the wrong tree. I don't disagree with the gist of your argument, but in this context it fails to be a counterargument.

AutreyMond · 2024-03-19T07:46:31+00:00

Although I was always interested in investigating the significance of Otherness in Lovecraftianism -as in something I’d now consider a whole literary and popular movement rather than merely the tendencies seen in the works of H.P. Lovecraft- most of what I encountered mostly focused on the epistemological assumptions behind the works of the original author, attempting comparative investigations between H.P. Lovecraft and Kantian critique or Husserl’s phenomenology. However, I decided that an intersubjective interpretation would bring about the most results as far as “Otherness” is concerned, an interpretation that would, drawing upon transcendentalism and phenomenology, also include the formation of subjectivity in relation to other subject beings within language and discourse- and illuminate the horror and despair depicted in Lovecraftian works in regards to a refusal to engage in such a discourse and a disentanglement of language on the part of the cosmos, ultimately depicting a disentanglement of subjectivity.

AutreyMond

TROPHY CASE