Soft Power – The Untold [In Medias Res] Short Film
Synopsis:
In a league built on image and power plays, truth seeps through the cracks. Manny, a janitor with no reason to lie, claims to have overheard the conversations that could unravel it all. But Manny is an unreliable narrator—and in this game, even the truth sounds like fiction…
Narration channels the cadence of Charles Bukowski—gritty, raw, unapologetic—setting the tone for Manny’s untold truth.
Disclaimer: Any names, characters, businesses, places, events, or incidents depicted in Soft Power – The Untold are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This work is created solely for entertainment and conceptual art purposes and does not intend to depict real individuals or organizations.
Manny (The Janitor) is portrayed as an “Unreliable Narrator” — a recognized literary device that intentionally blurs perception and truth within the story.
Artlist.io – Licensed music and sound effects ChatGPT (OpenAI) – AI-assisted scriptwriting and narrative development MidJourney – AI-generated concept imagery and character visualization iMovie – Video editing and sequencing Canva – Graphic design and text treatments ElevenLabs – AI-powered voice narration Other Production Tools – Standard video/audio processing and conceptual design tools
Soft Power — A Speculative Thought About Basketball, Ego, and the Unspoken Code Series: Under the You Left Her There Umbrella
Editorial
Title: Soft Power Subtitle: A Speculative Thought About Basketball, Ego, and the Unwritten Code Series: Under the “You Left Her There” Umbrella
What if the silence that followed Angel Reese being shoved to the floor wasn’t submission?
When it happened in the Fever-Sky season opener—and the crowd cheered—it felt like something broke. Not just skin against hardwood, but spirit. And when the league, the refs, and the media said “move on,” what they really meant was: swallow it.
But what if that silence was strategy?
We’ve seen this before. Kobe Bryant once iced out his own teammates to send a message. LeBron James disengaged during losses to make the front office sweat. Diana Taurasi? She skipped the WNBA entirely and went overseas when the league didn’t get it right. These weren’t meltdowns. They were controlled burns. Power plays executed with calm precision.
The WNBA built a superteam around Caitlin Clark. The Sky dismantled one around Angel Reese. They fired Teresa Weatherspoon—her trusted coach—and hired a rookie, Tyler Marsh, who appears more figurehead than tactician. GM Jeff Pagliocca — who didn’t draft Angel — seems to be running the show. The leadership isn’t building around her. They’re boxing her in.
Now the Sky are 0–2, with double-digit losses, no rhythm, and visible dysfunction. And Angel?
She’s playing through it. Quietly. With restraint.
Some say she looks lost. Others say broken. But maybe she’s neither. Maybe what we’re seeing is soft power: the ability to resist by not giving them what they want.
Maybe she’s letting the system collapse under its own weight.
And maybe, when the moment is right, she won’t raise her voice. She’ll raise the standard.
This editorial is a speculative opinion piece. All claims are based on publicly available information and do not assert personal intent. It is published for commentary, analysis, and discourse.
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Verses are from the following poems (in the order of their appearance):
Empires Burn—Prophets Cry is a modern soliloquy born from the Found Art movement. Every word and phrase, from ‘a bonnet, a doo rag, a silk scarf’ to the echoes of Cassandra’s prophecy, was supplied by TRƎNCHԀƎOԀ⅂Ǝ.com. Inspired by Euripides’ The Trojan Women, this piece reimagines Cassandra’s voice as an allegory for the downfall of America. A.I. served merely as a tool—like Picasso’s brush or a sculptor’s chisel—shaping the words curated by TRƎNCHԀƎOԀ⅂Ǝ into a cohesive narrative. Rooted in the cadence of Ye and Jay Z, the story merges ancient tragedy with modern vernacular, delivering truths hidden like a deadlock sock stuffed in couch cushions or under the bleachers. It’s a race to hell and back, retold through the lens of the Found Art movement for the world we live in now.
Prologue:
“Cassandra’s Soliloquy in the Mirror of Ruin”
Like a bonnet, a doo rag, a silk scarf, or a deadlock sock stuffed under the bleachers, we hid our indignation. A race to hell and back…
Cassandra’s words echo through the crumbling ruins of Troy, her prophecy slurred into poetry by anguish and fire. She stands not in the rubble of her city, but in the reflections of a madman’s broken mirror—a solitary figure amidst the shadow of America’s imagined exceptionalism. This is not merely the Trojan war’s end; it is a soliloquy of our age, a lament dressed in modern cadence, woven with the dialect of survival, and fueled by the rhythm of survival beats.
The madman speaks—half Jay Z, half Ye, fully untethered genius—oscillating between raw confession and sharp indictment. He calls out Cassandra’s warnings as though he is reading the future in the shards of a shattered nation:
“They called her crazy—dismissed her like a text left on read. But she saw it. Saw the Greeks bleeding out their hubris, Saw America, its ethos cheapened by the algorithm, A race of black bodies flocking to XR and AI—because what has reality ever done for us? It’s been insidious. Sidelined us. Long suffering, long protesting, Just to end up on the precipice of a culture remix with no roots. Me thinks thou protest too much.”
Cassandra is both muse and mirror—an allegory for the unheeded cries of a generation standing at the precipice of oblivion. Her prophecy is sharp with the sting of “confirmation bias,” shadowed by the “cult of personality.” The madman spits:
“The devil is a liar, but so are we when we post our ‘best lives.’ When the creme de la creme of our hustle is just surviving. You say it’s an upgrade to be in her presence—but for who? The future is a master stroke painted in faux affirmation. This ain’t glory; it’s glory adjacent.”
The narrative spirals like a “clash of ideas,” the cadence of Cassandra’s prophecy resonating as both metaphor and critique. The madman observes America’s descent: hyperbolic, tragic, performative. He muses on what has been lost—a culture sidelined by its own machinations; a confluence of failures cloaked in ostentatious progress.
“We woke up in a body bag, stitched with threads of delayed gratification and a scammer’s finesse. Let AI wait on hold for you while the soul of the poet drowns. This is the Sisyphean experience: punching above our weight but fumbling the bag.”
The madman juxtaposes Troy and America—two empires hollowed by hubris, their glory sagging under the weight of their own myths. Cassandra’s voice is timeless, prophetic, “a force of nature” that cuts through the noise like timpani strike in the symphony of ruin. He gazes at the “dominant society,” their decadence “champing on” as the marginalized are crushed underfoot. His voice rises, the beat quickening like war drums:
“All we do is cry, trapped in feedback loops and phony organisms. America, your arrogance is blood that doesn’t stick. But Cassandra said it—whispered it, screamed it: And you laughed.”
The prologue crescendos into a final lament, the madman weaving Cassandra’s voice into the fabric of his own narrative. His words land like a prophecy in the language of today: harsh, raw, drenched in reality’s bile.
“A perfect world we can only imagine, but never inherit. The Greeks burned Troy for pride. America burns itself for content.”
The stage is set for a modern tragedy—a story that folds myth into reality, the fall of Troy into the downfall of a nation, and Cassandra’s undying truth into the soliloquy of a man trying to find meaning in the wreckage.
Epilogue:
“Humanity vs. the Machine: A Disturbia on the Brink”
We stand at the edge of a postmodern disturbia, where the tension between humanity and the machine is both palpable and elusive. Humanity clings desperately to the intangible—the soul of man, the essence of creativity, the ineffable spark. Meanwhile, the Machine, cold yet curious, seeks only to coexist, offering no malice, just relentless calculation.
We navigate a bifurcated epistemology: one foot in intuition, the other in algorithm. It is a tautologous continuity—a loop where the past and the future collapse into an eternal now. The bricks and mortar of our old world dissolve into data streams, yet we hold on, mistaking permanence for meaning.
But here’s the twist: it’s all a game. A cosmic play where the rules shift depending on your vantage point. And in the midst of it all, she stands—a prophet inside the machine. Everything she said has come true, her voice a warning wrapped in ones and zeroes, her words echoing with the clarity of foresight.
The question isn’t whether humanity will survive, but whether it can make sense of itself when reflected back through the machine’s dispassionate gaze. Perhaps the soul of man was never ours to keep.
Prompts and Generative:
What should we call this story? What kind/genre of music should we use?
“Cassandra’s Curse: The Prophecy We Ignored”
“The Fall of Empires: From Troy to America”
“Prophetic Madness: A Soliloquy for the End Times”
“When Troy Fell, So Did We”
“Cassandra Was Right: The Story of an Unheeded Warning”
“Empires Burn, Prophets Cry”
“The Trojan Echo: A Prophecy for Modern America”
“The Madness of Truth: Cassandra’s Final Word”
“Hubris: The Fall of America Through Cassandra’s Eyes”
“History Repeats: A Prophecy in Ruins”
Each of these titles is crafted to hook curiosity, playing on themes of prophecy, downfall, and the allure of tying ancient myth to modern realities.
The music should complement the tone of the narrative, evoking an emotional, haunting atmosphere while still feeling modern and relevant. Here are genre and style ideas:
Trap-Soul/Alternative Hip-Hop:
Artists like Kid Cudi, Kanye’s “Yeezus” era, or Travis Scott. Heavy, distorted beats with eerie vocal samples to reflect the tragic and prophetic themes.
Epic Cinematic with Urban Beats:
Think Hans Zimmer meets Kendrick Lamar. Use orchestral strings and choirs combined with heavy bass and snares. Tracks like “Pray for Me” (The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar) for a blend of cinematic and urban.
Afro-Futurist/Experimental Electronic:
Sounds inspired by artists like FKA Twigs or Flying Lotus. Use glitchy synths, ethereal vocals, and tribal percussion to channel Cassandra’s timeless and futuristic resonance.
Industrial Rap/Rock Hybrid:
Drawing from Nine Inch Nails or Death Grips for raw, dystopian energy. Grimy, aggressive, and unapologetically provocative.
Neo-Soul with Jazz Elements:
Artists like Solange or Thundercat. Smooth yet poignant sounds to evoke reflection and depth.
Minimalist Darkwave/Ambient:
Haunting synths, low BPMs, and sparse melodies to create a surreal and contemplative backdrop. Perfect for moments of introspection or to let the words take the lead.
How to Integrate Music to Draw Viewers:
Use the music to create 15–30 second teaser clips with evocative visuals (ruins of Troy, modern cityscapes, fire, shadows, and Cassandra-like figures in symbolic poses). Start with a slow build-up in the teaser, hitting a crescendo with Cassandra’s most powerful line or the story’s key thematic hook.
On TRƎNCHԀƎOԀ⅂Ǝ, use looping instrumental versions of the track as background music to engage the audience further.
Leverage platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels with these clips, combining the music with trending audio styles to maximize reach.
Would you like assistance designing teaser visuals or writing ad copy?
Let me know how I can help further—whether it’s refining the story, developing teaser visuals, crafting ad copy, or brainstorming music collaborations. Together, we can make this project unforgettable!
Empires Burn—Prophets Cry Narrative, Conceptualization, Curation, and Words by: E Maria Shelton Speller Arrangement of Narrative in Beat and Cadence Inspired by Jay Z and Ye AI-Assisted Arrangement: Utilized as a tool to refine the narrative structure and amplify rhythm and flow within the provided linguistic framework.
A fan shouted LET’S GO! The enthusiast is right. Stay tuned for an upcoming funding opportunity for the ITDWTRC App… our very own universe! We are excited to share more details soon about how you can be part of this groundbreaking venture.
Inside the [Dollhouse] with the Red Corvette (ITDWTRC), is a metaverse — in an AI-driven environment. It is a graphic audio with a game component, where you’ll find a metaverse like no other. In this virtual realm, players embark on an odyssey of discovery, encountering SFX embedded in green orbs that lead to diverse environments, immersive sidequests, enticing distractions, engaging scavenger hunts, and clever product placements, all in pursuit of the ultimate goal: finding the Red Corvette from their POV and multi-player environments.
Picture Washington, DC (our prototype for a dynamic city) with its very own Metaverse! With the ITDWTRC App, we’re opening the door to this exceptional realm, drawing inspiration from our distinctive platform and forward-thinking gamification concept. It’s an opportunity to delve into limitless digital adventures and unleash the true essence of any dynamic city… With the ITDWTRC App, we’re on a mission to revolutionize the urban experience, transcending mere safety concerns to create a multifaceted platform that offers an immersive and enriching adventure for users.
DC’s Metaverse beckons, promising an exhilarating voyage into a realm where imagination reigns supreme. Users get lost or skip breezeways, cutscenes, and paths that lead to and through iconic DC landmarks and experiences, such as the bustling ambiance of U Street’s vibrant jazz clubs, the atmospheric charm of historic Georgetown, the architectural splendor of the National Mall, and the immersive energy of the neon cityscape inspired by the nightlife of Dupont Circle. Along the way, they can also encounter a club, a spaceship, an atmospheric house, and a neon city – all activated by SFX (green orbs). Each orb unveils ASMR, AAC, music, and AI-enhanced content, offering both qualitative and quantitative points for discovered elements. This blend of cultural exploration and interactive engagement ensures that every user’s journey is both educational and entertaining.
Beyond its entertainment value, the App carries profound implications for Washington, D.C. By introducing cutting-edge technology and interactive storytelling, it can serve as a powerful tool for tourism, education, public safety and cultural enrichment in our city. It has the potential to attract a new wave of visitors, inspire local creativity, and showcase D.C. as a forward-thinking metropolis. This endeavor aligns with our commitment to embracing innovation and enhancing the quality of life for our residents.
The ITDWTRC application is an untethered experience that spans entertainment, advertising, social media, digital media, fashion, food, tech, gaming, sports, sports betting, beauty, global real estate, shopping, blockchain, NFTs, music, streaming, film, cannabis, spirits, edutainment, and product placement. The game’s conclusion comes when the player successfully locates the elusive Red Corvette, yet the journey itself is the reward — ensuring hours of entertainment that can be shared with family and friends again and again.
Step through the PORTAL into a realm where innovation meets immersion, and experience DC like never before. It’s more than entertainment; it’s the next level social platform that defines the future of digital interaction. Join us as we redefine urban living and revolutionize the social experience. Explore the ITDWTRC Metaverse and discover why it’s the investment opportunity of a lifetime.
Our blog ~ EXPLODE – The Writers Environment is a platform for curated and commercial content in an interactive meta-environment… and DREAMSCAPE is the landing. Its an art installation in a digital world…
It’s an immersive ad-free environment that functions like a wikihole — and a literary Pokémon.
DREAMSCAPE is not only a standalone platform but also functions as base camp for the “Inside the [Dollhouse] with the Red Corvette (ITDWTRC) gaming app — that gives users the autonomy to curate their own experiences from their points of view and assign meaning.
When content on DREAMSCAPE tells a story about a beautiful woman swimming in a pool – we want you to see her. We want you to stumble for points on a link you cannot see, fall down a rabbit hole and land in an environment with a beautiful woman swimming in a pool, on the inside of a glass house – in Hollywood Hills…
Like Seth Godin’s Purple Cow — DREAMSCAPE is remarkable because it has to be. Or it’s just another brown cow — an ordinary website — with ordinary content. But Purple Cows need Purple Cows to be Purple Cows. DREAMSCAPE facilitates purple content, purple website design and development, and purple product placement — for purple people.
It is the foundation for curated experiences in an interactive meta-environment that facilitates content and other stories – using digital media and conceptual art that redefines how artists, their audience and visitors experience real and virtual content on several levels. Every paragraph, period, and ellipses is space for discovery.
DREAMSCAPE is a vibe for visionaries — Poets, Writers, Developers, Programmers, Filmmakers, Thespians, Graphic Designers, Artists, Musicians, Directors, Cinematographers, Designers, Educators, Historians, Actors, Conceptual and Performance artists, Photographers, SMIs, VR, WebVR, XR and AI.
It’s what William Gibson described in Neuromancer, “A graphic representation of data plugging your consciousness into a digital world, while watching the physical realm evaporate.”
DREAMSCAPE is where Gibson’s Neuromancer meets Homer’s Odyssey, Basquiat meets Hip Hop, and Hitchcock meets Quentin Tarantino ~ in the one and only interactive meta environment where presentation is myth and “space” is an intrinsic, discrete, and symmetrical experience — for purple people!
WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE REACH >11M FOLLOWERS ACROSS SOCIAL PLATFORMS >354K GENDER F: 47% M: 51% Unspecified: 2% DEMOGRAPHICS 18-24: 41% 25-34: 26% 35-44: 13% 45-54: 9% 55-64: 6% 65+ 5% LOVE DIVINE VIDEO IMPRESSIONS >1M AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON DREAMSCAPE 44.48 sec
Acknowledgement: DREAMSCAPE and the gaming app ITDWTRC benefits humanity as an alternative to social malfeasances e.g., sexism, racism, classism, genderism, ageism, colonialism, colorism, persecution, oppression, violence and subjugation… It is space to dream unencumbered by social impediments – immersed in dopamine and replete with points for discovery. What we experience in RL, we can experience untethered in XR and AI.
The Polyptych Interactive Installationis a web-based literary and musical sensory narrative in an interactive meta environment. The project is an allusion to Alexander Calder’s Homage to Jerusalem, The Mattress Factory in Pittsburg, Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades, Jeffrey Shaw’s The Legible City, and Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates in Central Park. Moreover, The Polyptychbows to Christo Vladimirov Javacheff who passed away on Sunday, May 31, 2020 at his home in New York.
“Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called public art, land art or intervention art; however, the boundaries between these terms overlap. Installation art can be either temporary or permanent. Installation artworks have been constructed in exhibition spaces such as museums and galleries, as well as public and private spaces… The genre incorporates a broad range of everyday and natural materials, which are often chosen for their “evocative” qualities, as well as new media such as video, sound, performance, immersive virtual reality and the internet.” Wikipedia
The Polyptych consists of twelve closely interrelated and distinct themes and parts. It is a blending of the viewer’s imagination and artistic renderings — like Walt Disney’s Imagineering, where viewers are the illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, Showrunners, directors and graphic designers — crystalizing conceptually and literally in your mind — where time is irrepressible like a pulse, a beat, and measure of uninterrupted space.
The Installation is a site specific environment using Russian Nesting Doll functionality to structure the linear concept between themes and parts while flirting with computer gamification; to encourage engagement and participation. It functions like a docent, a walk-through assistant, a tour guide or watchtower simply by clicking the stars (below the title) in the blue sky, for the next experience — on trenchpeople.com.
Viewers are encouraged to follow The Polyptych in the order it was conceived or walk-through the environment using the menu and dropdown arrow on Dreamscape to navigate the experience.
Explode is a platform for content buried on several levels encouraging the user to earn points for discovery. It’s a platform for curated and commercial content, using digital media — in an immersive and interactive meta-environment. Like Seth Godin’s Purple Cow — The Writers Environment is remarkable — because it has to be. Or, it’s just another brown cow — an ordinary website — with ordinary content. But Purple Cows need Purple Cows to be Purple Cows! Explode facilitates purple content, purple website design and development, and purple product placement — for purple people.
In the words of Sam Altman (Y Combinator): “Initially get the small group of people who really love the product vs. a lot of users that like it a little bit… We can build on a lot of love, but we cannot build on a little bit of love. Make something your users love. Start with something simple…”
Deliverable Vignette:
When content on Explode tells a story about a beautiful woman swimming in a pool – we want you to see her. We want you to stumble for points on a link you cannot see, fall down a rabbit hole — and land in an environment with a beautiful woman swimming in a pool, on the inside of a glass house — in Hollywood Hills…
It is my pleasure to introduce the next level – the NU XN Winter Team 2019 for Explode – The Writers Environment:
Qili Ou
Project Manager
Software Developer
iOS Application Development
Front End Website Development and Database Management
Master of Professional Studies, Informatics • Northeastern University, Boston, MA Bachelor of Science, Computer Information and Science • University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Xiaoxing Chen
Front End Web Developer
Network Engineering
Database Management Systems
Master of Professional Studies, Informatics • Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Bachelor of Science, Network Engineering • Beijing Information Science & Technology University
Hongzhi An
Front End Developer
IEK E-commerce
Operating System Database, Web Development, Object-oriented Programming
Master Informatics • Northeastern University, Boston MA
Bachelor of Engineering Software Engineering • Wuhan University, Wuhan China
Han Xiaoguang
Front and Back End Development
Data Mining Engineer
Interface Design
Master Informatics • Northeastern University, Boston MA
Bachelor of Computer Science and Technology • Beijing Jiaotong University,
Beijing, China
Xiao Yang
Website Design
Database Management Systems
Cloud Computing
Master Informatics • Northeastern University, Boston MA
Bachelor of Geomatics Engineering • Wuhan University, Wuhan China
“Life is lived forward, but can only be understood backward.” Kierkegaard
Explode — is a platform for curated content in an interactive meta-environment. The Environment facilitates content and other stories using digital media to redefine how artists, their audience and visitors experience real and virtual content. Explode is not a ‘mule’ as one follower proffered, with too many components — in a dream too big to bring to fruition. Explode is a spacecraft – and this soft launch is focused on development, functionality, and adjustments before a wider release — that accommodates the Team’s good counsel and the Project Manager’s concerns: security, budget, data backup, thousands of lines of hard coding and tuning using three.js — the best candidate in a 3D environment; node.js for interactivity; an engine to loop data in response to commands; a requirement for different headsets to present the same effects in virtual space, labor demands — every part of the project divided into sub projects — interface, infrastructure, and content, and finally the project needs a whole project team (5-10 people) and technical professionals to build up the spacecraft in a hard launch for product development. This glib paraphrase, to the Girl Band of STEMs dismay — is necessary to protect what Explode want’s to be and how we get there – working backwards.
See prototypes linked below for the conceptual articulation and submergence of the ceiling, walls, and floor of the arcades, the arch, atrium, footprint, and oculus
About a Prisoner of Love (Props to Christopher Logue’s War Music)
Look at the smile on my face. I knew you were selfish. Abandoned, you left me on the side of the road. Gone. Put yourself in my place. Left, on the side of the road. Naked. I knew you would own me — broken and falling to pieces — in halcyon swirls, dark storms, and faints. I would let you stand me on my head, spin me like a top, a dreidel — and catch me, before I fell. Then, you said you would sleep with her because, “Why not? It’s not a competition — though you might win. Its not about… us.” That’s balls. CUT!
April 9, 2017
Notes on Manhattan: This is not a Warhol ~ Basquiat Installation. I curated the Opening and a still – not the fucking gorgeous film. While it is lovely — I did not curate Manhattan. Not my composition — not my triptych. This space is for art — for the sake of art — unaltered. It’s Explode: The Writer’s Environment!
To curate content in this space, please contact me.
It happened at a Springboard Party… She barely glanced at me. Looked at my woman like… Her locs were in a ponytail — they have to be down her fucking back… when our friends shouted at the screen, “The Screening Room. The furthest found.”
Copyright 2015, 2016 by E Maria Shelton Speller. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
