#A Portrait of a Stranger 2021

[umlewis]

Lewis Hamilton's 2025 Met Gala Look Is Loaded With Symbolism, Right Down To the Cuff Links

Fresh off the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton raced to New York for the 2025 Met Gala, hitting the carpet with co-chairs Colman Domingo and Anna Wintour.

Hamilton has always nurtured a love for fashion. “I lived vicariously through magazines and music videos and films," he said in his May Vogue cover story. "The people I looked up to—it was Muhammad Ali, it was Michael Jordan, it was Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop wearing that cool leather jacket. And then a little bit later I started to learn about Cab Calloway, James Baldwin, Nelson Mandela, and André Leon Talley. I saw how their image was so important to them, and how they presented themselves through fashion."

For the 2025 Met Gala, Hamilton—something of a modern dandy himself—teamed up with Grace Wales Bonner for a thoughtful sartorial exploration of identity. Wales Bonner fashioned Hamilton an ivory suit with a cropped jacket, high-waisted trousers with a tuxedo stripe, coattails, a white bow tie, and an embroidered ivory sash hanging from his waistband. A beret by Stephen Jones Millinery added a final flourish. "We brought together a range of influences, from Barkley L. Hendricks paintings to Black spiritual dressing to some of the brand’s craft signatures,” Wales Bonner tells Vogue. “There are stories told through jewel adornments and special trims, with symbolism in baobab flower motifs and natural materials like cowrie shells and mother-of-pearl buttons." The designer also cites Calloway—specifically as he appeared in Harlem Nights—and Talley as prevailing influences.

Hamilton's Met look has been in the works for months. "My stylist, Eric McNeal, and I have been thinking about how I'm going to turn up at the Met Gala," Hamilton said in his Vogue cover story. "We're both very thoughtful and intentional when it comes to fashion, and I hope that everyone else attending is compelled to really research and think deeply about what they're wearing." No detail went overlooked in the driver's symbolism-heavy look. "We spent three months on research and two months bringing it to life. Nothing about it was rushed," McNeal tells Vogue. "So much care went into this look. What makes it special is that it's not just about fashion—it’s about meaning." The Harlem Renaissance proved a jumping-off point, “especially Cab Calloway and the way he used clothing to express confidence, charm, and something entirely new,” McNeal says of the jazz singer and bandleader. They also turned to Hendricks’s paintings, especially his striking white-on-white portraits that feature Black subjects dressed in white in front of a white background. “There’s something really powerful about that kind of restraint—how it can say so much,” McNeal adds. Hamilton, Wales Bonner, and McNeal also ensured that Hamilton’s identity was represented. “Lewis really wanted there to be a reason and a story behind every detail,” McNeal says. Wales Bonner lined Hamilton’s sash with cowrie shells—a protective talisman in African culture—while his ear cuffs, cuff links, and baobab-inspired brooches (which Wales Bonner made in collaboration with SNOW Diamonds) contain garnets, a nod to his January birth date, among white and amber emerald-cut diamonds. And his cuff links, shaped like the Whirligig African Daisy, were loaded with symbolism. “[They] felt like a beautiful metaphor for growth, memory, and African heritage,” McNeal says. Hamilton, of course, is no stranger to the Met Gala, having attended for the first time in 2015 for “China: Through the Looking Glass.” In recent years, he has taken to spotlighting Black talent and historical figures. In 2021, for “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” he hosted a table of rising Black talent, including Theophilio’s Edvin Thompson, Kenneth Nicholson, and Jason Rembert. Last year, he delivered one of his most powerful looks to date for “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” paying homage to John Ystumllyn, who became the first Black gardener in Wales in the 18th century. At the 2025 Met Gala, Hamilton once again used fashion to shine a light on past trailblazers.

[eregyrn-falls-art]

My 2024 Art Year in Review!

My main goal this year was to do a bit more than I had in '23, and happily, I did manage that!

24 pieces done, most of them full pieces. 78 individuals. Contributed to several big projects this year (one of which isn't even on here, because we can't show the art yet). As it is, some of these are fudged a little with respect to when I finished them, but largely they correspond to when I did a lot of work on them. I only have one month where I had to put in a photograph instead, as I didn't have a finished drawing for that month; but I think that's because I was working on something else that got completed later.

I hope I can keep the streak going in the coming year, although there's going to be some challenges to my free time; so, we'll see.

Links below the cut.

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

January: Stanuary 2024: Week 4, Strangers and Brothers

February: Gravity Falls finale anniversary polaroid redraw

March: Ford by firelight

April: Sea Grunks in orange and blue

May: Photo of the aurora borealis in Massachusetts, May 10

June: Stan and Ford's birthday: canoeing in NJ

July: 2026 Hunkles Calendar, Feb: Stan and Ford in the Mystery Shack kitchen

August: Mabel and Dipper's birthday: hiking with Bigfoot

September: Sea Grunks portraits in teal

October: Halloween: Mystery Trio and Over the Garden Wall crossover

November: Pines and Bigfoot sitting around some scampfires

December: Gravity Falls cryptids sticker sheet for the Mystery Twin Mystery Bags project

Template by @mossygator

[their-we-go]

50+ Queer Movie Recommendations

Hi! I'm Ray, and I love queer movies. Here are all of the ones that I've seen that I can think of, including some favourites and some not-so-favourites.

Please feel free to ask me about particular movies or to recommend new ones that aren't on here yet—I'd really love to hear your suggestions!

Comedies & Rom Coms

D.E.B.S (2004)

But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)

Big Eden (2000)

The Birdcage (1996)

Happiest Season (2020)

Imagine Me & You (2005)

Latter Days (2003)

In & Out (1997)

Booksmart (2019)

Victor/Victoria (1982)

The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Horror & Thrillers

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

What Keeps You Alive (2018)

Fear Street Trilogy (2021)

Jennifer’s Body (2009)

The Handmaiden (2016)

Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)

Rope (1948)

Arthouse Films

Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Tropical Malady (2004)

The Duke of Burgundy (2014)

Documentaries & Based on True Events

The Celluloid Closet (1996)

Disclosure (2020)

A Secret Love (2020)

Pride (2014)

Historical

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Carol (2015)

The Favourite (2018)

Desert Hearts (1985)

Maurice (1987)

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Born in Flames (1983)

All of Us Strangers (2023)

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Coming of Age

The Way He Looks (2014)

The Half of It (2020)

Bottoms (2023)

Edge of Seventeen (1998)

Shelter (2007)

Boys (2014)

Do Revenge (2022)

Summer Storm (2004)

Handsome Devil (2016)

Beautiful Thing (1996)

Get Real (1998)

North Sea Texas (2011)

Heartstone (2016)

Drama

Denied (2004)

Moonlight (2016)

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

You & I (2014)

God’s Own Country (2017)

The Boys in the Band (1970)

Weekend (2011)

Thanks for reading, and happy watching!

[chronotopes]

2024 creative/personal writing wrapped

and yes i'm proud enough of my escaprils that i'm going to list a lot of them individually. sorry.

(2023) (2022) (2021) (2020) (2019)

FICTION

Aivide the Prequel. You know her you love her I FINISHED HER THIS YEAR!!!!! It's my only completed public facing version all-OC story even if it's not 100% original fiction, and I'm still so proud and fond of it and excited to continue the story one day in whatever form that takes. This year I finished chapters 5 and 6 for a total of 73,000 words.

Vital Light. You know her, you don't know that much about her, Aivide the Prequel's more embarrassing and earnest younger/older sister. For those new: a revision of a novel from 2016 which is in itself a revision of a collaborative story from (shudders) 2012. Yes I'm insane for attempting it but also yes I feel like I've learned a lot and working on it tends to tangibly improve my life. The mess of excessively wordy first draft writing I did this year totals at just over 90,000 words.

NONFICTION

A lot of my essays this year were escapril prompts, which is a challenge meant for poetry that I cheerfully reinterpreted to be about creative nonfiction instead. Wild success!! Really excited to do it next year!! Ok let's list some essays, with the ones I think are strongest/most editable bolded. They are not going to have word counts because I Don't Feel Like It.

"Change of State," an essay about moving to Maryland.

"The Internet," a kind of underdeveloped use of paleontology as metaphor for growing up.

"Eye contact," an essay about my dynamics with my mother and my girlfriend as well as the concept of 'attention.'

"Trip," revisiting a formative camping adventure with my childhood best friends, who perhaps predictably emerged as a reocurring theme in this project.

"Spiral," an essay about my nichely significant great-grandfather and his war stories of dubious veracity.

"A childhood memory (catholic school gymnasiums)," which is the first essay of mine that mentions Jenny's siblings by name! About going to Easter Mass with her family and, relatedly, visiting your loved ones' childhood spaces.

"Portrait," about augustine and i being in gay love with each other in seventh grade art class.

"What's the truth?", about my own renegotiations of my senior year of college social fallouts.

"Bad Habit," about reading strangers' wedding websites.

"Fog," about New Year's Eve 2022 with Jenny.

"Posture," which is me in senior year of high school and the act of posturing, as I had already covered the Reprimands From My Mother in "eye contact" and had nothing to say about the concept of standing up straight.

"Oh, the light!", which I would never title an essay independently but is functionally just a longer expression of that one jesse pinkman image captioned 'how it feels to be in a transitional state'.

"Purr," about one of my friends' cats as metonym for grief.

"A recurring dream," honestly one of the weakest ones, but it's once again about my fall 2022-spring 2023 experience and the weirdness of it all.

"Beach," about visiting Esther in Florida for the first time and about my larger-scale relationship with the ocean.

"So embarrassing..., or (BEING NOTES TO MYSELF AS 2014 TURNED TO 2015)", or exactly what it sounds like.

"Truth," a sequel to "What's the truth?" that is also about Esther and Julia's wedding.

"Suspended in Air," about going to Harper's Ferry and loving my wife so much it's unreal.

"A reminder:", a total nothingburger of an essay. Essay that could have been a diary entry.

"Moth," a vivid little image of summer in Southeast Virginia as written by someone who's about to move out of there for good.

"The problem of death." Escapril prompts are really on the nose sometimes, huh? I like the central metaphor in this essay that is, in fact, about death, which involves Star Trek Two The Wrath of Khan of all things.

"Desire," about seeing myself in the end of Twelfth Night.

"Simulation," about roleplayed love confessions with Augustine.

"Unexpected Transmission," about the night I found out my boss died.

"Dark Secret," about my relationship to romantic love, especially the unrequited kind.

"Modernity," about fall 2020, taking Women and Modernism while developing my own writing fascinations with the contemporary literary micro-movements of beautiful women and theys on the internet

"The absolute limit," double essay about Reconciliation Dreams Involving The Ex-Bestie.

"Surgery," vaguely hermit-crab style set of annotated recent google searches. About budgeting and planning for the future jinxing and to a certain extent literal surgery. By far one of the strongest concepts here.

"How to exist," another Essay That Could Have Been A Diary Entry maybe but has some good prose. These last two are kind of a culmination of Personal Processes i was going through in this set of thirty essays, in which i took an artistic spin to things that had been too fucked up to write about artistically in years past.

"Tomorrow," about the month of May and my history of planning for it / of grand turnarounds occurring at the end of spring.

There were some non-escapril ones too (okay actually most of them were inspired by past escapril prompts but pretty loosely)

"Visions of the Future," about imagining my future self.

"Myopia in seventh-grade notebooks," which takes a classic trick in adapting a poem from the past into an essay.

"Eavesdropping," the product of my biannual process of rereading all of my past messages with my dead friend and wanting to kick my own ass about it all.

"Attention," about the complicated metaphysics of returning to your hometown.

POETRY

"Tampa," which engages with and somewhat ties up the Ancient Katia Tradition of writing poetry on planes titled after the destination.

An uninterestingly titled anniversary poem for jenny :)

"Pine Pollen," about how (elizabeth stokes voice) i can close the door on us but the room still exists and i know you're in it

FINAL THOUGHTS

I usually do goofy superlatives for these, but instead here are some coherent thoughts about what I think I accomplished as a writer this year and what I think I'd like to work on in the coming year. First, some strengths of this year:

I still have a lot of work to continue, but writing from prompts was wildly helpful in my efforts to formulate interesting and stylistically mature shortform creative nonfiction. Writing event-first is horrible for me and writing Spontaneous Connection-first is great when it can happen but can't be forced. Being forced to contemplate how 'so embarrassing' or whatever could most interestingly be applied to cnf kind of helped me break that barrier, which I am very grateful for. I covered a lot of new ground and revisited some old ground in an interesting way, and though the above essay list is a collection of first drafts and experiments, I'm very happy with what I gained from it.

It was wildly satisfying to finish revising Aivide and bring it to a satisfying conclusion. I still have to go back and do some smaller-scale line editing on it, and it would be a much better overall product if it was plotted and rewritten in 2023-2024 from start to finish, but Aivide the prequel also wouldn't exist without me-from-2021, so it would be very dumb to not give them significant credit. In 2024 I wrote some of the parts of this novel that are the most special to me and reflect the things I love about writing fiction most closely. It's not without its flaws, but I'm still wildly proud of it and think you (yes, you!) should read it if you like loosely-homestuck-connected science fiction or toxic homoerotic girl best friends.

It was also very rewarding to return to Vital Light, which was kind of my Shrek last year in the Prince of Egypt/Shrek analogy that I love applying to my own writing, and find that I was capable of writing Characters And Plots That Interest And Compel Me with stories other than Aivide. Vital Light is still categorized as 'the silly one' in my head, but there are at least invididual parts of it that register to me as meaningful and interesting and I think pursuing the whole project is Teaching Me New Things About Being A Writer, which is the key part.

I think for a lot of college I would make resolutions along the lines of 'this is the year I finally get published!' and would scrutinize all my non-fanfiction out-of-class writing as A Journey To Getting Published while doing nothing on the get published front because litmag submissions are the job applications of writing and we all know how much I hate doing either of those things until actively forced to. Both 'somewhat goofy prompts' and 'deep structural revision of The Novel That Owned My Soul In High School' are good exposure therapy for writing to learn, to tell myself a story, to try something and see if it works, rather than to publish.

In this coming year some of the main things I would really like to do are – 

To gather up the strength for confident and well-considered worldbuilding and get comfortable with reading lots of nonfiction to get a comfortable knowledge base in areas relevant to my subject

To write or conceptualize at least one story (it can be shortform, though shortform is its own uphill battle for me lol) starring a character or universe that did not exist before 2025,

To progress my shortform nonfiction into workable longform nonfiction,

To take at least one local writing class, not so much because I think Classes are really missing from my life but because meeting people who write and are local to you is an interesting and productive part of writing and living in a place, even if they are not interested in the same things you are and do not necessarily share an artistic ethos with you

I am not going to resolve to Submit To More Litmags because I know the kind of doomspiral that instills in me and it is also not terribly important to me right now. But I think I do want to critically examine Types Of Making Your Writing Public and explore the ones I'm comfortable with, as well as observing the mechanisms behind that comfort. Pivotally I also want to read more widely and consistently, including shortform stuff (collective BOO from the crowd!) (i'm the crowd.). First and foremost, I want to continue reading and writing from a place of pleasure and curiosity and exploration – with the obvious disclaimer that 'pleasure' does not mean Reading The Easiest Or Most Feel Good Thing, there is pleasure to be found in new and challenging things and good prose and meeting challenges – because I think that is the best way to do interesting things and never kill yourself.

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Stats from Movies 701-800

Top 10 Movies - Highest Number of Votes

Ringu (1998) had the most votes with 1,327 votes. Chillerama (2011) had the least votes with 360 votes.

The 10 Most Watched Films by Percentage

Beetlejuice (1988) was the most watched film with 80.9% of voters out of 780 saying they had seen it. Demonic Christmas Tree (2022) had the least "Yes" votes with 0.4% of voters out of 491.

The 10 Least Watched Films by Percentage

The Nun 2 (2023) was the least watched film with 70.6% of voters out of 633 saying they hadn’t seen it. Demonic Christmas Tree (2022) had the least "No" votes with 9.2% of voters out of 491.

The 10 Most Known Films by Percentage

Beetlejuice (1988) was the best known film, only 0.4% of voters out of 780 saying they’d never heard of it.

The 10 Least Known Films by Percentage

Demonic Christmas Tree (2022) was the least known film, 90,4% of voters out of 491 saying they’d never heard of it.

The movies part of the statistic count and their polls below the cut.

The Uninvited (1944) The Crazies (1973) Witchfinder General (1968) The Conspiracy (2012) When a Stranger Calls (1979) The Evictors (1979) The Birds (1963) Ice Spiders (2007) Rubber (2010) Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Daughters of Darkness (1971) Akira (1988) The End of Evangelion (1997) The Woman in Black (2012) Milfs vs. Zombies (2015) Knife + Heart (2018) It's a Wonderful Knife (2023) Attachment (2022) Gothic (1986) Jakob's Wife (2021)

Stranger by the Lake (2013) The Fog (2005) The Greasy Strangler (2016) Angel Heart (1987) Tumbbad (2018) The Snow Woman (1968) Sugar Hill (1974) Saloum (2021) WNUF Halloween Special (2013)

Sound of Violence (2021) Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008) Death Laid an Egg (1968) Baskin (2015) The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh (2012) The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) The Haunting of Julia (1977) The House That Dripped Blood (1971) Megan Is Missing (2011)

Ringu (1998) Three... Extremes (2004) Trench 11 (2017) Out There Halloween Mega Tape (2022) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) The Driller Killer (1979) Berberian Sound Studio (2012) One Cut of the Dead (2017) Demonic Christmas Tree (2022) Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)

Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005) Motel Hell (1980) Shallow Ground (2004) Annabelle: Creation (2017) Annabelle Comes Home (2019) The Conjuring 2 (2016) The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) Morgan (2016) Sputnik (2020) Devil's Pass (2013)

Dracula's Daughter (1936) Dagon (2001) We Are Still Here (2015) We Are What We Are (2013) Somos lo que hay (2010) The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) Midori (1992) The Believers (1987) Troll 2 (1990) Chillerama (2011)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) The Mortuary Collection (2019) The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) House (1985) Flatliners (1990) The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) Crimson Peak (2015) Frailty (2001) Hell Night (1981)

Eyes of Fire (1983) Sister Death (2023) Tonight She Comes (2016) Bad Dreams (1988) Dead Snow (2009) Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014) Veronica (2017) The Nun II (2023) Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) Maniac (1980)

Man's Best Friend (1993) M.O.M. Mothers of Monsters (2020) The Reptile (1966) She Creature (2001) Beetlejuice (1988) The Incredible Melting Man (1977) Kandisha (2020) So Vam (2021) Bit (2019) Death Proof (2007)

[unfurl-th]

What are your favorite movies and TV series?

Thank you for the ask! It's an ever-evolving list, but here are the ones I remember right now. I am also unable to pick just one favourite, so the incoming post will be a bit long. 

I´ll add the ones that are on top on top as of now, and then link my letterboxd here so that you can snoop more if you want to! There I also have stuff on my to watch list, I just haven’t made time to watch movies while studying, so I’ve got a job to do!

Movies: 

Stoker (2013)

The Haunting (1963)

Amelie (2001)

Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)

Freaks (1932)

Häxxan (1922)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

Blue Velvet (1986)

The Lord of the Rings (just, all of them)

Shirley (2020)

Carol (2015)

Mirrormask (2005)

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Pan´s Labyrinth (2006)

Beetlejuice (1988)

The Witch (2015)

Jane Eyre (2011)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

The Shape of Water (2017)

The Story of Temple Drake (1933)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Design for Living (1933)

The Others (2001)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (2021)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

I have a lot of comfort-movies that I can recognise aren’t top ranks when it comes to quality but they’re still wonderful and have made an impact on me sometime in my life. 

Series: 

Twin Peaks

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The X-files

Agatha Christie’s Poirot

Babylon Berlin

Derry Girls

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Criminal Minds

Anne with an E

Gilmore Girls

Stranger Things

Downton Abbey

Again, these are things that bring me so much comfort and that I can watch over and over and over again. Feel free to send me series and movie recs!

[aloofraven]

The internet was out on the 20th and I finally started on the many anime movies I've saved on my laptop over the years so I've just written a little bit about what I watched;

Watched some short films I had saved on my computer today as the internet was down. It started with me watching one of the One Piece movies on a whim, then a rare mood took me as I wanted to watch more things. I opened my movies folder and hit sort by length, shortest to longest, and moved my way down(or up?) the list. Some I liked more than others, as it tends to be when just watching whatever you find, but I don't think any of these are outright bad. And also they're all between 16 and 55 minutes long, watching any of these won't feel like you wasted your time I think.

The Portrait Studio – 16 minutes (2013) It’s about a man who takes peoples’ portraits in a small town in Japan. The story follows his continued work with one family from the mother’s first ever photo to her daughter who has a hard time smiling for photos. I thought it was sweet.

Voices of A Distant Star – 25 minutes (2002) A touching story about boy and a girl in love who get separated by time and space as the girl gets conscripted into the military’s space force. Her only way to contact him is via email, but as the mission sends her closer and closer to the edge of the solar system, the longer it takes for her emails to reach the boy. And to throw more salt on the wound it only works one way.

Ubsateyama – 18 minutes (1924) Yeah. That says 1924. Nineteen Twenty-Four. Why I even have this saved I don’t know but it’s really cool to see literally a 100 year old work of animation! It follows what I assume is an old folk story, about a Lord who just hates old people and exiles anyone from his town as soon as they turn 60, and a young farmer who decides to hide his 59 year old mother. Defy the authorities to protect your loved ones, and the wisdom of the elders comes in handy.

Typhoon Noruda – 26 minutes (2015) A school is preparing for a festival and is hit by a typhoon keeping the students stuck there overnight. Our protagonist gets in a fist fight with his oldest friend and they split up. Shortly after he spots a mysterious girl outside with some kind of collar as she gets struck by lightning and runs to her rescue, only to discover she might not be entirely human! It's a fun short adventure!

Summer Ghost – 39 minutes (2021) Three teenagers meet up at a café, they’ve never met each other in person before and only talked through text. They all want to meet the ghost of a girl who supposedly committed suicide, and rumor has it she only appears on the runway of an old abandoned airport during the summer if you bring fireworks. All three of them have different reasons for wanting to meet a ghost, and have different questions to ask of her if they get the chance to talk.

Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light – 45 minutes (2011) A little girl, Hotaru, is out in the countryside visiting her uncle and gets lost in the forest. After she gives up on finding her way back she starts crying only to be found by a spirit who takes the shape of a young man. He calls himself Gin. He guides her out the forest, and the next day Hotaru comes back to give him a gift as thanks for helping her. They keep meeting up all summer, and every year she comes back to visit him. As they grow closer year after year they both slowly also fall for one another as Hotaru becomes an adult. Unfortunately for them both Gin has been cursed; If he ever gets touched by a human, even once, he will disappear forever.

The Garden of Words – 45 minutes (2013) Two strangers stumble upon one another in a park on a rainy day in Tokyo. A 15 year old student who wishes to become a shoe maker and spends his time drawing and designing shoes, and a career woman who’s just hanging out drinking beer and eating chocolate. They both have a habit of going to that same spot when in the mornings when it rains. They eventually get to talking and become friends.

It’s two people finding one little pillar of support in their lives, and unbeknownst to themselves their talks slowly heal what ails them and they get ready to take on their lives’ challenges. It’s sweet.

The Feast of Amrita – 48 minutes(2023) It’s a horror! And unfortunately I can’t stand horrors, they really get to my head, so I only got just shy off 10 minutes into it. I’m sure on a better day I’ll finish it as the premise was interesting. Evil liminal space. Also the animation was so funky. Loved the handheld camera imitation.

Modest Heroes – 53 minutes (2018) A collection of three short stories by Studio Ponoc! They're mainly aimed at kids, but I still found them fun or otherwise engaging to watch!

Kaniini to Kaniino This one plonks you right into a wonderful little fantasy world of tiny crab-humans living in a forest river. The siblings Kaniini and Kaniino go on a search and rescue after their dad gets swept away during a storm!

Samurai Egg A story about a kid with severe food allergies, eggs specifically, and shows how tough it can be if you need to go to the hospital if you have even a tiny bite of the allergen. Honestly this one should be dubbed into every language and shown in schools. I remember back in elementary school we had a classmate with similarly severe reaction to nuts so we couldn’t have any food at the school with nuts, and I also remember a few of my classmates not believing in it at all and one brought peanut butter to class to really test it. Luckily nothing did happen as they didn’t even eat in the same room, but damn what if something had happened! And how often has she had to go to the emergency room? The movie shows you the reality of the situation and it's wonderful for it.

Toumei Ningen An invisible man apparently made of helium. He is not only completely unnoticed by others, in spite of being fully clothed, but he is so light he will fly away if he doesn’t weigh himself down with something. I do love the attention to detail which really characterizes how he’s living like that with him having to deflate his scooter’s tires so that he can uncomfortably ride it crooked as he’s counterbalancing with the fire extinguisher he uses to avoid flying away when he’s out and about. I like a good metaphor.

Sonic The Hedgehog The Movie – 53 minutes (1996) It’s alright. No strong feelings on it one way or another, but I like the art style of it. Old sonic stuff looks nice.

My favorite one of today was Summer Ghost. The trio each had their own backgrounds and different relationships to death, and all three of them hit close to home for me. And in the end when they got back together to have a chat and reminisce I broke out crying. The film made me finally snap out of my own apathy. It is time to start living.

[40seasons]

Working on The Forty Seasons w. Laura Milkins

This series of seasonal environmental portraits is unlike any typical portrait shoot I've ever worked on. Laura Milkins is an internationally renowned performance artist whose work in the past decade or two includes "Reforming Paris Hilton," "The Perfect Woman," and "Walking Stories." For the latter project she walked from her home in Tucson, Arizona to her mother's house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, rarely having any idea where she might spend the night, relying upon the kindness of strangers nightly and reporting her journey live via a webcam. The journey took from early May until fall and along the way she stayed with people from all walks of life, from farmers and ranchers to retirees and undertakers. All of them had stories to tell. And she never slept on the ground.

We first met around 2005 when I was an arts writer for the Tucson Citizen newspaper. I wrote several articles about work she was doing around Tucson. Since those days Laura has been a kind of artist hub through her work, teaching and monthly brunches that gather a curious and creative crop every time.

After the newspaper closed in 2009 I started doing documentary work in conjunction with the Arizona Historical Society, Arizona State Museum, and the Arizona Biennial Celebration, as well as on my own. With the late historian Ralph Gonzales and his daughter, folklórico choreographer Julie Gallego we created a series of short films about post-war life in Tucson under the loose umbrella of the "Cine Plaza at the Fox" documentary series. They were shown in conjunction with classic of the Mexican Cinema's golden age. Later I filmed "Tucson's Heart and Soul - El Casino Ballroom" - about one of the last still-operating dance halls that served Tucson's Mexican American population in post war Tucson. Presently I am editing a film called "The Mariachi Miracle" which chronicles how Tucson's socio economic, political, artistic and educational fabric has been transformed by the youth mariachi and folklórico dance movement that sprang up here since the 1960s.

Laura and I first started working together around 2010, rather informally. Her pale skin made her a perfect partner for a series of layered photographs called Bewilderness that create surreal blends of time and space. Another pale artist who collaborated on that layered image series and a spin off called Doorways to the Infinite was Michelle Bos. You will find Tumblr blogs for Doorways to the Infinite and The Mariachi Miracle should you have the interest. And you can find some of my landscape work on the dbtucson blog here on Tumblr.

Laura and I continued to work together off and on through the years until in later 2021 I came to her with the rough sketch of The Forty Seasons. The series involves various locations in Southern Arizona and is largely spontaneous and improvisational. It's about changes in our environment, the country, and ourselves.

Typically I find a location, send some shots to Laura, we block out a day, head there and see what happens.

My job is to hang on and shoot. I typically don't have any idea what she will wear or not wear. Sometimes we talk in generalities about what we might do while on the drive to the location. But once there we look around for an interesting backdrop and Laura does her thing. She moves instinctively and capriciously, sometimes climbing up in trees, splashing shallow water in a desert river on herself, or whispering to giant saguaro cacti. On our most recent shoot she had me create a music mix of slow tunes in many genres to stimulate movement.

The real work begins once we get back as I cull the images and begin to find what they might become in the editing process. I send her batches of work as I work and get her feedback.

What you see on this blog are excerpts from these shoots, not necessarily finished photos. They are their own little experiments. And because this is a ten year project, the expectation is built in that changes in technology, skill and our collective ideas will shape the final forty images we hope to showcase at the conclusion.

So what you have is a ringside seat to the process. The spring edition of year four was shot in March and we'll be shooting again when summer starts. Drop by from time to time and see where we're heading.

– Daniel Buckley

[inknhue]

✶ Me, Myself and I ✶

For me, I’ve always felt like I was staring at a stranger when I do self portraits. I tend not to occupy my own art, but for some reason I felt compelled to create an alla prima of myself in the middle of the night.

The thing is, I love it. I actually like how this short hour piece turned out. I’m proud of myself for feeling that way.

My last alla prima I created of my face was in 2021, I remember it being COVID, we were in masks, and I quickly finished it as an assignment so I wouldn’t have to stare at myself any longer. I was so uncomfortable then that it shocks me that me, myself and I now wanted to create another.

Maybe it’s a sign I should try and return to past techniques that made me uncomfortable…

Yeah let’s put a pin in that for now. One step at a time, sport.

But anyways, enjoy my face :)

[ghoulishnarrator]

yeah i can do romance too? lol, I made this portrait back in 2021 or something and it depicts a scene from a movie within a comic book world (Death Valley Ghools) called, Mary and Lee in the Apocalypse. In this moment they are deciding if they want to jump off that cliff or face the horde of zombies that is getting closer to them at that very moment. They are saying their last goodbyes to each other as they decide on their own fate.

Not sure why folks think i'm like a stranger to romance or not allowed or something but I can and I shall continue this movie when I find the time and I do have other romance esque stories throughout my comic and novel writing portfolio. I know it's sad and beautiful but don't cry. Daddy's got you.

[its-ana-stasi-a]

Research Blog Post #5

Bruce Gilden

Bruce Gilden is an American street photographer known for his signature aggressive, flash-lit portraits of strangers. Born in Brooklyn in 1946, he originally enrolled at Penn State but dropped out, uninterested in his sociology classes. After briefly considering acting, he picked up a camera in 1967 and never looked back. With a few night classes at the School of Visual Arts and a whole lot of self-direction, Gilden developed one of the most recognizable styles in modern street photography.

His technique is simple but bold: a hand-held camera, a harsh flash, and almost no distance between him and his subjects. Gilden often walks right up to people and shoots within inches of their faces. His images are raw, unfiltered, and often uncomfortable — filled with asymmetry, skin texture, scowls, confusion, and character. He photographs not just people but personalities, often those living on the margins.

Gilden started with street projects in Coney Island and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Over the years, his lens has traveled to Haiti, Japan, Ireland, Russia, and back across America, always focusing on what he calls “strong characters.” His work has been featured in institutions like MoMA in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. He joined Magnum Photos in 1998, becoming a full member in 2002.

Notable books include Facing New York (1992), Haiti (1996), Go (2000), Cherry Blossom (2021), Black Country (2022), and The Circuit (2022). In 2013, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Gilden’s photos make me flinch — and that’s why I keep looking. His work is uncomfortable in the best way. There’s no distance, no safety net between the subject and the viewer. [My social anxiety could never.] You’re forced to face people you might otherwise ignore: the wrinkled, the worn out, the wary, the tough. It’s street photography stripped of nostalgia. No romanticism, just presence.

What I admire about Gilden is his absolute commitment to being in it. He doesn’t lurk from the sidelines or wait for a “decisive moment” — he makes the moment. That’s gutsy. And while his approach can feel invasive, there’s something undeniably human in how he confronts the world. It reminds me not to chase perfection in a shot, but energy. A real moment. A real face. His work pushes to be bolder, less polite with the camera — and more honest.

[sasheneskywalker]

sashene's to watch list

movies

Alienoid

Apollo 13

Argo (2012)

Arrival (2016)

Assassination (2015)

Atomic Blonde

Back to the Future

Ballerina (2023)

Barbie (2023)

Blade Runner 2049

Brokeback Mountain

Challengers

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Deadpool

Dune and Dune: Part Two

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Fight Club

Gone Girl

Inception

Interstellar

Jennifer’s Body

John Wick (Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4)

Joker (2019)

Kill Bill and Kill Bill 2

Kill Boksoon

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Knives Out and Glass Onion

La Femme Nikita

Lucy (2014)

Mad Max: Furiosa

MCU

Memories of the Sword

Moonlight (2016)

Nomadland

Ocean's 11

Pacific Rim

Parasite

Poor Things

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Promising Young Woman

Skyfall

Snowden (2016)

The Batman (2022)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The Godfather

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Part 1, Mockingjay – Part 2)

The Lobster

The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King)

The Martian

The Matrix

The Old Guard

The Princess Bride

The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day

The Villainess

The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion and The Witch: Part 2. The Other One

There's Still Tomorrow

Star Wars (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, Rogue One, Solo)

V for Vendetta

Wicked (2024)

Wonder Woman (2017)

Yesterday (2019)

tv shows

Agatha All Along

Agent Carter

Ahsoka

Andor

Arcane

Arrow

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Bloodhounds (2023)

Breaking Bad

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Connect (2022)

Daredevil

Doom Patrol

Dune: Prophecy

Good Omens

Hannibal

Happiness (2021)

Hawkeye

Heartstopper

Hotel del Luna

How to Get Away with Murder

How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)

Interview with a Vampire

Iron Fist

Jessica Jones

Legends of Tomorrow

Leverage

Lockwood & Co

Loki

Lucifer

Luke Cage

Merlin

Money Heist

Moon Knight

My Name (2021)

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Orphan Black

Our Flag Means Death

Revenge of Others

Severance

Sisyphus: The Myth

Stranger Things

The Acolyte

The Boys

The Defenders

The End of the Fucking World

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Glory (2022)

The Good Place

The Legend of Vox Machina

The Mandalorian

The Nevers

The Penguin

The Punisher

The Sandman

The Umbrella Academy

WandaVision

Watchmen

Yellowjackets

Young Royals

anime

Apothecary Diaries

Banana Fish

Bungou Stray Dogs

Chainsaw Man

Code Geass

Cowboy Bebop

Darker Than Black

Death Note

Durarara!!

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Jujutsu Kaisen

Madoka Magica

Monster

Moriarty the Patriot

My Hero Academia

Naruto

Neon Genesis Evangelion

No. 6

Owari no Seraph

Psycho-Pass

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Re: Zero

Serial Experiments Lain

Steins;Gate

Vanitas no Karte

Violet Evergarden

Yuri on Ice

(italics mean i've already fully seen it)

[kadeonkelly]

Self-portrait (detail; 1980), Alice Neel. 01/10/2025

I everyone! My Name is Kadeon Kelly, I am a dedicated mother of two daughters and a passionate cook who enjoys exploring culinary creativity."                                                                                                            My picture is #26 Alice Neel 1980 Self-Portrait. Oil on canvas; 54” x 40

Five facts about Alice Neel

Alice Neel was a realist painter known for her unflinching portraits of friends, family, and strangers. Neel's portraits often depicted her subjects with a raw honesty, capturing their personalities and vulnerabilities with a directness that was sometimes unsettling.

She was a prolific artist who painted throughout her long life. Neel's career spanned several decades, and she continued to paint actively even into her 80s. Her work is represented in major museum collections worldwide.

She was a feminist artist who challenged traditional gender roles. Neel often painted strong, independent women, and her work explored themes of female sexuality, motherhood, and aging.

She was a bohemian figure who lived a non-traditional life. Neel lived in Greenwich Village for many years, and her life was marked by unconventional relationships and a bohemian lifestyle.

Her work was not always commercially successful during her lifetime. Neel's unflinching realism and focus on ordinary people sometimes alienated critics and collectors. However, her reputation has grown significantly since her death, and her work is now highly regarded.

Question: Did the way you think about the art change from the first time you looked at it? Do you see anything different in the art now?

Yes, My initial impression of the painting was one of curiosity and a bit of bewilderment. I thought to myself "Woah, this is kinda weird! Like, why is grandma naked! the bold colors and her intense gaze were striking, but I found myself questioning the unusual composition. However, after learning more about Alice Neel and the context of this self-portrait, my perspective shifted. I now see it as a powerful and poignant statement, a reflection of the artist's strength, age, vulnerability, determination, and the enduring human spirit, created near the end of her long and prolific career.

If you would like to learn more listen to this podcast features the celebrated painter Alice Neel speaking about her life, inspiration, and “radical humanism.” by: Casteel Jordan, Wahi Jasmine, and Luciano Miguel "Alice Neel: People Come First" https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/alice-neel-people-come-first. March 22, 2021

[giddlywinks]

Giddy's Ditties Sampler #4

Quality songs worth noting imo, and why I noted them:

They were kind of an unstoppable duo. I hope they're still friends. (Sizzy Rocket and sweet93)

Also, horny.

"Smoke your cigareeeeeeetttte"

This shit is crazy, and I love that.

The like 30 seconds of moans in a 4 minute song is what gave me brain worms. (Good)

Goldie Boutilier also has a great song called "Cowboy Gangster Politician" with a very different vibe.

"You love so deep, so tender

Your people and your land

You love 'em till they can't recall

Who they are again"

The album is so fucking good almost 20 years later. It's crazy how one of the best American singer-songwriters of all time still really has never received her due. Like you put Girls And Boys on, and then it's over without you even realizing it, and you just keep replaying it until you realize you know every word and have been singing for the last 5 replays.

Easy listening in the best way possible. Lyrics immaculate.

One of Bea's best songs. Crazy that I'm a year older than her. Definitely thought she was like 27. Loveworm art was gorgeous. Artists start doing weird album art again, please! No more normal little portraits.

"It's funny now I'm just useless and a whore

But I get a co-sign from your favorite one-man show"

Perfect winter album

I've been telling all my friends that it is such a Blue Lips winter. But also, this is like her magnum opus. She did something esoteric and transcendent with this album. The girls who get it get it.

"Soft kiss, my baby wanted it

I could sense it from a mile away"

Liz was on a roll with this era of singles. Highly recommend "Floors" as well. I'm sure it'll wind up in a Sampler someday.

"Chainsmoking, blaming the weather

Get my heart broken by a breeze

And I'm always open, I will be better

Keep your arms open to my needs

And please don't get tired of me"

Love yourself this Christmas.

I love you, too.

[rwrbhistoryhuhmv]

[Vid] Mammals

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yR4bzEw by evewithanapple Yes, I'm Siskel, yes, I'm Ebert And you're getting two thumbs up Words: 0, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 45 of vids by evewithanapple Fandoms: Naissance des Pieuvres | Water Lilies (2007), Rocketman (2019), 아가씨 | The Handmaiden (2016), Portrait de la jeune fille en feu | Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), 120 battements par minute | BPM: Beats per Minute (2017), Atomic Blonde (2017), The Watermelon Woman (1996), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Carol (2015), Esteros (2016), Jennifer's Body (2009), The Girl King (2015), God's Own Country (2017), Interview with the Vampire (2022), Passages (2023), Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017), Red White and Royal Blue (2023), Tipping the Velvet (2002), Hiacynt | Operation Hyacinth (2021), Zero Patience (1993), Y tu mamá también (2001), MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X (Music Video), L'inconnu du lac | Stranger by the Lake (2013) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F, M/M, Multi Additional Tags: Subtitles Available read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yR4bzEw

[studioalbums]

Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Sullivan is an American singer-songwriter whose voice—both literal and literary—has come to define a generation of R&B rooted in emotional truth, storytelling power, and unflinching vulnerability. Born in Philadelphia in 1987 and raised in a deeply musical and spiritual household, Sullivan emerged early as a vocal prodigy, performing in church choirs and studying at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. But her path has never been one of easy ascents; instead, she has carved out a career defined by creative control, emotional resilience, and a fierce commitment to telling stories that matter—especially those of Black women.

Sullivan debuted in 2008 with Fearless, a striking album that fused classic soul, hip-hop-inflected production, and theatrical vocal range. Its breakout single, “Bust Your Windows,” announced her as a songwriter unafraid to explore the messy aftermath of love, balancing hurt and humor with operatic intensity. But even then, what set Sullivan apart was her ability to embody characters, to write songs not just about herself but through the voices of women across class, age, and experience—domestic workers, ex-girlfriends, brides, daughters, survivors. She became a dramatist of heartbreak and defiance, blending R&B with gospel, jazz, and quiet storm textures.

Her sophomore record, Love Me Back (2010), deepened that palette, but after its release, Sullivan stepped away from the spotlight, citing industry pressures and personal exhaustion. It was a rare pause at a time when fame often demands constant visibility. Her return five years later with Reality Show (2015) showed no signs of compromise: the album was both satirical and sincere, a sharp portrait of fame, desire, and self-worth in a culture obsessed with image. Tracks like “Mascara” and “Let It Burn” illustrated Sullivan’s gift for writing women as they are—flawed, funny, insecure, proud—without condescension or apology.

In 2021, Heaux Tales marked a critical and cultural high point. A conceptual project blending song and spoken interludes, it explored sexuality, shame, survival, and autonomy with unmatched intimacy. The voices of everyday Black women—friends, strangers, composites—interrupted and framed the songs, reclaiming narratives often distorted or dismissed. Sullivan didn’t offer moral judgment but platformed complexity. From the aching resignation of “Lost One” to the anthemic boldness of “Pick Up Your Feelings,” she displayed a remarkable range—not just vocally, but narratively. Heaux Tales won the 2022 Grammy for Best R&B Album, but more importantly, it re-centered the genre around storytelling, community, and radical honesty.

Sullivan’s cultural significance cannot be overstated. In an industry that often rewards artifice and spectacle, she has championed craft, nuance, and emotional depth. Her voice—soulful, agile, bruised and resilient—is among the finest of her generation, but she wields it not just to impress, but to convey lives in motion: women who are surviving, compromising, demanding more, and sometimes giving up. She sings with a kind of lived-in empathy that makes even the most specific experiences feel universal.

More than a vocalist or lyricist, Jazmine Sullivan is a narrative force—a modern-day griot in the lineage of Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill, but entirely her own. Her music resists the commercial pressure to sanitize or sensationalize Black womanhood. Instead, she honors the everyday epic, giving voice to the internal monologues and behind-closed-doors truths that rarely make it onto the radio.

Through her art, Sullivan has created a body of work that doesn’t just entertain—it testifies, recording the intricacies of human desire, dignity, and disappointment. She remains a singular figure in R&B, not because she conforms to the genre’s traditions, but because she constantly reshapes them around stories only she can tell.

Fearless (2008)

Love Me Back (2010)

Reality Show (2015)

Heaux Tales (2021)