#essayists

[matineaux]

hey beautiful people.. submissions for my magazine 'antler velvet' are still open and the theme is 'ekphrasis'. only 4 days left to submit so get in there!

submit here!

also if you have a platform please boost<3 trying to get as many submissions as we can :))

[starlit-mansion]

listen. i honestly do try my best to not be bitchy about stuff. but if you not-joking-joked that you wanted to watch a video essay from hbomb on the kendrick-drake rap beef. i think that you are obligated to watch fd signifier's 3 hour video essay. i KNOW the watch time is not the issue.

[wondermutt20]

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

E.E. Cummings - (1894-1962) - American Poet, Painter, Essayist, Author and Playwright

[adizzyninja]

Thinking over The Locked Tomb books and I love how clear it is that Thanergy, the magical death fuel for necromancy, is an inherently unsustainable energy. It’s meant to be this transitory little spark, a quick byproduct of the transition to death. Analogous to the way an actual fire burns out.

But it’s being artificially extended and induced in the entire solar system by one guy whose massive distaste for change is keeping everything held together and alive even when it totally shouldn’t be.

Just really appreciate how “necromancy as a rejection of change” is apparent in even the basic foundations of how the magic works.

[these-summer-nights-in-december]

Final day to register for my private Zoom-based winter writing workshops!

Final day to register! Join a great group of writers and put a little fire under your writing as those winter winds howl!

Come aboard for my winter Zoom-based private writing workshops: In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry (Wednesdays) and Introduction to the Lyric Essay (Thursdays). Both classes take place from 6-8 PM Eastern Time and run for 6 weeks.

Registration closes at the end of day Sunday January 28 and classes begin later that week.

Details & registration available at my website

https://christophercitro.com/private-classes/

[sackvillesque]

I don’t think some people realize this is a critique lmao. I love the description of the woman imagining she’s driving on the road it really highlights the fleeting/unstable feeling she’s trying to capture and how the generation’s youth finds comfort in it 😌

A woman drives fast along the California freeway with the radio screaming, delirious with grief. She does this every morning, dressing quickly in her Beverly Hills home so as to leave no time to think. Changing lanes is like a dance the way she's trained herself to do it, seamlessly and to the beat. She walks barefoot into gas stations, rinsing down pills with warm Coca-Cola and chatting mindlessly with the attendants. Her marriage is over. Her showbiz career is dead. Her child has been taken away. She is known to cry at parties or get carried home; close friends have come to believe she's insane. It is only on the freeway, when the music is loud, that she can forget what's become of her life. To fall asleep she imagines herself on the road: "The Hollywood to the San Bernardino and straight on out, past Barstow, past Baker, driving straight on into the hard white empty core of the world."

How chic the story sounds the way Joan Didion tells it in her 1970 novel Play It as It Lays. The woman is a trainwreck but a sharp and glamorous one, numbing out on pills as a critique of moral rot in 1960s Tinseltown. Books are great that way. Played out in real life in the year 2007, the tale loses its cool; now the woman is a punchline whose endless personal disasters keep a burgeoning new media economy afloat. It seemed that every week, or sometimes even every day, brought a hysterical new headline regarding the downward spiral of America's pop princess. ("HELP ME!" "INSANE!" "OUT OF CONTROL!") "We serialize Britney Spears. She's our President Bush," said TMZ founder Harvey Levin in a gruesome Rolling Stone cover story from early 2008, which began with Britney wailing in a San Fernando Valley shopping mall as a crowd closed around her with their Sidekick smartphones brandished. "I don't know who you think I am, bitch," 26-year-old Spears snarled to a shopgirl approaching for a photo. "But I'm not that person."

...

"Do you feel out of control in your life?" asks an interviewer off-screen in Britney: For the Record, the MTV documentary on Spears' "post-breakdown" life released at the end of 2008. That February, she had been placed against her will under the conservatorship of her father and former business manager, which would last for the next 13 years. "No, I don't feel it's out of control. I think it's too in control," Spears answers without pause. "There's no excitement. There's no passion. It's like Groundhog Day every day." The camera pulls in close as she wipes away her tears. "When did you last feel free?" the man asks later. "When I got to drive my car a lot," she wistfully replies. "I haven't been able to drive my car."

Meaghan Garvey, "Blackout Album Review"

[fervi-g]

David Foster Wallace.

[travelers-gaming]

ok new funniest earth aleph situation. niche video essayist Jacob Black finds out with horror about the fact that his alternate universe self is Jack Fucking Slash.

Imagine watching a 2 hour video where a man grapples with the fact that in a very slightly different universe he became The Fucking Joker.

[sharoo]

Self-knowledge as a theme in STP messes me up so bad, bros.

This all starts with how little the Princess can tell you if you ask her about herself. How little you can say about yourself, more often than not. Most of the time Quiet doesn't even know what they look like!

The Narrator makes it a point to make the Princess' cluelessness, her lack of self-knowledge, into deception, but really, both the protagonists don't know themselves. How could they?

The concepts of bounds, of something that isn't you, the distinction of "self" and "other", "you" and "I", the concept of something being not like yourself... this is the first time this deity which is now two has ever experienced it.

The Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet did not exist until the Narrator tore a whole into parts.

Now, this deity in twain has to reorient. It has only begun existing, it's not yet known itself. A toddler has to develop a self-concept, and the concepts of others.

Now imagine, for the first time in your solitary existence, that there is something that you are not. Unknowable, foreign.

What are they like, you think? Are they a friend? Should I get to know them? Are they a foe? I do not know them, I cannot trust them... Or can I?

This brings to mind, of all things, Contrapoints' video on Twilight, where she speaks about the concepts of Union and Division in relation to love. And while she speaks of it in terms of eros, it can apply here just as easily, romantically and platonically.

Love is the union of two beings. We love because something outside of us allows us to be more than ourself. In others, many seek that which they lack. We seek out people so that we may develop through our similarities and contrasts with them, to change an be changed.

We seek out people because there can be no I without a You. To exist in a void is not a fulfilling experience.

We cannot discover ourself if he have nothing that allows us to compare ourself. The mirrors elude us throughout the game, always leading to the princess - she is the only way we may know ourselves, the mirrors tease as they disappear. And at the end of the route, only then, can you see yourself, now that you have a complete knowledge of yourself in a given scenario, with a given persona.

Was the princess someone you decided to trust? Or to betray? Was she a foe? A friend? A nightmare? A victim?

You both try to find out who you are through your relationship.

The princess assumes many faces and attitudes in response to you, you assume voices and attitudes in response to her. You're two batches of clay shaping each other at the same time. It's almost like knowing someone your entire life, seeing them go through different phases as they try to find out their identity in the world, their place. The 5 routes, whatever they be, are your "adolescence".

And growing means you will hurt each other, intentionally or not. There will be fights, disagreements, there will be heartache, and comfort and love.

And everything will pass.

Shifty, before she's complete, before she discovers her godhood, makes this point so clear.

How could she not be kind to you? You are the only thing in this place that is not her. What reason could she have to hate you? To make the only friend she could have into an enemy?

That's why, at the end of every route, all hurts are forgiven. All the heartache is acknowledged, understood, and then she moves on. So that you may continue being together, so that she may see what else you do.

Even godhood can become a phase. The Shifting Mound recognises what you both were, but it need not be you unless you accept it. Because self-knowledge is unending. You are always changing, and you can always change.

You can accept being a god, and that becomes you.

You can reject being a god, and that becomes you.

You are by that point an "adult". The figure trying to dictate who both of you are is gone, and you can decide for yourself.

I think this is partially why I love the Leave with Stranger ending the best of all the endings. You begin it by avoiding knowledge of yourself and of another. The self can only exist as far as it is not like the others.

And you meet the Stranger, this being who knows so little about herself, because she too has been deprived of another. The route is quick. It really cannot amount to much, because if you don't know yourself, it's so hard to build a relationship.

But at the end, they've matured. You gave each other time to become fuller beings. You met this person again and they seem so much happier with themself than they were in youth.

I love how they say "We're just a stranger.", and the voices point out how it needn't be sad that you don't know her, unless you make it out to be. You can get to know them, the real them, and they can do that with you.

The way the Stranger speaks if the position of a God only underlines how much the heart of the Shifting Mound can understand self-knowledge.

They speak of how they feel themself be pulled towards taking the position of godhood, of being everything, yet find it confining. Restricting.

"We want more. We want whatever might be on the other side of this door. Something new, that we'll experience together. With someone who exists outside of us. Someone who can see us in a way we can never see ourself."

Self-knowledge through relationships and reflection on how you impact other people.

[marzipanandminutiae]

nothing says Museum Work like a group of queers in various types of vintage and/or alternative fashion, patiently explaining what "serving cunt" means to a raptly-listening cishet male coworker

[dead-orange-club]

MeatCanyon / Wendigoon / CreepCast userboxes!!

I love these lol - ⚡️

[stargirl230]

Heard there’s going to be another lxh movie!! and immediately renewed my hyperfixation by consuming all the available media in the franchise

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

[catgrandpa]

I just made a joke about Bruce Wayne having a tv show/miniseries where he travels around the world and talks about local history but it’s in the style of Philomena Cunk.

Fantastic. Love it. Very fun.

But now I also want the (extended) Wayne Family to have a YouTube channel where they just infodump about their interests.

It starts as Dick “secretly” filming a drunk Bruce while he rants about the Tunguska Event. Uploads are sporadic at first and it’s mostly Bruce talking about random topics (the chytrid fungus’ detrimental affect on amphibian populations, the history of sea monkeys, etc) while drunk.

The rest of the family get in on it here and there but it officially becomes a Thing when they upload an hour long video titled “The True Meaning of Clown | an introspective look at clowns in American history” with the thumbnail brightly proclaiming “Alternatively Why The Joker Isn’t a Real Clown (Or Even Particularly Funny)” and a very sober Dick Grayson factually tearing joker apart.

Tim finally convinces Bruce that it would be more suspicious if they didn’t post about Batman. That same night he uploads a 7 Hour Unhinged Red String Conspiracy Board video simply titled “Batlore”.

Nearly the entire family have a round table/socratic seminar style discussion about the lore of fnaf. And yes, they’ve solved it all.

[formosusiniquis]

Influencer!stobin but Robin is a video essayist who teaches you about shit you didn't know enough about to know you cared and Steve is the editer/social media manager/camera person/travel buddy she routinely references that no one ever sees

Steve would have a weird relationship with fame, i think and the way he knows his looks get him things. Maybe he was a vlog kid in this universe or maybe his parents are in politics. Either way he makes it a point not to have his face on socials

He has a web presence but it's increasingly strange art commissions he gets from Will. Or maybe he's a v-tuber

Or both. His persona is this surrealist imagining of himself to the point it's unrecognizable as Steve unless you know it's Steve

[p0rk-guts]

Yapping about The Stolas Animation™️ everyone's been in a tizzy about because this is MY blog and I get to treat it like my personal diary.

Not going into the surrounding drama of the video because i hate drama and it's always a fucking headache. I'm gonna talk about the content of the animation, the song, and my interpretation of them together!!! (Contains discussions of suicide. Obviously)

First off. THE ANIMATION IS AMAZING. But you already knew that. The portrayal of Stolas we see for the first two thirds of it is clearly something dissimilar to his portrayal throughout the entire series thus far—much more callous and cold than playful and cheeky like we knew him to be—so to me it seemed like a portrayal of how Blitz sees Stolas and how he thinks Stolas truly felt of feels about him. Especially since each of those scenes was interjected with clips of Blitzo staggering through that white empty mind scape with the golden feathers like we saw when he was tripping and imagining him in truth seekers.

I also love how the lyrics so perfectly line up to what's happening—"who's gonna rescue you when you're lost at sea? Who's gonna love you if it isn't me?" These lyrics precede clips where Moxxie and Millie— who HAVE rescued him and who WILL love him even if Stolas won't— showing us how Blitz is so deep in his self hatred that he can't even see that despite thinking he isn't loved or worthy of loving that he IS.

The clips of Stolas are more than just Blitz's mind fucking with him though, for us we see just how ironic it is that Stolas could be saying any of this in the FIRST place. "Who's gonna rescue you when you're lost at sea": Stolas NEVER rescued Blitz in any way! (Headcanon here but) Stolas' obsessive yearning for him just made Blitz mirror those feelings of affection in late season 2 (because there were NO signs of Blitz reciprocating or feeling anything other than disdain and ANNOYANCE for Stolas initially)! He wanted that equally returned love and not to once again miss expectations and miss what he saw as his fleeting chance for love!

Anyways anyways ranted and got off topic. If anything Blitz was always the one rescuing Stolas. I also think it's interesting that that lyric fell on a clip of Stolas mocking at one of the goetia parties despite the fact that he was always miserable at them. You could even say that Blitz trying to steal the book -> their night together -> Stolas divorcing Stella was some roundabout instance of Blitz "rescuing" Stolas from his loveless marriage. But that's more of a crazy take I think Stolas would have floating around in his head

And my FAVORITE line of the animatic (and probably the whole song)— "And who's gonna love you if it isn't me?". Obviously. Like we said. He has love surrounding him already! Even in Loona too I guess! Pairing this lyric with Stella wrapped around his arm looking withdrawn while he stands front and center not even acknowledging her?? From the fictitious Blitz perspective we're shown, I saw this as Blitz seeing himself as an unnecessary stain in Stolas' perfect pristine life. Technically, he's married, or was (does Blitz even know they're divorced??? Lol I don't remember), and his entire presence just detracts from this fictitious image of high class excellence and composure he had.

Meanwhile, Stolas did try to maintain their marriage the best he could, but he never loved Stella at every point in the story we've seen so far he doesn't consider her at all. Tbf, she's pretty abusive and insane, but he really did jump through hoops to excuse his cheating and later on didn't even consider how her presence in Octavia's life could affect her (these are all tied to greater issues with the show ignoring Stella's existence but I digress).

Stella is just a prop in this image. She was just a tool for Paimon to get Stolas to produce an heir and keep the goetia conveyor belt moving, and likely even a tool to her own (largely) absent family so she could be used to grow familial wealth and status. Beyond her "liking to torment him", she's never shown to have ANY other feelings about. Anything really. Other than what, liking parties? Her reserved portrayal alludes to her having more feelings and thoughts about everything happening around her but whether it's to keep up appearances or to deny her own emotions, she stifles it all. 100% get how everyone's been saying her .2 seconds of screentime here characterize her more than the entire show does.

Then we switch gears to the real Stolas, getting dressed in something very similar to Paimon's clothes (which someone else pointed out I did NAWT notice that on my own). I have two (ish) theories on what this was about but I'm not sold on them so feel free to tell me what you think this was all about.

Maybe Stolas was putting the clothes on for some unrelated event—some goetian responsibility he forgot he was supposed to attend to— or maybe it was something like him reminiscing on all he's lost after the divorce and the trial (if this takes place post trial. Not sure). One of these maybe, or he got dressed up specifically for his suicide. I could see his romantic and fanciful nature driving him to do something like that.

(didn't have much to say on the portraits around him all turning into Blitz. It's a pretty straightforward showing of his mental decline and destructive obsession. Overall fantastic detail I missed on the first watch)

Then, when he kills himself, he chose to do it in the middle of the street, directly across from and FACING I.M.P.'s place of residence. Which is. Insane to me. Placing it there felt so purposeful with the light glinting off of the horns on the building. Was it meant to be a "look what you made me do" type deal? Some sort of final "fuck you" for all Blitz had done ("""making""" Stolas love him and then not reciprocating)? A last desperate attempt to be seen and acknowledged?

Well who knows fr but that's all my analysis for the animation. Dwinni ate down idc. This was a peak fandom event honestly. But yeah uh what do YOU 🫵🏾 think

[these-summer-nights-in-december]

Announcing my private Zoom-based Winter Writing Workshops!

Join me for my private Zoom-based winter workshops!

On Wednesdays 6-8 pm ET, I’m offering another session of my popular poetry workshop “In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry.” The title is always the same but the readings, prompts, craft talks are always different, so you can take it again and again! We’ll read very recent poetry, I’ll provide original prompts to help inspire your new poems, we look at craft elements, we’ll workshop your poems. Writers at all levels are welcome! Class begins Jan 31.

On Thursdays 6-8 pm ET, I’m offering my also popular “Introduction to the Lyric Essay.” This workshop will usher you into the wild and fun world of the lyric essay, a popular form of the contemporary experimental creative nonfiction essay. If you are a nonfiction writer wanting to engage with this popular form, this is the class for you! If you are a poet wanting to branch out into a new genre, this is the class for you! If you have never written creative nonfiction before, this is the class for you! Writers at all levels are welcome. Class begins Feb 1.

Registration is now open, and it closes on Sunday January 28.

View class details and register at my website

https://christophercitro.com/private-classes/