Shitty Biologist aesthetic: what do you call body horror if it seems like the person in question is genuinely pretty chill about it? body delight. body acceptance. body be not afraid
okay but what is the best tag for finding images where nature said “fuck your urbanity, this is mine now” and just reclaims things with ice or vines or fungus or whatever?
Books I Read in 2022: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms that gather in the darkness and surround the world with the power of their lives while from the dimlit halls of other places forms that never were and never could be writhe for the impatience of the few who never saw what could have been…
Books of 2023: THE SOUTHERN REACH TRILOGY by Jeff VanderMeer. VanderMeer writes exactly my cup of tea: Weird, fucked up shit with a biological bent, and I am 100% Here For It. I held off on acquiring this trilogy for a weirdly long time, all things considered, but then I found it serendipitously at the Half Price Books where I used to work and I figured it was a sign. Then my excuse was saving it For The Right Time™, which turned out to be during Driscoll revisions (channeling big Weird Vibes over here, and the lighthouse thing is a nice bonus Rell touch), so here we are. I’m currently partway through AUTHORITY and I’m shrieking internally pretty much nonstop.
Unfortunately: The fact that it’s all in one volume means I’m under absolutely no obligation to stop reading, ever, and this is Not Good for me or my bedtimes. But I’m having a great time, and that’s what’s important, right??
Annihilation and Nausicaa of the valley of the wind
I’ve been thinking about the similarity between annihilation and nausicaa of the valley of the wind for quite some time now, even though they are very different.
The rot, or the decay, or how overwhelming nature and death can be is both important aspects in both of these movies. Both of the movies can be eerie and scary, but then we see how beautiful destruction can be, and how rot and decay can be foundation for new life.
Under the sea of decay in Nausicaa of the valley of the wind, clear water exists, the most vital thing for humans to survive. In annihilation, we witness rot in many colors and shapes, blooming from dead bodies, or new creatures, like the deer, where its like death and life walks side by side.
Just because human life, or life that we consider beautiful, dies, does not mean that life is over. Energy doesn’t die out, it changes form.
I think both of these movies are completely amazing, and perfect together in my opinion. :)