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best-underrated-anime · 1 month

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Best Underrated Anime Group L Round 3: #L4 vs #L7

#L4: Comedians make comedy

#L7: Queer, bishounen-filled, dark retelling of some Shakespeare plays

Details and poll under the cut!

#L4: Joshiraku

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Summary:

Follows the conversations of five rakugo storyteller girls relating the odd things that happen to them each day. Their comedic and satirical chatting covers all kinds of topics, from pointless observations of everyday life, to politics, manga, and more. Each girl has something new to add to the discussion, and the discourse never ends in the same place it began.

Each of the rakugo girls has their own unique personality, with the energetic but immature Marii Buratei; the seemingly cute Kigurumi Haroukitei; the inherently lucky and carefree Tetora Bouhatei; the calm and violent Gankyou Kuurubiyuutei; and the pessimistic and unstable Kukuru Anrakutei. These girls—and their mysterious friend in a wrestling mask—give their observations to the audience, either backstage at the rakugo theater or in various famous locations around Tokyo.

Propaganda 1:

All the girls have fun personalities, and it puts some light on a form of Japanese traditional storytelling. It’s also the origin of the April 40th meme image.

Propaganda 2:

It’s hilarious! Genuinely one of the funniest comedy anime I’ve seen. The characters are all ridiculous and the bits almost all land perfectly. Mostly. Some of the bits require too much knowledge of Japanese language or culture to make any sense translated, but that’s not too many. My favorite character is Gan. I love the joke where she’s the “glasses girl” and so everyone assumes she’s meek and nerdy, but she’s actually super-violent.

The animation is also really good and gets absolutely ridiculous at points. There’s even a recurring meta joke where one character will complain about how hard the animators are working while being ABSURDLY over-animated. The standard structure of the skits is that the characters will start by having a conversation littered with puns, and then things escalated to a jungle shoot-out or crazy slapstick or a ninja battle or the characters talking politics. You never know, and it’s great.

Trigger Warnings: None.

#L7: Requiem of the Rose King (Baraou no Souretsu)

Summary:

Richard Plantagenet has dedicated his whole life to becoming strong enough to fight alongside his father, the Duke of York. Together they have waged war to reclaim the right to the throne of England from King Henry VI and the House of Lancaster. However, the young Richard hides a secret—one that his mother scorns him for, which the cruel voices in his head never fail to remind him of. Even amid his personal turmoil, he is fortunate to find solace in the light of his father's love. But when the War of the Roses takes a turn for the bloodier, the fervent ambitions of Richard grow while his old loyalties splinter, threatening to taint his family's path to glory.

Propaganda 1:

Set during the late Middle Ages in England, this series is built over a constant backdrop of political manipulation, betrayal, and tragedy.

The story follows the tortured and lonely protagonist, plagued by visions and nightmares of ghosts and monsters, born intersex into an oppressively religious society, and as the powerless youngest son in a family that leads a civil war to take the Crown. It shows him from early childhood and his fight for recognition and acceptance, well into his adulthood and attempts to carry on his father’s name and legacy.

Throughout, Richard is made to question what he truly wants, whether chasing his father’s shadow and clawing his way to power no matter the sacrifice is his path to happiness or prohibitive to it, whether he’s able to love and be loved, and what it means to decide who he is when the society around him tries to constrict and contradict his existence at every turn.

It’s a story set up to dismantle the way that oppressive gender and class roles destroy both those who can’t fit into them and innocent bystanders at the same time. It’s the story of a man chasing happiness and love but hurting himself and others endlessly in his pursuit. It’s a story about cycles of abuse, an exploration of how far people will go to find their purpose, and how violence and hatred in God’s name sets us up for failure.

The anime has an incredible soundtrack, extremely talented and fitting voice actors in Japanese, and a fast-paced dramatic story that the limited animation style lends a storybook or stage play feel to. There are bi and gay characters, witches, ghosts, and a slew of complicated motives. The anime has the added bonus of not showing the most triggering scenes as graphically as the manga does, for those who need to approach carefully.

It’s every bit as thrilling and cathartic to get through as it is devastating, and has enough bittersweetness and light humor to keep the tragedy from getting fatigued.

Propaganda 2:

Very much feels like a CLAMP anime that hits all of their high points: fancy outfits, pretty boys, messy relationships, and a fun animal sidekick.

Some darker and fairly nuanced queer representation

Shorter series so it’s easy to get through

Trigger Warnings: Consistent themes of physical and mental abuse and several instances of sexual harassment or assault, mostly aimed at the main character either for being intersex or while being mistaken for a woman. Not depicted explicitly in the show. Non-explicit or background references to suicide, self-harm, and racism. Incest depicted with varying degrees of time-period based normalcy or disgust. One large age-gap romance. Almost no blood or gore depicted despite all the sword fighting and murder.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

#anime #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #group stage #group stage round 3 #tournament polls #group l #joshiraku #requiem of the rose king #baraou no souretsu

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pashterlengkap · 1 year

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Nonbinary actor Bella Ramsey leaves Twitter after change to anti-LGBTQ+ harassment ban

Nonbinary actor Bella Ramsey has left Twitter following the microblogging platform’s repeal of policies against LGBTQ+ harassment. “Twitter it’s been fun,” Ramsey wrote in an April 21 tweet. “My account will still be active for now but I will not be on here! Thank you my gay army and all the rest. Love you.” --- Related Stories Pedro Pascal posted Pride flag photos & the Internet went wild The Internet’s iconic “Daddy” of the moment took a stand for LGBTQ+ people. --- “My gay army” refers to Ramsey’s fans and supporters, particularly those who have supported Ramsey’s role as Ellie, a queer teen, in HBO’s TV series adaptation of the queer-inclusive 2013 zombie video game The Last of Us. In a March interview with The Last of Pods podcast, Ramsey referenced their gay army amid homophobic backlash to the series, stating, “I’m very aware that there’s a gay army who are on Twitter who are just supporting me and Ellie. They’re so much louder than any people who hate the show.” Twitter it’s been fun. My account will still be active for now but I will not be on here! Thank you my gay army and all the rest. Love you. pic.twitter.com/I99u43nBnO— Bella Ramsey (@BellaRamsey) April 21, 2023 While Ramsey didn’t provide a reason for their departure, they left the platform after the site quietly revoked a policy that protected transgender people from deliberate misgendering and deadnaming. Twitter’s billionaire owner Elon Musk has overseen a dramatic rise in anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech on the platform, making millions of dollars from hateful tweets. On March 31, Ramsey observed the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) with a message to their younger self. The tweet said, “Happy TDOV to this little dude! I didn’t know the word nonbinary in this picture. But I knew what it meant. Inherently. Because I always was, and always will be. Lotsa love to all of my trans, enby (non-binary) and gender funky friends. #TransDayOfVisibility.” Happy TDOV to this little dude! I didn’t know the word non-binary in this picture. But I knew what it meant. Inherently. Because I always was, and always will be. Lotsa love to all of my trans, enby and gender funky friends. #TransDayOfVisibility pic.twitter.com/8T5Kq6SIOW— Bella Ramsey (@BellaRamsey) March 31, 2023 In a January interview with The New York Times, Ramsey came out as nonbinary, saying, “I’m very much just a person. Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.” Ramsey became famous by portraying Lyanna Mormont, a young powerful ruler, in HBO’s fantasy TV series Game of Thrones. They later voiced the lead character in the cartoon series Hilda and appeared in the 2021 queer horror short Requiem. http://dlvr.it/Sn2kVZ

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tortol · 3 years

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lilith, both the #1 raeda shipper and the #1 raeda anti

#happy requiem day queers #look at how gendery i make them look #wonky as fuck because i been drawin on my phone #the owl house #raine whispers #lilith clawthorne #eda clawthorne #raeda #my art babey #fanart

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oswinpond · 4 years

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Even after the new film, which certainly popularized Amy/Laurie in a way I’ve never seen before, I keep hearing a lot of the same old arguments: “Laurie never stopped loving Jo”, “Laurie didn’t really love Amy”, “Amy was a second choice/consolation prize”, “Jo should’ve been with Laurie” etc. And a lot of these people claim this is book canon. As I’ve just reread the book, I’ve got a lot of thoughts on all of this...

(Note: This is all purely based on book canon.)

In the book, after Amy harshly scolds Laurie, he decides to go back to London and work for his grandfather to better himself. At first, he thinks he’s doing it for two reasons: Amy despises him and that hurts him, but also the idea that if he does something “splendid” Jo may love him (or at least respect him, as Amy put it).

So Laurie decides to write a requiem for Jo “which should harrow up Jo’s soul and melt the heart of every hearer”. But he can’t come up with anything because he keeps humming the dance music reminiscent of the Christmas ball in Nice which he spent devoting himself to Amy all evening. So then he tries to compose an opera with Jo as his heroine, but it doesn’t work. “He wanted Jo for his heroine, and called upon his memory to supply him with tender recollections and romantic visions of his love. But memory turned traitor; and, as if possessed by the perverse spirit of the girl, would only recall Jo’s oddities, faults, and freaks, would only show her in the most unsentimental aspects.”

Jo no longer fits as his heroine, no matter how hard he tries. So he gives up on that, and his imagination promptly comes up with another heroine for him without even trying:

“This phantom wore many faces, but it always had golden hair, was enveloped in a diaphanous cloud, and floated airily before his mind’s eye in a pleasing chaos of roses, peacocks, white ponies, and blue ribbons. He did not give the complacent wraith any name, but he took her for his heroine and grew quite fond of her, as well he might, for he gifted her with every gift and grace under the sun, and escorted her, unscathed, through trials which would have annihilated any mortal woman.”

While Laurie doesn’t realize it, the woman he’s imagining is Amy. Amy with the blue ribbons in her golden hair, who put roses in his buttonhole, who he watched feed the peacocks in Paris, and who he first saw again in a carriage drawn by ponies. It’s also a little prophetic, as he does escort the real Amy through future trials. (Bonus: at the same time, Amy spends her time sketching some faceless man who clearly resembles Laurie, but she doesn’t realize it either.)

Contrary to what some in the fandom would claim, Laurie isn’t at all forcing himself to love Amy just so that he can be part of the March family. He doesn’t even realize that she’s become the “heroine” in his story, that she’s the woman he’s fantasizing about. He thinks he’s doing this to improve himself for Jo, but it’s Amy that’s inspiring him.

And then Laurie realizes that his feelings for Jo are disappearing:

“Laurie thought that the task of forgetting his love for Jo would absorb all his powers for years, but to his great surprise he discovered it grew easier every day. He refused to believe it at first, got angry with himself, and couldn’t understand it [...] Laurie’s heart wouldn’t ache; the wound persisted in healing with a rapidity that astonished him, and instead of trying to forget, he found himself trying to remember. He had not foreseen this turn of affairs, and was not prepared for it. He was disgusted with himself, surprised at his own fickleness, and full of a queer mixture of disappointment and relief that he could recover from such a tremendous blow so soon. He carefully stirred up the embers of his lost love, but they refused to burn into a blaze: there was only a comfortable glow that warmed and did him good without putting him into a fever, and he was reluctantly obliged to confess that the boyish passion was slowly subsiding into a more tranquil sentiment, very tender, a little sad and resentful still, but that was sure to pass away in time, leaving a brotherly affection which would last unbroken to the end.”

This passage alone pretty much puts to rest the idea that Laurie never got over Jo. He actually got over her so easily and quickly that he felt disgusted with himself, thinking this made him fickle. His romantic feelings are gone, and soon will leave only a “brotherly affection” when the last of the hurt is gone as well. Maybe he got over her so easily because he simply mistook his strong bond with her for romance, or maybe it was just a rash and immature first love that was never going to last long anyways, or whatever else... point being, he got over her.

And Laurie was actually trying, and failing, to rekindle any love for Jo (unlike his unconscious growing feelings for Amy, which he wasn’t pushing for at all). As a last ditch attempt to revive that love, he writes to Jo asking if she was sure about her refusal, and when she responds that she absolutely could never love him that way, he accepts it without sadness or complaint this time. He’s already over her, so there’s nothing to be heartbroken over. That was his closure. He takes off the ring she gave him and locks it away with her letters, and that’s that.

And that’s when he’s ready to open his heart to Amy. He starts corresponding with her so often their letters are flying back and forth constantly. He wants to go back to her, but he doesn’t want to until she asks; she finally does after she hears about Beth’s passing, and Laurie immediately drops everything to go to her “with a heart full of joy and sorrow, hope and suspense” (and this is after he knows she’s turned down Fred, so we know what he’s hoping for now). Amy is his first priority after Beth dies, even though Beth was dearest to Jo. Laurie meets Amy in Switzerland and, without saying anything, they both know their relationship has changed.

They spend weeks doing everything together and spend all their time out at the lake. Despite the sad tidings, they wind up being their happiest together in Vevey. They both know that they’re in love with each other without even having to say it (they really seem to develop an unspoken communication at this point). And while Laurie knows that she’ll say “yes” to his proposal, he’s still nervous so he puts it off to enjoy his time with Amy in Switzerland. He imagines proposing to her in the chateau garden at moonlight, but instead blurts it out while they’re on a lake in the middle of the day:

Feeling that she had not mended matters much, Amy took the offered third of a seat, shook her hair over her face, and accepted an oar. She rowed as well as she did many other things; and, though she used both hands, and Laurie but one, the oars kept time, and the boat went smoothly through the water. “How well we pull together, don’t we?” said Amy, who objected to silence just then. “So well that I wish we might always pull in the same boat. Will you, Amy?” very tenderly. “Yes, Laurie,” very low. Then they both stopped rowing, and unconsciously added a pretty little tableau of human love and happiness to the dissolving views reflected in the lake.

And there’s so much to say about this little scene. While he had to beg and argue with Jo just to finally accept her firm “no”, he just has to ask a simple question with Amy and he gets his simple answer because they’re on the same page. The rather blunt metaphor of rowing well together, even when he uses one hand and she uses two, is all about how despite their differences they work. They keep time. And it calls back to Jo’s talk with Marmee where they both agree that Jo and Laurie never would’ve worked, in part because their similarities would clash horribly in a romantic relationship (but mainly because , y’know, Jo never once felt a single shred of romantic love for Laurie).

Now, I can understand where people come from thinking Laurie was “replacing” Jo with Amy with lines like "Laurie decided that Amy was the only woman in the world who could fill Jo’s place and make him happy”. I get how this can be interpreted as Amy filling in for what was meant to be Jo’s place in his heart. But it makes a lot more sense in the context of Laurie’s speech to Jo towards the end when he explains his feelings:

“I never shall stop loving you; but the love is altered, and I have learned to see that it is better as it is. Amy and you changed places in my heart, that’s all. I think it was meant to be so, and would have come about naturally, if I had waited, as you tried to make me; but I never could be patient, and so I got a heartache. I was a boy then, headstrong and violent; and it took a hard lesson to show me my mistake. For it was one, Jo, as you said, and I found it out, after making a fool of myself. Upon my word, I was so tumbled up in my mind, at one time, that I didn’t know which I loved best, you or Amy, and tried to love you both alike; but I couldn’t. And when I saw her in Switzerland, everything seemed to clear up all at once. You both got into your right places.”

Laurie didn’t settle for Amy. Amy took Jo’s place in the sense that they swapped places in how he saw them, from romantic to platonic for Jo and vice versa for Amy. And those wound up being their “right” places. He believes he was always meant to fall in love with Amy and see Jo as his sister, and that he would’ve gotten to this point naturally even if things had played out differently.

I’ll admit I wasn’t a fan of how the 2019 film portrayed Jo in this situation, because in the book she was absolutely thrilled for Laurie and Amy, and is happily surprised when Marmee tells her she’d been hoping for them to fall in love. But in the film, they take her sadness over her loneliness too far IMO, and make it seem like she was actually bitter over Amy and Laurie being together, which unfortunately fuelled the “Amy stole Laurie from Jo” crowd a bit. And after her conversation with Marmee where she admits that she only wants Laurie because she longs to be loved, and Marmee points that “that isn’t the same as loving”, this makes movie!Jo seem “silly and selfish” as book!Jo puts it (because in the book, that was only a “what if” she entertained and never wrote any letter).

Anyways, to conclude on all of this, when Amy and Laurie are married at and home, we get the thoughts of other characters on their relationship, and the unanimous opinion is that they’re completely in love and happy with each other. Jo herself insists that their happiness will for sure last, and notes how proud Laurie seems to be to call Amy his wife. Laurie, meanwhile, can’t stop talking about Amy through to the end (and Amy is clearly just as smitten). I dare you to read the last half of Part 2 and not find Amy and Laurie adorable together.

And to hammer that last nail in the coffin on Jo/Laurie as a romance, we get Laurie meeting Professor Bhaer. It’s specifically noted that while Laurie is suspicious of Bhaer and notices his interest in Jo, it was “not of jealousy” but a “brotherly circumspection”. Amy even asks him if he’s at all jealous and Laurie tells her “I assure you I can dance at Jo’s wedding with a heart as light as my heels. Do you doubt it, my darling?” and it says that Amy’s “last little jealous fear vanished forever”. Laurie actually winds up happily supporting Bhaer once he sees he’s a great guy for his sister Jo, and suggests to Amy that they should try to help them out as a couple.

So no, Jo never loved Laurie romantically, Laurie absolutely did get over Jo, Laurie and Amy are so happy together it’s almost obnoxious, Jo is pro-Amy/Laurie and Laurie is pro-Jo/Bhaer, and Amy wasn’t a second choice, she was Laurie’s “meant to be” by his own words.

#amy x laurie #laurie x amy #amy march #laurie laurence #little women #this wound up way longer than i intended #oops #so i added a read more #anyways all this to say that laurie and amy are OTP and laurie and jo are brotp #and jo and amy are my favourite sisters and their relationship is amazing

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camxlots-retxrn · 3 years

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happy birthday august!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

👑 - for morgana or morgwen!

☁ - I love that people can just love what they love so earnestly and fully.

🔔 - my friend asked me why I kept talking about how beautiful Zoe from Firefly is...

Hope you had an amazing birthday! 💜

gahh thank you, it was a lovely birthday! and thank you for the ask!💖

👑 ~ song recs for merlin characters and/or ships? (options are merlin, arthur, gwen, & morgana / merthur & morgwen)

arms unfolding by dodie is the main one for morgwen, which I’ve babbled all about here! otherwise, requiem from dear evan hansen reminds me of morgana a lot, specifically her emotions regarding uther after (spoiler) he’s passed. like-!!?

'Cause when the villains fall, the kingdoms never weep / No one lights a candle to remember / No, no one mourns at all / When they lay them down to sleep / So, don't tell me that I didn't have it right / Don't tell me that it wasn't black and white / After all you put me through / Don't say it wasn't true / That you were not the monster / That I knew

that’s THEM that’s Morgana about Uther so much

☁️ ~ what’s something you like about tumblr?

I love that people can just love what they love so earnestly and fully.

gosh I totally agree with you!!

I just love the sense of community! <33 it’s probably my favorite part honestly :) nobody knows whose most popular or anything like that, so everything feels much more.. I don’t know, close-knit?

tumblr has its problems, but I’ve never experienced a social media site quite like it — and I mean that in the best way <3

🔔 ~ tell the story of when you realized you weren’t straight

okay, first of all, I love your realization- Zoe from firefly is a very valid reason to realize you’re not straight adkskkf

if you want the short version of mine, read the tldr at the end bahaha. otherwise read on because I am horrid at being concise😬

I had my first crush on a girl in sixth grade. She was my best friend at the time (and is one of my dearest to this day). I was, like, head-over-heels for this girl, but never questioned my sexuality. It didn’t even occur to me to. I didn’t think about being straight or gay or anything in between or outside of that. I just liked her.

Flash forward to seventh grade Spanish class. I’m pondering if my teacher is homophobic, naturally.

I got a lot of queer friends (still do lol), and I think to myself that I’m thankful I don’t have to experience such bigotry all the time like they do.

Then I’m like, “What would it feel like if I did? How would that feel? What would I do?”

Then the big one-

“What if I was gay?”

Thinking about doing romantic things with a girl sounds pretty damm nice while I’m trying to comprehend and focus on whatever the hell Mr. L is saying. I suck at Spanish, and realizing I’m further from straight than I am to passing this class isn’t helping.

Left that class and immediately told the first friend I could find, “I think I’m bi.” I can’t even remember who I told.

I don’t identify with bi anymore, but gods do I love that story amdjskd. I’ve a terrible memory, so I’m thankful I can remember it years later :)

tldr: I thought my teacher was homophobic, so I’m naturally like, “damn what if I had to go through someone’s homophobia... :( what if I was gay?

“...damn am I gay?”

bam.

bahaha anyway thank you for the asks!💖hope you have a lovely day!

from August’s Birthday Celebration Ask Game

#🌻august’s birthday celebration #👑#☁️#🔔#ask box #mumble-muse #bbc merlin #morgana pendragon #guinevere pendragon #morgwen #song rec #long post #august posts #merlin music

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brokasteltranslations · 4 years

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Fate/Requiem: Chapter 7

“What does death mean?”

No sooner had those ominous words left the boy's mouth than I was running full-tilt. I heard voices behind me, calling me back, but I was already long gone.

I had been blind. Foolish. More than happy to think that completing my 'work', as my 'master' requested, made me the sole defender of this city. Chitose had build a castle on sand, and with every flaw I had uncovered, I had rejoiced to find more evidence of my grandmother's clumsiness and lack of forethought.

All that time, Ms. Fujimura was fighting her own battles. Battles I couldn't even understand, let alone win. Without rest or reprieve, until they tore her apart.

The Colosseum's outer walls cast a long shadow in the setting sun. In the twilight, I could see the seawater that had once filled the battlefield had somehow drenched the highest spectator seats; far, far higher than it should ever have been able to reach, even accounting for the impact of Noble Phantasms. The water rushing down the aisles guided my way as I followed the current back to its source in the upper levels.

The seats up here were almost submerged in water. The bodies of spectators who had failed to escape floated among them, like dead leaves in a gutter.

What did he say he saw? A black dog? Could that actually have been real?

The role of the Reaper was to kill Servants. To hunt down outsiders ill-suited to this city and expel them - or, if necessary, end their lives.

In truth, removing those Servants who had become too troublesome was the easiest part of my job.

My master had always been thinking about how they could be accepted.

Forgive them. Accept them. Turn none away, but embrace them as you would a dear friend. Those had been her words, always.

I followed the ramp that ran above the interior seats to the very highest level - and there she lay, face-up, in the middle of an unnatural puddle halfway up the slope.

“Ms. Fujimura!”

I ran to her and cradled her sodden body in my arms. She coughed up water with visible difficulty, as though until this very moment she had been drowning.

“Is that you... Erice?”

I quickly checked her for injuries, and gulped.

“It seems... I've managed to last longer than I predicted before ceasing operations. My accuracy must be failing me...”

She was wet with more than just water. Her clothes were hardly even torn, but beneath them her body was peppered with holes about the diameter of a fingertip. Warm liquid oozed from them; the distinctive transparent vital fluids of a humanoid interface.

I trawled the murkiest recesses of my brain, trying to recall how a damaged AI could be salvaged. Perform a backup as quickly as possible. Induce a comatose state to stall any data loss. Extract her optical core and install it in a second terminal. I could still make it, if I was quick.

But one thing was for certain: An AI directly connected to the Holy Grail could not be killed by any physical means. For one thing, it was not alive to begin with. Any appearance of life was nothing more than an emergent state.

No tears, Erice. Not now. You can cry as much as you like after you're done.

I tried to lift her to my chest and carry her to the lower floors, but was met with a strange, slippery resistance. Only then did I notice the strange fabric draped over her. It was sheer cloth, like linen, about large enough to cover her body and dyed red. The colour grew deeper in hue where it had been soaked, drawing even closer to the crimson of blood.

“You ought to let her go.”

A voice broke the silence, devoid of presence.

“Real truth, unchanging truth, is found only in death.”

I was wrong. It had presence. It was simply so close that I hadn't noticed it.

They had been standing there all this time, filling the dusk of the arena with an aura no less overpowering than Nzambi's. It was austere, noble, almost divine.

“Porca miseria...”

“Quiet... you cur.” Ms. Fujimura's voice might have grown weak, but it had lost none of its sting. “They infiltrated the city... though the seawater. Even though... the pipes were consecrated. A failure... on our part...”

----

“We have given humanity sufficient warning. Soon we will leave this citadel.”

The voice emanated from the hound resting on its haunches at the top of the ramp. Its coat was midnight black, deeper even than the surrounding darkness, and with its long ears and oriental air it exuded a graceful beauty. A cherubic young girl stood by its side, clad in exotic garb.

“However, before we depart... A moment with the one she fought so hard to keep us from.”

“Erice... You can't stay here. You have to...”

Ms. Fujimura urged me to flee, but I couldn't move. This voice stirred some deep memory in me, and its queer familiarity had me paralysed.

“Day shall strike down night...

As womanhood is wrought by man's hands, and manhood wrought by woman's.

The throne is warped, and the grail overflows with the mud of deceit.

The hour has come to remake the day, for soon the sun will set.”

A flurry of thick, square stakes rent the silence to pierce them both through with a series of thuds. Chitose stood behind us, Command Seals shining on the backs of both hands.

However, the binding properties of her Sacri Clavi failed to hold them, for they were not really here. Ripples spread across the surface of their bodies, and a moment later both girl and beast collapsed into shapeless water. They had never been more than puppets.

Only a deep, quiet voice remained. “You stand with us, Erice. We will return for you.”

The sinister invaders vanished, leaving me alone. In spite of Ms. Fujimura's dire condition, Chitose remained where she was.

“Eri... ce...”

Ms. Fujimura implored me to listen to her final message. I listened faithfully to her words, occasionally interrupted by frothy coughing, and held them desperately to my chest... but there was no stopping what was coming.

“Ms. Fujimura... Caren... Please, don't die...” I called her name as I held her in my arms. Her body was surprisingly light; it had already shed much of its weight.

“This... is not death, Erice. An AI has lost one of its terminals. Nothing... more or less.”

“How do you expect me to accept that?”

She smiled weakly up at my face, ugly from crying.

“Thank you, Erice...” She lifted one trembling hand to touch my forelock, and brushed my forehead as she'd done so many times.

“Ms. Fujimura, you know... I had... A mother, and, well... She died horribly, awfully... So at least, this time, I wanted...”

She never heard the end. Her fingers traced my cheek as they quietly fell to the sodden ground.

“Reporting in.”

A holographic screen appeared in the air next to Chitose, accompanied by an incoming voice. A thaumaturgical means of communication, relayed through a telescopic Mystic Code. The screen showed a member of the Caren Series, dressed in an arrow-patterned hakama.

“Destruction of Caren Fujimura's spiritron kernel confirmed. Protocol dictates administration of Mosaic City and control of the Caren Series will be assumed by Caren Himuro. Authority over Akihabara Ward will be distributed equally between all members of the Caren Series on an interim basis.”

She paused.

“Sounds fun, don't you think? Waiting for your go, Chitose!”

Chitose knelt down and removed Ms. Fujimura's fractured glasses, before placing a hand over her face and gently closing her lifeless eyes.

“Permission granted.”

#Fate/Requiem #fate #translation #light novel

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kalis-scribbles · 5 years

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Solomon Character: Meet Locke Appleton!

Biographical Data

Age: 16 Gender: Non-Binary Maverique Sexuality: Pansexual Ethnicity: White English Nationality: British

As a practitioner

Practices: Bardism and Psychopomp Consort: Requiem, a large Church Grim Boon: Locke can perceive the past when confronted by memento of death. Price: Locke is not allowed to kill any animal or person.

Background

A lifetime of living among the dead taught Locke how fragile and precious life is. Born of two mortician parents. As a child, Locke played in the solemn halls of the mortuary and the rows of tombstones of the graveyard next door. Such taboo places were all too familiar for them, they held none of the terror and dread of the inevitability of death; only solemnity.

Locke was always a sensitive child, and for many years they heard the howling of a lonesome dog in the night, sometimes even catching a glimpse of a dark-furred hound mournfully walking the rows of the Cemetary. Despite their insistence, Locke's parents never believed them.

It was one fateful spring day, at the age of fifteen that Locke finally caught up with the hound. Not any normal hound, but a Church Grim, Lonesome mystical beasts born when a dog's master die and they, in turn, are left to wait for them until their own passing.

But the Grim wasn't alone, it's dark mangy appearance didn't frighten Locke who offered it comfort it had missed for many years. And so a pact was sealed, Locke was no longer a simple sensitive kid, but a practitioner of Magic.

Personality

Locke is a happy-go-lucky kinda pal, they knows life is fragile and has long ago decided to live it to the fullest. Too many time they've seen people die without achieving their ambitions, so they life day to day, not worrying about a future that may never come to pass.

Locke is impulsive and prone to taking risks, but also unfalteringly nice and kind; there is no time in life for anger, jealousy and bitterness.

Miscellaneous Info

Locke’s walked with a cane since they were young, naturally, they’ve made it the most dazzling and fabulous cane.

Locke does theater, both normal and musical, and also performs in drag.

Locke often has an entourage of ghostly children he cares for along with Requiem.

Despite their over the top personality, they don’t actually do drugs, which surprise quite a few.

Locke is an accomplished amateur magician in the mundane sense, knowing plenty of tricks and illusions.

_______________________________________________________________

New to Solomon Academy?

Solomon Academy is a Queer Contemporary Urban Fantasy YA web-serial available for free on Wattpad (Click here to go to the stories directory!). Almost daily, lore entries are posted to this very Tumblr!

Find the Solomon Academy WIP page here! And Catch up on old posts!

#solomon #solomon academy #wip #urban legend #writeblr #queer

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white-eyed-widows · 5 years

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Wedding in a cemetery, 1989

At the Foot of the Grave of the Bride’s Mother.

Queer Ending of a Romantic Wooing.

Mary Moulton Becomes Mrs. Scammel in Peculiar Circumstances.

No stranger wedding ceremony was ever performed than the one which on a recent Sunday united Alfred Scammel and Mary Moulton in Blue Rapids, Kan., They stood hand in hand at the foot of a grave in the Oak Hill cemetery and were there made man and wife, at the grave of the mother of the bride, who had blessed and approved the union, but who died before she saw the pair united.

The little company gathered there in the city of the dead looked strangely solemn in the fading light of the February day and there was little to suggest the gayety of a wedding in the solemn words of the minister or the grave faces of bride and groom.

For many years Miss Moulton, the bride, had been fatherless and between her and her mother there had grown up an intimacy and affection different in many ways from that ordinarily exhibited by mother and daughter. They were more like loving sisters. They were friends and companions and the tenderness and devotion each exhibited toward the other had often been remarked by their friends. And when over a year ago Albert Scammel came a-wooing and wrought himself around the gentle heart of the daughter until she felt her life would not be complete without him, the mother joyed in the union and blessed it and said it was well. She entered into all the preparations for the crowning event in the life of her daughter with more than a mother’s zeal and devotion. She was as earnest in her work for the happiness of Mary as though it were her own nuptial day which was approaching.

The wedding was set for February 13 of last year. The guests were bidden and the feast was set and it remained only for the words of the minister to join the lives of those who had chosen one another from all the world for all time. Then came sorry and suffering and the gaunt hand of death. On the eve of the wedding the faithful mother was stricken with illness and the wedding was postponed. She grew rapidly worse and on February 13, the day set for the ceremony, she passed away. The shock of her mother’s death almost carried away the bride-to-be. She withered under it and when at last she began to recover her health and strength she went every day to the cemetery to kneel upon the sod which sheltered the mortal remains of her whom she loved so dearly and to pray for her eternal happiness.

The young man came with her, he who was ready to cleave to her in sickness and death, and, kneeling there on that green mound, it came to them that it would be fitting they should be wedded there above the mother’s grave and on the anniversary of her death. Thus it came about that this strange ceremony was performed in the acre of mourning amid the gleaming headstones and the weeds of sorrow. A few friends were bidden to the wedding, and when they were assembled at the grave the young man and the young woman came down the avenue of bare and leafless trees hand in hand. At the foot of the grave they halted and the minister, standing in front of the marble shaft erected in memory of the mother, made them man and wife.

Thus was the idea of this odd service carried out. The church was beautiful. Oak Hill cemetery; the lights were the slanting rays of the sun playing hide and seek with the shadows of the great trees; the flowers were the loving mementos placed upon the mounds of the sleeping dead; the music was the soft carol of birds and the requiem of a gentle wind, and the altar was a mother’s grave.

All around the little company were the graves of the dead; above them arched the blue sky; the tender charms of nature were everywhere displayed; the sounds of priestly prayer and orphan’s sigh, gentle breeze and twittering birds mingled in an anthem from nature to nature’s God, and the fast declining sun, in a final burst of gold glory; gilded the mother’s monument and shone radiantly upon the young bride like a benediction.

The Parsons [KS] Daily Sun 26 March 1898: p. 3

#memento mori #victorian era #victorian mourning #goth #death #wedding #marriage #graveyard #cemetery

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Sequels We Want

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The following contains spoilers for Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts season 3.

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts has finished its three season run… and we want more. While 30 episodes was a solid amount of time to tell its stories we can’t help but wish we had more time in Kipo’s world. We want to see more of the characters, more of the various Mutes, more of everything! Below we’ve listed just some of the movies, sequels, or even prequels we’d love to see made. DreamWorks, if you’re listening, make these happen!

Wolf Spin-off Movie

This idea is one of the closest to being possible; since creator Rad Sechrist has teased it on twitter and in an interview we did around the release of Kipo season 2. Specifically the show would follow a fifteen year-old Wolf (so this would be set after the timeskip.) Sechrist describes this possible film as, ““she finds her old Wolf dad raising a new group. She’s forced into an adventure with these new kids. Like a Lone Wolf and Cub adventure.”

There’s even a photo of what the new group would look like. Sechrist says he’s written the script for the film so, DreamWorks, it’s right there for you!

Benson/Troy Movie

A second idea Sechrist has teased would follow the delightfully queer couple of Benson and Troy searching “for a legendary ‘Oz the Originator’ track neither of them have ever heard. They also need to end up in Mexico where Roberto (Troy’s father) is from.”

Every time we hear about this we need it more and more. A film with a killer soundtrack and two queer teens going on an adventure? Yes! Not only would this give us some badly needed queer representation but it’d also give us a chance to see more of Kipo’s world. We know so little about what happened outside of the area Kipo traveled near the city. What’s the rest of the world like? Let us see it through the eyes of Benson and Troy with Dave more than likely in tow.

The Start of the Mutes

As teased in ‘Requiem for a Dave’ this season, humanity took some time to “get used” to Mutes walking and talking. While that only made up a small portion of the episode we’re still intrigued by the images of humans in modern day outfits running around in panic or chasing after mutes. If the Kipo franchise wanted to dig deep into its world, exploring how Mutes came to exist would be fascinating. Seeing them slowly rise in prominence to point of taking over the world? We could follow an all new cast (both Mutes and humans alike) trying to make sense of this world.

Perhaps we’d see the formation of the first burrow and the start of the various Mute colonies we saw in the series. Maybe we’d see the birth of the Daves. The possibilities are endless! This would work best as a series so we could dive deep into how it all began and the initial fallout.

The Further Adventures of Yumyan Hammperpaw

We’re still not ever Yumyan being “cured” and turned back into a regular cast. We miss our powerful yet sensitive cat leader who “owns you all!” There are two different avenues this film or series could follow. One is a prequel that follows how he rose to be leader of the Timbercats. They all respect him for his strength and bravery, what has Yumyan done to earn such high regard from his fellow Timbercats? We’d love to see where it all started for him

The other avenue is set after the time skip at the end of the third season. Yes, the adventures of Yumyan as a regular cat. Imagine him still somehow being strong and brave but he’s just a regular cat! This could be a wacky comedic adventure but with the right tone and music it could be the epic adventure you never expected. Let that cat save the world, even if he can’t hold an axe!

Finding An Anti-Cure For the Mutes

While Kipo and friends seemed pretty happy, we wonder if there isn’t another big adventure they could all have. What if Kipo was determined to find an anti-cure of sorts to bring back Yumyan and the others who were cured by Emilia? Where would they have to travel to find the ingredients needed? Perhaps someone else out there is experimenting with humans and Mutes. This could lead to a whole new adventure and yet another chance to see more of the world.

Honestly we want this idea mostly to bring Yumyan back. We can’t get over what happened to him!

The Return of Emilia?

This one is a bit of a stretch. Emilia’s story arc was neatly wrapped up when she disappeared into Fun Gus. That doesn’t mean she’s gone for good however. Kipo and the others managed to escape from him so maybe Emilia could find a way out, even if it’s years after the fact.

What would happen if Kipo was living a happy life and suddenly Emilia, not in her right mind after years trapped inside Fun Gus, appears? What would she do? Would she find a way to help Emilia or would she finally be forced to finish off her greatest enemy? This would make a great movie coda to the series, with Kipo forced to make a decision about Emilia rather than have it taken away from her by Fun Gus.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

What sort of sequels or prequels would you like to see in the Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts universe?

The post Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Sequels We Want appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2FqgO20

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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powerandmagic · 7 years

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In 2016, comics anthology Power & Magic took a theme of “queer witches of color” and turned it into an expansive, diverse set of stories from writers and artists living round the world. Edited by Joamette Gil and funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign, the project offered a spotlight to new and exciting creators whose work wasn’t being published elsewhere — and the reception from readers and critics alike was hugely positive, with the book winning a Prism Award at this year’s inaugural ceremony.

This year Gil is back as editor, with a follow-up comics anthology planned called Power & Magic: Immortal Souls, which is currently running on Kickstarter now. Immortal Souls follows the success of the first book, this time around with a tighter focus on the concepts of death and spirit-world based magic.

Clearly her approach has found an impressive fanbase, and the stories are appealing to readers who might not otherwise be reading and enjoying comics on a regular basis — so CBR spoke to her about her approach to making and publishing comics, as well as what readers can expect from the second anthology this year.

Cover art by Stephanie Son

CBR: Power & Magic: Immortal Souls is the second anthology you’ve edited and overseen with the Power and Magic title. For those new to the series, what’s the general idea of Power & Magic as an ongoing comics series?

Joamette Gil: The Power & Magic anthology series exists to showcase comics creators of color who identify as women, demigirls, genderfluid, 2spirit, bigender, or any other gender adjacent to womanhood. The overarching series theme is “queer witches of color,” and special installments with a tighter focus and lower page count will be periodically released between volumes. Immortal Souls is the first such installment, focusing on death and spirit world-based magic.

How did you originally choose the theme of the comics? Not just the idea of looking at magical stories and introducing the element of Wicca — but exploring that idea of power, control, and the darker influences of magic?

Gil: [Laughs] I keep sort of stumbling into these good ideas, Steve! As you’ll remember, my idea for a more loosely “queer POC fantasy” anthology was colored by the fact that I was working on the call for submissions during #WitchsonaWeek and my subsequent epiphany that witches have been the most formative archetype throughout my life. Don’t think less of me for quoting myself, as I put it about as well here as I possibly can:

The witch is labeled mischievous and evil because she defies her role, refusing to be silent, passive, or selfless. She is embraced by many as a feminist symbol, a gender outsider. “We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn.” But queer women of color are not the granddaughters of witches who didn’t burn: we are the witches who are still on fire.

Despite overwhelming interest in the book, I opted to include fewer stories in volume one than what’s usual for similar projects in order to make a higher-than-usual page rate feasible. There was one cluster of submissions in particular that came extremely close to making that narrow cut and ultimately didn’t for one, single reason: they all had something to do with death, spirits, and souls! Fewer endings were happy, and stakes were higher. This sub-theme was so pronounced among them that I literally had to set myself a little quota of how many I could put in Power &a Magic without needing to rebrand it altogether.

From there, I conceived of Immortal Souls as a space for these stories, and I started production planning before the first Power & Magic Kickstarter even launched. My confidence was through the roof at that point as you can probably tell! So far comics readers and Prism Award judges alike have only confirmed what I already believed: people want queer witches of color and the breadth of feminist stories they can carry.

Art by Sunny Ochumuk and Ani Mackie

What kind of stories can we expect from this second anthology? What were the ideas that most interested you as an editor?

Gil: Survival, spiritual resilience, transcending imposed boundaries, revenge beyond the grave, embracing darkness, “be careful what you wish for” style tampering with the forces of life and death — there’s a lot. A fair number of stories are “spoopy” and fun, but creators were also given space to process grief and rage through these comics — emotions for which women of color in particular are too often punished. As with the first volume, there will be clear trigger warnings in the table of contents to facilitate reader autonomy and safety. While it’s easy for certain writers to veer into gratuitousness, exploitation, and “shock value” — especially in the realm of horror — my creators never do so.

One of my favorite stories from this volume is “Requiem” by Ayanni C. Hanna and Melanie Tingdahl. Without spoiling it, it’s an incredibly subtle examination of love, fear, and where the two meet, set against a WWI-esque conflict. Another is “Bon Voyage My Chains” by Sonia Liao, who crafted an entire Pan-Asian fantasy setting and explores the prejudices of said world, all in 14 pages with deft precision.

Art by Sonia Liao

Was it important to you that the book offer a showcase for queer creators; and for writers and artists of color, both for readers and for yourself personally?

Gil: I’m happy you asked because that’s a super popular misconception about Power & Magic! I actually have no idea if every creator is queer. I know as much about everyone’s gender as they were comfortable sharing, but I purposely made sexual/romantic orientation irrelevant to acceptance because… well, sometimes people have no idea they are queer for a while, and some of our writers are pretty young!

It’s absolutely valid and crucial to have spaces that are exclusive to queer-identifying people; I just chose a different route for this project. Most creators volunteered their orientation, so I can say the majority of our creators actively identify as queer. Now is it a coincidence that the best queer stories were almost all by actual queer people? Probably not! Showcasing creators of color, however, was never negotiable for me. That’s something the world can see about you, something that has affected every single interaction of your life in a white-dominated world from the day of your birth, before you can even conceive of your own desires.

The wider comics industry is unfortunately reflective of that status quo, and I hope to do what I can to change that a little bit at a time.

Art by Ayanni Hanna and Melanie Tingdahl

As you mentioned earlier, the first volume of Power & Magic recently won a Prism Award at this year’s inaugural ceremony. Has it been empowering to see the positive response that the anthology received from fans, critics, and the industry as a whole?

Gil: Absolutely! The response truly has been universally positive, and it makes me unbelievably proud of everyone who put their heart and labor into the book. It’s also heartening to know that I’m on the right track with this whole “editing other people’s comics” thing!

Things have moved quite rapidly for you since the release of the first volume: you’ve set up a publisher, Power & Magic Press, based in Portland. With your second Kickstarter now launching, what kind of long-term plans do you have in mind for where you want to take Power & Magic moving forward?

Gil: I physically want to take Power & Magic to a storage unit and out of my living room! [Laughs] But in all seriousness, the Power & Magic anthology series will continue into the foreseeable future (the official second volume will open for submissions first half of 2018), and before that there will be open submissions for an all non-binary fantasy project.

Special editions like Immortal Souls will happen as well. Every other plan is currently too nascent to even hint at right now — suffice it to say that P&M Press is here to stay.

The Power & Magic: Immortal Souls Kickstarter will run online until Aug. 11, seeking a funding target of $27,500. To find out more, head to the Kickstarter page here!

#power & magic #immortal souls #comic book resources #cbr #steve morris #queer comics #death #astral projection #spirits #ghosts #lgbtqia

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andotherstoriespublishing · 7 years

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Spotlight on LGBT+ writers and writing

Following on from our guest post from Claire Browne of Serpent’s Tail on being LGBT+ in publishing, we’re highlighting a few of our favourite recent and forthcoming books written by LGBT+ writers or about LGBT+ themes - some published by us, some from other indie publishers, all necessary.

Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones, tr. Clarissa Botsford (And Other Stories)

When Hana’s dying uncle calls her back from the city to the family home in the Albanian mountains, he tries to marry her to a local man who could run the household. Unable to accept the arranged marriage and determined to remain independent, Hana’s only option is to follow tradition and vow to live the rest of her life in chastity as a man – and so Hana becomes Mark. For a sworn virgin, there is no way back.

Years later, Mark – now a raki-drinking, chain-smoking shepherd – receives an invitation to join a cousin in the US. This may be Mark’s only chance to escape his vow. But what does he know about being an American woman?

Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde (Silver Press - out Oct 2017)

An intense and furious collection of essays and poems by this brilliantly articulate 20th century feminist writer and activist, who used her words and her actions to make visible a black, lesbian feminist identity. As well as the activism, there’s real beauty and clarity here, for instance in the essay ‘Uses of the Erotic’, where she talks about the power of bringing the erotic into everything we do:

‘In touch with the erotic, I become less willing to accept powerlessness, or those other supplied states of being which are not native to me, such as resignation, despair, self-effacement, depression, self-denial.’

This are true, angry and, most of all, inspiring words we can all take something from in troubling times.

Black Wave by Michelle Tea (And Other Stories)

Grungy and queer, Michelle is a grrrl hung up on a city in riot. It’s San Francisco and it’s 1999. Determined to quell her addictions to heroin, catastrophic romance, and the city itself, she heads south for LA, just as the news hits: in one year the world is Officially Over. The suicides have begun. And it’s here that Black Wave breaks itself open, splitting into every possible story, questioning who has the right to write about whom. People begin to dream the lovers they will never have, while Michelle takes haven in a bookshop, where she contemplates writing about her past (sort of), dating Matt Dillon (kind of), and riding out the end of the world (maybe).

New from Michelle Tea, novelist, essayist, and queer counter-culture icon, Black Wave is a punk feminist masterpiece and a raucously funny read for everyone … except, perhaps, for Scientologists.

Chelsea Girls - Eileen Myles (Serpent’s Tail)

In this breathtakingly inventive autobiographical novel, Eileen Myles transforms her life into a work of art. Suffused with alcohol, drugs, and sex; evocative in its depictions of the hardscrabble realities of a young queer artist's life; with raw, flickering stories of awkward love, laughter, and discovery, Chelsea Girls is a funny, cool, and intimate account of how one young female writer managed to shrug off the imposition of a rigid cultural identity.Told in her audacious and singular voice made vivid and immediate in her lyrical language, Chelsea Girls weaves together memories of Myles's 1960s Catholic upbringing with an alcoholic father, her volatile adolescence, her unabashed "lesbianity," and her riotous pursuit of survival as a poet in 1970s and 80s New York.

The Proof - César Aira tr. Nick Caistor (And Other Stories)

Marcia is sixteen, overweight and unhappy. One day, as she’s walking down a Buenos Aires street, she hears a shout: ‘Wannafuck?’ Startled, she turns around and is confronted by two punk girls Lenin and Mao. She’s soon beguiled by them and the possibilities they open up. But the two have little time for a philosophical discussion of love: they need proof of it, and with their own savage logic the duo, calling themselves the Love Commando, hold up a supermarket as the novel climaxes in an unforgettable splatter-fest finale.

Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto tr. Alex Ladd (Europa Editions)

Armando is one of the most renowned therapists in São Paulo. One of his patients, a 17-year-old boy by the name of Sergio, abruptly interrupts his course of therapy after a trip to New York. Sergio’s cursory explanation to Armando is that he has finally found his own path to happiness and must pursue it.

For years, without any further news of Sergio, Armando wonders what happened to his patient. He subsequently learns that Sergio is living a happy life in New York and that he is now a woman, Sandra. Not long after this startling discovery, however, Armando is shocked to read about Sandra’s unexpected death. In an attempt to discover the truth about Sergio and Sandra’s life, Armando starts investigating on his own.

Sergio Y. is a unique and moving story about gender, identity, and the search for happiness.

Open Door by Iosi Havilio tr. Beth Fowler (And Other Stories)

When her partner disappears, a young veterinary assistant drifts from the city towards Open Door, a small town in the Pampas named after its psychiatric hospital. Embarking on a new life in the country, she finds herself living with an ageing ranch-hand and courted by an official investigating her partner’s disappearance. She might settle down, although a local girl is also irresistible . . .

This evocative, atmospheric book makes a quiet case for the possibility of finding contentment in unexpected places – and tells it in unexpected ways.

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson (Melville House)

A timely and genre-bending memoir that offers fresh and fierce reflections on motherhood, desire, identity and feminism.

At the centre of The Argonauts is the love story between Maggie Nelson and the artist Harry Dodge, who is fluidly gendered. As Nelson undergoes the transformations of pregnancy, she explores the challenges and complexities of mothering and queer family making.

Writing in the tradition of public intellectuals like Susan Sontag, Nelson uses arresting prose even as she questions the limits of language. The Argonauts is an intrepid voyage out to the frontiers of love, language, and family.

The Alphabet of Birds by SJ Naudé tr. by the author (And Other Stories)

If death comes to a loved one, can we grieve alone? When all around is in ruins, can we confine our lives to one beautiful room constructed out of art, or love, or family ties? And when the words we know prove inadequate, can we turn to the language of birds?

In an arty mansion in Milan’s industrial zone, two men are shown one of the last remaining Futurist noise machines – an Intonarumore – and a painful old truth surfaces. A musician travels to three continents to see her siblings before returning to Johannesburg; her home is plundered every night around her as she composes a requiem. A man follows his male lover from London to Berlin’s clubbing scene and on to a ruined castle in which the lover’s family lives. He is looking for an antidote.

The protagonists in SJ Naudé’s collection are listening out for answers that cannot be expressed. Offering fresh perspectives on gay, expat and artistic subcultures and tackling the pain of loss head on, Naudé’s stories go fearlessly and tenderly to the heart of our experiences of desire, love and death.

London Triptych by Jonathan Kemp (Myriad Editions)

Jack Rose begins his apprenticeship as a rent boy with Alfred Taylor in the 1890s, and finds a life of pleasure and excess leads him to new friendships — most notably with the soon-to-be infamous Oscar Wilde. A century later, David tells his own tale of unashamed decadence while waiting to be released from prison, addressing his story to the lover who betrayed him. Where their paths cross, in the politically sensitive 1950s, the artist Colin Read tentatively explores his sexuality as he draws in preparation for his most ambitious painting yet — ‘London Triptych’.

Rent boys, aristocrats, artists and felons populate this bold debut as Jonathan Kemp skilfully interweaves the lives and loves of three very different men across the decades.

#lgbt lit #reading recommendations #books that made me #pride2017 #indie publishers #audre lorde #eileen myles #maggie nelson #michelle tea

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sparkiesnotes-blog · 7 years

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Thoughts on Dear Evan Hansen

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Plot: 4/5

Songs: 4.5/5

For starters, it 100% deserved that Tony, any naysayers can go away, sorry. I love Great Comet and Groundhog day with all my heart and I wouldn’t have been upset to see them win, but I would have been surprised it wasn’t this wonderful musical.

As someone who has struggled with their mental health pretty much all their life, has gone through having people close to me commit suicide and has always used music and musical theatre as a guide and an escape from it, to hear that a musical was coming to broadway dealing with issues such as depression, anxiety and suicide in teens was too good to be true!

With the conversation surrounding mental health gradually getting more mainstream and more people are talking about it, a musical surrounding these themes couldn’t be more up my alley.

I’ve been excited for this musical ever since the lyrics came out and that was all I had to go off of. I knew all the words to the songs before the cast recording had even come out.

I think the songs perfectly sum up all the mish mash of feelings of when you’re in those low moments, the climactic song towards the end of the second act ‘Words Fail’ is both one of the most powerful performances from Ben Platt (a well deserved Tony, might I add) and perfectly rounds out the self hatred and pity that one can feel for oneself in a depressive state.

I feel like the representation of masculinity in this show is really important. Societal pressures on masculine identifying people tell them to keep quiet about their feelings and to keep them guarded and to not let anyone see. “Suicide is four times more common in men than women, and in 2005, 1,657 men took their own lives (ABS, 2007)” Source

To have the main character be a sensitive, non-stereotypical and intuitive teenage boy is incredibly important and necessary to see.

The only thing that I have a gripe with the show about is it is a little lacking in diversity. Coming from last years season where the four tony actor and actress award winners all went to people of colour going into a season that was back to a pretty whited out run (coughBandstandcough), it was disheartening to see only one black named character, Alana. When you look at the statistics in mental health in teens, the difference in teens of colour compared to white teenagers is astronomical. “A disproportionate number of suicides occurred among young male American Indians during this period—young men 15 to 24 accounted for 64 percent of all suicides by American Indians (CDC, 2001).” Source

So, to not see this represented was disheartening, POC need this representation just as much as white people do. I hope that one day broadway can realise this.

While you can head cannon all you want (Evan and Connor are both trans and literally nothing you can say will stop me from believing it), the queer representation is appalling. From what I’ve researched (I haven’t had time to watch the full bootleg yet, but someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!), its not even outrightly stated that Jared is gay. Its just the stereotypes played out. Again, in queer teens mental health is a huge issue, the discrepancy between queer youth and cisgender heterosexual youth in mental health is disgustingly drastic.

“Compared to the general population, LGBTI people are more likely to attempt suicide in their lifetime, specifically:

LGBTI young people aged 16 to 27 are five times more likely

Transgender people aged 18 and over are nearly eleven times more likely

People with an Intersex variation aged 16 and over are nearly six times more likely

LGBT young people who experience abuse and harassment are even more likely to attempt suicide”

Source

Obviously, I’m not saying that every story is able to be told in one singular musical, but for a musical to be claiming to represent mental health in teens, and then missing out representing the biggest proportion of teens who have these problems, is very sad to see.

Before I go into a talk through of each song below the cut I want to say that I truly love this musical. On days when it was hard to get out of bed or thought it would be better if I were to disappear, this musical has honestly pulled me out of those gutters.

I completely understand that this musical means a lot to some people, and I 100% empathise with why and I’m so happy for you that this musical was able to help you and I. I’m able to enjoy it despite its flaws, of which there are very few, and I definitely come from the mindset of the people who really love something are the most critical of it.

If you haven’t yet, give Dear Evan Hansen a listen! However I recommend reading the Wikipedia synopsis along with it as the plot can be hard to understand from just the soundtrack! Talk through of the soundtrack/spoliers below the cut

- Sparky <3

Anybody have a map? - I think this is a perfect example and representation of how hopeless and helpless a parent can feel when trying to support a struggling teen. Also, in this show is a wonderful representation of single mothers and I think this song sets it up well.

The harmonies in are beautiful, I love harmonies in any song, add a harmony to anything and I’ll love it I promise.

Waving through a window - Ahhhh I love this song a lot. Close to my favourite. This was the song I first read the lyrics to before the musical came out and I just aGH. It perfectly sums up social anxiety in a string of beautiful and melodic metaphors. The idea of “Waving through a window” and questioning whether anyone is waving back is something that many people, including myself, have gone through or are going through. A beautiful, beautiful song and message for a all too relatable topic.

Ben Platt’s combination of soft almost soothing notes with the belting of the final notes in the song is perfect. I can’t think of another adjective to describe it.

For Forever - A beautiful melody mixed with a beautiful fantasy. The fact that this is him imagining what it would be like to have a friend is heartbreaking. The voice crack on “He’s coming to get me”, gets ME everytime.

Also Ben Platt can hit a high note holy poop.

Sincerely Me - For a pretty dark musical, this song is the perfect uplifting BANGER. Doing the dance to myself in the car on the freeway is dangerous though, would not recommend.

The no homo moment in it is a bit :/ though.

Requiem - I’ve got to admit the first few times I heard this song I didn’t like it. I hated the idea of someone saying that they were glad that their brother was dead and asking why they should miss them. I hated the idea of a person who is suicidal sitting in that audience or listening at home, hearing what they already believed for themselves what Zoe was saying, that they wouldn’t be missed.

But it wasn’t until a friend pointed out what this song was really saying, how it was representing different ways of dealing with grief until I realised that it was incredibly important. I now love this song.

If I could tell her - Ugh. I have so many gripes with this song I’m sorry.

First of all anyone who sees this song as a love song I have questions for you.

This song is so idealising of Zoe, and so ‘manic pixie dream girly’ I die.

I get the social anxiety side of it. I get having all of these thoughts bubbling inside of you and being too anxious to tell someone, I get it, trust me.

But its the fact that he says “I love you”, I’m sorry but you can’t love someone you’ve never spoken to before. You can love the idea of a person. You can like how a person looks or acts. But you cannot love them.

And the fact that this is all being said as if it were Connor, her dead brother is just so messed up. I get that thats the point but, I just worry that people will see this song as ‘goals’ or ‘I wish someone would think/ do that for me’ when it is NOT a healthy outlook on women, love or just people.

It’s a lovely song, but I wish it was less idealising and was phrased differently. Less ‘not like other girls’ please.

Disappear - No one does deserve to disappear. Some days it was only this song that could tell me that.

You will be found - This is my favourite song on the soundtrack. I love this song so much. I have the lyrics as a sticker on my laptop and in a frame next to my bed. I have one distinct memory of this song.

It was a really dark moment, I had woken up from some horrific nightmares, was in the midst of a bad brain time and all I wanted was to go back to sleep, forever. But I had work that day, I had stuff to do. I put on this song and at the end of it, I was crying and getting up to get in the shower, something I didn’t even realise I was capable of that day. This song gives me so much motivation, I do have other songs that do the same things, but the fact that this is up there with other songs, is big for me.

If you listen to one song from this musical, listen to this one. You will not regret it.

“Let that lonely feeling wash away Maybe there’s a reason to believe you’ll be okay ‘Cause when you don’t feel strong enough to stand You can reach, reach out your hand

And oh, someone will coming running And I know, they’ll take you home

Even when the dark comes crashing through When you need a friend to carry you And when you’re broken on the ground You will be found”

To break in a glove - Eh. I like the message. But, you know how theres that one song in a musical you always skip over? This is mine :-)

Only us - Can Laura Dreyfuss make a lullaby?? Please?? She has such a soothing and beautiful voice I love it so much.

This song is a really good representation of what its like to date someone with a mental illness. Its a beautiful duet and I love it to pieces.

Good for you - Literally the best song if you just need to be angry. This song ignites a fury in me like little else can. All I want to do is PUNCh stuff after I listen to it, I love it. Amazing.

Words Fail - Ben Platt deserved that Tony and if you want an example of why just listen to this. It’s beautiful, simple, elegant and heartbreakingly sad all at once.

So big/so small - Single mothers need to be worshipped by every person on earth I’m pretty sure its in the Bible. I also think this is really good representation of what a kid needs from their parent when going through a mental health spiral, undying and unconditional support and love.

Finale - :’), Honestly incredible. I don’t know how many ways I can say I love this musical, but I do, I really do.

“Today is going to be a good day. And here's why:

because today, today at least you're you and—that's enough.“

I love this musical and I will cherish it always.

I know the sort of people who would be listening to it though, so I’m going to say that my PM’s are open and so is my ask box, if you ever want to chat.

If you need urgent care/attention, please contact lifeline or the equivalent in your country.

#opinions #reviews #dear evan hansen #deh #ben platt #laura dreyfuss #musicals #musical #musical theatre #theatre #musical theater #theater

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rhodrymavelyne · 7 years

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My topic has arrived! (cackles evilly)

For years, my favorite anime was Revolutionary Girl Utena. I also loved the manga. I could watch this series (and the movie) again and again, gleaning more and more every time. F/f, gender bending, questioning of gender roles, symbolism, and a compelling use of rituals which draws me in every time I see it.

In recent years, its top place was challenged by Puella Magi Madoka Magica. More focused on girls/women, but equally compelling, multi-layered, surreal, and loaded with beautiful f/f, I can no longer decide if Revolutionary Girl Utena or Puella Magi Madoka Magica has first place in my heart for anime.

I’ve grabbed every bit of manga I could find for the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series, but I didn’t get into it as much as I did the anime. It lacks the fast paced action, surrealism, and beauty I felt was in the anime, although it’s definitely worth reading.

For manga, Tokyo Babylon remains my absolute favorite. Seishirou/Subaru are one of my favorite couples ever. Subaru, Hokuto, and Seishirou are one of my favorite triumvirates, too. I love fairy tales and this struck me as being a 1990s Once Upon a Time story in Tokyo with all of the tragedy and menace which is part of an old fairy tale, all the more beautiful and striking for the humor and happiness amidst the pain.

X 1999 is still my second favorite manga. Kamui/Fuuma remain another one of my favorite couples. In fact, I was drawn in by the artwork CLAMP did of them before I ever read the manga. It truly is stunning. A surreal, magical, yet dark ride filled with amazing characters...I really hope CLAMP gives this a worthy finish before I die, or am no longer able to read manga.

CLAMP has done a lot of my favorite manga; RG Veda, Clover, Legal Drug/Drop Dead Drug, xxxholic, Tsubasa, Cardcaptor Sakura, Angelic Layer, and Magic Knights Rayearth.

Other manga I’ve loved include Switch, Dolls, Vampire Game, Red Angel, Black Sun Silver Moon, Cantarella, Ludwig II, Lagoon Engine, 9 Lives, Hero Heel, Little Butterfly, Day of Revolution, Family Complex, Requiem of the Rose, Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi, Can’t Win With You!, Desire, Only the Ring Finger Knows, Love Share, Aegis, and Alichino.

Other anime favorites are Slayers, Noir, Getbackers, Black Cat, Yuri on Ice, MAR, Robot Carnival, Iczier-1, Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, Gundam 00, Gundam Unicorn, Mirage of Blaze, Ai no Kusabi, Gankutsuou, Monochrome Factor, Full Metal Alchemist, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, and R.O.D.

Favorites that fall into both the anime and manga category include Pet Shop of Horrors, Naruto, D.N. Angel, Earthian, Loveless, Vampire Princess Miyu, Hikaru no Go, Hunter x Hunter, D. Grayman, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, Yami no Matsuei/Descendants of Darkness, Black Butler, Spiral, Love Stage!, Princess Princess, 07 Ghost, Attack on Titan, Pandora Hearts, and Tegami Bachi.

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tinymixtapes · 7 years

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Feature: 2017: First Quarter Favorites

Three months in, and we haven’t destroyed ourselves! To celebrate this achievement, we’re once again sharing our favorite releases from the last few months. A lot of it is pretty heavy, focusing on grief (Mount Eerie), cruelty (Lawrence English), and self-loathing (Xiu Xiu), with other fun stuff like ritual guitar abuse (Skullflower) and the glowing horror of reanimation (Rashad Becker). But we also loved everything from urban gallery funk (Cybervision Simulcast) and philosophic horse opera (Sun Araw) to playful Afromutations (Riddlore) and pop so sugary sweet it’ll rot your teeth (Charli XCX). Something for everyone. ;) Since these quarter lists are more informal than our year-end features, the shortlist before the list proper is equally important (especially Dasychira’s Immolated EP, which got a lot of love since assembling this list). Check ‘em all out below, and maybe see you in another three? Shortlist: Moon B’s Lifeworld 2: Udaya, nekomimi + luvfexxx, LUVISCOLD, Sophiaaaahjkl;8901’s Toilet Abstraction Tapes, Gabor Lazar’s Crisis of Representation, Darren Keen, It’s Never Too Late To Say You’re Welcome, Mega Bog’s Happy Together, Tonstartssbandht’s Sorcerer, Dasychira’s Immolated, Drake’s More Life, William Basinski’s A Shadow in Time, Roc Marciano’s Rosebudd’s Revenge, Future’s HNDRXX, Blanck Mass’ World Eater, and PAN’s mono no aware compilation. --- Mount Eerie A Crow Looked At Me [P.W. Elverum & Sun] I can barely listen to A Crow Looked At Me, an album with little room for novelty, one I’m sure Phil Elverum never wanted to make. Death is the least novel thing in life, but it makes a novelty out of what never was before. Phil (who I feel maybe too close to now) makes white noise of branches, canyons of grocery store aisles, a sunset of what is not dust. He doesn’t have to make meaning of Death, because words become futile when confronted with something so simple and absolute. His grief seems just to be here, contained by the same microphone as guitar, the way someone who dies just can’t be. I don’t think music had ever made me cry only for someone else, but none of this sounds like it was made for anyone but Geneviève and himself. He says he doesn’t want to learn anything from his wife’s death, but by the time you’ve shut your eyes for 40 minutes, alone with the creaking floor and counted days and Pacific birds and spoken dreams, I can’t imagine not coming away with (something) more. It’s springtime. –Pat Beane --- Riddlore Afromutation [Nyege Nyege Tapes] The modest genius of Riddlore’s Afromutations, the January offering from Ugandan cassette label Nyege Nyege Tapes, stems from a certain perspectival grace. A longstanding figure of the Los Angeles hip-hop underground, Riddlore is known first as an emcee and second as a beatmaker. Afromutations sees the artist sketching a playful, iterative bass style drawn from samples of African field recordings, a hauntological gesture that in less subtle hands might fall into a self-serious wormhole. The tape’s beauty is in how the timbral mood of the samples gesture at and usher into place the recombinant scaffolding of the relatively untreated percussion, like how the choral tension that opens “Bakka Pygmies Riddim” blossoms into an eerie kuduro strut. Elsewhere, on “Afroed” and “The Crush,” drums and overlapping harmonies flange into natural psychedelias. Riddlore’s agenda-absent play allows the samples to mutate freely, and Nyege Nyege serves an adept platform for the project. –Nick Henderson Afromutations by RiddloreAfromutations by Riddlore --- The Necks Unfold [Ideologic Organ] To unfold, usually, is to grow, to expand; to sprawl. On their 19th release, The Necks have instead tightened their improvisational nous to four standalone pieces, invoking the mysticism of Cusanus: “unfolding is enfolding.” These anti-compositions unfold insofar as they protrude into space-time and become of-the-world, cosmological chaos and all; they enfold into the broader scheme of the album, all unified through the articulate chops of Messrs Abrahams, Swanton, and Buck. Between balance and imbalance, serenity and turbulence, the respective instrumental forces of the players here circumnavigate these side-long miniatures with microscopic focus and reticence, in characteristically Necks-ian fashion. And, even when compared with classics past, there’s no compromise on ambition, not a single wasted moment. Such is the dynamism of Unfold; what initially struck as blissful stasis, best suited for gazing into the pale blue yonder, gently opens up — and, yeah, unfolds — to yield four of the most self-contained, wholly busy musics that 2017 has had to offer thus far. –Soe Jherwood Cybervision Simulcast Sewer City [H.V.R.F. CENTRAL COMMAND] Sewer City kicks up all the residual funk of an urban galley. Where oil encrusted kebab meat sweats on rotation, busted street lights stutter into the night, and ripple-rich puddles highlight the only natural quality to animate the scene, as thick droplets of rain are spat down from the stubborn grey heavens above. Cybervision Simulcast drape this grizzly vision through the innards of a pitch-black bypass drenched in alarms, sirens, and ricochet. Everything points to a breakdown or dysfunction, as this bleak snapshot of municipal decay melts to nothingness through our slime-smeared fingers. But those signals of distress are incorporated within the process, and they are not to be heeded for what they might otherwise signify; they orchestrate the bass-inverted crank that punctuates the residue of samples, synths, and storyline. To suggest that this grizzled and failing image results in a perfect album would be distasteful — obscene, even. And yet, that’s precisely what’s happened every time I’ve taken the plunge so far. There is no light at the end of this tunnel. Let’s keep it that way. –Birkut SewerCity by Cybervision SimulcastSewerCity by Cybervision Simulcast --- Charli XCX Number 1 Angel [Asylum] Out of the cold dark dust, the Number 1 Angel spreads her wings for Utopia, so emotional and so sugary sweet it’ll rot your teeth. After one of the strangest ascensions (“I! Don’t! Care!”) in the pop industry, Charli XCX is thriving. VROOM VROOM’s EUREKA! production was Charli at a 100% synchronization rate, and now she’s spun a 40-minute pop slipstream, an outside World of babygirls and babyboys. The PC Music crew sheds some of the hyperreal, sourcing Charli’s charisma and songwriting prowess to shoot for real stars: color-coded bangers, sweatsoaked and tearstained, a clarity of vision that at once opens avataric and musical possibilities in the channel of Rihanna and Kesha. The party’s enfolding. Number 1 Angel is Charli’s every intuition refined in hi-fi, the best-yet gateway for anyone not already along for the ride. Ten songs for one night. Glitter in your underwear, left on red. Let’s ride! The closing trilogy of features (Uffie, ABRA, cupcakKe) is fucked-up perfect. Each outrunning the last, headfirst till the 90s bubblegum pops. The synths kick up cinnamon for a minute-long Secret Mix outro. Inextinguishable, enlightening. It’s Charli, baby. –Pat Beane [pagebreak] --- Various Artists Club Chai Vol. 1 [Club Chai] When you’re in the right club, with the right music, with the right crowd, you can feel your body. You’re present in it, in its creases and protrusions, in its decorations and accoutrements, in its movements and vibrations in space, in its careful caressings and navigations around and through other bodies. You can feel it as something fluid, the cells and lipstick and lungs and heels and bass and drugs and genders and hi-hats and drifting and splitting melodies and languages morphing the movement of your limbs into a movement of potentials. You think, “I am in this body and I am feeling these other bodies and I know that this body can be something else, it can be what it wants to be, it can be what it doesn’t want to be, this shell is the end and the beginning and I am going to be fucking gorgeous.” Club Chai is a loose collective of queer and trans club DJs and producers out of Oakland pushing that continuum into the right-now-right-now-right-now of sonic uncertainty, gender uncertainty, national uncertainty. And it feels right. –Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli Club Chai Vol. 1 by Club ChaiClub Chai Vol. 1 by Club Chai --- Lawrence English Cruel Optimism [Room40] I consider myself an optimist, but I haven’t always been positive. My sense of trust in goodness has grown as I’ve unpacked how cynicism has poisoned many of my relationships (with partners, with friends, with art). Then again, being an optimist, as Louis CK once asserted, means being stupid. There’s a delicate balance between being confident in humanity’s potential for good and accepting humanity’s cruelty as simply the cost of business. Lawrence English’s latest release is music for contemplating what’s writhing around deep in humanity’s psyche. Its requiem is solemn, because nobody’s sense of “goodness” has won yet, its negative drones promising because they still have matter to vibrate through. Cruel Optimism is nominally a meditation on how human desire often breeds cruelty at humanity’s own expense, but as a sound work, it is also a reminder that optimism, shed of its colonizing skin, can overcome cruelty. –Jackson Scott Cruel Optimism by Lawrence EnglishCruel Optimism by Lawrence English --- Quelle Chris Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often [Mello Music Group] In college, a friend of mine had a line that went something like, “Your shit is wacker than the ‘you’ that every rapper writes about.” Although I can’t remember exactly how it went, or if it was ever even put to record, I always thought that was so dope: taking aim at the proverbial second person by acknowledging its ubiquitous metanarrative; uplifting recorded battle rap by breaking its third wall. Doper still, the idea that an omnipresent, sucker MC named “You” might actually exist. Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often complicates the above concept by incorporating hip-hop’s superego, the proverbial I, and framing that id character as both a role model for personal success and a self-destructive nemesis. Like “Who Am I” as a slapstick comedy about the creative process. –Samuel Diamond Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often by Quelle ChrisBeing You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often by Quelle Chris --- Sun Araw The Saddle of the Increate [Sun Ark/Drag City] The Saddle of the Increate shuffles the few short steps across from Belomancie’s chambers of internal refraction to twitch and twinge its way through into the shining territory of the lonesome whippoorwill — outdoors, that is. Well, at least there’s a pedal steel or two, a cactus, and a 10-gallon hat — it’s a [“psychedelic”] philosophic horse opera, tough as an actor, distracted but gruffly tender, especially in its latter sections. There’s a space and a half between every point; we can give names to/for every constellation, a classical reference or two even, but it’s still… complex — and how is the soul (your soul) distinct from its powers anyway? Spatially disorienting, temporally atomistic, concrete in image, plastic in execution: seven lampstands have become seven horses (and four hats, a head of cattle, one bowl, etc. etc.). Like pulling a wishbone with yourself, be 100% ready to spit in the skillet. –Michael J --- Graham Lambkin Community [ErstSolo/Kye] As Jackson Scott so rightly put, Graham Lambkin’s Community is “a document of what a community can create without dictating what a community should entail; it is evidence without the arrogance of conclusion.” Not community, but the evidence of community. In fact, the trace audible evidences of sound becoming located in new environments is exactly what establishes Lambkin’s practice and medium — a medium that so mysteriously auditions sonic evidence into richly communicative listening spaces. In Community, we are bathed by this evidence, in communion with it; it is threaded inside of the spaces we inhabit, our daily lives and interactions — those already in articulation. Voiced as such, the album is a masterclass in Lambkin’s quotidian character, flattened into a natural, weathered state close to the void — close to how impossible and brilliant our communities are. It reminds us that our communities exist often without us, within and without our human attempts to locate them. –scvscv --- Camedor En Ut / Alba [Debacle] The scoff that is heard ‘round the world at any mention of “world” music may not be the constructive criticism the catch-all term deserves, but it is the noise necessary to make a greater point. But may we suggest replacing that negativity with a positive denotation? Enter Camedor’s debut 12-inch, which is the sound of the world sucked into a wormhole wherein time, space, and location matter little. In a nutshell, it represents the “new” idea of world music, where we no longer place such a limiting genre marker on what is music now easily accessible to all. Both songs borrow from mid-century composers (including a “cover” of Terry Riley’s “In C”), but also pull everything out of the grab bag of motorik, drone, and pop. José Orozco Mora has layered it all into a wondrous noise that may heavily borrow from Western tropes and styles, but is music from parts (un)known. You may not catch much Berber or Aboriginal influence, but what matters is how Mora’s Camedor speaks to building bridges between cultures through music. It’s a shared form of expression, and the joyous, raucous nature of En Ut / Alba is a celebration of worlds colliding into symphonic harmony. –Jspicer En Ut / Alba by CamedorEn Ut / Alba by Camedor [pagebreak] --- Skullflower The Spirals of Great Harm [Cold Spring] The Spirals of Great Harm has a clear lineage in the Skullflower discography. It’s a step beyond Strange Keys to Untune Gods Firmament (also a double album) and Taste the Blood of the Deceiver, though it follows a similar trek down the left-hand path. Played at a low volume, its minor key melodies and themes are apparent enough, but turn it up and its lacerating feedback has a much harsher effect. Bower and collaborator Samantha Davies (the only other constant in the modern Skullflower lineup) unleash hell through ritual guitar abuse. Outsiders may not readily understand how much different this album is from 2014’s dragon-themed Draconis, but to longtime admirers, it’s a step away from that album’s meandering psych, the style of which Bower used to reserve for his Sunroof! project. Kneeling in worship at the altar of the underworld, stacks of amplifiers in tow, Bower and Davies have crafted another indispensable addition to their canon. –Joe Davenport --- Xiu Xiu FORGET [Polyvinyl] Pray for Xiu Xiu. As many of their contemporaries have either faded from the record and/or embraced a life as background material for iPod commercials [ed: NO SHADE ON IPODS], Jamie Stewart’s long-running project has — like unchecked tooth decay — only deepened with age. Delivering maybe their most “accessible” album since formative hit Fabulous Muscles (a record whose key lyric was still “Cremate me after you cum on my lips”), FORGET brings all the self-loathing, harsh sarcasm, wonky instrumentation, and harrowing Dennis Cooperisms we have come to depend on from the Xiuverse. Whether you love it or not, Stewart and his gang have sustained a distinct interpretation of the world through what can feel like a lifetime’s worth of trend-shifting; for this alone, the band’s persistence should be cherished. That FORGET is one of their best albums to date is a surprise and a delight, the sign of a legacy act finding new life (the light, New Order-echoing “Get Up” is an album highlight) and handing us a deceptively poppy, booby-trapped gift to both longtime fans and newcomers. –Dylan Pasture FORGET by Xiu XiuFORGET by Xiu Xiu --- Rashad Becker Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. II [PAN] Rashad Becker is a musician who is known for mastering other musicians’ work. His operation at Dubplates & Mastering is prolific and now famous in the world of experimental and electronic music, its most recent accomplishments including masters of The Necks’ Unfold, Visible Cloaks’ Reassemblage, and the great new PAN compilation Mono No Aware, but probably the most adventurous and distinctive of the records Becker has engineered of late is his own. He makes music with the freedom of a person who spends a lot of time thinking about the relationship between music and media of expression. PAN officially describes Becker’s Notions as “synthesized sounds that appear to exist hauntingly physical,” alluding to the tension between creativity and materials that enters always into the musical imagination, the tension that Becker gets paid to negotiate on artists’ behalf. The physical “haunts” music, not as an antagonist as if all music were not physical at least in origin, but because of what is risked, what is lost, and what is made when music passes from one physical medium to another, as in the representation of the rapid movements of a trombone’s bell as bumps on a slab of vinyl. Where his first volume of Traditional Music was a bit more self-similar, built from the whirring of buglike tensions and releases, Becker’s second effort explores the glowing horror and breath of reanimation. With species even more personable and diverse than those of its far-out predecessor, Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. II is nothing short of an event in electronic music. –Will Neibergall Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. II (PAN 74) by Rashad BeckerTraditional Music of Notional Species Vol. II (PAN 74) by Rashad Becker --- We’ll See x Treece (Prod Hyro) Constructions Tape [SWMS/Self-Released] Drizzy Aubrey may be hip-hop’s new international playboy, assembling identities like a collector on safari, but the UK hip-hop and grime scene has been strong for a while now. We’ll See and Treece, along with lo-fi necromancer Hyro, present an alternative to the rude glitz of Skepta, a drowsy, dour romp through England’s South West and Manchester, tagging walls, popping pills, and trading deft, witty wordplay. There’s something theatrical, entrancing about the scenes on Constructions Tape, and they fade in and out of view like fragments from a VHS tape in a Buckfast bottle. Hyro is as much a character as the MCs — the beats on “SNES-CD” and “Krylon” are loose and minimal. “Rizla” is a stunning example of his sizzling, ambient lo-fi technique. The drugs are the same, the liquor is the same (the slang a little different). For those who find it hard to relate to life on the other side of the Atlantic, you can dig the lads’ antics in a tape-length music video, which explores the highways, fallow fields, and windy beaches of Britain. We’ll See and Treece are practically alone in the entire piece, ghosts in a glittering, unforgiving city. –Ross Devlin Constructions Tape by We'll See x Treece (Prod Hyro)Constructions Tape by We'll See x Treece (Prod Hyro) --- Jon Mueller dHrAaNwDn [Rhythmplex] Jon Mueller’s dHrAaNwDn is deep and resonant, each quadrant of the 2xLP package filling a distinct void. Mueller is adept at bending innovative recording techniques to fit his drum-offs, and this might be one of his most elaborate schemes. The excerpts found on the wax were captured by a full mobile studio at the historically cogent meeting house of the Shaker Historical Society in Albany, NY. And if you’ve ever been to Albany (as I have, a ton), you know there’s an odd artistic energy enveloping the overlooked city. Using the cavernous environment to its aural advantage, dHrAaNwDn sprawls its percussive attacks out evenly, the dank toms thumping, jumping, and bumping. It’s akin to those loooong rows of files I used to sleep amid when I worked at a complex housing warehouses full of legal files: orderly, sequential, and all-encompassing in its grandeur. dHrAaNwDn hits harder than a drone-out and more comprehensively than the huge push of air that accompanies an explosion, the sound waves bouncing rustically off the “wood and white walls” of the house. So much more to say, so little space; white vinyl, only 200 copies, no digital version, gorgeous artwork, Mueller exploring yet another avant avenue that no one thought to truss. –Grant ‘Gumshoe’ Purdum --- Amnesia Scanner AS Truth [Self-Released] AS Truth provides a severely ungrounded experience. Leitmotifs abound (water, club, shifter, voice, trepan), Amnesia Scanner build a dizzying piece that is colossally unfathomable yet pragmatically short — done before its working becomes cruel. Living in the tiny turns and rarely caring for much larger than that, AS Truth is the pregame and the function (the buzz and the twitch [the trepanation across the nation (the boogie and the drop) that burrs the hole] that feeds the demon) that wakes you up. I love this album, and OK, in case you’re wondering, I found this for you: this. I guess the surgeon is “actually a quack” but look at him, funny guy. Oh, and apparently this guy trepanned himself. Only later do we find out that ~no~ he didn’t. –Ben Levinson AS TRUTH (MIXTAPE) by Amnesia ScannerAS TRUTH (MIXTAPE) by Amnesia Scanner [pagebreak] --- LAMPGOD GOD SHIT EP [Self-Released] “Hey: what’s happening?” is the sound, and it’s me looking for the voice source. “How y’all doing?” (really though how am I doing?) and I can’t put my finger on it (can’t touch a sound, Frank, duh.) What’s means? Someone put some solid white lines between lanes (as if you could keep things separate, as if we all moved in one direction at a time), someone ripped up all the pavement (“‘cause I’m negative”), killed all the streetlamps (“and I’m dark”) some LAMPGOD blows up the means and throws up me. Cause when you wrap all the pavement ‘round your waste, you get GOD SHIT, the influence of ecstasy of ecstasy. Can’t touch a sound, and in this dark, I don’t want to not resolve: “We gotta help each other out, man, renourish the soil.” It’s soil or soul, this driving both ways. It’s GOD SHIT, the garbage divine, the that that’s happening. –Frank Falisi LAMPGOD - GOD SHIT EP by LAMPGODLAMPGOD - GOD SHIT EP by LAMPGOD --- Dale Cornish Cut Sleeve [Halcyon Veil] Room to think is never enough space as you’ve imagined. And Cut Sleeve is just extra for “t-shirt.” So breathe. So much area to cover. So here we have Dale Cornish satirizing modern house music. Beyond that, the Winnipeggian is using Cut Sleeve to comment on a variety of “scene” motifs that continue with the club-politics of Halcyon Veil (i.e., queer culture, auteur vanity, architectural ouroboros, etc.). Only this time, Dale Cornish provides a brooding outsider mentality, blending dark alley grime and abstract dancefloor narration, settling Cut Sleeve in light of summer nights partying in the park, in a ditch or pond, and never quite coming back into reality as before. Ever. –C Monster Cut Sleeve by Dale CornishCut Sleeve by Dale Cornish --- HIRS YØU CAN’T KILL US [Get Better] The pink and purple hue line-blocking the resistant and persisting declaration in bold white-as-day fuck-you lettering YØU CAN’T KILL US. Through the five-track, five-minute EP and 100+ shows through LGBTQIA spaces and hundreds of tracks, HIRS have made further ground down the chaff of their enemies and turned the opposition into dust under their boot. And though they’ve already released a split with LIFES in dedication to all their lost friends, TRANS GIRL TAKE OVER 2K17, and an underheard release called MAGICal/WANDerful (from which all money made goes directly to Morris Home), we keep dedicating our five minute breaks at work to it. It’s raw and fervent, tearing the stitches out from the seams of their oppressor and dividing it among the trans community, leaving a powerful, anxious, angry, passionate residue that we will never wash off. –Monet Maker YØU CAN'T KILL US by HIRSYØU CAN'T KILL US by HIRS --- Dedekind Cut The Expanding Domain [Self-Released] $uccessor’s scion in every way, The Expanding Domain is simply the planar enlargement of Dedekind Cut’s starkly heterogeneous sound. Chimerizing practically every experimental electronic form one can imagine, each track blooms from chill aestivation into confounding calyces of spiraling noise and hyaline synths. Likewise in ontogeny, The Expanding Domain maintains a perennial coiling and uncoiling, as the final cut, “Das Expanded, Untitled Riff,” gives way to the EP’s opening in “Cold Bloom.” His strength is in grafting his raging and rimose rhythms to the divaricate New Age and ambient sounds his newest project has embraced. Simultaneously serrate and undulate, his sonic palette (complemented by the likes of Elysia Crampton, Dominick Fernow, and Mica Levi) unnerves and calms. The static-wreathed stabs of “LiL Puffy Coat” float atop a ponderous plod and the crushing-crushed breaks of the title cut find balance from a languishing wash and a hint of melody. It feels complete and self-sustaining yet always groping outward toward more. A sonic inflorescence, The Expanding Domain is the further coil of the tendril, the greater spread of the rhizome, the deeper growth of the genet. –Cynocephalus "The Expanding Domain (ded005)" EP by Dedekind Cut,"The Expanding Domain (ded005)" EP by Dedekind Cut, --- Pinkcourtesyphone Talk The Pleasure Out of It [Champion Version] Minimalist and ambient music are the aural equivalent of abstract art. Maligned by the uninitiated for their perceived simplicity (read: boring, easy to cobble together) when in actual fact anyone who has ever tried to paint an abstract on canvas finds quite quickly how difficult it is to decide what to put where — or more specifically, what not to put almost everywhere. And therein lies the art. Pinkcourtesyphone is fast establishing a reputation as the Mondrian of music minimalism. With so few concepts and sounds throughout Talk the Pleasure Out of It, it’s breathtaking how much emotion and mood is packed into this all-too-brief EP from the opening bars. –Marty Slattery talk the pleasure out of it by PINKCOURTESYPHONEtalk the pleasure out of it by PINKCOURTESYPHONE --- Demdike Stare Wonderland [Modern Love] Demdike Stare’s first album since 2012, Wonderland produces prismatic color from a grayscale jungle, crosshatching inert beat blocks and blunt chords into tight, combative spaces in order to glimpse a few seconds of beautiful moiré. Between stark silences and loud silver smacks, loose atoms offer subtle signs of life, suggesting endless, complex revisions — small but seminal shifts into new structures, trickled off from the eroding monolith of “industrial” and fully escaped from the aesthetic trappings of “hauntology.” Fans of past records will recognize the esoteric sampling and tough breaks (especially if they’re fans of the Testpressing series), but the level of abstraction on display is newly inspired, with new rhythms and juxtapositions hinting at new modes of expression at every turn. At its core is a pure love of creation, boundless energy picking up inertia amid extreme restraint, transforming all the techno it touches. The humanity is there, but it’s hidden, in corners and in shadows, as still as can be, confident someone will eventually find it anyway. Stay active. –Adam Devlin http://j.mp/2o8xWPc

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