#like it manages to somehow hit all the comedy AND tragedy beats at the same time

[macbcth]

all the assigned readings for my evil plays class has been top tier stuff but 'tis pity she's a whore has got to be up there as one of my favourite all time tragedies - it's SO bad that's it winds up being good again

[purple-stuck]

Hi It's me again! I hope my excessive rambling in the tags wasn't too annoying I just really loved that drabble you wrote

If it's not too much can I request something with Sollux and Gamzee meeting in the subjugglator training ranks after Ascension?

I'd really love to hear what your headcanons might be or what fics you take inspiration from about subjugglators off-planet

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Gamzee's breath was perfectly steady, his heartbeat perfectly level, his mind completely calm. Even as he hopped from platform to platform, moving at speeds imperceivable to the naked eye, his body remained impossibly calm. Such was the Messiahs' gift to him and all purplebloods like him. With training, they could command their body to do the impossible.

Gamzee stopped atop a thin pole, claws digging into his perch as he got his barings. A sea of bloodied spikes spread out around him, ensuring him a slow death should he miss even a single pole or platform. But beyond that, lie his goal. His target. The horned outline of which was a mere speck in his vision.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Gamzee felt the wood begin to give way beneath his weight and lept to another perch, hoping between poles and bouncing away before the could bend against him. Thoughtlessly, he reasoned out the closest platform in between leaps. Automatically, he twisted his body to reach them. His body twisted in ways that crack and snap the bones of any other caste. If the graveyard full of mangled bones below him was any indication, even other purples struggled to make such moves.

Soon, Gamzee's shadow was cast over his prey. A club appeared in his hand, upraised so as to crack open his target's skull in one swing.

For the first time since this lesson began, his breath hitched.

Gamzee's feet hit the ground, his momentum stopped dead. His club hung over his target's shoulder.

Breathe. In.

Breathe. Out.

At this distance, Gamzee could see that his target wasn't even a troll at all. Rather, he'd been tasked with assassinating a mannequin, a hard plastic replica of his would be victim. Gamzee felt his posture relax before he pulled his club back and cracked the target's head of with one swing.

Purple paint sprayed over Gamzee as the body hit the floor and he turned to his audience and bowed.

The audience cheered as the lights flashed on, a cacophony of honks, whoops, and cheers as the stage was revealed in full. If he bothered to look towards the pit, Gamzee could see all the remains of the clowns who came before him and failed. He did not look.

"well, would you look at that."

"HE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO PASS."

Two ropes descended down around him, carrying the Twin Instructors, clad in their iconic matching masks. Comedy's voice was sing song, contrasting Tragedy's melancholy just as their half masks contrasted their mood. Gamzee looked up to see half of Tragedy's face grinning down at him.

"still, you haven't quite managed to beat our record."

"MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE HIM GO AGAIN."

The two broke into giggles, with the rest of the tent following. Gamzee heard a few voices call out for an encore and quietly hoped they wouldn't be heard. He didn't have it in him to go another round. He didn't know how Sollux did it so easily, controlling his body they way he did.

Tragedy leaned down and gave him an encouraging pat on the back, causing Gamzee to grin at him tiredly in between pants. Comedy leaned down to his other side, handing him a faygo and a rag.

"OH, BUT HE'S SO WORN OUT. WE WOULDN'T WANT TO BREAK OUR NEW FAVORITE."

"we'd love to share notes, but this isn't your show anymore. head to the lounge, it's time for the next act."

Gamzee chugged the bottle, nearly emptying it in two gulps as he walked off stage. He waved his thanks, to tired to talk, as he shoved his way through the curtains and into the lounge.

Gamzee finished his faygo as he lazily scanned the room. Normally, throwing a bunch of clowns into one room would be a recipe for disaster, but all was strangely quiet. It seemed like the others who passed the test were just as warn out from it as he was. It made him feel better to see his brothers and sisters laying around exhausted, half collapsed against walls or the couch. It made him proud to still be standing.

And then he saw Sollux, looking none the worse for wear as he hogged the couch. He smirked smugly as Gamzee made his way over, scooting over to let the shorter clown collapse next to him. "Jegus, you look like shit."

Gamzee flipped him off, causing Sollux to snort. "And you're acting like shit too. Maybe I'm a bad influence on you."

Gamzee snorted. "Shit man, I thought you didn't want me to be so friendly and clingy around you anymore." He wiped the sweat off his forehead, stopping to look at the facepaint that had melted onto his hand. "Although, a brother's got a point about. I ain't much to look at right now."

Sollux slid his half empty faygo down the table, which Gamzee guzzled happily. "Yeah, body control is hard. I've been doing it ever sense I grew hands and I still eat my swords sometimes. Nevermind the more advanced stuff."

Gamzee slammed the faygo bottle on the table. "Shit, man, my bones hurt. And my veins... and lungs. Fuck."

Sollux grunted and handed him a spare Nintendie Dualscream. "How about something to take your mind of it? It's been awhile sense I kicked your ass in Fiduspawn anyways."

It was Gamzee's turn to snort. "All right, you are on, motherfucker."

~

They were eight rounds in when the new clowns stopped coming in. Gamzee counted only five had made it in after him, but he was more focused on beating Sollux than keeping count. Either he'd gotten better or Sollux had gotten worse. The taller troll used to be able to kick his ass, now they were tied four to four. But, their fifth round was interrupted as two familar shadows were cast over them.

"DID YOU TWO BRING TOYS FROM BACK ON ALTERNIA ALONG?"

"just between the four of us, I've heard that's against the rules."

Gamzee and Sollux froze as the Twin Instructors leaned over them. Even Gamzee could feel everyone in the room staring at them. Gamzee had seen this set up before. Comedy and Tragedy learing over a helpless troll or two. Acting like they were just disappointed, like they were just going to give the rule breaker a stern talking to before they decapitated the mischief maker.

Instead, the twins doubled over into a giggling fit the spread through the room. The trolls around them joined in, some more nervously than others.

"JuSt KiDdInG!"

"WE KNOW OUR HIGHEST SCORERS..."

"....know better than to break the rules."

"AsSuMiNg YoU dId'T cHeAt!"

Sollux and Gamzee pushed themselves to their feet, hands moving to ask about their progress, but the duo pushed their hands aside.

"DON'T BOTHER WITH THAT."

"you're subjugulators now."

"YoU'rE oFfIcIaLlY fUnNy EnOuGh To LiStEn To!"

Gamzee let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He heard Sollux do the same before the cheers erupted around them. Tragedy grabbed his arm and hoisted him into the air with it to bare before the crowd, leaving him and Sollux to gaze at their audience.

"GIVE OUR BOYS A ROUND OF APPLAUSE."

"well, those of you who still have hands anyways."

Gamzee looked over at Sollux, himself being held up for all to see by comedy. It was strange to see Sollux actually look nervous, even if they were seemingly in the Twin's good graces. Sweeps of living according to their capricious whims was enough to instill a lasting fear in anyone.

Even when granted verbal permission to speak, the two didn't make a peep as the twins hefted them over their shoulders. The twins cheerfully waved off the crowd as they carried the two ascendants to their office.

Gamzee grunted as he was dropped into a chair to small for him, hearing Sollux swear off to the right as the same happened to him. Comedy and Tragedy flopped into their chairs on the opposite end of the desk, kicking their feet up on it.

"normally, we'd take the time to talk about boring business shit with you."

"PREP YOUR ASCENSION SPEECH AND ALL THAT BLAH BLAH BLAH."

"BuT lIkE wE sAiD, wE hAvE nOtEs."

Sollux and Gamzee shared a nervous look, before Sollux straightened up and spoke. "What, uh, about exactly?"

Comedy shook a chidding finger in their faces.

"WHY, YOU BOTH HESITATED."

"tripped at the finish line."

"DeRaIlEd A pErFeCtLy GoOd ShOw."

Gamzee looked over at Sollux in suprise. Sollux... hesitated? But he was used to killing shit. Hell, that was his idea of a date night. Gamzee hardly had time to consider it before Tragedy leaned in his direction.

"now you we perfectly understand. you've never dabbled with fresh paint before."

"YOU'VE ONLY BEEN OFF THE SLIME FOR JUST THREE SWEEPS AT THAT."

"BuT iT's YoUr BuDdY wE'rE cUrIoUs AbOuT."

They both turned to Sollux expectantly. He scratched the back of hia head. "I... well. Something made me reconsider." He rested his hands in his head. "There was.... a kill I'd been planning for a really long time. Something... big. Special. And, when I landed that kill, when I did kill her and savor killing her... it just felt empty?"

Gamzee knew what he meant. The image of a cart drenched in Cerulean blood flashes in his mind. "I'd... rather not get any more into it than that."

The Twins tented their hands as they nodded sympathetically. Comedy even reached over to pat him on the shoulder.

"oh, we've both been there before."

"I DID ESPECIALLY."

Tragedy bent down and fished around beneath the desk, nearly banging his golden mask on it in the process.

"I STILL REMEMBER MY FIRST KILL."

He placed a white horned skull on the desk, carefully preserved and cleaned even though it seemed to have been centuries old. Still, the more Gamzee looked at it, the more it looked slightly off. The horns seemed to be... fake somehow. Like they were made of some kind of old plastic. And the skull's facial structure was all wrong. Too thin, too light, too delicate looking. It looked like a troll but not quite. If Karkat were here, he'd call it a mockery of troll kind.

"you'd think he'd be honored."

"MY VERY FIRST KILL. SHE WAS SO CLEVER AND BRUTAL THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I'D PULL IT OFF."

He rubbed the skull fondly, clearly nostalgic. Part of him sounded almost remorseful over it too, strangely enough. Like talking about a long dead friend or a beloved canceled show.

"BuT iT fElT sO eMpTy."

Sollux cleared his throat, clearly annoyed, even if he couldn't outright say it. Gamzee couldn't blame him. The twins liked to talk about their first two kills a lot. "So, what's your point?"

Tragedy sighed wistfully and Comedy playfully roled her eyes and elbowed him to get him back on topic.

"THE POINT IS, I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT."

"and when it's over, it always feels...."

"AnTiClImAcTiC."

Sollux hummed and considered this, but Gamzee could tell he wasn't quite buying it. Gamzee could tell that something else was needling away at him. Something deeper than just that.

"you'll probably get that feeling too."

Gamzee straightened up as he realized they were addressing him again.

"HERE'S A TIP. DON'T LOOK INTO THEIR EYES. IT'LL ONLY MAKE YOU MISS THEM MORE."

Comedy slid two communicators across the desk.

"YOU CAN TALK IT OUT WITH YOU QUADS, NOW THAT YOU'RE ALLOWED TO SEE THEM AGAIN. YOUR BRONZE HEART AND RUST DIAMOND PROBABLY MISS YOU."

They nodded at Sollux.

"and the Empress will be happy to see her favorite clown is safe."

[meditatemoremedicateless]

A Comedy and a Tragedy

Fandom: Life is Strange / Before the Storm

Pairing: Steph Gingrich / Samantha Myers

Major tags: Angst, fluff, canon-compliant, serial

Words: ~2,400

Summary: Samantha and Steph meet unexpectedly in the hospital the night after The Tempest. Samantha gets wrapped up in trying to help Nathan. Again. Part 2 of Knowing the Odds. Read the full story on AO3.

"What are you doing here?"

Samantha snapped awake, looking up at whoever spoke but not recognizing them yet. She had fallen asleep. She had told herself that she wasn't going to fall asleep until she saw Nathan.

"Yo, Sam, you okay? You here for Mikey?"

"What?"

Oh, it's Steph.

Steph Gingrich sat in the chair next to where Samantha had fallen asleep, in the tiny lounge outside Urgent Care. She was dressed in different clothes since this evening when they'd met in the courtyard - a blue shirt now, but the same beanie - or a duplicate. She had said she had a bunch of them. Despite the fresh clothes, she looked uncharacteristically haggard. Nathan had said Steph wasn't at the play, but he hadn't said anything about her being at the hospital.

Samantha realized she was slumped over and sat up, reaching to smooth out her hair.

"Oh, hey Steph," she said. Her throat was dry. How long had she been asleep? "What are you doing here?"

"So, not Mikey then." Steph turned and sat back in the chair, casting an eye towards the bright hallway past the attending nurse. "Well, Mikey broke his arm, so me and Drew are keeping him company. It's my shift to be awake in case he is."

"Oh. Oh god!, what happened?"

Steph shrugged, still looking down the hall instead of at Samantha. "Ah, well, it's . . . kind of a complicated situation. But it's over. I think."

Samantha checked her phone, which was quick to remind her that it was low on battery. 6:15am. A two-hour nap. She should text her Mom.

She shrugged, and said, "Well, it's kind of complicated for me, too."

That seemed to catch Steph's interest, and she finally turned back to Samantha, eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Samantha managed a weak laugh, but that just reminded her that her throat was dry. "Fine, um, yeah. Just a sec, getting a drink of water."

When Samantha returned a few minutes later, Steph had her phone keyboard slid open and was typing furiously. Even when Samantha sat down next to her, she didn't look up for a good twenty seconds, once she'd sent her message. She put the phone in her lap instead of back in her pocket.

Must be a pretty lively conversation.

"God, there are other people up this early?" Samantha asked, not sure of a more polite way to intrude.

Steph smirked. Her mood was somehow better than it had been two minutes ago.

"Hm. Yeah, I guess. Rachel is up awful early for some reason." Her voice was coy and dramatic, like when she narrates that game for Mikey. Its application here was mystifying.

"Is . . . that . . . weird?"

Steph's phone vibrated again, and she immediately smirked as she grabbed it. "Maybe. I don't really kiss and tell." She flipped her phone open. "Although, maybe Rachel does."

One.

Two.

Three.

Samantha's eyes shot wide as she figured it out. It was a hospital, and silent hospitals help healing, but her whisper was also kind of a yell: "Is Rachel texting you about sex?"

Steph's wicked grin stayed. Nope, 'sex' didn't make her flinch. Holy shit.

Samantha started gesticulating wildly to make up for the fact that she couldn't be loud. "Did you?! - have sex - with Rachel?"

Steph looks a little pinker thanks to the question, but she shakes her head. "Oh, hell no. I'd kiss and tell that, god."

Steph resumed her texting without further explanation, but this mystery was easier to solve than the last one.

"Wait, did Rachel and Chloe . . .?"

Steph gave a side-eyed glance, and then resumed texting. She typed so quickly on such a small keyboard, it kind of freaked Samantha out a little. She couldn't even type that fast using a real keyboard.

Once she finished the text, she dropped her phone back on her lap and held her hands up. "Hey, all I know is that Rachel Amber does not rise with the Dawn, which is actually pretty ironic."

Beat.

"Well, that, and she ditched the cast party last night to go . . . somewhere with Chloe."

Was Samantha blushing? She couldn't tell. Her face felt kind of hot though. Even if she was, she couldn't tell if it was from the sudden, intrusive influx of mental images of those two going at it or because Steph seemed so delighted by this fact. Speaking of which . . .

"And you're - you're happy about this? I thought you'd be . . ." Samantha held her empty palms up at Steph, as if the conclusion should be obvious, "I dunno . . ."

"Rabidly jealous?" Steph leaned back in her seat. Her smile dropped, maybe?, but only for a second. "I mean, yeah, I am. But I heard about the play last night, and, well, honestly, sometimes you just have to give quality sexual tension its due."

God. Samantha closed her eyes and shook her head while Steph laughed, a little grossed out, a little pitying, and, if she were being honest with herself, a little turned on. But she didn't like thinking of people like that.

"It was a busy night, I guess."

Samantha meant it as a joke, but it reminded her of why she was here, and apprehension crept into her voice. Steph quieted down quickly, leaning forward to set her elbows on her legs. "Yeah . . . right. So what shitty thing brought you here, huh?"

That at least helped the color drain from her face, reminding her of her clammy hands and aching back from sitting in this chair for so long. Still, she probably would have preferred the fantasies of Rachel's bedroom than the fantasy of Nathan's.

Samantha crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her arms in hopes of warmth. "Yeah . . . okay. So. Nathan and I hung out after the play last night."

Steph nodded. "Yeah, I heard. You stayed longer than the crew, right? Waiting . . . for him?"

Samantha didn't like how she said that. She sounded disappointed. Everyone thought she should stay away from him. But look where that had gotten him.

Steph nodded, looking away to hide her short burst of frustration, and then said. "Yeah. I saw his dad leave during the play so I thought I'd just . . . I dunno, make sure he got home okay. And, stuff. I dunno."

Steph's eyes darted towards the hallway again, then back to her. "And did he not . . . make it home okay?"

Finally, she looked concerned, but that still wasn't it. Samantha wasn't sure how to tell her, really. "No - no. I mean, I mean, he did. We walked to 7/11 and had candy and my Mom picked us up. He seemed kind of upset about the play but he was . . . I mean, he was laughing, and we were having fun. I thought . . ."

The look got darker, and Steph's mouth was pressing into a flat line. "What happened to Nathan?" she asked. It was flat, monotone. Controlled. It was purposeful. She'd already figured it out. But Samantha still didn't know how to explain.

"I still don't really know. I just . . . I got this text a little later and . . . god." Samantha reached into her pocket and opened her texts, tapping up to the right messages.

Nathan: hey i just wanted to let you know uve been real cool Nathan: like i appreciate the stuff you did for me Nathan: so like, thank-you

Reading them again filled her with dread, and she passed her phone off to Steph as if the phone were burning her.

"I don't . . ." Steph said a few seconds later, confused, but as she tapped down on the phone, she started to understand. She grew quiet, and her shoulders started to fall slack. It looked like she kept expecting the messages to end, for it to be a short little exchange . . . but it hadn't been. It had been about a solid half-hour of panicked messages and looking up what information to tell 911 to explain an emergency. Samantha was no good at talking without at least some amount of scripting.

A few minutes later, Steph handed the phone back, and Samantha stuffed it in her pocket. Steph leaned back into her chair with a sigh, but Samantha remained rigid, tense.

"Shit," she said.

Samantha could agree to that.

Steph gestured at the hall. "But he's . . . alive then? No-go on the drugs?"

Samantha shook her head. "No, he did, he took them. But it turned out he didn't have to give me his address - when I called 911 they knew where his house was and they pumped his stomach, I guess. I don't know. I got here a few hours ago and they haven't really told me much. We were just waiting on his parents. His sister went home to get some sleep once he was okay and I guess . . . I stayed here to get some sleep."

There was a pause. Then Steph said, "His dad's a real dickhole. I guess you can't be pure evil and still be a good father, huh?"

Anger rose like bile: "His dad's a piece of shit," Samantha spat. Steph recoiled, but looked pleased.

"Damn," Steph replied with a hint of a smile. It was gone a second later. "But hey, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to make up for that. This sucks."

That just made Samantha angrier. Quietly, she said, "Kristine said that, too. But what I should or shouldn't have to do doesn't matter. He needs someone. He's so fucking alone and I -" dammit, now she was crying, and the tears were hot from anger but mostly she was just sad. Even if he was alive, grief hit her body like a wave.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand as Steph just kind of stared. Was it pity? Sadness? What was that look?

"He's alive, okay? That's all that matters."

Steph shook her head a little, eyes closed.

When she opened them, she said, "No, it's not. You still matter. I'm proud of you, fuck, but I'm scared for you. And sorry, too."

Samantha replied, "You don't know what you're talking about."

She was angry, so angry. Why wouldn't people understand?

Steph said, "Yeah, I do."

Samantha said, ". . . who?"

Steph said, "An ex. Sophomore year. Some of this year too, actually."

Samantha said, "I'm sorry.

Steph said, "Yeah. Me too."

It was several hours and another nap before Samantha finally got to see Nathan. It was weird, seeing him again after last night, and even weirder with the fact that someone else from the hospital staff was there with them.

He looked terrible. She couldn't tell if she was happy to see him or not.

"Hey, Nathan," she said, raising her hand in the tiniest wave.

He didn't reply in kind. He just stared at her with a dumb look on his face, his eyes looking sunken into the back of his head because of the purple beneath his eyes.

When he finally spoke, it was rough, and it was unwelcoming.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Samantha was taken aback, falling into silence. Why was she here? Wasn't it obvious? Why wouldn't she be here? How could she not be here? After everything that happened last night, she wasn't about to just leave him.

"I . . . I wanted to make sure you were okay."

A short pause, and then, "Is it . . . okay that I came? The nurse said-"

"Yeah. Like, it's okay."

The urge to flee was kicking in, but Samantha had never actually been good at following up on it. She tended to freeze. It was so hard to fight the instinct to hold still and hope that the bad things go away. She spent a lot of time fighting that urge. She wondered if he could tell.

It was just silent for a minute. Two minutes. Three? Samantha started to lose track quickly - it was much darker in here, and her phone was dead, and she just decided to sit down until he was ready to talk.

"Are you . . . are you the one who called them? The medics, or whatever?" Nathan turned his head to look at her, his expression unreadable.

God, I miss the silence.

She just replied with a nod. After a second of hesitation, he sunk back against his bed, and the silence was back.

The next thing he said was under his breath, but the silence was a good conduit for sound.

"You fucking bitch," he said.

And there, without command, the anger filled her throat like bile even as she started to feel sick. She felt so many things, but the only one that made sense to her was revulsion.

She barley managed to keep her voice even-tempered, and she didn't do a great job of it, either. "Excuse - me?"

He turned to her again. He wasn't crying, but his eyes were glassy. The staff member watched, but said nothing.

"Fuck you, Samantha."

For the past several hours, Samantha told herself that she had done this all for unselfish reasons. She told herself that she was protecting him, that she was looking out for him when no one else seemed to be, that she was a real friend, that she had empathy and the people around her just weren't paying attention. She had thought about "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" - how people went about their daily lives without recognizing the tragedies around them, and she had thought to herself, 'They are stupid. They are mean-spirited. I refuse to be like them.' She had thought she had done good. And, her absolute dumbest thought, she had thought he would see that, too, and that he would thank her.

Her blood ran cold, because none of that was true. Seeing his face, right now, she hated him. She hated this gutless, ungrateful rat. Because she had wanted him to love her. She thought she could make him want to live.

How dare he.

How dare I.

Fucking idiot.

But she was a coward, and he was a boy who had nearly died, whether his heart would give out or his lungs would stop working or he choked on his own vomit, and she couldn't say any of this. She just froze, and the venom drained away, if not the hurt.

She wrote the script. It didn't come out as cold or as hard as she wanted it, but she got all the words in the right order and they all came out, and that was what mattered.

"I'm happy you're alive Nathan, but fuck you."

And she left. She chose to walk home in the cold rather than spend another minute with Nathan fucking Prescott.

[firestorm26621]

Top 10 of 2018

Disclaimer: The following are not what I think are the “best” movies of the year, at least not in the objective sense of the word. I’m not even entirely sure how one can judge “best” in an objective manner, or by what criteria that could be measured.  Competence in composition and construction, acting, design, music; these are all only parts of what makes a film connect with an audience, and some truly great films have few of these in any great quantities, while there are a good number of movies that are practically perfect films by these gauges which had very little impact on me personally.

So, setting all that aside, what follows are my top 10 films of 2018 only in the sense that they are films I personally enjoyed the most; be that by conjuring the biggest emotional reaction, making the biggest intellectual impact, or simply inspiring the greatest sense of wonderment and appreciative awe in me.  These sorts of things are not easily measurable and certainly aren’t objective, but I know what I like, and it’s these.

#10 – Free Solo

This one was a late and odd addition for me, being the most recently watched on this list (having seen it in January).  Documentaries, by and large, are always interesting to me, but I rarely walk away thinking they are great movies, as they usually have fascinating subjects but little in the way of actual narrative.  Won’t You Be My Neighbor, another great doc, is an example of this, as it is a fantastic look at a subject, but has very little narrative through-line.  

Free Solo, while it starts this way as a film that investigates a free solo climber (being a style of mountain climbing done without any ropes, and which often kills its practitioners), begins to focus in as it centers itself around one specific potential climb, a massive vertical mountainside in Yosemite that has a very high likelihood of killing him in the attempt.  

So, the film suddenly gains a very solid narrative, and begins exploring the questions surrounding it.  Is his new girlfriend really comfortable with his death-defying lifestyle?  Is the camera crew complicit is something morally questionable by filming this dangerous scenario?  Is this guy really ok, mentally speaking?  All of these come to a head in a breathtakingly beautiful yet terribly suspenseful climbing sequence that had me genuinely worried for a human life.

#9 – Isle of Dogs

I’ve always been fairly hit or miss on Wes Anderson, with much of his previous work heavy on deadpan twee sensibilities and light on actual deeper meaning.  Which is partially why 2014′s Grand Budapest Hotel knocked my socks off so hard; it had his pastel sense of style, but it was used to tell a story that hooked me with themes that spoke to me, and it was incredibly narratively satisfying.  

And while Isle of Dogs doesn’t quite hit those heights, it definitely feels like Wes Anderson is moving as a filmmaker into a place I can really dig into, where he engages the broader world and tackles heavier themes, like tribalism and alienation in this film.  Yes, the film is funny, with all its voice actors giving hilarious deadpan line deliveries, and yes, the animation is both stunning and impressive, with the film somehow looking both intentionally rough around the edges and meticulously crafted at the same time.

But beyond how impressive the look and how charming the style, it’s the story that really lands it here.  It uses these tools to tell a clever, touching, almost sci-fi story about our connections and the strength of relationships and full of what I read as strong allegories to our current political climate.  It manages to be both cute and deep, and connected with me on both of those levels.  

#8 – Searching

Yet another surprise, as I was expecting nothing out of this gimmicky looks thriller about a man whose daughter goes missing and his investigation to find her, all told through the screen of the computer he uses to do so.  This isn’t a new gimmick, with a handful of bad horror movies using it previously, but Searching is by a huge margin the best film to use it yet.  It starts with an immediately impacting, tragic montage, charting the evolution of a family as it progresses through a tragedy, all told through emails, computer calendars, YouTube clips, and various other computer programs.  As it progresses, it continues to use its premise to great effect; we see text messages begin to be typed, then deleted, then retyped.  It essentially uses these as character building tools, showing us as much about these characters as their actual words and action.

And then the mystery starts.  The film becomes something of a techno-thriller detective story, with John Cho giving a fantastically evolving performance (especially considering most of the performances involve primarily staring into various webcams).  The film presents the investigation with plenty of twists and turns as Cho’s character comes to learn more and more of his daughter's life, and as it does so, it builds to some surprisingly powerful emotional beats surrounding how this family has dealt with tragedy.  And sure, it may cheat a bit in its final moments, expanding its scope a bit beyond what could reasonably be found on a computer screen, but by then you’re fully bought in anyway, fully engrossed in a story that delivers far more than what was expected.

#7 – Mission: Impossible - Fallout

I love this series.  While the first two films waffled on what kind of films they wanted to be, starting with the third entry and onward they locked in; they were to be bombastic spy thrillers with action set pieces centered around Tom Cruise’ specific brand of almost manically enthusiastic daredevil stunt work.  And here, at the sixth entry, that focus has continued to be honed and adjusted.  Fallout is an entry that is defined by its set pieces; a “how did they shoot that?” one-take jump out of an airplane, a “ why did Cruise do that?” climb up a rope to a flying helicopter, a stunningly choreographed bathroom fight scene, and my personal favorite, a motorcycle chase through Paris that makes it very clear Cruise himself is putting his life on the line for these shots.

What’s crazy to me is that this isn’t even my favorite in the series; 2015′s Rogue Nation has a better story and Rebecca Ferguson��s Ilsa Faust has a far better supporting role in that one than any here (and weirdly enough, Nation was only an honorable mention in 2015, but that’s because it was a much stronger year for movies I loved).  Yet, while Fallout may not tell a better story, it is likely more memorable, as it presents a non-stop cavalcade of incredible action sequences and stunt work that are as thrilling as they are visually impressive.

#6 – Creed II

I had extremely high hopes for this one.  Creed was one of my favorite movies of 2015 (a strange commonality between this and Mission Impossible above), and was personally my favorite in the Rocky franchise (though whether the Rockys and the Creeds are the same franchise could be debated).  My excitement was tempered upon learning that Ryan Coogler wouldn’t be returning to the directors chair, and to be fair, some of that absence is evident, mostly in the boxing sequences that don’t have quite the same technical proficiency shown in the first film.  But beyond that minor quibble, this film is a more than worthy successor to the first.  

It has the same thematic depth; it has evolved its focus from choosing a family and letting that affect your personal identity to a focus on dedicating yourself to that family and the conflict between it and personal ambition or desire.   It has the same inspirational intensity; featuring a fight that inspires fear in Rocky and a prideful vengeance in Creed, before in the classic format of these films, the characters have to rebuild themselves to rise up.  And it has the same chemistry; all three leads are still fantastic, with more focus this time being given to Adonis and Bianca as they navigate building their own family alongside the inherently dangerous nature of Adonis’s profession.   All this ties together into a fantastic follow-up that builds upon the first film and continues this wonderfully dramatic saga.  

#5 – Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

This was by far my biggest surprise of the year.  I expected nothing of this film, in fact, due to a clip of the film being shown as a stinger on Venom, I was fairly certain the movie wasn’t going to be very good.  It looked to be a slapstick cartoon comedy of a superhero film, and I wasn’t terribly excited for it.  Happily, however, I was very wrong.  So wrong, in fact, that I believe I can comfortably say this is my favorite Spider-Man film.  The film is stylish in a way few animated features have managed; the animation alone is impressive with its blend of modern cg and traditional hand drawn comic book accents, but it’s also got a soundtrack that is wholly rocking and tuned in to the story and character they are backing up.

The film is also hilarious; not only does the mentor/student relationship between Miles & Peter feature charming odd couple banter, the additions of the other spider-people make up a “motley crew” comedy style helped along by some excellent voice work (and special marks for the spot-on casting of Nic Cage as a noir-detective and John Mulaney as a talking pig).  Most shocking to me, however, was just how powerful the story was when it got into gear; the unusual animation style ends up working in tandem with the themes and narratives arcs the story is telling, and while yes, this is in fact another superhero origin story, Miles Morales coming into his own turned out to be one of the best coming of age stories I’ve seen in a long time.

#4 – A Quiet Place

I do love a good monster movie. Not only for the creativity in design choices and aesthetic that can be brought to make some fascinating creatures, but also in the themes, as in almost all the best monster flicks, the monster themselves are stand-ins for some other idea, something that scares us in a more abstract way.  In this case, that theme is very solidly established in the first few minutes: parenthood, and more specifically, the fear and stress of a parent trying to keep their child safe in a very dangerous world.

The first step in exploring this theme is a really solid chunk of world building; presenting a decidedly post-apocalyptic landscape where few humans remain, and those who do must live in silence to avoid detection by the otherwise blind creatures that destroyed the world.  To stack the deck even further, the film presents additional complications; a pregnant wife unclear how she’s going to give birth to a screaming baby without bringing danger, a deaf daughter who cannot hear when the creatures are about, and a father so focused on protecting his family that he shuts them out emotionally.

All this is built up over the first half of the film, and then starts a climax that last almost the full last half as the family has to face all these issues at once.  It’s fantastically tense, riveting horror even it’s rarely outright scary, and firmly establishes itself as one of the more inventive, well told monster stories out there.

#3 – Avengers: Infinity War

It’s difficult to gauge exactly why I love this movie.  Is it sheer comic-book fanboy glee that a story as iconic and beloved as Infinity War was actually adapted for the big screen?  Is it the appreciation of the massive feat that this film represents, bringing together over 20 superheroes from across 18 films together into one story?  Is it the fun of seeing all these superheroes actually interact with each other? Or hell, is it just a really entertaining summer blockbuster?  The answer is obviously some combination of all of these, but I’m still months later having some trouble actually processing it all.

To be clear, it is a great superhero movie; despite one odd sequence aboard a space station with an odd performance choice from Peter Dinklage, the rest of the film is a propulsive journey that cleverly combines and separates its many heroes on to various paths that still interact and matter to each other narratively.  It features action sequence to match, filled with more jaw dropping moments and impressive fight scenes than I can easily count.  

The biggest question I still have is whether this a great movie on its own, taken out of the context of the 18 films that came before it.  And while I don’t think it would be as enjoyable outside of that context, and I’m not even sure it could exist without it, I do still think the answer is yes, and that mostly comes down to its villain.  Thanos is, on his own, a great character, and so much of the movie revolves around his ideology, his plan, and his motivations that it can be and has been argued that Infinity War is actually his movie, thematically speaking.  He is the character with the most traditional arc, down to an ending that shockingly belongs to him as well.  And  while the full story may not yet be concluded, it will be tough to top this achievement of a superhero movie.

#2 – Bad Times at the El Royale

This is definitely a personal pick that I doubt will end up on anyone else’s top 10 this year, but I really did love this movie.  Landing somewhere between Hitchcock and Tarantino, it’s a fantastic thriller that consistently surprises throughout.  To start with, it has a fantastic cast, and they are all absolutely bringing their A-game.  It features Jeff Bridges as a priest suffering from memory issues, Jon Hamm as a sleazy fast-talking salesman, Dakota Johnson as a catty and standoffish hippy, Chris Hemsworth as a maniacal cult leader, and standout newcomer (to me at least) Cynthia Erivo as a subdued but ambitious soul singer.  All of these are rich, deep characters, helped along by dialogue that is witty and engrossing, sounding very Tarantino-esque. And that dialogue often plays around with the fact that all of these characters, across the board, have secrets.

Which brings us to the story, which is where the Hitchcock comparison comes in.  The story at first appears to be a bottle movie, taking place almost entirely within the titular hotel The El Royale.  However, at some point the story begins to shift, both showing us backstories in flashbacks and shifting whose point of view we see the events of the story from.  It leads to a twisty plot that keeps us on edge throughout, sometimes unsure of just where it’s going, but it always pays out for the attention and patience it requires.  And it’s all backed up by an amazing period perfect soundtrack full of soul music that really helps accentuate the narrative.

It all adds up to one of my favorite mystery thrillers in a long, long time.  It’s a genre that is done very often, and more often than not quite badly, so seeing one that is not only an engrossing mystery but relentlessly entertaining counts for a whole lot, to the point where it was almost my favorite movie of the year.

#1 – Annihilation

I am a sucker for a good hard science fiction movie, and it’s a genre that has had an amazing few years.  Ex Machina, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049 have been some amazing entries, and Annihilation is now another.  These films are great because they are not only about deep, intellectual topics, they explore them in intriguing ways that are equally deep; they are movies that are best served by revisiting multiple times and by discussing them and reading about them afterward, worthy of further reflection and study.  That said, to be a great movie, it also has to be entertaining, and all of these do that in spades as well.

Narratively, Annihilation is about a mysterious dome of energy that is causing odd biological phenomena, and the squad of ladies who go in to investigate it, despite the fact that no one else who has gone in has every come out, including our main characters husband.  Thematically, however, it’s about self destruction, of the natural and biological variety as well as that within the human condition, and its cyclical relationship with creation.  The film constantly presents imagery of rampant creation, including plants and animals blending, a landscape that bleeds into time and the thoughts and memories of those in it, and the most terrifying creature of the year in the rotting bear monster that seems to absorb the last moments of those it kills.  It contrasts against that backdrop its characters, who are all in some way, both voluntarily and involuntarily, self-destructing, and asks what the reactions to each might be.

And while I have a distinct interpretation of what its ultimate message is, I have read and watched many other interpretations that are just as valid and just as interesting.  It’s the kind of film that is far more than its face value, whose intellectual nooks can be found the more you think about it, and I have found myself thinking about it quite a bit since seeing it for the first time.  And for that, I am very grateful, not only for it expanding my conceptions, but for being a touchstone of a philosophical topic I never would have given much thought to.  And for all that, it is my favorite movie of the year.

Runners-Up:

Eighth Grade - A nice sister piece to Boyhood, it’s a more focused, comedic, and stylized counterpart that brilliantly gets inside the head of a girl in a near constant struggle with navigating her emotional state, her social skills, and her world shifting under her.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - An anthology film that breaks the western down into component pieces to tell masterfully constructed, beautiful, brutal, tragic, and often bizarre tales that bring as much melancholy as delight.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? - A heartfelt, impacting, poignant, powerful look at the life long mission of Fred Rogers to spread love and acceptance, and the obstacles and internal motivations that drove it.

[sophrosynity]

FJM is a fucking legend.

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74:17 of pure enlightenment... although “I love you, honeybear” is still my favorite vinyl... :)

1- PURE COMEDY (6:23)

The comedy of man starts like this ... Our brains are way too big for our mothers' hips ... And so Nature, she divines this alternative ... We emerged half-formed and hope that whoever greets us on the other end Is kind enough to fill us in ... And, babies, that's pretty much how it's been ever since ... Now the miracle of birth leaves a few issues to address ... Like, say, that half of us are periodically iron deficient ... So somebody's got to go kill something while I look after the kids ... I'd do it myself, but what, are you going to get this thing its milk? He says as soon as he gets back from the hunt, we can switch ... It's hard not to fall in love with something so helpless ... Ladies, I hope we don't end up regretting this ... Comedy, now that's what I call pure comedy ... Just waiting until the part where they start to believe ... They're at the center of everything ... And some all powerful being endowed this horror show with meaning ... Oh, their religions are the best ... They worship themselves yet they're totally obsessed ... With risen zombies, celestial virgins, magic tricks, these unbelievable outfits ... And they get terribly upset ... When you question their sacred texts ... Written by woman-hating epileptics ... Their languages just serve to confuse them ... Their confusion somehow makes them more sure ... They build fortunes poisoning their offspring ... And hand out prizes when someone patents the cure ... Where did they find these goons they elected to rule them? What makes these clowns they idolize so remarkable? These mammals are hell-bent on fashioning new gods ... So they can go on being godless animals ... Oh comedy, their illusions they have no choice but to believe ... Their horizons that just forever recede ... And how's this for irony, their idea of being free is a prison of beliefs ... That they never ever have to leave ... Oh comedy, oh it's like something that a madman would conceive! ... The only thing that seems to make them feel alive is the struggle to survive ... But the only thing that they request is something to numb the pain with ... Until there's nothing human left ... Just random matter suspended in the dark ... I hate to say it, but each other's all we got ...

2 -  Total Entertainment Forever (2:53) Bedding Taylor Swift ... Every night inside the Oculus Rift ... After mister and the missus finish dinner and the dishes ... And now the future's definition is so much higher than it was last year ... It's like the images have all become real ... And someone's living my life for me out in the mirror ... No, can you believe how far we've come ... In the New Age? Freedom to have what you want ... In the New Age we'll all be entertained ... Rich or poor, the channels are all the same ... You're a star now, baby, so dry your tears ... You're just like them ... Wake on up from the nightmare ... Come on ... Oh ho oh Oh Oh ho oh No gods to rule us ... No drugs to soothe us ... No myths to prove stuff ... No love to confuse us ... Not bad for a race of demented monkeys ... From a cave to a city to a permanent party ... Come on ... Oh ho oh Oh Oh ho oh When the historians find us we'll be in our homes ... Plugged into our hubs ... Skin and bones ... A frozen smile on every face ... As the stories replay ... This must have been a wonderful place ...

3 -  Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before The Revolution (4:18)

It got too hot and so we overthrew the system ... 'Cause there's no place for human existence like right here ... On this bright blue marble orbited by trash ... Man, there's no beating that ... It was no big thing to give up the way of life we had ... Oh ho oh ... My social life is now quite a bit less hectic ... The nightlife and the protests are pretty scarce ... Now I mostly spend the long days walking through the city ... Empty as a tomb ... Sometimes I miss the top of the food chain ... But what a perfect afternoon ... Industry and commerce toppled to their knees ... The gears of progress halted ... The underclass set free ... The super-ego shatters with our ideologies ... The obscene injunction to enjoy life ... Disappears as in a dream ... And as we return to out native state ... To our primal scene ... The temperature, it started dropping ... The ice floes began to freeze ... From time to time we all get a bit restless ... With no one advertising to us constantly ... But the tribe at the former airport ... Some nights has meat and dancing ... If you don't mind gathering and hunting ... We're all still pretty good at eating on the run ... Things it would have been helpful to know before the revolution ... Though I'll admit some degree of resentment ... For the sudden lack of convenience around here ... But there are some visionaries among us developing some products ... To aid us in our struggle to survive ... On this godless rock that refuses to die ...

4 -  Ballad Of The Dying Man (4:50)

Naturally the dying man wonders to himself: Has commentary been more elusive than anybody else? And had he successfully beaten back the rising tide ... Of idiots, dilettantes, and fools ... On his watch while he was alive ... Lord, just a little more time ... Oh, in no time at all ... This'll be the distant past ... Ooh ... So says the dying man once I'm in the box Just think of all the overrated hacks running amok And all of the pretentious, ignorant voices that will go unchecked The homophobes, hipsters, and 1% The false feminists he'd managed to detect Oh, who will critique them once he's left? Oh, in no time at all This'll be the distant past What he'd give for one more day to rate and analyze ... The world made in his image as of yet ... To realize what a mess to leave behind ... Eventually the dying man takes his final breath ... But first checks his news feed to see what he's 'bout to miss ... And it occurs to him a little late in the game ... We leave as clueless as we came ... For the rented heavens to the shadows in the cave We'll all be wrong someday ... Oh ... Oh ... Oh ...

5 -  Birdie (5:19)

Take off, little winged creature ... It's nothing but teens in ravines ... And antics on concrete down here ... And are you really as free as all the great songs would have me believe? Let me tell you why some day, Birdie, you're gonna envy me ... Some dream of a world written in lines of code ... Well, I hope they engineer out politics, romance, and edifice ... Two outta three ain't bad ... Some envision a state governed by laws of business ... Merger and acquisition instead of violence or nations ... Where do I sign up? Take off, little winged creature ... It's nothing but falling debris, strollers, and babies down here ... And you may be up in the sky but our paradigms are just as deep and just as wide ... What with all our best attempts at transcendence ... Something's bound to take ... Soon, we'll live in a global culture devoid of gender or race ... There's just one tiny line: You're either born behind ... Or you're free to peek inside ... Life as just narrative, metadata in aggregate ... Where the enigma of humanity's wrapped up finally ... That as they say is that ... Oh, that day can't come soon enough ... It'll be so glorious ... When they finally find out what's bugging us. ...

6 - Leaving LA (13:11) I was living on the hill ... By the water tower and hiking trails ... And when the big one hit I’d have a seat ... To watch masters abandon their dogs and dogs run free ... Oh baby, it’s time to leave ... Take the van and the hearse down to New Orleans ... Leave under the gaze of the billboard queens ... Five-foot chicks with parted lips selling sweatshop jeans ... These L.A. phonies and their bullshit bands ... That sound like dollar signs and Amy Grant ... So reads the pulled quote from my last cover piece ... Entitled "The Oldest Man in Folk Rock Speaks” ... You can hear it all over the airwaves ... The manufactured gasp of the final days ... Someone should tell them ‘bout the time that they don’t have ... To praise the glorious future and the hopeless past ... A few things the songwriter needs ... Arrows of Love, a mask of Tragedy ... But if you want ecstasy or birth control ... Just run the tap until the water’s cold ... Anything else you can get online ... A creation myth or a .45 ... You're going to need one or the other to survive ... Where only the armed or the funny make it out alive ... Mara taunts me 'neath the tree ... She's like, "Oh great, that's just what we all need ... Another white guy in 2017 ... Who takes himself so goddamn seriously." She's not far off, the strange thing is ... That's pretty much what I thought when I started this ... It took me my whole life to learn to the play the G ... But the role of Oedipus was a total breeze ... Still I dreamt of garnering all rave reviews ... Just believably a little north of God's own truth ... He's a national treasure now, and here's the proof ... In the form of his major label debut ... A little less human with each release ... Closing the gap between the mask and me ... I swear I'll never do this, but is it okay? Don't want to be that guy but it's my birthday ... If everything ends with the photo then I'm on my way ... Ohhh-ho-o-oh oh-ho-ho-ho-oh I watched my old gods all collapse ... Were way more violent than my cartoon past ... It's like my father said before he croaked ... "Son, you're killing me, and that's all folks." So why is it I'm so distraught ... That what I'm selling is getting bought ... At some point you just can't control ... What people use your fake name for ... So I never learned to play the lead guitar ... I always more preferred the speaking parts ... Besides there's always someone willing to ... Fill up the spaces that I couldn't use ... Nonetheless, I've been practicing my whole life ... Washing dishes, playing drums, and getting by ... Until I figured, if I'm here then I just might ... Conceal my lack of skill here in the spotlights ... Maya, the mother of illusions, a beard, and I ... 2000 years or so since Ovid taught ... Night-blooming, teenage rosebuds, dirty talk ... And I'm merely a minor fascination to ... Manic virginal lust and college dudes ... I'm beginning to begin to see the end ... Of how it all goes down between me and them ... Some 10-verse chorus-less diatribe ... Plays as they all jump ship, "I used to like this guy ... This new shit really kinda makes me wanna die" ... Ohhh-ho-oh-oh oh-ho-ho-ho-oh Ohhh-ho-oh-oh oh-ho-ho-ho-oh My first memory of music's from ... The time at JCPenney's with my mom ... The watermelon candy I was choking on ... Barbara screaming, "Someone help my son!" ... I relive it most times the radio's on ... That "tell me lies, sweet little white lies" song ... That's when I first saw the comedy won't stop for ... Even little boys dying in the department store ... So we leave town in total silence ... New Year's Day, it's 6 o'clock AM ... I've never seen Sunset this abandoned ... Reminds me predictably of the world's end ... It'll be good to get more space ... God knows what all these suckers paid ... I can stop drinking and you can write your script ... But what we both think now is.

7 - A Bigger Paper Bag (4:41) Dance like a butterfly and drink like a fish ... If you're bent on taking demons down with only your fist ... And I've never known anyone who could lose himself in a bigger paper bag ... The weaker the signal, the sweeter the noise ... Hunching over an instrument that you now employ ... Like the Starvation Army needs a marching piano in the band ... Are you feeling used? ... I do ... Oh, I was pissing on the flame ... Like a child with cash or a king on cocaine ... I've got the world by the balls ... Am I supposed to behave? ... What a fraud ... What a con ... You're the only ... One I love ... It's easy to assume that you've built some rapport ... With a someone who only likes you for what you like yourself for ... Okay, you be my mirror but remember the only a few angles I tend to prefer ... I'm only here to serve ... Oh, I was pissing on the flame ... Like a child with cash or a king on cocaine ... I've got the world by the balls ... Am I supposed to behave? ... Oh, I was dancing 'round the flame ... Like a high-wire act with a "who, me?" face ... I was living on nothing but water and cake ... What a fraud ... What a con ... You're the only ... One I love ... One I love ... One I love ...

8 - When The God Of Love Returns There'll Be Hell To Pay (4:04) When the god of love returns ... There'll be hell to pay ... Though the world may be out of excuse ... I know just what I would say ... That the seven trumpets sound ... As a locust sky grows dark ... But first let's take you on a quick tour of your creation's handiwork ... Billy got through the prisons and stores ... And the pale horse looks a little sick ... Says, "Jesus, you didn't leave a whole lot for me ... If this isn't hell already then tell me what the hell is?" ... And we say it's just human, human nature ... This is place is savage and unjust ... We crawled out of the darkness ... And endured your impatience ... We're more than willing to adjust ... And now you've got the gall to judge us ... The spider spins his web ... The tiger stalks his prey ... And we steal fire from the heavens to try to keep the night at bay ... Every monster has a code ... One that steadies the shaking hand ... And he's determined to accrue more capital by whatever means he can ... Oh, it's just human, human nature ... We've got these appetites to serve ... You must not know the first thing about human beings ... We're the earth's most soulful predator ... Try something less ambitious the next time you get bored ... Oh, my Lord ... We just want light in the dark ... Some warmth in the cold ... And to make something out of nothing sounds like someone else I know ...

9 -  Smoochie (3:45) When my personal demons are screaming ... And when my door of madness is half-open ... You stand alongside ... And say something to the effect that everything'll be ... Alright ... Soon ... Smoochie ... Chaos attends to creation ... And when the shadows inside me vie for attention ... You stand alongside ... And say something perfect like "concealment feeds the fear." And hand me a sea peach ... And say, "Come, come over here ... Smoochie."

10 -  Two Wildly Different Perspectives (3:12) One side says ... “Y'all go to hell.” The other says ... “If I believed in God, I'd send you there.” But either way we make some space ... In the hell that we create ... On both sides ... One side says ... “Kill 'em all.” The other says ... “Line those killers up against the wall.” But either way some blood is shed ... Thanks to our cooperation ... On both sides ... On both sides ... One side says ... “Man, take what's yours!” The other says ... “Live on no more than you can afford.” But either way we just possess ... And everyone ends up with less ... On both sides ... On both sides ...

11 - The Memo (5:16) I'm gonna steal some bedsheets ... From an amputee ... I'm gonna mount em on a canvas ... In the middle of the gallery ... I'm gonna tell everybody ... It was painted by a chimpanzee ... Just between you and me ... Here at the cultural low watermark ... If it's fraud or art ... They'll pay you to believe ... I'm gonna take five young dudes ... From white families ... I'm gonna mount 'em on a billboard ... In the middle of the country ... I'm gonna tell everybody ... They sing like angels with whiter teeth ... But just between you and me ... They're just like the ones before ... With their standards lower ... Another concert-goer will pay you to believe ... Oh, caffeine in the morning, alcohol at night ... Cameras to record you and mirrors to recognize ... And as the world is getting smaller, small things take up all your time ... Narcissus would have had a field day if he could have got online ... And friends it's not self-love that kills you ... It's when those who hate you are allowed ... To sell you that you're a glorious shit ... The entire world revolves around ... And that you're the eater, no not the eaten ... But that your hunger will only cease ... If you come binge on radiant blandness ... At the disposable feast ... (You're enjoying the chill winter playlist) Just quickly how would you rate yourself ... [?] In terms of sex appeal and cultural significance? (Irony, irony Blo blo blo blo blo blo blo) Do you usually listen to music like this? (Just one more mile, you can do it again) Can we recommend some similar artists? (This is totally the song of my summer) Are you feeling depressed? (This guy just gets me) But your feedback's important ... To us ... (Music is my life) Gonna buy myself a sports team ... And put 'em in a pit ... I'm gonna wage the old crusade ... Against consciousness ... All I need's a couple winners ... To get every loser to fight in it ... Keep the golden calf ... Just need the bullshit ... And they won't just sell themselves into slavery ... They'll get on their knees and pay you to believe ...

12 - So I'm Growing Old On Magic Mountain (9:58) That was the last New Year I'll ever see ... And I wanna stay on that magic mountain ... With lost souls and beautiful women ... I drank some of Farmer's potion ... And we were moving in slow motion ... The slower, the better ... The slower, the better ... 'Cause there's no one old on magic mountain ... There's no one old, old on magic mountain ... And that was the very last barn I'm burning ... So for now everyone is dancing ... As if it's any time but the present ... So for now every young thing in my path ... I'll hold their face so long inside my hands ... The longer, the better ... The longer, the better ... 'Cause there's no one old on magic mountain ... There's no one old, old on magic mountain ... The wine has all been emptied... And smoke has cleared... As people file back to the valley... On the last night of life's party... These days the years thin till I can't remember... Just what it feels like to be young forever... So the longer I stay here... The longer there's no future... So I'm growing old on magic mountain... I'm growing old, old on magic mountain...

13 - In Twenty Years Or So (6:27 What's there to lose? For a ghost in a cheap rental suit? Clinging to a rock that is hurtling through space? And what's to regret? For a speck on a speck on a speck...? Made more ridiculous the more serious he gets? Oh, it's easy to forget. Oh, I read somewhere, That in twenty years, More or less... This human experiment will reach its violent end... But I look at you... As our second drinks arrive... The piano player's playing "This Must Be the Place"... And it's a miracle to be alive... One more time... There's nothing to fear... There's nothing to fear.... There's nothing to fear...

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