#most recently the rise and fall of a midwest princess by chappel roan

[kageygreye-skies]

didn’t think chappell roan would impact me SO much after finding her and her artistry but she kind of literally made me fully accept that i was a lesbian and showed me there’s space for me in the community LMFAO.

allow me to take you on a fuckin journey lmfao. heres a lil story about a recent revelation about my identity that dominoed from listening to the rise and fall of a midwest princess. lol

i found chappell technically whenever she released pink pony club lol i just had never processed it was her. (i listened to midwest princess for the first time a long while who and when it got to ppc, i paused my phone, and yelled, “THAT WAS HER? THE WHOLE TIME??”), her pop sound and drag visuals were something i found refreshing and exciting. discography went triple platinum in my household fr.

watching a lesbian drag queen rise in the public has been so lovely to see, as a queer singer myself. watching that same woman be so open about her experience as a lesbian, pay homage to other gay individuals and icons, turn down the white house for a pride performance, perform at prides in states where lgbt rights are consistently under threat,,, its beyond inspiring to me! and reminds me to remember what i really want to do with my career as a performer and the people i want to lift up and pay my respects to.

this ultimately caused me to want to brush up on the queer history i knew and start learning about the history i didnt. at that time my focus veered to history about lesbians.. because i wanted to search for lesbians that shared my experience.. if there were any that did.

i have had a strange relationship with my gender and sexuality since i was 13, coming out first as bi at 15, and nonbinary at 17 (although i experienced gender dysphoria long before then). i have used the nonbinary label since, but my sexuality was something i was never sure i could settle on. i flipped between id’ing as bi and lesbian for months until i just stopped using labels so i didnt have to think abt that shit anymore😭

the term lesbian was what felt the most right to me, after years of periods of trying to convince myself that if i jump through strange loopholes and squint a little, that i could potentially like a man. i would worry and think things like, “what if im wrong and i just havent found one that i can maybe like? what if there actually is a boy who is exactly like the idealized anime-ass version of boys in my head who is also soft and girlie and would wear matching dresses with me?” i would have to use plenty of implausible what ifs just to entertain the idea. i did this even despite the fact that i cannot and do not picture a future with a man, i have only questioned my physical attraction to men when they “look like girls,” i am almost always slightly grossed out when men express sexual attraction to me, and have not had any kind of intimacy with guys where i didnt feel almost completely disconnected. i didnt find men fulfilling. it took me very long to realize that if i have to literally FORCE myself into liking them…i dont like them lol.

i have never had to question my attraction to women, butches + femmes,, ever. i could spend hours writing both prose, poetry, music, screenplays,, just fuckin dissertation after dissertation about women.. and sometimes it has taken me hours to list at least 5 reasons of “why i like this guy” that didnt involve him reminding me of a woman. guys, the comphet.. was rough. very grateful i have a therapist lol

once i accepted again that i was definitely solely sapphic, i still felt my more-than-partial disconnect from womanhood excluded me from being able to claim the lesbian label, despite how right it began to feel. i was also worried that the people around me would think i was completely detransitioning to cis,, which definitely was not the case. although i am fine with feminine gendered terms and pronouns, and while my expression and interests lean slightly more feminine, my relationship with “womanhood” has always been messy and complicated. i remember first-ish experiencing dysphoria around when i was 11, although i didnt know what that meant at the time. for as long as i can remember, the concept of “being a woman” was not something i felt was entirely me.

i knew there were lesbians that were gender non conforming, but i was not at all aware of the intertwining of lesbianism and gender identity until i began reading more about lesbian history. realizing there have always been lesbians outside of the binary (the popular sunset lesbian flag was designed by emily gwen, a nonbinary lesbian), people who used lesbian/butch as their gender identity, cis lesbians who use pronouns other than she/her, lesbians who use/have used hrt (like me i used hrt for 2 years👋🏾😀) lesbians who bind or pursue top surgery… they were always there. i am halfway through the stone butch blues now and it has actually changed my life. not only did it increase my already overflowing gratitude for my lesbian and queer elders and their experiences… but it made me really realize there has always been a space for me. when that sank in.. i felt immense relief. and then i cried for a fuckin LONG ass time lmao

since all of this i have felt a lot more sure of myself, and have embraced myself in a way i think i have always struggled to before.

so to recap… i am a lesbian. and its pretty rad. and i also love chappell roan. she reminds me of all the reasons why i love being queer and is someone i want to look up to as i continue in my finally-starting-to-go-somewhere career as a performer. one day we will collab and ill tell her all of this in person (watch out yall! it will happen i can sense it😤)

[beatlebug987]

My CD Collection! (As Of 4/22/24)

I wanted to share my current CD collection since collecting them is something I enjoy and I thought it'd be fitting to post it here! I currently have seven CDs in my collection and I'll be listing them in the order I got them in with pictures and stuff!

The first in my collection was PORTALS by Melanie Martinez. (BTW, I know the controversy, so I'm not listening to her as much anymore, but she was my favorite artist for a long time and I loved this album when it came out.)

It has a disc (ofc) and a little booklet. No lyrics, just pictures of them in their pink alien form. I got it off Amazon when the album first came out.

My favorite tracks are NYMPHOLOGY, VOID, EVIL, and BATTLE OF THE LARYNX.

The second one I got was GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo.

It came with a lyric booklet with pictures, the disc and another booklet with the lyrics in other languages. This one was from Amazon as well but it came from Japan.

My favorite tracks are vampire, all American bitch, making the bed, teenage dream and lacy. (I honestly like all the songs on this album, but those are my favorites.)

Next is Bewitched by Laufey.

It came with the disc and a booklet with lyrics and pictures. This one was from Amazon as well.

My favorite tracks are From The Start, Lovesick, While You Were Sleeping, Letter To My 13 Year Old Self, and Promise.

Here's my first Mitski CD; Puberty 2.

This one only came with the disc, but it opens up and has the lyrics on the inside of the case. This is also from Amazon.

My favorite tracks are Happy, Dan the Dancer, Your Best American Girl, and I Bet On Losing Dogs. (I love pretty much all of them though.)

Recently I went to Barnes and Noble and got two new ones. The first one I got was Found Heaven by Conan Gray.

It came with a lyric booklet with photos and the disc.

My favorite tracks are Found Heaven, Alley Rose, Never Ending Song, Boys & Girls, Lonely Dancers, and Winner. (It's SUCH a good album and I like all the songs, these are just my favorites at the moment.)

The second one from B&N is Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers.

It came with the disc and a lyric booklet with really cool illustrations inside. The one in the picture is for Kyoto.

My favorite tracks are Garden Song, Kyoto, I Know The End, ICU, Savior Complex and Moon Song. (I love all of them LOL.)

The latest one I got (and my current favorite as well as the most special one in my collection) was The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan.

OKAY THIS ONE IS SO SO SO SPECIAL TO ME BECAUSE IT CAME WITH A SIGNED PHOTO CARD!!! YIPPEEE!!! It also came with the disc and a lyric map type thing with a dedication letter inside as well. This one came from Ebay since the signed ones were sold out on her store.

My favorite tracks are Casual, Red Wine Supernova, HOT TO GO!, Pink Pony Club, My Kink Is Karma, Femininomenon, and Picture You. (I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ALL THE SONGS ON THIS ALBUM but these are just some of my main picks.)

And that is my collection currently!! Thanks for reading this far lol, this post was fun to put together! I'll probably post updates when my collection expands! :D

[seanleannan]

9 people you'd like to get to know better

Tagged by @tisaqslur (heyyyy!!)

Last song: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 in B Flat Minor (I swear I'm not pretentious, I listen to Tchaikovsky when I'm writing because I can't function without background noise). Apart from that, I've had Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess album on repeat

Favourite colour: green green green, any shade at all but dark green especially

Currently watching: I'm rewatching Criminal Minds for the fifth time, I'm on season 4 and I forgot how dark this show gets oh my god. Last time I watched it the final two seasons weren't out, so I'm excited to watch them for the first time!

Sweet/savoury/spicy: mmm I go through a lot of food hyperfixations, my current one is pasta with one specific type of sauce and cheese. In general, I've got a huuuge sweet tooth, especially for chocolate. Mostly it depends on my mood

Relationship status: painfully single

Current obsession: I've been writing a lot recently which is a new thing for me and I'm really enjoying it. I also taught myself to book bind which is honestly the most fun I've had in a long time

Last thing you googled: Austin Butler in dune 2 (I was trying to describe his character to my friend, but... some things are just easier to show)

Tagging: no pressure tags @psychotic-basement-theorist and @yes-i-exist-shutup

[blossomingbooks]

Chappell Roan through the lens of Susan Sontag's Notes on "Camp"

When reading her 1964 essay Notes on "Camp" — in which Susan Sontag tries to pinpoint the titular phenomenon — I couldn't stop thinking of rising star Chappell Roan, who's so easily identifiable within this concept. So, I decided to analyze the artist through the lens of Sontag's essay.

Drawing a sketch of the origins of Camp, the author starts with the 18th century's appeal for artifice, surface, symmetry, the picturesque and the thrilling — expressed through the likes of Gothic novels, chinoiserie, caricature and artificial ruins. But it's in the 19th century that Camp starts to emerge through artistic movements such as Aestheticism and Art Nouveau, being defined as "often decorative art, emphasizing texture, sensuous surface and style at the expense of content".

Now let's talk about Chappell Roan, stage name of this artist that I've been following for the last 2 years and whose career recently skyrocketed — following the release of her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023), and her live performances. Her visual identity draws a lot from the quintessential Camp phenomenon that is drag culture. Chappell herself has stated that her drag persona honors her inner child who loved to play dress-up, wear makeup and dance.

From the exuberant clothing and scenery of her music videos — such as "My Kink is Karma" and "Red Wine Supernova" (described by herself as a "campy gay girl song") —, to her on-stage dress-up and performances, she's bringing to this decade's pop music what Sontag calls "the love of the exaggerated, the 'off'", the concept of "Being-as-Playing-a-Role".

Many characteristics that, according to Sontag, define Camp can be found in Chappell's work: "flamboyant mannerisms", "the visual reward - the glamour, the theatricality", "the spirit of extravagance." But a major part of her Camp expression is definitely her queerness. Sontag states that "homosexuals, by and large, constitute the vanguard - and the most articulate audience - of Camp":

"Homosexuals have pinned their integration into society on promoting the aesthetic sense. Camp is a solvent of morality. It neutralizes moral indignation, sponsors playfulness." (Sontag)

Chappell's lyrics evoke the nuances of lesbian experience, one that hasn't been widely portrayed in pop music. Through what Sontag calls "the theatricalization of experience", Chappell uses the Camp aesthetic (which neutralizes morality), as a conduit for lesbian expression and exhibition.

This doesn't mean, however, that Camp is merely a vehicle for a moral or sociopolitical objective; Roan seems uninterested in doing that. When asked if she ever feels pressure as an artist to be morally perfect in her music, she denies, stating that she doesn't think any artist should. Her force consists not on content per se, but on form: her delivery of the lesbian narrative is what gives it its impact. The inner cosmos of her feelings is conveyed by her unabashed, at times angsty, theatricals. Her declared love for drag testifies that performance and extravagance are king.

"Camp is the glorification of 'character'. The statement is of no importance - except, of course, to the person (...) who makes it." (Sontag)

"Camp is playful, anti-serious", and Chappell Roan perfectly embodies this "proper mixture of the exaggerated, the fantastic, the passionate and the naïve" that defines the concept so well. With her glittery, feathery and shimmering universe, this "Femininomenon" is bringing what Sontag theorized 60 years ago to the sphere of popular discourse. In the artists' own words, "you really have to lean into the Camp".

If you liked this first part in my short series of comparative analyses on Sontag versus pop culture, check out part 2 about Charli xcx's Brat!

[mostrizzaward]

what albums/songs have you been listening to most this year? also do you have a favourite instrument?

ahhh I love this question!! in no particular order:

Prelude to Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party

The Suburbs by Arcade Fire

This Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski

Wet Leg by Wet Leg

Ask Rufus by Rufus and Chaka Khan

Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan

Aladdin Sane by David Bowie

Gorillaz by Gorillaz

I have so many more! I listen to like 5-6 albums a day and these were just the most recent on my spotify. I’ve been considering making an album review blog to keep track lol.

anyways, my favorite instrument to play is the base guitar! thank you for your ask, I love getting them!! <3

[ura-niia]

Outside COTL ask -

WHAT ARE YOUR FAV ARTISTS/SONGS?

Im interested to know :3 any recs?

IM SO EXCITED TO ANSWER THIS ONE for some reason

I'm gonna be in so much detail because I have a lot of fav songs, I'll be listing my fav artists, why I love listening to them and my fav songs from them :)

Epic The Musical made by Jorge Riverra-Herrans

If you love listen to musicals and love greek mythology, this one's the goat. I don't have a favourite song from this album because all of them are just too good.

But if I had to choose....

All in order, my favourite songs on these sagas are

Troy Saga:

The Horse and The Infant

Just A Man

Warrior of the Mind

Cyclops Saga:

Polyphemus

Survive

My Goodbye

The Ocean Saga:

Luck Runs Out

Keep Your Friends Close

Circe Saga:

Puppeteer

Done For

There Are Other Ways

The Underworld Saga:

The Underworld

No Longer You

Monster

Sonic the Hedgehog Frontiers Soundtrack

The boss music in this soundtrack are so cool I cannot stress this enough. It's like as if SEGA found out about the rock genre of music and tried that out for Sonic: Forces and never looked back.

Fav songs from the soundtrack are:

I'm Here

Undefeatable

Find Your Flame

Break Through it All

Infinite (this on is from the Forces soundtrack)

MARINA

She was the prime when I started out my teenage years, I thought I was that girl whenever I listen to her. Listening to her songs felt so superior but also a bit depressive.

Fav songs from MARINA are:

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land

Bubblegum Bitch

Teen Idle

Seventeen

Hermit the Frog

The Family Jewels

Primadonna

Oh No!

Laufey

Bigg on laufey, all of her songs were so ETHEREAL and my voice flows smoothly everytime I sang her songs.

Favs:

Valentine

Serendipity

Magnolia

Bewitched

Fragile

California and Me

Falling Behind

Goddess

(Fun fact about me... I serenaded the song Magnolia to my girlfriend before we started dating... And another serenade of Valentine on our first valentines day date)

Ricky Montgomery

His songs are such a vibe, whenever I do chores and other stuff that keeps me busy I always put his songs on

Favs:

Snow

Mr. Loverman

This December

Talk To You

California

AURORA

Her songs are so whimsical it genuinely makes me feel like a fairy sometimes LMAO, her song just makes me want to fly up to heaven because that's what her voice sounds like.

Favs:

Into The Unknown (yes, from Frozen ll, she was the siren voice in the movie)

Runaway

Giving in to the Love

Running With The Wolves

Cure For Me

Dance on the Moon

Mothership

The Crane Wives

On the topic of whimsical, The Crane Wives feels like the songs are the winds running along with the animals. Personally, they are the best lyrical geniuses I've ever heard. I've seen a lot of beautiful comics and fanart from a wide range of fandoms that are actually lyrics from most of their songs.

Favs:

Tongues and Teeth

The Moon Will Sing

Curses

Icarus

Shallow River

The Hand That Feeds

Chappell Roan

I listened to her songs recently, and it's so cool that all of her songs are explicitly gay, like no hiding and undertones whatsoever. And I came to like her a lot!! Especially her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Favs:

Good Luck, Babe!

HOT TO GO

Red Wine Supernova

Femininonemon

That's all for my favourite artists! Here are more songs that are my favs but don't know well of the artists!^^

Bernadette by IAMX

touch tank by quinnie

My Love Mine All Mine by Mitski

Favourite by Isabel LaRosa

Tsumi To Batsu by Sheena Ringo

Crime and Punishment by Ado (cover song for Tsumi To Batsu!!)

[thewaythroughthewoods]

9 People I’d Like to Get to Know Better

Thanks @yoshihashismattebum for the tag!

Last song: I'm going to follow Oli's example and talk about albums instead! Recent new loves are Grace Petrie's new one Build Something Better and Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Very different vibes united only really by being queer, but both have been on repeat for the last week or so!

Favourite colour: Green! Particularly a deep darkish green, but just all the greens of forests and leaves make me so happy

Currently watching: I keep up pretty well with AEW week-to-week and between that and a lot of motorsport (see below) I don't watch much actual TV consistently! I tend to find a series to binge then not watch anything for a month or two. Most recently I took advantage of the month of Netflix I got to watch Drive to Survive and binged my way through all of Young Royals.

Spicy/savoury/sweet: I don't have as much of a sweet tooth as I used to, but I'm still a chocolate fiend! But also savoury is so good! I usually don't have dessert with meals so in that aspect I guess I lean savoury, but snacking tends to be sweet stuff.

Relationship status: Single and with very little interest in being in a relationship tbh. I flop back and forth about whether I'm some flavour of aromantic or just happy enough in myself and where I'm at that it's not something I'm actively seeking out.

Obsessions: A dangerous thing to ask about on this, the hyperfixation website! A selection though:

F1 (and now a lot of other motorsport): I typed out a whole thing here then accidentally deleted it and cba to write it again. But yeah I went down a rabbit hole from F1 to add in F2 and F3 and now F1 Academy. Also gathered Indycar and Formula E last year, and then from all of those I acquired more faves and now I'm getting into WEC as well, which is insane because that's so much time but oh well.

Wrestling: the wrestling keeps happening and I keep watching! AEW is really capturing my attention atm after a definite dip circa CM Punk fuckery, NJPW is in a weird place but I still keep up to some extent. Bits of other stuff here and there like CMLL and RevPro too!

Knitting: I cannot sit and watch TV without something to keep my hands busy so the previous two points give me a lot of time to knit! My hobbies go in phases a bit but I'm definitely on a big knitting roll atm! Recently finished a shawl and a pair of socks and nearly done on a cardi. Just the seaming left to do on that and I'm forcing myself to finish it before I start the next project or I'll leave it languishing. But there is a lot of yarn in my stash that I have plans for and I'm itching for a new project!

Ok that's enough typing on my phone I really should have done this on my laptop!

Tagging if you fancy it: @singmetomydreams @doonarose @feycorvus @thepenultimaterolo (I know Oli tagged you as well but have it from me too so I can pad this slightly!)

[kolomo]

thank you for tagging me, @ruanbaijie ♡

1. why did you choose your url? my gaming blog is @picopond, which is a pond in botw/totk, and i thought 'kolomo', a lake in the games, would match it nicely:) 'lakekolomo' was a bit of a mouthful, though.

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them. nope! the gaming blog is its own log in. i don't like the side blog feature all that much...

3. how long have you been on tumblr? 2011 or 2012, i think.

4. do you have a queue tag? nah, my blog runs on a queue so no need for a tag.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place? ummm, i just saw people on twitter using it back in 2011/2012, so that's when i made my first blog. i deleted it maybe a year or two ago and created this one for a bit of a fresh start.

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp? ei-chan very special to me

7. why did you choose your header? i was gifing snf and just thought that shot was neat. i've actually been meaning to update it... idk what to, tho.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?this one. that's cool! (oh my god and this one on the gaming blog...)

9. how many mutuals do you have? idk i don't track that stuff

10. how many followers do you have? 904, but i need to go through a cull the most recent bots.....

11. how many people do you follow?198

12. have you ever made a shitpost? yeh anything with gojo in it is a shitpost i hate that man

13. how often do you use tumblr each day? tbh depends if im bored at work or if there's a particular piece of media im really into and wanna see posts of. sometimes i can go a few days or a week without checking this hellsite.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? lmfao yeah. simblr was a rough place to be.

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts i ignore them on purpose and hope they curse me.

16. do you like tag games? yeah!! i always read the answers of the ones i get tagged in and then immediately forget to do it myself lol!!!

17. do you like ask games? yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i like talking shit!! except im probs gonna turn my ask off...

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? literally all of them and that's not even a joke lol

19. do you have a crush on a mutual? nope!

20. the last song i listened to: a tear in space (airlock) - glass animals

21. currently watching: yatagarasu, spice and wolf, no longer allowed in another world, oshi no ko, suicide squad isekai, twilight out of focus, and senpai is an otokonoko. non-anime is just drag race all stars, and i've been binge watching linus tech tips. you'll figure out why.

22. sweet/savoury/spicy? all three sorry!! cant pick!!

23. relationship status: single. i was on hinge for like two months and then i deleted it lol.

24. current obsession: building a pc!!!!!!!!!! tho researching what parts to get isn't that enjoyable lmfao so it's a painful obsession.

25. nine songs/albums i've been listening to:

the rise and fall of a midwest princess - chappell roan i love you so f***ing much - glass animals loom - imagine dragons

hit me hard and soft - billie eilish intellectual property 2 - waterparks stampede: vol. 1 - orville peck

(and some songs:) hind's hall - macklemore the lovecats - the cure the great pretender - freddie mercury

i tried tagging people but the post editor was being really difficult so... if you see this, you can do it if you want!!!!

[angustully]

For the end of year asks - 2, 5, 10, 19 & 25. Sorry that's a lot!

noo i love it sorry i didnt answer these til now lmao!

2. Album of the year? ugh streaming music has honestly ruined my capacity to listen to albums all the way through and i want to change that in the new year! but the albums i listened to the most: the land is inhospitable and so are we by mitski, guts by olivia rodrigo, rise and fall of a midwest princess by chappell roan, and hack of the year by dale hollow!

5. TV show of the year? omg obviously barry. of course of course of course its barry. that is like my tv show of the decade honestly. but some other shows i watched this year and loved: moral orel, the last of us, minx (even though honestly... s2 kinda sucked but s1 is sooo good), and just this past week i finished scavengers reign and started watching carol & the end of the world and both are so fucking amazing.

10. Something that made you cry this year? HA sooo many things!!! the episode of carol & the end of the world i just watched made me burst into tears at the end! i cried in april when we had to put one of our dogs down, and i cried in september when i ran a half marathon. i love to cry at anything and everything <3

19. What’re you excited about for next year? Hmmm I honestly haven't really been thinking of whats on the docket for next year lol.. I'm excited to start the year with a job I really like, and with a not negative bank account balance!

25. Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one. Oh man I really didnt! I didn't do much writing or anything this year. I recently made a new save file in stardew valley if that counts. but the character is named after me and I just randomized all the features lol

[raphohwell]

The woman in the chainmail get up is a lesbian pop singer named Chappell Roan! The look is from her performance of her most recent single (Good Luck, Babe!) at the VMA’s a few nights ago. Her first album (The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess) came out last year, and every single song on it is an absolute banger.

Thanks for the info!

[jamdoughnutmagician]

what’s your top 5 albums, books and snacks <3

Top 5 albums

Room On The Third Floor - McFly (I'm limiting myself to just the one McFly album because I could choose all of them tbh, but I'm very loyal to their debut album)

Sunny Side Up - Paolo Nutini (This album is my forever favourite album, possible favourite of all time)

Staying At Tamara's - George Ezra (just the perfect lazy summer album in my opinion

25 - Adele (for when I wanna badly sing my feelings)

The Rise and Fall of A Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan (A fairly recent love of mine, but every single song on that album is so good!

Books

The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman (I'm choosing all of them as a series, but I particularly enjoyed The Bullet That Missed)

A Court Of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J Maas(because General Cassian got me feeling a type of way 🤤)

Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Trouble by Non Pratt

Fairy Dust and The Quest For The Egg (A Childhood Favourite)

Snacks

Crisps (Particularly Asda's own brand kettle cooked salt and pepper ones!)

Biscuits (I'm not all that fussy, I like most biscuits, but Lu's cinnamon and brown sugar ones are delicious)

Popcorn

Apples (that counts as a snack yeah?)

Greggs toffee custard doughnuts

[journalingdyke]

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒/𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐄: the bear¹, seasons one and two. challengers² by luca guadagnino.

𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊: sunburn³ by chloe michelle howarth.

𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆/𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌: sidelines by phoebe bridgers. the rise and fall of a midwest princess by chappell roan.

𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒: duda sampaio, jogadora meio campo do corinthians (alternatively, my girlfriend ou artilheira do meu coração). mystic messenger (saeran’s route).

¹ A young chef from the fine dining world comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he's used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing realities of small business ownership, his strong-willed and recalcitrant kitchen staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother's suicide. As Carmy fights to transform both the shop and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges kitchen crew that ultimately reveals itself as his chosen family.

² Tashi, a tennis player turned coach, has transformed her husband from a mediocre player into a world-famous grand slam champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a challenger event -- close to the lowest level of tournament on the pro tour. Tensions soon run high when he finds himself standing across the net from the once-promising, now burnt-out Patrick, his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.

³ It's the early 1990s, and in the Irish village of Crossmore, Lucy feels out of place. Despite her fierce friendships, she's always felt this way, and the conventional path of marriage and motherhood doesn't appeal to her at all. Not even with handsome and doting Martin, her closest childhood friend. Lucy begins to make sense of herself during a long hot summer, when a spark with her school friend Susannah escalates to an all-consuming infatuation, and, very quickly, to a desperate and devastating love. Fearful of rejection from her small and conservative community, Lucy begins living a double life, hiding the most honest parts of herself in stolen moments with Susannah. But with the end of school and the opportunity to leave Crossmore looming, Lucy must choose between two places, two people and two futures, each as terrifying as the other. But only one can offer her real happiness.

[pizzacentral]

2023 ANNUAL FAVORITES

Hello! Welcome back to my annual year-end list of favorite things. I think it was actually a really strong year for new movies, music, and games, so I'm going to get to the point fairly quickly here. It was a year where I was lucky to have a good amount of time to take in new media, and I am thankful for that. Here's what I enjoyed most!

As always, any media that was widely released in the calendar year 2023 (that I personally consumed within the calendar year 2023) was eligible. This was ranked on January 1st, 2024, and remains unchanged since then (no matter what I end up thinking about it in the future.)

Favorite Films

I watched 105 movies that were widely released in 2023 this year, up from 96 in 2022. 67 of those were in a movie theater, up from 40 last year. Actually, streaming movies slipped through the cracks more this year, as I prioritized watching films in one sitting instead of in chunks during my commute to work.

It was pretty difficult to make a top twenty-five list this year, least of all to cull it down to ten, so it is with apologies to everything else that I present my favorites. By the way, if you'd like to hear me talk about these movies, give Cinema Bums a listen.

10. Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé

9. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

8. Eileen

7. How To Blow Up a Pipeline

6. Oppenheimer

5. BlackBerry

4. American Fiction

3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. The Killer

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Favorite Records

I feel like I listened to less records this year than I'd have liked to, but when I look at this list, I know pretty much all the words to every song on every album (and had to cut probably five others that I felt the same way about). So that's not bad!

10. KAYTRAMINÉ - Aminé and Kaytranada

9. In the End It Always Does - The Japanese House

8. the record - boygenius

7. So Much (For) Stardust - Fall Out Boy

6. The People's Champ - Quinn XCII

5. GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo

4. And the Charm - Avalon Emerson

3. Desire, I Want To Turn into You - Caroline Polachek

2. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan

1. Something To Give Each Other - Troye Sivan

Favorite Songs

As always, any song on one of my Favorite Records was not eligible to be included on my Favorite Songs list. I've probably listened to singles and playlists more than records recently, and the shortlist for this category was over a hundred songs long. That list may have contained some more adventurous cuts, but these were the ones that meant the most to me.

10. "Psychedelic Switch" - Carly Rae Jepsen

9. "Ant Pile" - Dominic Fike

8. "Coping On Unemployment" - Del Water Gap

7. "ALÉRGICA" - Paty B

6. "Even When I'm Not With You" - Pierce the Veil

5. "All Dogs Go To Hell" - Chase Rice

4. "A&W" - Lana Del Rey

3. "Outskirts" - Sam Hunt

2. "Dance the Night" - Dua Lipa

1. "Co-Star" - Amaarae

Favorite TV Shows

Probably not as great of a year for the handful of TV shows I watch as 2022 was, but I think the top three here are really good!

5. Loki (Season 2)

4. Ahsoka (Season 1)

3. Poker Face (Season 1)

2. The Last of Us (Season 1)

1. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (Season 3)

Favorite Video Games

These are all for the Nintendo Switch. In 2024, I hope to finally play Persona 5 Royal on Switch, then finally get a Steam Deck and play Marvel's Spider-Man, and then get a Switch 2 when it comes out. Maybe those plans are kind of in conflict with my plans to spend more time writing.

5. Vampire Survivors

4. Suika Game

3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

2. Metroid Prime Remastered

1. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Favorite Theater

I thought this would be fun to add as its own category this year, since I live in New York City and have somewhat okay luck at winning the lottery for shows!

5. Shucked (Broadway)

4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway)

3. Camelot (Broadway)

2. The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (Off-Broadway)

1. Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Off-Broadway)

Assorted Favorites

Stop Making Sense (Remastered Theatrical Run and Remastered Album)

Joe Pera: Slow and Steady (Comedy Special)

Blank Check's 8th Anniversary Live Show

"Ana Fabrega: One Hour" (Live Show)

To a T Reveal Trailer

Movie Trailers: Somebody I Used To Know, Past Lives, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Maestro

That's all for this one. Happy New Year!

[sitpwgs]

Hi Cossette! Happy (belated) October 🍂 It's been a been quite an eventful past few months hence the slow reply!

Talking about reading, I have been very behind with updating my Goodreads profile, but I have managed to read more than 50 books this year so I'm pretty content! I did find a lot of books a bit forgettable, but I've really enjoyed:

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry

Labyrinth's Heart by M.A. Carrick

For The Eras Tour, I haven't thought about making bracelets just yet but I'm definitely going through my wardrobe and fancying dressing up the Reputation Era (esp. the black hoodie look from the LWYMMD music video)!! And ahh I'm also very thrilled about the Paramore guest appearance!! (Castles Crumbling really has been growing on me 💖)

As of Maisie Peters, I still personally prefer the coherence & production of You Signed Up For This (I listen to her debut more often in order), I think The Good Witch really showcased her songwriting strength & her willingness to experiment with new sounds! Out of the 2 albums, which do you personally prefer?

Over the course of the past few months, I've been listening to Guts (Olivia Rodrigo), Bewitched (Laufey), and The Loveliest Time (Carly Rae Jepsen) quite a lot! Carly's latest b-sides is quite a pleasant surprise: it's her most experimental body of work to date but I really enjoyed it nevertheless! I also love listening to the upbeat tracks from Guts - they're quite a refreshing change from Sour!

Other albums that I've enjoyed include: The Rise and Fall Of A Midwest Princess (Chappell Roan) & The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We (Mitski)! I'll need to relisten to these a bit more but they are growing on me 🩷

My recent top pick goes to Laufey's Bewitched: I think this might actually be my favourite 2023 release - it's a no skip album to me and I love how coherent & well thought out her sophomore effort is!! Which songs are your favourite so far? And which of the 2 Laufey albums do you prefer?

P.S. Ahh I'm very excited about 1989 (Taylor's Version), The Eras Tour Movie, as well as the new Holly Humberstone album!!

happy happy belated october and happy eras tour movie day and happy holly debut day! 🤍 i hope you're doing well, jennifer!

i feel like everyone i know has had a bit of a ~ forgettable ~ reading year with only a handful of highlights! i've been in and out of a fantasy slump, which is really frustrating because there's so many fantasy books that keep popping up on my radar!

the reputation era seems like such a FUN era to dress up as !! i saw a bunch of people in rep era-esque outfits at my show and i loved it 🤍 i wonder if she'll sing castles crumbling with hayley each night — i was really hoping we'd get castles crumbling for my surprise song in seattle, since paramore was originally supposed to play in seattle the day after eras seattle, but i also would not trade my surprise songs for the world!

i personally prefer the good witch over you signed up for this, but i do still really love you signed up for this! i think my ranking of maisie albums is good witch → trying → ysuft → dressed too nice for a jacket? maybe? what about you? the good witch is definitely my most streamed album of the year so far, according to apple music replay!

i also loved bewitched, loveliest time & guts, but haven't listened to bewitched or loveliest time as much as i would want to! i've been in more of an audiobook mood lately than a music one! i think i like guts more than sour overall, but i think i like my favorites from sour more than my favorites on guts, if that makes sense? what about you? what are your favorites from guts?

i haven't had a chance to listen to chappell roan's new album or mitski, but i really really need to!! the only other fall release i've listened to lately is del water gap's i miss you already + i haven't left yet! i really want to get bewitched on vinyl i think my favorite might be letter to my 13 year old self, but i need to do a couple more listens until i'm certain! what's your favorite?

i have listened to paint my bedroom black though, and i LOVED it! have you listened to it yet? what are your favorites from it? 🤍

hope you're doing well and having a good october!!!