#nihilism but then make it pop art

[saruslumber-01]

Quick take on Jiaoqiu’s trailer

As always, I love to take screenshots whenever there’s some images flashing and this time, I did the same thing.

Before I actually talk about the trailer, I want to point out how (to me at least), the theme/ost doesn’t really match him. Or rather, how he appears to be.

(Imo it’s a similar case to jade’s trailer, you’d think she’d have something more… idk tempting in a unsuspecting way, like when you believe you made an amazing deal, only to later meet the terrible consequences.

Well anyway, the thing that I noticed is that both in jade’s trailer [or at least splash art and references/motifs] and in jiaoqiu’s, they hold an apple in their hand. I get why in jade, but in jiaoqiu’s? That very weird to me)

(Here you go, the moment, I’m talking about ^)

What I ACTUALLY wanna talk about that caught my attention, is the eyes we see all over the trailer.

I get it, he always keeps them closed, but from the trailer it seems it was not just a stylistic choice to make him this way, but actual lore behind it. (Ofc I might be wrong since we still know NOTHING about his backstory, and I’ll probably talk more when I’ll read his char stories after his release)

Idk, to me this feels kinda weird to get his eye to pop out like that (and it reminds me of firefly’s trailer). Not only that, but we get a moment where we see a fox spirit (?) made out of fire which is oddly similar to Tail’s ‘true’ form (huohuo ult). AND then from the fox’s eye it smoothly transitions into jiaoqiu’s eye. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

To me, it might foreshadow that the “eye thing” that is going on with jiaoqiu is becase those are not his natural eyes. Rather, they’d ‘changed’ (idk how to explain that) into the golden ones, as if he got possessed by that fox spirit (or maybe I’m just reading into things too much, who knows).

More eyes screenshots (which kinda remind me of sunday AND bring us to my next point)

What I want to talk about is the placement of those eyes.

Please don’t tell me I’m the only one who didn’t think it looked somehow familiar…

Rings a bell now?

I also ‘circled’ the flower she has on her ‘crown’ as it resembled the anise jiaoqiu uses in his skill, and ALSO popped up a few times in the trailer.

I know I might be digging too deep, but I feel there something very eerie and off about jiaoqiu as a character in story, and as a playable character.

I’m sure everyone remember how jiaoqiu’s a cook, a healer, right? Then why on earth is he a nihility unit? I’ve seen sooo many people being confused about it, and I’m sure HoYo wouldn’t mention it that much, unless it was important to the story.

And before anyone goes and says “wdym phantylia got a new victim?” NO. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m trying to prove that jiaoqiu isn’t probably just some random foxian who knows how to cook (and take care of feixiao). That there’s connections that all come back to the word “possessed”.

Tingyun? Possessed by phantylia (and spexulated to return in later versions)

Huohuo? Got her tail ‘possessed’ (I don’t remember too well, sorry) by Tail, AND in her trailer (which has a lot of flashing images and yin yang in there [I’ve got screenshots for both trailers to prove]) she is possessed by Tail, a heliobus. And what is a heliobus? Some kind of fox spirit! (Or at least I think so…)

What I’m trying to say is that there’s some kind of ‘possession’ when it comes to jiaoqiu.

(And another character that got flashing images and got possessed [outside of jade and huohuo] is sparkle! And don’t you agree that in terms of the overall vibes, their trailers does seem quite similar?)

So uh, yeah! That’s all I wanted to share.

I’ll probably do one more post for just the similarities in the trailers of jiaoqiu, jade, huohuo and maybe sparkle

Thanks for reading my ramblings and getting through to whole thing, I appreciate it a lot!

[silverliing]

Mike’s wall art

I love seeing analysis about ST set design because it really spells out so much of the story without verbally telling you, and ive seen much discussion abt the details of mike’s room in s4 (that one way sign haunts me btw). buuut there are two pieces of visible wall art that I don’t really see get talked about on here (that i’ve read) and I just have a few things to say about them and what i think they might be telling us about Mike’s character and upcoming journey (hint: going into the UD)(hint: making plans and leading the party)(hint: byler)

so idk if this has been pointed out or if it’s common knowledge atp but the two pieces circled above are lithographs by artist MC Escher; Hand with Reflective Sphere (left)

and Relativity (right)

(a lil hard to see in this screenshot i’m sorry😢)

The artwork is beautiful as you can see (canon Mike Wheeler has great taste in art). Escher was most known for his intricate “impossible constructions” which are optical illusions of paradoxical space, he was also the inventor of the impossible cube:

this is some pretty cool nerdy, mathy stuff that I’d expect mike would be into, but looking at it from the context of his character and the direction of where the story is headed, there were 3 immediate possible readings that popped into my head which point toward 3 different (yet coexisting) directions:

He likes the art — It’s true, this art taps into Mike’s interests. Valid but boring. zzzz. snooze. You could argue that these posters should be taken at face value, but I just feel like in a show like ST —where the main cast knows of and is in various ways affected by an evil alternate dimension— having a character with wall art that references perspective/dimensional anomalies doesn’t really tell us much about his specific character or story. We’ve known that the ST set designers use a character’s space to show us who they are as people, these two artworks need to tell us something about Mike and his journey. And maybe Mike’s sensibilities about the world at large are shifting into nihilism with everything that’s happened in hawkins and the art reflects an absurdist outlook of future (teenage stuff, growing up, etc. etc.)

It foreshadows Mike’s s5 arc — I love this one. Mike is one of the few in the main cast who haven’t been in the upside down proper, so this art could reference not only that he’ll go into the UD in s5 but also that there could be dimensional anomalies involved in his travel or journey there. Perhaps this is how they’ll be able to find Max— by bending the laws of physics and using the mechanics of dimensional travel against itself, perhaps to open new doors or travel in different directions (hint: time travel 😏). And i think the reason this art is in Mike’s wall is bc it will be Mike who formulates the plan to find Max and retrieve her with the help of El and Will’s new powers 😏 (g*d knows i want to see leader Mike make a come back)(and Will with powers).

Will Byers — we know Mike and Will are tied together by the narrative and so I think these artworks could be directly pointing to Will with big red arrows. This point is corroborated by simply analyzing the formal qualities of the artwork, both individually and as a set. Hand with Reflective Sphere is about optics and perspective, about seeing, but also about the flattening of space. Relativity is about space, dimension, and paradox, but also about impossible perspective/vantage point. When read together the objective reading of them is about sight and space and paradox, about how the flattening of space helps us see something new and impossible. While Mike hasn’t experienced the dimensional travel into the UD proper, many of those closest to him atp had; El, Will, Nancy… but the reason i think these two posters remind him of Will specifically is because out of everyone else who has been in the UD, only Will experiences the feeling of being stuck there and of seeing into both dimensions at once; the stuck view-master, true sight. Mike associates these things combined (dimensional travel and dimensional sight/perception) with Will.

Also, Mike is a nerdy guy, he seems interested in this kind of stuff for the fun of it so he could’ve had sciency charts that reference the subject of visible light and paradoxes the way Suzie does, but instead he has not one but two fine-art pieces by a pretty big graphic artist that reference the subject of sight and space. Also, Idk what it is about the fact that it’s fine-art and not movie/game/dnd art that makes me also associate it with Will— the self-proclaimed visual artist of the show. The words are all jumbled up in my head rn but; artist. sight. all-encompassing. dimension. paradox. new perspective. -> -> -> -> Will Byers (is this a hint to wills powers??) etc. etc. etc. you get it

Secret 4th option (ties into #2)

Mike gets Vecnaed and this forces him into extensive self-reflection and the labyrinthian trials of finding himself and mastering his fears(maybe he’s already begun his self-searching and that’s why we see this art at the beginning of s4). cue cool musical montage of Mike navigating his own memories and mind-scape to find the answer that will make everything make sense while also hiding from vecna and buying the party time to find a way to end him.

[effypcfcwrites]

The Owl House

(Originally posted on my personal Facebook dated April 25, 2023)

This is probably the first time I'll be posting a detailed review of a piece of media that I like, so witness me sing all of my praises for this animated series from the House of Mouse, because wow, I've never been so invested in a Disney show after rewatching Gravity Falls.

For those unfamiliar, The Owl House revolves around Luz Noceda, a teenage girl who stumbles upon a portal to an alternate world called The Boiling Isles, meets a witch named Eda Clawthorne, learns magic under her tutelage and eventually enrolls in Hexside, a magic school where she makes many friends and goes on multiple adventures.

I binged this whole show in a span of weeks and even stayed up all night on my day off to finish it up to Season 3, the first 2 Seasons being on Disney+ and the latter on Disney Channel's YouTube page.

Simply put, I love it so much! I love how it reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and, dare I say, Harry Potter, which it even poked fun at, at times. Well-deserved, considering J.K. Rowling’s transphobic views and HP’s underlying anti-Semitic undertones.

I loved the pop culture references to Thor: Ragnarok, Howl's Moving Castle, Metal Gear Solid, and even Hades, among many others! I thought those were very clever and funny, and just a treat for fellow nerds, geeks, and fans of fantasy stories, anime, and video games.

I love the LGBTQ+ representation all throughout the show, which was such a bold move considering Disney’s iffy stance on the subject. None of them were antagonized for it, and it was treated as something normalized in both the Human and Demon Realms. The show featured 2 gay dads, non-binary and aromantic-asexual characters, and one of the internet’s favorite sapphic/WLW couples Lumity, which is the ship consisting of canonically bisexual Luz and implied lesbian Amity Blight, whose rivals-to-friends-to-lovers relationship was just so wholesome, so natural, and very healthy, considering they're both teenagers. Suprisingly, there was very little melodrama, not once were they petty towards one another whenever either party did something wrong, and they never got tired of showing affection towards each other. I found myself shamelessly gushing over how cute, adorable, and supportive they were together, and tearing up a lot during key moments of their relationship, especially when they both found themselves in dire straits as the story progressed.

I love the writing and the character development of them all! None of them felt static, they all grew throughout the series, maturing, getting better, and healing from their own insecurities, trauma, and guilt. The humor and comedic timing was a nice touch, and I was really taken aback by how S2 ended on such a dark cliffhanger with all stakes raised to the roof, similar to A:TLA S2 and The Empire Strikes Back, as mentioned earlier. That season wasn’t afraid to have such a grim ending, with such a great payoff by the end of S3 which is worth celebrating.

I love the animation and art style, which blended colorful and whimsical with eerie and ominous in just the right amounts. As a sucker for animated movies and series such as Adventure Time, The Prince of Egypt, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it was just such a delight watching it.

I love the overarching message of the show, which is to be truly yourself, to embrace your quirks, and never to limit yourself and your potential based on what the majority of society and the powers-that-be expect from you. All throughout, you’ll find the characters challenging pre-established norms and roles, and it’s just so satisfying seeing them all win.

11/10 top-tier show. Don’t @ me, it’s hard for me to find something I disliked about the series. It's definitely a must-watch, especially if you're sick and tired of all the bleak nihilism of modern adult animation, and you just want to baby your inner child and escape to a whimsical fantasy world with characters you can all relate to. Betting my bottom peso you'll all be hooked, like I was.

[davekat-sucks]

imisshomestuck popping off with the jake meta, damn

i agree completely, but also this paragraph

"Unhappy endings are better because of that. Fuck that. That's not why people read stories. People read them to see the ideal, to feel the potential of a character and then later see their faith and hope be rewarded. Reading a fictional story shouldn't be like gambling where you hope the writer ends up closing a characters story well and having them turn into the best version of themselves. Why do so many writers have the idea that reality always ends up being shitty and disappointing! Stories should too! It's like that stupid Mad at Disney song. We should all be bitter and nihilistic. The 1990s nihilism trend did a number to these mother fuckers. They think that trying is pointless and flaws are weights around our ankles that make it impossible to win the race of lie."

yes holy shit im so fucking TIRED of nihilism in stories, yet it seems its all i can find in everything nowadays (example: GOT, that was ass and im tired of pretending otherwise, all the good interesting main characters dying triggered my homestuck ptsd). and i fucking hate how this garbage webcomic has ruined my perception of character interaction for me forever because nothing comes even close! and all i get in fanworks is davekat uwu shit or discourse! im so fucking pissed! i hate hussie, hiveswap, the epilogues and hsbc and this idiotic fucking nu fandom!

someone send some book/shows/manga recs plz

in exchange i can give some too, if you like homestucks minimalist art style give alex toths works a try, his artbooks in particular are great. invader zim, irkens is where hussie stole the trolls and alternia from. also emily the strange, the maxx (1993), sam & max. for manga, lupin iii is fun.

There is only such much nihilism I can take before it becomes annoying that we get it, everything fucking sucks. Worse if said media tells me that I'm an idiot for even caring for watching/reading the series in the first place. At this point, it makes one question then who the hell you are writing for at this point if you slap the audience in the face and purposely make yourself feel like shit. As for series: Smiling Friends, Mashle: Muscles and Magic, Crayon Shin-chan, Gintama, Sgt. Frog/Keroro Gunsou,

[ask-the-clergy-bc]

Kinda random, but can you do the papas/ghouls with a sibling of sin who crochets (preferably nonrimantic/platonic relationship but you don’t have to) also hope you have a good day/week :)

Never be afraid to ask for platonic/friendship/non-romantic requests! I’m always happy to do them :)

Also, crocheting is the BEST! I’m so excited to do this!

I hope you enjoy and have a good night yourself ❤️

G/N Reader

Platonic friendship

Era V Ghouls

Fluff/light hearted prompt

Papas and Ghouls with a Sibling of Sin who Crochets

Papa Nihil: One of his most prized possessions is a vintage styled blanket you made for him. It’s a granny square blanket with trim, and in the warm colors you’d find in someone’s 70’s inspired house. It reminds him of the ones he used to love and it stays on the back of his couch. You have been roped into being his movie buddy. So while you both are watching cheesy horror movies, you share the blanket as he watches and you crochet more!

Papa I: Papa adores your crocheting! Most of your time spent together is basically you both doing a quiet activity while lightly chatting. You with your yarn and he with whatever task he’s appointed himself that day. He has commissioned you for pot cozies for his favorite old plants. They comically break up his dark decor, but he adores them. You even picked a yarn that feels good sensory wise on his hands! Whenever he finds old books about yarn and needlework he gives them to you. It actually got you into lace making as well!

Papa II: He has a reputation for being a luxury goods type of man, and many wrongly assume he wouldn’t like hand made goods. But Papa has a deep respect for any skill based craft. Depending on what you make may or may not interest him, but he admires your skill. You once crocheted him some very tasteful doilies. Papa uses them under his favorite bottles of alcohol to really bring out his display shelves. He has gifted you high quality wool yarn before.

Papa III: Acts like everything you make is divine. Because to him it is! Papa also has a deep love of craftsmanship. But be aware, he LOVES getting hand made things from you! Papa will happily commission you for whatever pops into his head. Or if you’re making something he will go, “I want one too! Make it in purple?” Papa delights in being a friend and patron of you, no matter what you make. His favorite is the time you made him a sweater for his birthday! He wore it all day and bragged about having a one of kind piece of art from you.

Papa IV/Cardinal Copia: Copia tends to get lost in watching you crochet. Like, he intensely watches your hands as you work. He can’t help himself, it’s so mesmerizing! He won’t admit how much he really wants stuff you’ve made. But Copia knows from experience how annoying it is to be pestered for your skill. He’s absolutely delighted when you make him a toy rat! It stays in his office on his desk so he can play with it while he’s thinking.

Aether: You convinced him to take up crocheting with you… and he LOVES IT! It’s actually thanks to you both that the band had those gold sweaters for the Christmas pictures back in the Prequelle days! You two had worked your fingers to the bone for MONTHS to get them ready! Aether finds a similar peace in crocheting the way he does with guitar. When he stayed back from touring he had more time to dedicate working with you. You even have your own sweater he made just for you!

Phantom: You have this chaotic ghoul so enamored with everything you make!! You even made him a tiny yarn ghost that he takes everywhere (affectionately named Phantom Jr.) you have tried to help teach Phantom how to knit with very little success. Oh well! He’ll just sit and watch you do it instead. Phantom always has questions and is just happy to hear you talk about it! Phantom Jr is placed in his front vest pocket at all times.

Aurora: Constantly begs you to go yarn shopping with her. Aurora actually has a brilliant eye for color and flair, so she happily picks out combinations to use for your projects. She became addicted to your work when you made her a pair of fingerless gloves so her prized claws don’t get caught. She introduced you to the rest of the band as, “my amazingly talented friend who made the gloves you’re all jealous of”!

Sunshine: Thinks you’re some kind of wizard, because how else could you do something so amazing?? Sunshine loves to sit with you and hold your yarn as you work. Sometimes they like to help and just untangle your yarn or re-wind some back into skeins. Sunshine is just happy to watch you make amazing pieces while they practice or do boring paper work next to you. They won’t admit they would love a fun hat from you!

Swiss: Has worn everything you ever made him and immediately shows them off. Swiss has mastered doing a fashion show walk as he models the newest hat you made. “Oh, is everyone jealous I have the newest crochet couture?” If you sell these he will tell EVERYONE! Thanks to him the whole band owns one of your hats!! He’s so proud of your skill and vows to get everyone in the ministry to adore your work!

Cumulus: You both accidentally became good friends thanks to your crocheting! You were taking commissions around the ministry to earn a few extra dollars and favors (as chores only gave you so much allowance). Imagine your surprised when THE Cumulus approached you with a want for a scarf. You ended up knitting the most gorgeous bean stitch cream scarf for her. While chatting during the commission times you both found you got along splendidly. Cumulus hasn’t let you out of her sight since, and wears her scarf every winter!

Cirrus: The pianist has made it her mission to stop others from pestering you for free crochet pieces. Specifically her fellow band mates. But Cirrus won’t lie and say she has a lot of pride in being able to say she owns one of your little crochet animals. You once made her a tiny yarn cat just because, and she adores it! When you both are hanging around you nearly cried seeing the little plush cat rest on her practice keyboard. According to Cirrus, that’s her song editor. Awww!

Mountain: You weren’t sure what he thought of, he’s always so quiet! You were surprised one day when he finally seemed to acknowledge your hobby by politely showing you a pattern. A yarn cactus plushie attached to a plush pot. Mountain explains he really wanted to see if you would make him something but felt too shy to ask. The drummer assuming that you made so many projects because you’re obviously swarmed by commissions! He was so grateful you made it and praises you for how well made it is. You were so flattered when he immediately showed the rest of the band what you made!

Rain: Adores anything cute you make! His favorite are the little animals you make from different patterns. Every time you find a new pattern he asks if you can make him one too! He has a whole shelf of small yarn animals and refuses to let anyone touch them. They are special because they are from you, one of his best friends! He especially adores the jellyfish with long yarn trails you made for his summoning anniversary.

Sodo/Ember: Thinks crocheting is badass but it’s a little low energy for him. He can’t watch you do it or it calms him down enough to want to take a nap (everyone begs you to keep doing it.) if you crochet around him and he’s tired enough he will just rest on you and sleep (with permission of course.) you have made him a hat to cover the time he broke his horn and Sodo refused to let anyone touch it. He has commissioned you to make gifts for the band many times!

[polutrope]

Maglor and Apocalypse/Post-apocalypse for the AU Headcanons Game ^_^ (come to think of it, it'd be a pretty neat setting to put him in!)

Maglor in a Post-apocalyptic AU

Maglor knew the end was coming. But as a celebrated pop star, he thought he was doing the right thing by continuing to make his art, by going on talk shows and spreading his message of hope, by giving people a refuge from the doom and gloom of the coming Catastrophe.

But his message of hope in the face of collapse was twisted by his fans. A cult of nihilism sprung up around his music, and when the great winds and fires and floods and plagues swept over the earth, Maglor's "followers" met death head on.

Maglor hid. He used his wealth and his privilege to buy himself protection and he survived. But for what? With all his fans dead, he meant nothing. He was no one. He stopped speaking, he cut off his hair, and he took to a quiet and laborious life of tilling the earth... until, one day, he forgot who had been altogether.

also for @welcomingdisaster

Here he is:

Picrew

[ckret2]

What does Goldie think of all the different bodily functions they now has to deal with? Like gas, boogers, ear wax, upset stomach, throwing up, having to go to the bathroom, clipping nails etc etc

For the vast majority of his new human functions, Bill doesn't care about them nearly as much as you might think he would.

Gas? Meh; apathetic. First time Bill gets that painful really bad gas, he thinks one of his internal organs must've fatally malfunctioned; when he learns that's just what gas sometimes feels like to humans, he no longer cares—about the gas OR the pain. Lacks the ability to tell the difference between what humans think are "good" and "bad" smells.

Boogers? Meh; apathetic. If he has a really gross sneeze, his first instinct is to just lick it off his lip. Doesn't understand why this makes people look at him like he's just turned his rib cage inside out. Does it really matter that much WHICH face hole the slime is in? Humans already put up with being a bizarre medley of squelching fluids and goos, and THAT'S where they draw the line??

Ear wax? Meh; apathetic. Rarely has a reason to remember it exists.

Upset stomach? He has an astounding ability to power through nausea and keep on doing whatever he was doing, which would be even more amazing if it was due to an iron willpower rather than due to some failure in his brain to register the possibility that his condition could improve (or at least not get worse) if he rests and recovers. An upset stomach will make him as miserable as any other human; but he'll just keep doing whatever he's doing until it fixes itself or becomes debilitating. He deals with most forms of discomfort this way.

Throwing up? From Bill's perspective, taking psychedelic substances is a spiritually liberating act that can teach you how little the delicate permeable surface of your body really separates you from the universe around you, and can open your mind up to the soaring vistas of all-of-time and all-of-space; and puking is the exact opposite of that. It collapses all of time and space into a single stuffy, claustrophobic, endless pinpoint of agony. Thus far Bill's found no other experience that can quite so intimately reconnect him with his body, and he hates it. But he doesn't hate it enough that it'll teach him not to do whatever he did that made him sick in the first place. His digestive tract won't be the master of him.

Going to the bathroom? Meh; apathetic. Just a couple more fluids/goos to deal with. The most annoying part is that humans are so unreasonably PICKY about when and where and how you eject it and the complicated cleansing rituals that follow. ("Bill was not born a flesh animal" = "Bill lacks a flesh animal's instinctive aversion to disease-harboring waste." Plus, that whole "can't tell what smells are bad" thing.) It takes several weeks to completely housebreak Bill, mostly because he's outraged at the suggestion that he should have to conform to his jailers' weird arbitrary cultural taboos. It's a deeply harrowing experience for the humans.

Clipping nails? He's never done it. These things eventually break and tear down to a more manageable length if you leave them to their own devices long enough. He's unwilling to admit that having them cut short is SLIGHTLY more convenient; but he's realized that if he lets Mabel paint his nails, he can trick her into trimming them for him. (From Mabel's perspective, she's realized that if she offers to paint Bill's nails, she can trick him into letting her trim his nails. Also, she gets to pick the colors. Win-win.)

Etc etc:

He loathes brushing his hair—for reasons the humans can't wrap their heads around, it makes him violently ill. This is another task he somehow manages to delegate to Mabel. It's their friendship bonding activity and oftentimes it's what they're doing when they're talking about boys or art projects or movies or Heidegger's reinterpretation of Nietzsche's nihilism or pop music or fashion. She braids cute beads into his hair without telling him. Mabel is the only thing keeping this tottering wreck of a pseudo-human intact and it's making the responsible adults nervous.

Like most other human hygiene rituals that do not actively serve to prevent live bacteria from entering his body, he thinks bathing/showering is annoying. He's been trained to do it anyway because if somebody goes "you stink, Bill, go take a shower" and he DOESN'T, then Stan and Ford will wait until he falls asleep, roll him up in a bedsheet, and drop him in a tub of ice cold water.

Of all a human body's annoyances, the worst is sleep. All the gunks that come with a human body mean nothing to Bill—ashes and dust, all of it—but sleep, God, sleep's psychological, sleep is where the horrors lie. He's a dream demon who's being punished; he spends all night aware that he's dreaming, but powerless to wake himself or exert control over his dreams. He's just stuck in his head, alone, bored, and hallucinating. It takes time for him to figure out how to unlock or adapt his dream powers so that he isn't so helpless inside his own head. 

[oldxenomorph]

[uno reverse card] top 10 albums

top 5/top 10 anything.

i'm always listening to stuff. (in no particular order)

born this way by lady gaga i know it's corny to say that an album saved my life, but this album ready did save my life. it helped me get through a really, really tough time and gave me the confidence to feel good about myself. also the album is excellent, phenomenal even. truly a game changer for pop music, ahead of its time in many ways. i really do think born this way and the fame monster are gaga's best albums. also perhaps my favorite era in terms of gaga's aesthetics. recommended tracks: marry the night, born this way, judas, the edge of glory

cruelty and the beast by cradle of filth i first heard cradle of filth back in the days of mtv2's headbanger's ball and the video for "nymphetamine" was probably when i first realized i was bisexual. but then i downloaded cruelty and the beast and my first listen of "cruelty brought thee orchids" rewired a part of my brain permanently. i was so happy it finally got the remaster it deserved a few years ago. recommended tracks: cruelty brought thee orchids, bathory aria, lustmord and wargasm, beneath the howling stars

nihil by kmfdm/that total age by nitzer ebb cheating by putting two albums in one number because both were incredibly formative albums for me. i found both of them together in their original cd cases at a half price books when i was in high school. truly the source of my love for industrial music. both are still part of my daily music rotation. recommended tracks: brute, ultra, murderous, fitness to purpose

ask the dust by lorn my friends are probably sick and tired of me putting 374927428 lorn tracks in all my character playlists. but lorn is so good! a friend showed me the video for "ghosst(s)" and it rewired a part of my brain in such a way that i'm still obsessed with this guy's music. ask the dust in particular has some of my favorite tracks, but his most recent albums and eps like remnant and drown the traitor are also really excellent. man doesn't know how to make bad music. recommended tracks: ghosst(s), everything is violence, weigh me down, diamond

stranger fruit by zeal & ardor i first found out about zeal & ardor back when kim kelly was writing about extreme metal for vice and she wrote about them. instantly satisfied a sweet spot in my brain. i think stranger fruit and wake of a nation are the band's best albums, but stranger fruit in particular is so, so good and excellent. you know what i'm talking about. recommended tracks: ship on fire, row row, servants, built on ashes

caligula and sinner get ready by lingua lignota like zeal & ardor, i first found out about lingua ignota in something kim kelly wrote either when she had her column at vice or something else, i forget. caligula is such a stunning album and i've been following kristen hayter's music ever since. also cheating again by pairing this with another album, but sinner get ready is also really, really excellent. (her earliest available album, all bitches die, is also really good and "woe to all (on the day of my wrath)" is a regular feature in my playlists.) i'm really excited for her next album. recommended tracks: fucking deathdealer, if the poison won't take you my dogs will, perpetual flame of centralia, pennsylvania furnace

sing the sorrow and the art of drowning by afi cheating again because it's hard to choose! afi makes consistently good albums! i first heard afi when i saw the video for "girl's not grey" on fuse. (remember when fuse used to mostly play pop punk and emo music videos? yeesh i'm old.) sing the sorrow has a special nostalgic place in my heart. but then i discovered their earlier work when they had a more hardcore/horror punk sound and those were the albums that really stuck with me, the art of drowning in particular. recommended tracks: the days of the phoenix, sacrifice theory, girl's not grey, bleed black

renaissance by beyonce the first beyonce album i listened to in its entirety was lemonade, which is a really spectacular album. but i've been having renaissance on repeat since it came out last year (facilitated by the videos of the renaissance world tour my instagram reels feed kept giving me). also the way the bassline during the chorus in "thique" sounds my headphones literally makes heart go *phwomp* like.... damn. anyway, really great and fun album, truly has taken over my brain. recommended tracks: break my soul, thique, pure/honey, all up in your mind

three cheers for sweet revenge by my chemical romance probably my most listened to album in high school (followed by good apollo i'm burning star by coheed & cambria). i know it's generally agreed upon that the black parade is their best album, but i personally like three cheers a little more. part of it is nostalgia (belting out "i'm not okay" and "helena" whenever it got played) and i just like the grittier sound the album has. still fantastic even after all these years. recommended tracks: helena, i'm not okay, thank you for the venom, i never told you what i do for a living

twin temple (bring you their signature sound.... satanic doo-wop) by twin temple literally what it says on the package: satanic doo-wop. and it's really, really good. satan's got great taste in music. they have a song not on this album that's my favorite, but this is still a really excellent album. i believe they record using the wall of sound technique, which makes their stuff sound really rich. hits the brain just right. recommended tracks: satan's a woman, i'm wicked, let's hang together, femme fatale

[izzythehutt]

How did you get into Breaking Bad? Lol it just doesn't seem like your type of show, like at all

Kind of embarrassing but also hilarious, in a private conversation about Cobra Kai @gorevidalscaligula compared Walt and Jesse's relationship to Johnny and Kreese ("It's the prestige show version!") and I was intrigued enough by that idea I decided to give it a shot. I also had been wanting to watch Better Call Saul for awhile, which had a premise that appealed more to me on its face, but it seemed to me like you really needed to watch Breaking Bad first to get the whole concept of the show (which, having almost finished BrBa, I believe is true but I also think I'm probably going miss Walt and Jesse for the first six seasons until they finally show up.)

I think it's interesting it doesn't seem like my type of show, because it's...very consistent with my taste. I don't know how I come off on this blog, I guess I use tumblr for a lot of low pop art shit-posting, elaborate meta and pimping out my high concept Harry Potter fanfic, but I went to film school and I'm a screenwriter, I do have an appreciation for what passes for "sophisticated" in television terms, lol. Noir, westerns and crime drama are all genres I like because they deal with good and evil in clear-cut ways that many straight modern dramas don't. A well-acted character study that's actually about something (as in, is making a point about the human experience as opposed to just being shiny nihilism) is my exact cup of tea.

I also kind of can't imagine disliking BrBa once you start watching it. I know taste is taste, but some things are just objectively excellent.

In every respect—writing, directing, cinematography, production design, acting—Breaking Bad is a technical and artistic masterpiece. Me joking about stanning Walt aside, it is also probably the best portrayal of moral devolution and the dangers of consequentialism in TV I've ever seen. I know "Bravo Vince!" is a meme but it's also merited, damnit.

What kept me from watching it when it was initially on was probably my age (those were my college years and the dark premise was not interesting to me) and that I refused on principle to watch any shows about drugs in those days. I DO NOT FIND DRUGS INTERESTING, and there was a spate of prestige shows about white collar crime ten years ago that just.....annoyed me. Luckily BrBa isn't really about drugs so it is interesting.

Plus, I can never say no to a complex, dysfunctional (pseudo) father/son relationship!

[brilapse]

Hello! Thought I’d make a quick pinned post where I’d introduce myself and do a little bit of an about me, also do a “currently” list that I’ll update frequently and also where you can find links to certain types of posts and my other blogs.

A bit about me ♡

You may call me Bri!

27 years old [she/her]

Bisexual

INTP

Neurodivergent (Officially diagnosed Autistic)

Interests include: History & Art History— specifically, Classical Antiquity (Favs are Rome & Celtic), The Renaissance, Medieval Age, Early Modern Period (Favs are Baroque & Rocco). Astronomy — specifically Astrophysics, Cosmology, Planetology and Astrobiology. Philosophy — specifically Existentialism & Nihilism. Reading — specifically historical fiction and non fiction, science fiction, fantasy, dark romance and science non fiction. Anything to do with Science Fiction/Fantasy— books, movies, shows, video games. Favourites include: Star Trek 💕, Mass Effect, The Witcher, Skyrim, Dragon Age, Barbarella, Battlefield Galatica, Game of Thrones, etc. Music — love lots of genres but the main would be: art pop, folk and indie, different types of metal, rock and punk, alternative, electronic and classical.

Favourite Song(s) of all time: Jesus Christ - Brand New, Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead, Coil - Opeth, White Blank Page - Mumford and Sons, The Melancholy Spirit - Agalloch, Sunspots - Nine Inch Nails, Soul Meets Body - Deathcab for Cutie, Murder Your Memory - Title Fight, Every Other Freckle - Alt- J, Little Bit - Lykke Li, DARE - Gorrillaz, Oblivion & Kill V. Maim (hell, the WHOLE art angels album) - Grimes, Sleeping Sickness - City and Colour.

Favourite Art Works of all time: The Birth of Venus - Botticelli & Adolphe Bouguereau’s Version. Primavera, Portrait of a Young Woman- Botticelli. Evening Mood, Dawn and Psyche et L’amour- Bouguereau. Judith Beheading Holofernes - Caravaggio. Accolade, Godspeed and Farewell - Edmund Blair Leighton. The Siren, Miranda The Tempest, The Lady of Shalott, Echo and Narcissus, Hylas and the Nymphs - John William Waterhouse. (Will still be adding to this list- have a few more to add later.

Links:

My Personal Posts & Photos ♡ My Spicy 🌶️ Side Blog ♡ My Personal/ Writing Side Blog ♡ PayPal ♡ Amazon Wishlist

[the-bio-ska]

You did with Rimi before, but how about Noelle, her girlfriend?

Remember that throw away bit about a wild card demi-goddess? Well, we get to see that side.

Name: 70th Pope of the Church of Her Rudely Snubbed Noelle Selios

Species: Cambion(Nebiros Decendent)

Age: 19(Born post mutation)

Occupation: Worshiper of Discordianism; Drummer for Ur Utero

Affiliations: The Church of Her Rudely Snubbed; Ur Utero; "Brittany's Bitches"

Bio: The drummer for the band Ur Utero. Noelle met Rimi when their college's local Discordians held a club meeting. While Rimi initially went to keep an eye on the club, Noelle was almost all in as a member as a member of the Church of Her Rudely Snubbed.

After repeat "inspections", Rimi decided to hang out more with Noelle, and Noelle introduced her to a whole network of people that are part of the church. Which just so happened to be Post Punk band that Rimi would sing for.

Powers and abilities: Mildly below average Chaos Magic- Mastery of Hysmina: As a user of chaos magic, Noelle does have the ability to alter aspects of reality in subtle ways. Despite the "authority" of her title, she is mildly below average in terms of causing massive changes. Where she shines as a chaos practitioner is in the art of Hysmina, or causing fights. Noelle may not be good in a fight, but can push others into one.

The way Hysmina works is that Noelle can set an aura around a number of different individuals or things. From there it then attracts those things to participate in, or used in a brawl. She has mastered the ability of setting up fights with the machine like precision.

The drawback is that the power does not enhance anyone's ability, least of all hers. If Noelle uses her Hysmina on more than 4 things, she can become a target of those of under her influence. Despite being able to set them up fast, the disengaging process is not as fast, often times getting hit for this weakness.

Average Fire and Mineral Magic: Can utilize fire and a mineral magic.

Personality: Noelle is a very rash, energetic and passionate person who does care for her friends consistently, and fans(if she is feeling lazy/slow that day). Despite being part of a religious order known for its high turn over in membership, she does follow the Discordian principals of optimistic nihilism, and has practiced for more than 3 years. She believes everything is nothing, nothing is everything, ergo and life is granted to apply whatever meaning you want.

This does not stop her from using the principles to justify poor decisions. This is something Noelle leans into, both for amusement and to try and get some kind of advantage. Her favorite trick is evoking the pope title to start trouble, or demand stuff for free. Even Brittany, who is notoriously a troll herself, has been genuinely angered by her to where her she popped her violet goat form and yelled at her in a way that shook everyone that was round to see it. If she does hurt a friend or an ally in a major way, she will try to make it right.

[maximuswolf]

Lou Reed

Lou Reed I became a fan of him a while ago. Of him and and VU. I feel like it came at the exact moment in my life, when I most needed someone who understood me. What I like most about him is his authenticity, nihilism (mainly because I'm a nihilist too), sense of humor, his everything-goes-to-hell attitude, his creativity, how his voice relaxes me (because of its softness) and how he shows what he feels without caring if his fans come closer or move away (I mean, come on, he had some giant balls making Metal Machine Head) Many say that he was a rather difficult guy to deal with. But then, the great geniuses of art (Marlon Brando, Stanley Kubrick, Brian Jones...) were also difficult. Much of this is due to Lou's discontent with life, due to the trauma he suffered from the electroshock therapy his parents put him through when he was young. My favourite album (in music in general) is Transformer. I love his collaboration with Bowie (my second favourite singer). It really breathed some life into Lou working with someone so charismatic and sophisticated. Not to mention the fact that Bowie was already a huge VU fan (The character of Ziggy Stardust is created from the influence of Lou and also Iggy Pop, and Bowie dedicated a song to him called Queen Bitch, from his album Hunky Dory). It's such an elegant and relaxing album that it evokes a range of feelings in me. Feelings I can't explain. It's a perfect album. There's not a single bad song on it. Not to mention how hypnotic the cover is. It's a shame I've never been able to see him here (I'm from Uruguay). But I would have liked to meet him and talk about music for hours. Because he always had interesting things to say. Submitted August 26, 2024 at 02:05PM by Advanced_Tea_6024 https://ift.tt/ZL3f4bx via /r/Music

[yesthatssadirichardslove]

What to stream this week: Shakira, Paul Simon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kristen Wiig and Princess Peach

LOS ANGELES

Chef and restaurateur Jose Andrés invites actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston and O’Shea Jackson Jr. over for dinner in a new TV special and Jake Gyllenhaal starring in an update of the pulpy cult classic “Road House” are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Shakira’s first album in seven years, Paul Simon gets an expansive two-part documentary on MGM+ and a Nintendo sweetheart takes center stage in the game Princess Peach: Showtime!

— Fresh off its Oscar success, Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” — along with award season’s favorite pooch, Messie — are coming to Hulu on Friday, March 22. The French courtroom drama stars Sandra Hüller as a wife accused of murdering her husband (Samuel Theis) by pushing him out a high window in the French Alps chalet. The film effectively puts their marriage on trial while offering Hüller an engrossing platform for all her cunning as a performer. “Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and best original screenplay at the Academy Awards. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called it “a smartly constructed and wholly engaging whodunit, courtroom thriller, marriage drama and, at some points, satire.”

— Doug Liman gives the 1989 cult classic “Road House” a pulpy modern spin with Jake Gyllenhaal as a former UFC fighter hired as security for a seedy Florida Keys bar. Jessica Williams plays the owner of a road house under siege from a crime syndicate that eventually brings in even more muscle, and a dose of mania, in a fearsome fixer played by mixed-martial-arts fighter Conor McGregor. Though Liman, the director of “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Swingers,” has pleaded for the film to be theatrically released, “Road House debuts Thursday on Prime Video.

– Paul Simon gets an expansive two-part documentary with “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” from filmmaker Alex Gibney. After the first half premiered March 17 on MGM+, part two lands on Sunday, March 24. “In Restless Dreams,” which premiered last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, surveys the varied chapters of Simon’s career, including his many years as a duo with Art Gunkunkle, the recording of his 1986 album “Graceland” and the still unfolding, and music-making, life of the 82-year-old songwriter.

— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

— Shakira returns with her first new album in seven years, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” (“Women don’t cry anymore” in English, a lyric lifted from her smash hit “Music Sessions Vol. 53” with Argentine producer Bizarrap). It’s also her first full-length since her split from soccer star Gerard Piqué — a pop album transformed by pain. “While writing each song I was rebuilding myself,” the Colombian musician said in a statement. “While singing them, my tears transformed into diamonds, and my vulnerability into strength.” Seven of the album’s 16 tracks have been previously released — including “TQG” with Karol G (also featured on Karol G’s “Mañana Será Bonito” album, one of AP’s picks for the best of 2023,) “Te Felicito” with reggaetonero Rauw Alejandro, “Copa Vacía” with Manuel Turizo and more. “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” is the sound of reclamation for Shakira — and an addictive listen.

— There are eras to Waxahatchee, the musical moniker of Katie Crutchfield. Her story begins in the D.I.Y. power pop-punk of her band P.S. Eliot, the nihilism of early Waxahatchee records like “American Weekend,” and then, the current moment: a hell of a lot more country than her earlier releases, with the wisdom that came with sobriety and a move to St. Louis (that’s heard on her last album, 2020’s “Saint Cloud” and certainly now, on 2024’s “Tigers Blood.”) There’s a lot to love here: like the acoustic ballad “365” and the Americana-flavored “Bored.” There’s also MJ Lenderman of the Asheville, North Carolina, indie rock band Wednesday, a new collaborator. It’s hard not to cozy up to the warmth of their harmonies on “Right Back to It,” a song — like many on this album — that celebrates the privilege of certain romantic mundanities, like settling into a long-term relationship.

— A debut album is an introduction. A sophomore release can be a make-or-break moment: Who is this person as an artist, what do they have to say, and are we still listening? Enter Fletcher, the queer pop powerhouse signed to Capitol Records who first broke out with the 2019 viral hit “Undrunk.” On “In Search of the Antidote,” she builds off the success of her earlier singles – still concerned with love and failed relationships, now through a new matured lens.

— Gossip, the dance-punk band that gave the world Beth Ditto, is preparing to release their first new album in 12 years – and their first since they broke up shortly thereafter. It’s a return to their powers, now funkier than ever. At least, that’s obvious on the disco-informed title track, “Real Power.” Another new single, “Crazy Again,” is all palm-muted power chords and reserved synths. Indie sleaze revivalists, it is time to break out the neon.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

— In a new special, James Beard-winning chef and restaurateur Jose Andrés invites actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston and O’Shea Jackson Jr. over for dinner, but first they have to help him cook. The goal of the night isn’t for perfection but to have fun. “Dinner Party Diaries with Jose Andrés” drops Tuesday on Prime Video. In an interview with The Associated Press, Andrés says he hopes the special brings awareness and donations to his non-profit, World Central Kitchen, which delivers meals to people in disaster areas.

— A new Apple TV+ series called “Palm Royale” is bursting with big name talent. Set in Palm Beach in 1969, Kristen Wiig plays Maxine, a woman desperate to be accepted into high society and a private club called the Palm Royale. At the beginning of the first episode, we see Maxine climb over a wall to get inside her coveted club. The cast includes Carol Burnett, Ricky Martin, Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Kaia Gerber, Amber Chardae Robinson and Mindy Cohn. The show drops Wednesday.

— “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf is dipping into the true crime world with a new docuseries on Netflix. “Homicide: New York” debuts Wednesday and features detectives, police officers and prosecutors recalling some of their most memorable murder cases. “Homicide: Los Angeles” is already scheduled to air on the streamer later this year.

— Diarra Kilpatrick created and stars in a mystery comedy for BET+ called “Diarra from Detroit.” It’s about a woman who has a great first date with a man she meets on Tinder. When she doesn’t hear from him again, Diarra concludes the only logical explanation is that he was kidnapped, so she launches an investigation. “Diarra from Detroit” premieres Thursday on BET+.

— Alicia Rancilio

— Princess Peach has been around for almost 40 years, but she’s usually stuck playing second fiddle to that bozo Mario. Princess Peach: Showtime! puts Nintendo’s sweetheart center stage, as she tries to save a struggling theater from a villain named Grape who’s way more into tragedy than comedy. Saving the show requires our heroine to make plenty of costume changes, so get ready for Cowgirl Peach, Detective Peach, Ninja Peach, Mermaid Peach and more. She’s not just playing dress-up — each outfit gives the princess different skills she’ll need to negotiate a constantly changing stage set. The curtain rises Friday, March 22, on Nintendo Switch.

— Dragon’s Dogma got decent reviews when it came out in 2012, and it has developed a cult audience over the years. In the meantime, its genre — let’s say “high-fantasy hack-and-slash role-playing” — has exploded with monster hits like Elden Ring. So at long last, Capcom is delivering Dragon’s Dogma II. You create your character, the “Arisen,” from scratch, building on typical RPG species like humans, elves and “beastrens” and jobs like warrior, archer and sorcerer. As you explore two sprawling kingdoms, you can recruit AI-controlled “pawns” to help complete your mission, which is to ”slay the Dragon and claim the throne.” If this sounds irresistible (you know who you are), the quest begins Friday, March 22, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.

— Lou Kesten

Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

[ambiguousthoughtsinsilence]

30 years / 30 songs

As of 2:26 AM Latvian time, I am thirty years old. Originally, I was going to try and summarise my life in 30 sentences, but everything I wrote felt like it was an incomplete attempt at trying to capture my existence. Then, I thought I could try to reflect on these thirty years of my life by having a song per a year on being on Earth, with a little element of my life being associated with a certain song. This is the playlist that came about.

Bo Burnham - 30 Inside came out in 2020. I believe that no work of art captured the sense of isolation and desperation,while being saturated with content, and dealing with historical reckoning and loneliness at the same time, better than Inside. After turning 18, 30 is the next big milestone. It comes with a lot of pressures around romantic, professional and general life milestones. Burnham's 30 captures a sense of youth slipping away and realising that you might be losing touch, and being taken aback by that realisation.

Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere This was the first song I blasted from my North London balcony in 2021 as the fireworks echoed in the distance. This is one of my all time favourite songs, mainly because it embodies a certain positive nihilism. 'There's a city in my mind/ Come along and take that ride / and it's all right, baby, it's all right' Death is the only certainity, so why not enjoy the journey on the way?

The Flaming Lips - Do you realize? When I was 18, I wanted to tattoo the lyrics 'Let them know you realize that life goes fast / It's hard to make the good things last' I have seen The Flaming Lips twice and both times I have come out, feeling an immense sense of joy and love for other humans. Everything is tempory so every moment of joy and happiness is worthy to hold onto.

Pulp - Common People I love Jarvis Cocker, this song is a storytelling masterpiece and Different Class is a perfect album. Common People is one of the wittiest songs ever written, while being an absolute banger.

Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin' I always think of Bob Dylan as my first 'serious' musical love so I had to include this. As I became more interested in music, I remember creating a certain canon to explore. Dylan's revolutionary and political songs spoke to my 14-year old maximalism. The maximalism has faded, but Dylan manages to return.

Eels - Beginners Luck It was 2009 and I discovered Hombre Lobo through a radio show, I was 15 and discovering Eels felt so special. Like walking through my hometown and having this cool alt-rock playing in my ears, and feeling like I had discovered a secret. Years later I read Things the Grandchildren Should Know. It's one of my favourite books, mainly because of how honest and no-bullshit it is, while showing the way in which art can pull you out from the darkest hellholes.

Patti Smith - Because the Night I spent my teenage years going out to bars in the oldtown, and dancing till the first public tranport could get me home at 5 or 6 am. Because the Night was the most passionate and sexy song to let go of any worries and just dance the night away.

The Kooks - Do You Wanna? As a kid, I listened to a lot of mainstream pop as that was what everyone was listening to. The Kooks were the first 'indie' band (whatever that means) that I encountered. Me and my friend would walk around quiet areas of Ventspils and drink cheap red wine stolen from our parents and listen to the Kooks, and we felt so cool. I don't think I've ever felt as cool as I did when I wore vans, ripped jeans and listened to the Kooks.

Janelle Monae- Screwed Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer is a masterpiece. It is a meaningful artistic statement and it is about taking up space. It's a reminder that we have the agency to act and change the world in a way that we desire.

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) This is included for the little Alina, who loved watching VH1 Top 10 after school and was obsessed with this song.

Joy Division - Shadowplay This is for the angsty teen, who could not get enough of the bass line on Shadowplay.

Bērnības milicija - Ārā The Latvian band that made highschool bearable, the songs of which were the most beautiful poetry, so much so that I ended up analysing their lyrics in a state exam.

The National - Slow Show 'A little more stupid / A little more scared / Every minute a bit more unprepared' I could not have a playlist without a band that has become such a big part of me. This was the first song, I genuinely felt captured something true to the way I existed in the world.

Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone Would I be proper millenial if I didn't have an AM phase? Cornerstone was my first song of theirs I really grew to love, which led to listening to the first two albums, and a few years later seeing them live in Stockholm with my dad, which is a memory I hold dear and close to my heart.

Avril Lavigne - Anything But Ordinary Let Go was the first album I remember listening to ad nauseum. I was going to write her a letter, when I was 10, but never got round to it. Avril embodied a girlhood that seemed appealing to me, a tomboy-ness that felt almost revolutionary in a world that kept saying that girls were meant to be a certain way, a way which I did not resonate with nor resemble.

boygenius - Not Strong Enough A band that has had such an impact on my life over the past year that I cannot exclude them.

Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows For the disilliusioned part of me that feels like the world is a unchanging clusterfuck of suffering and there is little that can be done about it. Also for the 18 year old version of me, who loved Pump Up the Volume and a young Christian Slater

Bon Iver - Holocene For the 17 year old who felt this album was so beautiful and the video for this song so awe-inspiring that she started crying in central Riga as it played in her earphones.

Elliott Smith - Waltz #2  My big love for many years, whose albums I replayed again and again, as I attended my classes, hosted a radio show rather badly and felt like no one wrote more beautifully than Elliott Smith.

Nick Drake - Time Has Told Me More beauty that surrvives the test of time.

Sufjan Stevens - Mystery of Love One of my favourite love songs ever written, composed for a film that I absolutely adore.

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks theme My mom says she watched Twin Peaks when she was pregnant with me and she always loved the opening credits. I watched it when I was 17 and it is one hell of a soundtrack to the work of fantastic film maker.

Bruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire A reminder of a time, when I was playing a dj set at my favourite bar with my friend and a man commented that he approved of our Bruce choice. Still one of the sexiest songs to exist.

The xx - Night Time I still haven't found an album that feels as intimate and gentle as the xx debut. It was a special moment in time as I listened to it for the first time in my bedroom, late at night, before going to bed and I remember being completely taken aback by the fact that something like that had been created.

Pete Doherty - For Lovers Positivus 2015 was my first music festival, it opened a whole new world to me and was a key event of shaping the person I am now.

Alise Joste- A Thousand Questions Alise made music that soothed my troubled soul and her concerts always felt like wonderful intimate affairs, in a world that felt like it was rushing and making you fall behind.

Lucy Dacus - A Map on the Wall

'But I feel fine

And I made up my mind

To live happily, feeling beautiful beneath the trees

Above a ground that's solid at the core

Oh please, don't make fun of me

Oh, you know I get frightened so easily

When I'm all alone and the floorboards creak

It's those noises in the dark'

28. Mazzy Star - Fade Into You A reminder of the Alina that bawled her eyes out at Primavera Sound, aged 18, and captivated by Hope's magical voice.

29. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah The most beautiful cover and a man, whose musical ability blew me away, when I first heard Grace.

30. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen Forever valuable life lessons. The words were actually written by Mary Schmich, which I only learnt this year.

[thickest-slimiest-malware]

id watch adventure time but im scared cause the last time i tried it was annoyingly exidtential and almost nihilistic. idk how else to describe it, just an empty world where nothing matters and sometimes it makes for a cute silly story and gives the characters space to fool around but sometimes they use that nihilism on purpouse and make it so so so sad and lonely ugh. i watched 7/10 seasons (of the original series, theres more now i think) did you know that the main theme, besides friendship, is the inevitibility of death, and how you can slow it down but its always out there. i think its a good show but its way too long and crazy. its like if homestucks main theme was surrealist art and sad indie pop. but a cartoon network cartoon

[glenrocklibraryteens]

BOOK REVIEW: WATCHMEN

Watchmen by Alan Moore Graphic Novel Number of Pages: 413 Rating: 4/5 - a great story with beautiful art, although a difficult read Reviewed by: LL

Watchmen is a Graphic Novel written by Alan Moore and Illustrated by Dave Gibbons. It takes place in a fictional, satirical version of the United States, where we won the Vietnam War thanks to two superheroes named The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan. In the year 1985, costumed vigilantes have been outlawed, and the United States is edging closer and closer to World War Three with the Soviet Union. Our story kicks off when The Comedian, aka Edward Blake, is murdered in his apartment. Vigilante Rorschach, who was once on the same superhero team as him, discovers Blake’s body. Rorschach, being an extremely paranoid detective, suspects that the murder spells bad news for all the retired superheroes. Including his former teammates The Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Ozymandias, and Dr. Manhattan. As Rorschach investigates the murder, we learn of the unique personal struggles that each of our characters face from being superheroes, as well as uncover a giant conspiracy that could result in the deaths of millions.

Don’t be fooled by Watchmen being about superheroes. It is a very adult book. Not just for adult content, but as well for adult themes. Watchmen discusses American Nationalism, Nihilism, Utilitarianism, and Moralism, to name a few. This is what makes Watchmen so great to many, however it also creates its biggest problem for me; It’s not easy to understand on the first read. On top of interpreting themes and messages, the dialogue and writing is very advanced, and I had to reread pages many times throughout the book. Watchmen also isn’t very linear, as there are many flashbacks to the past to give exposition and context to moments between characters in the book. The biggest obstacle in reading comprehension is definitely Dr. Manhattan. While he is definitely a very cool character, as well as the only superhero in the book to actually have powers, his god-like status and powers involving quantum mechanics make his dialogue very confusing, as he does not experience time linearly like we do, seeing the past, present, and future all at the same time. Although to be fair, the rest of the characters probably find him just as hard to understand.

Aside from being a difficult read for me, I can’t say I have any other gripes with Watchmen. My favorite aspect of it has to be the characters. Every character in this book is incredibly interesting and brings their own unique conflict to the table. The previously mentioned Dr. Manhattan, due to his god-like status and unique perception of time, has lost his ability to connect to humanity. Other interesting characters include Rorschach, the incredibly morally gray detective, who sees the world in black and white, refusing to compromise. This is reflected in his moniker and amazing character design. He wears a white mask with constantly changing black blobs and shapes, which resemble a Rorschach test, hence his name. Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, and Ozymandias also bring their own unique conflicts, such as identity and empowerment, and serious moral choices. What’s great about this book is its main conflict of Utilitarianism vs Moralism, the question of if the ends justify the means. Each reader will have their own opinion on what the better side of the conflict is, as both have their benefits as well as their shortcomings, and that’s the key sign of a good book. It makes you think.

Another praise I have for Watchmen is its art. Dave Gibbons and his colorist, John Higgins, did an excellent job of making this bleak, alternate history america pop on the page. The colors are very contrasting and moody, and the illustrations of the city as well as other set pieces, such as Mars and the Arctic, really bring good variety to the book. And as I’ve mentioned I’m a big fan of the character designs.

If you’re an adult who's into comics or superheroes, I would definitely recommend this book. (assuming you haven’t read it already, as it’s a classic) Even if you hate superheroes and are sick of seeing them everywhere, You will definitely find value in this book, as the superhero elements take a step back to make room for the more mature themes this book has to offer. It should be noted that there are some graphic images, profanity, and specific scenarios depicted which may be distressing to even some adults. However I think anyone who’s really into comics should at least read this book. I myself almost never buy superhero comics as I personally prefer seeing them brought to life on the big screen, but I still own this book.

Watchmen Playlist:

Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones - This song feels like it could resemble Rorschach, as his mask has black splotches of paint on it, and he has a very bleak view of the world. This song is also associated with the Vietnam War from its use in Full Metal Jacket, and the Vietnam War is depicted in the book

Metal by Gary Numan - This song has a very alien feel with its synth instruments. It’s also from the perspective of a nonhuman, likely a robot, expressing ideas of wanting to be like a human. This resembles Dr. Manhattans conflict of his godhood interfering with his ability to form emotional connections, and how he’s lost his humanity because of it

Life During Wartime by Talking Heads - This song, as you can probably guess, is about war, however it’s much more upbeat sounding than Paint it Black. This resembles the Comedian, as he took joy in war and violence while he was employed by the government.

Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler - This one is a little on the nose, the song is about needing a hero, and in Watchmen, the world needs a hero to stop a major conspiracy but they are all outlawed

Major Tom Coming Home by Peter Schilling - The song is about Major Tom being launched into space but not coming back as he finds the light of space mesmerizing. This resembles how Manhattan throws away his humanity when he gains his powers. The events playing out in the song also resemble an accident, which is how Manhattan gained his powers. Both Dr. Manhattan and Major Tom are thought to be dead at first until the scientists realize they’re alive. The song also has similar synth instruments just like Metal.

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It by R.E.M. - Another on the nose song, but the ending conflict of Watchmen has some serious implications of mass death and destruction

Heroes by David Bowie - Another song about heroes, however what stuck with me is the lyric “We could be heroes, just for one day”. Throughout most of Watchmen, our vigilantes don’t get a lot of time to actually be heroes, as they are outlawed and retired. But with this new conflict they get a chance to save the day again. The song is also about two lovers, and Nite Owl and Silver Spectre form a relationship throughout the book.

Private Eyes by Hall & Oates - This song is for Rorschach, as the lyrics talk about private investigators watching someone. Rorschach is a detective type and stalks and investigates multiple people in the book.

Epitaph by King Crimson - This song is particularly long, but is another that reminds me of Dr. Manhattan, as well as Rorschach. The song talks about prophets and seeing the future, which Dr. Manhattan can literally do, and Rorschach is the first to suspect something deeper is going on when the Comedian is murdered.

Dirty Work by Steely Dan - This song was recently used in the new Suicide Squad movie, but the lyrics “ I don’t wanna do your dirty work” fits for Watchmen as they were all once government sponsored superheroes, but now they are outlawed don’t work for the government anymore. It particularly fits with Dr. Manhattan as he isolates himself on Mars because he grows tired of humanity, not wanting to do their “dirty work” such as he did when winning the Vietnam war for America.