Sparkstember Day 1: Halfnelson
This album is SO GREAT!! On my first listen I was immediately very impressed by it and I really love how it has this very particular early 70s rock sound that I'm a big fan of, while still being distinctly Sparks and its own special thing, at a time when Sparks was just starting to become its thing - the heart of it all was there from the very start! While it's not my top #1 favourite Sparks album or even one of my top 5 favourites (which is a nebulous category anyway that's likely to change and shift with time of course, and not even something I pay THAT much attention to) it's definitely still UP THERE and a very special album in my heart that I revisit quite often. Especially when I need something to simply relax but also appreciate some of that early Sparks' experimental and... almost whimsical? sound.
This album also reminds me of winter, a very snowy one at that, and that's in big part because of when I started listening to it for sure, but some of that vibe is already there in the music anyway if you ask me. Walking around a Christmas market in the city and hearing random tunes from this album playing in my head all the while, that's one great memory I have from last year. If I were to give this album some sort of visual representation it would definitely involve a lot of browns and other earthy tones - it would be very dark and mysterious without being scary or truly unnerving necessarily - think something like the Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me) music video, but less colorful and involving more wooden materials (yes, this is VERY specific and also definitely an image that's supported by that wintery association, as well as the imagery that my brain came up with for Simple Ballet, but more about that below...).
Favourite songs (and other highlights):
Wonder Girl
Roger
High C
Fletcher Honorama (the entire atmosphere this song has is incomparable with anything else)
Simple Ballet (this one was a later favourite but the IMAGERY and atmopshere here is, once again, very special, I actually developed an entire music video idea in my head for it at this point, even if it feels very vague)
Saccharine and the War (probably my favourite on the album)
No More Mr. Nice Guys (THAT guitar solo!! a real mind-blower on my first listen too)
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-You got the timeline of Lucy's death off by a year. She died at the end of Sophomore year. I wonder if the Grinders were trying to keep up with the Bad Kids by also bringing back a god from nameless oblivion.
-I have my own spin on why Ivy's not as good as Aelwynn. Ivy's a too realistically mean bitch, Aelwynn's a CRAZY bitch. One's way more entertaining than the other. Also Ivy's dollar store Garthy O'Brien accent is very off-putting. Stop sounding like a much cooler character, you high school hot girl cliche.
-Is Henry having Gorgug do all three Artificer years at once or one at a time? Cause one's a very logical way to go about it and the other's really not. You know, hyperfocus on finishing Freshman then Sophomore year and then play catch-up on the Junior year material. The smart way to do it. Or is Gorgug having to do Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced course material simultaneously? Cause that's a very dumb way to do it. Whichever way, Gorgug's nailing it, but that second one isn't sustainable.
-At first Fig's whole crisis about her lack of passion for being a Bard struck me as manufactured drama, but I've let it sink in and come to a different take on it. Fig's whole Rebel Punk Girl deal so far was obviously a reaction to the divorce and her life/family kinda falling apart. But now, things are REALLY great for her. Great family, great friends, great girlfriend. Her personal life is goals. So, how much is all that positive change affecting her? Is she over her Punk phase and moving on to something else? Season's not over, let's find out.
-Adaine's starting to use magic means and her connections to make money and I respect it.....BASRAR'S A GENIE! That just sank in right now as I'm typing this. But Brennan's no dummy. He probably set like a hard limit on the value of his wishes to close off that easy solution, but maybe he got sloppy and forgot to do that. Fingers crossed.
-I still don't think Fabian deserves Mazey after his behavior of late, but I'm still pretty into that ship, so whatever happens happens.
-Not much to say about Kristen and Riz. Especially Riz since he's been taking a narrative backseat so far this season. Hopefully that'll change soon. Still, Hi Riz, Hi Kristen :)
Holy shit, this one ran really long. My gift to you, I suppose.
Sorry this is late! Things are crazy! Luckily it's all still relevant. Let me go through point by point.
-You got the timeline of Lucy's death off by a year. She died at the end of Sophomore year. I wonder if the Grinders were trying to keep up with the Bad Kids by also bringing back a god from nameless oblivion.
If I said something other than that then it was a typo! I'll check and edit when I have a chance. But I think the point I was making was that it would make sense that the Rat Grinders never got more ambitious if Lucy had died the first week of school like Kristen and Gorgug. It makes less sense that they wouldn't ever leave the starting area with no dramatic incident to keep them skittish and that happened in Sophomore Year, not right away. And it def feels like they're copying the Bad Kids. The question is whether it's to just score some extra points or if there are also ulterior motives.
-I have my own spin on why Ivy's not as good as Aelwynn. Ivy's a too realistically mean bitch, Aelwynn's a CRAZY bitch. One's way more entertaining than the other. Also Ivy's dollar store Garthy O'Brien accent is very off-putting. Stop sounding like a much cooler character, you high school hot girl cliche.
That's also an excellent point! The ideal bitch character is, to quote Heathers, a "mythic bitch". You want her so crazy she doesn't feel real. You want her doing full ass crimes. Ivy is just like, the run of the mill racist bitch you went to high school with. Too close to home. Not fun at all. The only thing it pings for me is disgust. And Garthy is WAY cooler than her. I hope the Bad Kids grind her into dust.
-Is Henry having Gorgug do all three Artificer years at once or one at a time? Cause one's a very logical way to go about it and the other's really not. You know, hyperfocus on finishing Freshman then Sophomore year and then play catch-up on the Junior year material. The smart way to do it. Or is Gorgug having to do Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced course material simultaneously? Cause that's a very dumb way to do it. Whichever way, Gorgug's nailing it, but that second one isn't sustainable.
There is a split between D&D mechanics and actual in game reality sometimes and I really hope Brennan is just making Zac roll them simultaneously for mechanics reasons and in reality Gorgug is just taking all three years back to back to back and not simultaneously because it would be, as you said, and INSANE way to structure learning.
-At first Fig's whole crisis about her lack of passion for being a Bard struck me as manufactured drama, but I've let it sink in and come to a different take on it. Fig's whole Rebel Punk Girl deal so far was obviously a reaction to the divorce and her life/family kinda falling apart. But now, things are REALLY great for her. Great family, great friends, great girlfriend. Her personal life is goals. So, how much is all that positive change affecting her? Is she over her Punk phase and moving on to something else? Season's not over, let's find out.
I'm kinda curious about where exactly the disconnect is for her because it's not like she needs to even be a musician to be a bard. There are so many different subclasses. Did she get into music just to let out her aggression and now that she doesn't feel so angsty, it's not flowing as well? Would she be feeling this way if she didn't have pressure to put out an album? It's not like she lost her creative spirit in a broad sense--who else but Fig could come up with Wanda Childa? But yeah, it'll be interesting to see where she lands, especially since she has this other stuff in her life going on too that needs to be resolved (curse stuff) and also she is literally the archdevil of rebellion currently which will be hard to pull off is she doesn't feel a connection to it. Which I honestly think she still does because if she didn't, the stuff with Cass wouldn't be working as well (the whole doubt/rebellion tag team and her successful prayer). Anyway, I just think she's in a transitional period. As you said, let's find out where this goes.
-Adaine's starting to use magic means and her connections to make money and I respect it…..BASRAR'S A GENIE! That just sank in right now as I'm typing this. But Brennan's no dummy. He probably set like a hard limit on the value of his wishes to close off that easy solution, but maybe he got sloppy and forgot to do that. Fingers crossed.
There is no way Brennan is gonna let them Basrar-Ex-Machina their way out of their problems without some truly insane rolls but, in character, it wouldn't be out of pocket to ask. Especially since she's the reason he can grant more than just ice cream wishes. But yeah, good on her for using her jacket as a side hustle and I really hope her charging for visions because you know those Falinel elves are sitting on piles of ancestral cash.
-I still don't think Fabian deserves Mazey after his behavior of late, but I'm still pretty into that ship, so whatever happens happens.
I'm not overly invested in Fabian's love life but it is really funny watching him flail so badly in this department even though he's objectively really cool according to the dice. If I was friends with Mazey though I'd be like, "Girl, are you sure?" Just a bit too much of the rich boy arrogance for my tastes.
-Not much to say about Kristen and Riz. Especially Riz since he's been taking a narrative backseat so far this season. Hopefully that'll change soon. Still, Hi Riz, Hi Kristen :)
Kristen is Going Through It and Riz has been great support so they deserve a bit of a break, especially because I feel like things are gonna pop off for them pretty quick.
OK, that's it! I have to lesson plan! I will hopefully have some time to so some recapping soon!
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