#the more I love music the more I love film and then literature and design

[rowanhoney]

hey even if that heartbreak had me in a mess for over a year at least I’m even more in tune with and aware of myself in a way like never ever before so so incredible

[don-daygamerz]

Ben Barnes x reader who's in her 20s and Ben likes her one day he couldn't control himself and says it like "I know I'm older but I still love you" idk something like this?!?

Hi sorry for the delay, I'm on break from taking requests but I'm not going to abandon your request. So here's a taste of the dynamic between Ben and (Name) as I figure out what to put together. Just some headcanons whilst I work on your story.

- (Name) being a Young millennial/Millennial Z.

- I can imagine reader being an Actress and a singer herself rising through the ranks due to her unique talent.

- Ben and (Name) first met through mutual friends.

- In fact, they met at the Troubadour where Ben was actually performing that night.

- (Name) was also invited to perform as well.

- My girl did Rock music. And did she have some serious pipes.

- Ben could not look away from her performance. He thought she looked so ethereal but at the same time so enticing under the blue and dim lighting of the stage.

- The way she strummed her guitar to impossible notes made her look like a Metal Goddess.

- When the show was over Ben had the chance to introduce himself through a friend of his who conveniently knew her as well.

- He felt shy to approach such an intimidating but captivating young woman.

- He found her to be very attractive and quite adorable actually. With her highlighted hair, smokey eyeshadow with glitter, dressed in a black sheer lace top with a dark bra underneath and a pair of dark jeans and laced doc marten boots.

- Immediately fast friends when they started exchanging dirty jokes (Ben can be a hound dog for sure).

- Ben enjoys to cook and share with his friends and after getting to know (Name), he's insistent that she joins him for dinner (with some friends, of course...it wasn't a date...not yet).

- When she first came to dinner she brought over some special dessert from her culture (Whatever ethnic background she is; I'd imagine it being Flan/Basbousa/Avocado ice cream/Ube cake...etc. could be any)

- Ben loved her dessert. Made it official that she introduces more ethnic desserts to his colonizer palate.

- Ben saw something unique in (Name): she was so funny, eccentric, talented, free spirited, and crazy but in a good way.

- It wasn't long before they'd coincidentally worked together staring in the Marvel series 'The Punisher'.

- I'd imagine (Name)'s character being the sister to Frank Castle and there is some sort of chemistry between her and Billy Russo.

- (Name) doesn't know this but Ben has actually watched her films and series.

- After meeting her for the first time, he grew curious about her work and explored her films and music, and immediately became enamored by her method of acting and her lyrics.

- Her first time to explore London, Ben is there as well and offers to show her around.

- When he took her to the Harry Potter store (Name) couldn't help but mention how he would've been perfect for a Harry Potter film:

"Ha ha not you too."

"Yes, me too. I've seen your old pictures and you would've been the perfect Sirius Black. Ugh what a wasted opportunity but too late, you're...oooold." She'd exaggeratingly say the last bit in a grim voice.

"I am not old you just happened to be born really late."

"That's what an old person would say."

- His contact name on her phone would be 'Shadow Daddy' (She just had to since his character, General Kirigan, was trending like crazy)

- It was a slow start between the two. Starting off as friends but then things between the two became serious.

-Serious how?

Having dinner together with just each other.

Visiting each other's designated trailers.

Going to London's famous bookstores and exploring great literature.

Ben and (Name) would even do a music sesh or duet some songs together.

She even got to meet his family.

He met her family as well.

- I can imagine (Name) being well versed in technology.

- Young Millennial Zs are just good to adapting to new technologies and constructing their own system units. So it's only natural that she's good at it as well.

- She's also a pro at video games. Like really good that she makes misogynistic, fascist pigs cry like little bitches.

- Like the chick has her own customized mug/tumbler that reads 'FASCIST TEARS'.

- A total badass in Call of Duty (Warzone), Overwatch, Dead by Daylight, Dying Light, Friday the 13th, League of Legends, etc. Don't mess with her.

- Ben one time heard her lay down some serious trash talk and come backs at a bunch of sexist, misogynistic 'men'. (He had spare keys to her place and found her preoccupied in her gaming room)

"Woah! Are you a gamer girl?! Send me some titty pics, bitch"

"You can't handle my melons, bitch. If you're looking for some titty action go back to sucking your mama's. Annoying ass brat."

"This game ain't for girrrllls! Go back to the kitchen and make me a fucking sandwich!"

*Soon after he said that (Name) would constantly headshot his lame ass character barely even touching her or landing a shot at her*

"What the fuck?!Nah Nah, fucking bitch is cheating!"

"Ha ha ha! You fucking suck man. I don't think this game is for you so how 'bout you go to the kitchen and make my fucking sandwich."

- Oh yeah, (Name) is a major savage when ripping into those assholes.

- She was surprised Ben found her like that and felt embarrassed. She was worried he would find it appalling with spoke... Ben was such a composed fella and her... she was basically the devil incarnate ready to erupt and drink the blood of her enemies.

- But her worries went away when Ben chuckled at the scene he had witnessed and asked if she was okay (in a nice way) She'd later explained about how she was being insulted online and it made Ben worried.

- She told him not to worry and that she handled well by kicking their ass.

- Ben's not a gamer (I think) but he was really impressed with how she put down those sexist assholes.

- He found it kind of hot.

"Well that was an...interesting reaction, ha ha ha!"

"Stop laughing! I feel so embarassed that you had to see me that way!"

"I have to admit I found it quite cute how you swore at the screen. Ha ha, you looked like an angry chihuahua. Ha ha ha!"

"Ha Ha very funny"

"Alright, I'm just teasing you. I just hope you won't get into trouble"

"Nonsense. Besides...they only try and get my account reported for 'cheating'. It's not my fault they deliberately suck at playing."

"You are really good... It almost feels unfair."

"You say that because you've never beaten me at Mario Kart to this day."

"I've been practicing whilst I was away filming. So I'd like to think now I'm close to beating you."

"Ooh ho ho. Big talk eh. I'd like to see you try. Prepare to lose...again!"

- The two also enjoyed teasing one another that it gave everyone the impression that they were couple. Heck even their parents thought there was something more between the two.

- Ben laughed it off when his parents told him and he denied saying that he was too old for her. But they thought differently.

- (Name)'s mom was rooting for them (aww bless her) and her dad well...He didn't mind Ben but that was his sweet baby girl. To him, Ben was corrupting his sweet, innocent, little 'angel' baby (Ahahaha he can't see it clearly that his daughter is basically the devil who thrives on Cyberbullying fascist gamers... Yeaahh, an 'angel' for sure but there's nothing wrong with putting down toxic gamers. The girl is basically considered a saint in the gamer girl community)

- Sure there was a bit of a large age gap between the two but his parents had no qualms against whom he dated as long they treated him well. And they believed (Name) was the right fit for him.

- Ben would also invite her to one of his recording sessions and let her listen to him sing and play his piano.

- She would also invite to him to her recording studio to witness her play and come up with new songs.

- She'd be in awe of his talent and it would not go unnoticed by Ben which just bolstered his ego and made him flustered at the same time.

"Enjoy the show?"

"You were amazing! I mean... You all were amazing." She included the rest of the musicians who played by his side.

"Thanks, I'm happy to hear that."

"I heard that you're putting a lot of focus into your music since you didn't have the time to do so?"

"Yeah. I've put it off for a while since I wasn't so sure at the time but..."

"You're doing great and I'm not just saying that as a friend. It may seem late but you've put in a lot of work and creativity into it. I'd say all these years you just had some pent up creativity storming through that head of yours."

"Thanks that means a lot. I appreciate it."

"Happy to help. Ooh now that you're a rising musician does that mean I can be one of your groupies?!"

"Ha ha ha you can be so ridiculous!"

"That's what you love about me."

"You have no idea."

- Ben doesn't understand it yet but he always looked forward to (Name)'s words of encouragement and unwavering support as he trekked through the world of music.

- Despite the age difference the two shared their worlds and experience with one another and it brought them closer and closer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[smitingthewicked]

(little excerpt about hellfire's lyricism from the essay on religion in media I wrote for class)

‎

But there are times when the secular world of modern music and the powerful tradition of religious music intertwine and create something, both removed from, and nonexistent without, the sacred.

Committed to their image as a clean, family-friendly media conglomerate, Disney has long put to rest its raunchier subject material. No more drinking, no more smoking, no more violence. Every movie is smoothed into an edgeless ball of mediocrity, devoid of anything deemed even mildly offensive, all in an attempt to appeal to every demographic possible. Every song is designed to be an earworm, and most don’t mean to convey anything but a desire to sell dolls and CDs.

Then, there was that one time where they adapted one of the most infamous pieces of gothic literature into a movie for children.

Walt Disney Studios’ take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains one of my favorites. For as much as people dislike its darkness and lack of child-friendly themes, for as many stories I’ve heard of parents pulling their children out of the theater during its initial release, I will never stop believing that it’s the best in Disney’s repertoire.

And, of course, what would The Hunchback of Notre Dame be without Hellfire?

Including its prelude and thematic opposite (Heaven’s Light, which I will not include in this essay as I fear the length already), Hellfire, at just five minutes and twenty two seconds, stands of one of the most memorable moments in musical history. It is, in my own opinion, the crowning jewel of the film and encapsulates every aspect of what makes Hunchback so controversially masterful.

There is no doubt that Hellfire- and the film as a whole- are indirect forms of religious expression. Devoid of the usual pandering and ingratiating aspects of Christian animated media, it not only succeeds in displaying the benevolent, hopeful side of religion, but excels in its evils as well.

As the dreamy, soft-edged melody of Heaven’s Light fades into the sound of church bells, the song is taken from a gentle allegory of love as paradise to the echoes of Latin chants against stone walls. Here, the hopefulness of Quasimodo’s ballad is sent through a hazy mist of prayers and resurfaces in a rising anxiety.

Claude Frollo (originally an archdeacon, but a judge in this particular version) begins his own song by beseeching Mary. To confront the holy virgin, the sinless mother of God herself, with his temptations, to turn to an immortal woman as an escape from one of flesh and blood. He denies, and then he bargains, and then he denies again. Frollo’s cognitive dissonance from the image of superiority he projects onto others versus his struggles with the moral inferiority he feels within himself, which have been building since the very first minutes of the film, reach their narrative peak here as he ultimately refuses himself capable of sin.

His obsession with his own damnation and his deflection of personal responsibility chase him throughout the song as he faces an imaginary court of hooded monks. The echoes of Latin- the language of Catholicism, as if the church itself is judging him- counteract every desperate claim he makes: “It’s not my fault // (mea culpa)”, which directly translates to “my fault”.

Even the symbolism of fire itself is a double-edged sword. In the context of Christianity, fire both represents pain, suffering in Hell- and cleansing, purification. Frollo’s own struggle with sin, as represented by fire, is complimented by a desire to purify himself of his lust by burning its source. In a literal and figurative sense, he weaponizes his own fear against others- he both resents AND wields the very thing that destroys him. After all, whether fire is hellish or purifying, it still burns.

The song closes with Frollo’s leitmotif, a chorus of “Kyrie Eleison”, an older Greek prayer that roughly translates to “Lord Have Mercy”, and he collapses.

Hellfire, fraught with heavy symbolism, intertwined with such a controversial character, not only represents Catholicism, but some of its darkest consequences as well. A pure revelation of the sacred through creation.

[bluegekk0]

I think modern AU FPK would love to do restoration stuff. Like, specifically old console/keyboard/etc. restorations. I already imagined him running a tech service place at home, so it would be very fitting for his line of work. He'd be inspired by all the videos from restoration channels that he'd often watch to relax, and I could absolutely see him dabbling in it himself. He has the tech knowledge and the patience to do it, and I imagine he'd find the process itself very calming. The downside? He collects every single old, dirty keyboard he stumbles upon, hell, I could see him looking for those in dumpsters, which Hornet would find very gross. But even she has to admit, the end result is very impressive.

Since I'm on the topic of jobs/hobbies for the modern AU, might as well mention Grimm as well. I think he's a movie director, or at the very least works in the film industry. Divine is the costume designer like in the main AU, and Brumm is a score composer. They're part of his crew that sticks around for pretty much every movie he directs. Back to Grimm, maybe he'd also dabble in acting himself, I think this is something that fits him really well. And in his free time, he enjoys painting, a passion he shares with Holly. While Holly prefers to paint scenes from their everyday life (they have plenty of art they made that simply depicts their family members doing something mundane), I think Grimm would go for something more grandiose. He'd paint gorgeous landscapes he's seen in his travels, intriguing scenes either from the movies he's already directed, or those he's planning to make. He definitely has an eye for art, which shows in his paintings, but also in his films.

As for the other family members, I mentioned these in an old ask response but I thought I'd talk about it again here. Holly is a freelance artist, I imagine they also attend art college/university. Though similarly to the main AU, they also enjoy making stuffed toys and other forms of crafts like sculpting. Hornet would keep her interest in literature, so I imagine it's something she chose as her major, and that means she's still studying. In her free time she attends sports club meetings. Zote... I'm not sure, I think he'd just work in something like fast-food (with his unpleasant personality I imagine that's not for long hahaha). Though he does have an interest in music so maybe he attends some music classes as well. Lewk would be preschool age, so he goes to a kindergarten. Asta and Milo are too young for kindergarten so they stay at home. FPK takes care of them while Grimm is away, with Holly's help as they spend a lot of time at home between their classes, and he's also the one who picks up Lewk from kindergarten (he doesn't drive so he'd walk there, but those walks home are something both of them really enjoy).

[weaselandfriends]

Web Original, Recently Witnessed

In a previous post, I mentioned some web fiction I'd recently read. This time, I'll highlight some web original content outside of the literary sphere. While I have some experience with literature, I'm completely untalented in other mediums, so my assessment of this content is no better than a layman's. However, I still thought it worth highlighting.

1. Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History by Kevin Perjurer (Defunctland)

Perjurer has been putting out excellent documentary-style content on theme parks and their rides for years now, but while his production quality is consistently high, his videos often live or die based on the core level of interest his subject engenders. For instance, his video on notoriously awful ride Superstar Limo (with a general focus on notoriously awful theme park California Adventure) is an incredible watch, while his video on a random assortment of small, local Santa Claus theme parks across America isn't quite so compelling. He's no Jon Bois (of 17776 fame), a documentarian capable of rendering extraordinary seemingly the most banal of subjects.

Journey to EPCOT Center, however, is unlike anything Perjurer has ever put out before. It completely eschews Perjurer's typical voiceover narration style of documentary, instead stitching together music, audio of news reports and press releases, and dramatizations of Disney boardroom meetings to create a seamless narrative. Beyond the unique style and presentation of the piece, however, is the incredible artistry on display in several of the segments. Some of the biggest highlights:

12:00 to 16:14: A neon light animation detailing the vision and plan of EPCOT, which gradually transforms into a 3D map that the camera travels through

16:52 to 21:03: An impressively animated series of newspaper articles detailing Disney's struggles finding signatories for its world showcase; the video comments indicate some shots of the moving newspapers were created practically, with Lego conveyer belts

38:46 to 44:27: A puppet show dramatizing Disney's efforts to seek international sponsors

There are numerous other impressive, inventive, and creative segments as well, with unique animation and visual styles. The video rarely repeats the same trick twice.

The funniest part is that all of this is in service to a topic I would personally consider quite boring. EPCOT is such a Disney-buffs-only type of subject, neither Disney's greatest success nor its greatest failure. The incredible skill on display is all aimed toward depicting a fairly corporate, backroom-style story about men in suits trying to secure handshakes. There's an almost propagandistic feel to it, an extolling of capitalist bigwigs that feels completely at odds with Perjurer's visionary style.

In a way, it's reminiscent of United Passions, a FIFA propaganda film meant to make its executives look good in the wake of real-life controversy. On the other hand, though, Perjurer's exceedingly loving depiction is appropriate for Walt Disney's final passion project, Disney himself being a man who, for better or for worse, was as much of a dreamer and visionary as he was a cutthroat businessman. EPCOT, as the video tells you, was designed as an optimistic reaffirmation of the American free enterprise project, and as a complement to that vision Perjurer's video could not be more accurate. Unlike United Passions, this video was also made independently, not financed by Disney to make itself look good in the eyes of the public. Metatextually, it poses a fascinating question: Is there value to corporate art? Can a corporation create something of true beauty? Perjurer's video suggests it can.

2. The Mind Electric Animation - Lonely-Man's Lazarus by Daisy

Perjurer is probably familiar to many of my readers, so this next entry is more obscure, something I stumbled on almost by chance.

A friend of mine is big into animatics, which as far as YouTube is concerned is about setting music (usually Broadway or Disney musical numbers) to sketchy, storyboard-style art. I'm not a major Broadway fan in general, so these have never appealed to me much, although I've been shown several.

This one, though, rather generically titled "The Mind Electric Animation" (after the song it features), caught me entirely off guard. The first notable element is that the animation is monstrously more fluid than a typical animatic, though it retains the sketchy/storyboard art style and traditional animatic sensibilities toward character design (very "Tumblr," if I had to put a word on it). Secondly, the music, rather than being from Hamilton or Heathers or some other popular musical, is from the itself rather arcane album Hawaii: Part II by Joe Hawley (under the name ミラクルミュージカル). Hawaii: Part II is, as far as I can tell, a concept album detailing the story of a man who goes insane after his girlfriend is murdered (possibly by himself), with a strange secondary subtext of possibly being metaphorical for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The lyrics are certainly open to interpretation.

The animatic combines these elements with heavy inspiration from a different concept album, potentially the most famous one ever made: Pink Floyd's The Wall, with specific nods to the film adaptation's animations for The Trial and Empty Spaces. There is no skimping on detail, with some sequences absolutely bursting with bizarre visuals. The ultimate result is absolutely trippy, abstract, and surreal, which are some of my favorite things for something to be.

Regardless, it's an impressive work of animation for a single person to make; the video description states it took 15 months, which is more time than I've spent on any one of even my longest works. The creator themselves is somewhat enigmatic from what I could tell, despite having a whole host of social media platforms. They seem to be working on a web comic, but trying to find any concrete information on what it is actually about was difficult. Nonetheless, whoever made this certainly has an abundance of creative vision and talent. Though I've seen skilled artists sit down to create something narrative before and flub it utterly (an example that comes to mind is Ava's Demon), so who knows if what is on display in this animation will make it into that web comic. Even if it doesn't, the animation by itself is incredible, so check it out.

3. The Skibidi Toilet podcast guys are for real by Mikhail Klimentov / Built By Gamers in general

Built By Gamers has been on my radar for some time (ever since seeing this video) as an absolute masterclass of performance art. The voice, the emphasis, the little oddities here and there, the way the two hosts so often ignore direct questions posed by one another, it creates something inimitably uncanny. This interview by Mikhail Klimentov, who I am familiar with primarily through his esports journalism, only adds new layers to what was already a convoluted question of irony and sincerity.

There are a few concrete insights, most shockingly to me that the creators of Built By Gamers (Todd Searle and Peter Armendariz) got their start in esports. But despite the title that seems to clearly suggest their videos are sincere, the actual interview is far less conclusive. For instance, this exchange:

It's evident to me that you guys take this very seriously. You feel as though there's a lot of craft behind these videos. Tell me about the stuff that a viewer won't see: the behind-the-scenes stuff that you're thinking about as you're working on these videos. Armendariz: A lot of people think it's ChatGPT. That's a big thing that people think that we do. But a lot of it is actually well crafted, through hours — like we'll spend hours on one script and really thinking about how we can get someone to react. It doesn't matter if it's them laughing, if it's them feeling sad, or them hating on one of us, our main goal in our videos is to get someone to feel something. The hard truth is that people don't realize how many hours we spend on one video to get that one line. I think that's what people don't really understand. We’ll spend like two hours on one line. Searle: Our tone, like how we talk — it’s on purpose. I have to get into character for it. Armendariz: Todd has a voice, bro! He didn't think he'd be good at telling stories, and I have him tell every single story because he has this campfire story voice. And sometimes he'll hit a line and I'm like, “No, no, you’ve got to hit it harder.” And we'll spend like 30 minutes trying to hit the line, or hitting the hook just the right way.

Followed immediately by:

People really don't know what to make of you guys. They don't have a sense of whether you're serious, whether you're in on the joke, whether there's a joke at all. I'm curious if you can clear that up. Searle: We want it to be everything you just said. We want people to think we're serious. We want camps of people who don't think we're serious. People who think that we're A.I. We kind of want to keep it, I guess, vague in that regard. Like we want you to believe… what we are — and that's OK. Armendariz: I think sometimes we'll play into different communities. So, like, some people will say, ‘You guys sound like you got brain surgery.’ So then we’ll make the most cringey video that's like super brain-rot, you know? We just kind of mess around and have fun.

So are they just messing around and having fun, or are they spending hours trying to nail specific lines just right? Are they sincerely trying to tell a story that gets an emotional reaction or are they just trolling, which also gets an emotional reaction? The biggest troll of the interview, targeted specifically at me, was this response:

Can you tell me what those writing principles are? Armendariz: I think a big writing principle that everyone should follow is, it's really important to show, don't tell.

People who have talked to me elsewhere know I am a massive enthusiast of the ubiquitous Mr. Beast, not necessarily because I like his content (though I do think he puts together some strong game show/Wipeout-style videos), but because of the story behind him: That he is an extreme, almost insufferable perfectionist, who analyzes video success and failure to a scientific degree, doing experiments with thumbnails, video lengths, et cetera, all to take detailed assessments of the results and perfectly calibrate his videos in mathematical fashion. It's a type of rigor that flies in the face of the casual, wastefully generous persona he cultivates in his videos proper.

I think many people have this innate idea that a work of art's quality is somehow tied to the effort expended to produce it. (Even I have it. Notice how for both of the first two entries in this post I mention the effort or time or craftsmanship of the work in question.) This is the kind of sensibility that causes a layman, who knows nothing about painting, to prefer a Caravaggio to a Rothko. But this sensibility is both conceptually and often practically wrong; Rothko, for instance, engineered his own paints, creating custom blends of materials (including non-paint material, like egg) to form paints of a perfectly specific color or gloss or sheen, a process often completely unseen by a casual glance at the finished work.

Subsequently, there's a reason they're called writer's workshops, that writing is so often described as a craft: It's an attempt to imbue writing with a sense of effort that makes it more palatable. The stereotype extends to the artist who sneers at quote-unquote "low" art, thinking "If I was willing to lower myself, I could create that slop and make millions too." In my experience, though, the people creating this "low" art are often expending absurd amounts of effort and exhibiting incredible skill to create something perfectly engineered for success. I, certainly, have found zero success in attempting to broaden my own audience, even when I make attempts at it; it's not something that's easier to do if you're just willing to try.

I also increasingly fail to believe in the stereotype of the miserable cynic artist who creates something they think is garbage because they know that'll be most popular. Those people don't last long; those who succeed in the popular sphere are people who are genuinely passionate about what they create, even if it looks like dreck to everyone else (including the millions who consume it).

I've been kicking around an idea for a story about Mr. Beast for some time now, exploring these concepts in even greater depth. That won't happen in the immediate future, but it's something to look out for.

[thewardenofwinter]

Writeblr Introduction | Morana Warrin

I have finally created a Tumblr for my writing. I haven't been on here since I just got internet access (around 2013 so you can probably guess the things I saw) but I need a place to throw all my ideas at a wall and watch as they trickle down into a puddle of lost nights of sleep and aesthetic pinterest boards.

▸ About

▸My name is Morana, I would prefer they/them pronouns but, to be frank, I do not care what you refer to me as. I have been writing for a long time (too long if you ask some people) but in the past three years, I have been taking the profession much more seriously in hopes of starting a career. Besides being a writer and a threat to modern society, I also dabble in drawing/graphic design and character design.

▸I adore 19th-century Russian literature (Mikhail Bulgakov is my personal favourite) and absurdist texts. There isn't a moment of my day when I'm not listening to some sort of music, I do not discriminate genres in the slightest but I am partial to rock and its many subgenres. I love any 90s and early 2000s movies, early Hollywood horror flicks, and Soviet films from the 80s.

▸ Current Projects

(I am horrible at summaries so please take pity on me. also check TWs)

The Resurrectioners

You only live twice.

(TW: Mentions of s*icide)

After the deaths of her two sisters in a car crash, twenty-seven-year-old Samara Dombroski decides that her life is no longer worth living and makes a successful attempt at her own life. Only there's one problem:

She doesn’t stay dead for very long.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Samara wakes up in a strange, vast estate plagued by visions of the past that she can’t control. She learns that this place is run by a man known only as The Resurrectionist, a necromancer armed with a group of assassins possessing strange abilities called Resurrectioners, an eclectic group of individuals who all share her story: people who found death by their own hand or by some other tragic means.

Now a resurrectioner herself, Samara must repay the debt of her second chance at life to The Resurrectionist by disposing of cadavers for him: violent, ghoulish beings that result from misused necromancy who feast on flesh and bone. Once she has killed enough to satisfy The Resurrectionist, she will be released from the estate she is trapped in and free to live the rest of her life.

genre: dark fantasy, thriller

What We Undertake

Some things are better left undead.

Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak meets Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow in this paranormal mystery and gothic romance set in the late 19th century.

Our tale follows one Dolores Clive, resident medium and the daughter of the late Warren Clive, Boston's most beloved undertaker. After her father's death and subsequent take over of the family business, Dolores has become a recluse haunted by ghosts of her past and near future which all comes to head when her step-sister arrives in town with her newly acquired fiancé and his rather strange but beautiful brother in tow following a string of murders.

Genre: horror/supernatural fiction, gothic fiction

The Stray Girls

It's not drugs that are killing these teens.

(TW: Mentions of drugs and alcohol)

Set in the fictional city of Maynard, The Stray Girls is a retelling of The Lost Boys centred around a cast of troubled teen girls set 10 years later in 1997'.

After once again deciding to move across the country with her daughters, Magdelena's mother decides that cheap rent is worth more than her daughter's lives when she moves to Maynard, Washington— which currently boasts the largest missing girl population in the country. While settling into their new home, Magda notices her elder sister Roxanne is beginning to act strange: leaving the house in the middle of the night, wearing sunglasses indoors, and sleeping all day. First suspecting it to be drugs, Magda thinks nothing of it, but as time goes on and her sister's personality makes a sudden shift in the wrong direction, she can no longer pretend like everything is alright. Meeting the group of troubled girls that her sister now calls 'friends' slowly leads her down a path of crime, thrill and peer pressure. But it's not booze that these girls are drinking: it's blood.

Genre: Teen Adventure/Horror

▸ LINKS

pinterest // spotify // instagram

Though my aesthetic and writing style may scream morbid academic pretentiousness, I assure you my online presence and writing greatly contrast with my personality (and looks for that matter) so please do not be alarmed by my frequent buffoonery, general bastardness, and bombastic vulgarity.

Thank you for reading! (or skipping to the end)

— M. Warrin

[simsinlowspace]

Freetime Posters - 12 Sports Hobby Posters

Hey everyone! It's the weekend, so you know what that means -- more FT posters! This week's hobby is sports! ⚽

I wasn't really looking forward to this hobby (I have very little interest in sports, personally), but once I got started, they were so, so much fun to make. The last couple of sets have been pretty challenging, but these came together in just two painless sessions, and I finished way ahead of schedule! So without further ado:

These are on @linacheries’ magnificent 4t2 conversion of Simsza’s National Park Prints (mesh is included), and they feature another 12 designs made with Flaticon elements + lots of Simlish fonts. They’re all inspired by locations, items and Sims from the game (plus a couple of TS3 references).

Translations:

Top: Smith VS Grunt Bottom: 07.08 9PM SST Llama Memorial Stadium Only on SimStation Sports Possibly my favorite idea yet for this series, a rematch between PT9 and General Buzz Grunt! Place your bets! ;)

Top: Vooooo... Bottom: Gerbits! Finally, a truly Simlish poster XD

Execuputter Advertisement for the in-game item

The Goal of Paul This feels more like a movie poster to me, but it's another item advertisement

Big Hartley Bridgeport Cowplants I'd like to think Hartley (TS3) fulfilled his dream of becoming more than a bouncer...and I also like the idea of a team called the Cowplants XP

Top: Llama Bottom: Memorial Stadium Sunset Valley Another TS3 reference, because I love the name of this venue

Ritchie Striker (x2) Bridgeport FC Okay, last TS3 reference...this is for Ritchie Striker, one of Bridgeport's pre-mades and an athlete (his name/outfit suggests soccer, so that's what I went with). Since I was doing three of these athlete posters, I wanted one that was signed

Top: Punching Bag Bottom: Exerto I really tried to make this one more exciting, but ultimately, I didn't like any of the icons of figures actually interacting with a punching bag, so I made it to match the Exerto exercise bike advertisement from the Fitness set instead

Axe-olutely Throwing Station Advertisement for the in-game item

Scot Kwa Belladonna Cove Warlocks Named for one of the sports hobby trainers

Dreamy Fields For the sports secret lot

H-O-R-S-E of Course Basket Ball Hoop Another advertisement for an in-game item

And of course, a numbered swatch is included.

Icons are by Freepik, max.icons, BZZRINCANTATION, Smashicons, cah nggunung, Icongeek26, kerismaker and mnauliady. Thanks as always to the designers for their amazing resources!

DOWNLOAD (SFS) Recolors are ~350KB

Lots of love, Spacey

UPDATE: Now that this series is complete, here is a master list of all the posts, plus a single download link for all the posters. All swatches are included, and files are sorted into folders so you can easily keep just what you like:

Tinkering Nature Arts & Crafts Fitness Science Cuisine Sports Games Music & Dance Film & Literature

DOWNLOAD ALL THE POSTERS (SFS) Recolors are ~8.5MB

You can now also get all the designs on BV's Travel Keeper!

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Richard Dawkins

Published: Nov 17, 2023

Dear Ayaan

As you know, you are one of my absolutely favourite people but... seriously, Ayaan? You, a Christian? You are no more a Christian than I am.  I might agree with you (I actually do) that Putinism, Islamism, and postmodernish wokery pokery are three great enemies of decent civilisation. I might agree with you that Christianity, if only as a lesser of evils, is a powerful weapon against them. I might add that Christianity has been the inspiration for some of the greatest art, architecture and music the world has ever known. But so what?  I once got into trouble for extolling the beauty of Winchester Cathedral bells by comparison with the “aggressive-sounding” yell of “Allahu Akhbar” (the last thing you hear before the bomb goes off, or before your head rolls away from your body). I might agree (I think I do, although certainly not in its earlier history) that Christianity is morally superior to Islam. I might even agree that Christianity is the bedrock of our civilisation (actually I don’t, but even if I did...) None of that comes remotely even close to making me – or you ��� a Christian.

I have seen a very recent filmed discussion in which you described me as one of the most Christian people you know. This came after you quoted Roger Scruton as saying to you that you act like a Christian, you behave like a Christian, therefore you are a Christian. But Ayaan, that is so wrong. How you, or I, behave is utterly irrelevant. What matters is what you believe. What matters is the truth claims about the world which you think are true.

For that is the whole point. Christianity makes factual claims, truth claims that Christians believe, truth claims that define them as Christian. Christians are theists. They believe in a divine father figure who designed the universe, listens to our prayers, is privy to our every thought. You surely don’t believe that? Do you believe Jesus rose from the grave three days after being placed there? Of course you don’t. Do you believe Jesus was born to a virgin? Certainly not. Someone of your intelligence does not believe you have an immortal soul, which will survive the decay of your brain. Christians believe in a frightful place called Hell, where the souls of the wicked go after they are dead. Do you believe that? Hell no! Christians believe every baby is “born in sin” and is saved from Hell only by the redemptive (pre-emptive in the case of all those born anno domini) execution of Jesus. Do you believe anything close to that nasty scapegoat theory? Of course you don’t.

Ayaan, you are no more a Christian than I am.

You make an additional claim, which my respect for you finds more incredible: “I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive.” So you need a religion of some kind, and Christianity seems the least bad alternative? Ayaan, I have always thought of you as one of the bravest people I know. How could you succumb to such weakness?

“Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?” For my part, I have found various things that give my life meaning and purpose. There’s science, and my books have expounded my lifelong quest to understand the meaning and purpose of all life. Then there’s human love, there’s the beauty of a child, a tropical swim under the stars, a ravishing sunset, a Schubert quartet. There’s the art and literature of all the world. The warmth of an intimate embrace.

But even if all such things leave you cold – and of course they don’t – even if you feel a ravenous need for more, what on Earth does that have to do with the truth claims of Christianity or any other religion? Even if life were intolerably bleak and empty – it isn’t, but even if it were – how could you, how could anyone, twist a need for solace into a belief in scriptural truth claims about the universe, simply because they make you feel good? Intelligent people don’t believe something because it comforts them. They believe it because, and only because, they have seen evidence that supports it.

No, Ayaan, you are not a Christian, you are just a decent human being who mistakenly thinks you need a religion in order to remain so.

With my love

Richard

PS would you like to have a recorded conversation for us both to put on our social media?

[lady-eris]

Hello! I was wondering if i could get a jjk matchup? I go by she/her and am bi. Im also 21 so Id like adult characters.

As for personality I am quite introverted and tend to love just chilling in my room. I do however open up around close friends where I can be loud, especially when talking about my interests.

As for hobbies I love digital art. I love digital illustration, making character models/art for game design, web design, graphics, and more. I love playing rpg video games, visual novels, otomes etc. I also love reading fantasy, classical literature, myths and folklore. I like making jewelry too! Love watching films from like every era while beading bracelets and necklaces as well. As much as i enjoy spending time in my room with my hobbies, one of my favorite things to do is travel the world. I also love to bellydance to Arabic and Bollywood music.

Id say my strengths are definitely my imagination and creativity. I tend to get lost in my head in made up worlds and use that for my digital art. Id also say that im quite good at being on top of things and will always finish all my work before play.

For weaknesses its my pessimism and anxiety. I get into ruts where sometimes all I see is a doom scenario.

Thats it! Thank You!

I match you with

Utahime Iori!

with all the stress from Gojo, and Her students She'd need the quietness with you, she'd feel much calmer, and would love to get involved with whatever activity's you do. I like to imagine that she can't draw, so she's really amazed when you do! She'd watch movie's with you whenever she can, and when not on missions would wear whatever jewellry you make her. though she'll take it off, for class and mission's as she doesn't want to break them!

She'd love the fact, you dance and would do her best to learn how to bellydance so she could do it with you. She'd also try to teach you how to dance like her.

[greatwyrmgold]

Ten years of Noah Caldwell-Gervais

It's remarkable how little the video essays of Noah Caldwell-Gervais have changed over the last decade.

Obviously, there have been some changes.

When I went on a(nother) NCG binge last month, the only difference that stood out to me immediately was the audio—both that NCG has upgraded his recording equipment and that early NCG videos included audio from the background game clips, sometimes loud enough to drown out his commentary. It's a weird choice that I assume he made because he didn't want to speak over dead air and couldn't find any royalty-free music that fit the tone well enough; I'm glad he changed his mind.

When I started looking, I saw other little things. The pace of his dictation has slowed (I want to say by about a quarter?), making his feature-length diatribes easier to parse. Counter to this, his older videos would often play whole cutscenes to display his point. (Not just once in a blue moon, like with that RE5 scene; sometimes twice in a row, like in the AVP vs. AVP vs. ACM video.) While Caldwell-Gervais didn't delve into "traditional gamer complaints" about DLC and "lazy devs" and such very often, their density has decreased over time, as has his willingness to give questionable design decisions a pass for good intentions. Early NCG was less likely to research games he couldn't personally play (his CoD video from 2015 only mentions that he couldn't play CoD 3, for instance). The early videos also had an in-person introduction, while newer videos integrate the important parts of that introduction into the script.

And of course, Noah himself has changed over the past decade—it's been a busy ten years, his opinions about games, their place in the world, and that world have shifted in ways that influence his commentary.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Caldwell-Gervais still writes long video essays about entire franchises, albeit now with confidence that his audience will watch a single video for 3-8 hours if he finds enough to say about a series.

He still weaves all those facts about the game in with what development details he can dig up and context from outside the video game subculture to frame his insights as narratives about the franchises and their creators.

He still talks about highbrow literature-class stuff like tone and theme, contrasted with an obvious love for the lowbrow thrills of shooty bang bang. He still accepts "dumb" games, criticizing them for being dumb only when it clashes with other elements/ambitions of the game. (Or when they really punch the boulder.)

With the exception of a few in-video callbacks, he still avoids in-jokes, irrelevant memes, and other elements which might make his work seem inaccessible to newcomers or dated to latecomers. He'll reference current events and recent releases from time to time, so the videos aren't really timeless, but they're not time-locked, either.

He still focuses on shooters and RPGs, with a strong interest in horror and occasional dips into story-dominated titles and the odd pure strategy game. (Also Western games, notable less for their prevalence in NCG's body of work and more for the fact that he's covered both Red Dead Redemption and Call of Juarez, darn near the only notable video game series set in the Old West.)

He still plays the action games with a level of skill that seems reasonable to me, but which comment section critics say is so abysmal that his opinions about action games shouldn't count (except where they agree with the critic's).

Caldwell-Gervais still references film and other media as comparisons to most games he covers. He still shows affinity for Americana, particularly the arid landscapes of the Southwest, and also Western movies.

He still has a largely positive outlook, focusing on games and series worth praising when he can and looking for the best aspects of even the worst games he covers. To this end, he still tries to find the game's level and meet it there. And yet, when a game fails on every level or aims well below its potential, he will still criticize it for those disappointments.

He still focuses on how the different elements of a game interact, prioritizing that over the sum of his parts. He still likes to point out when mechanics, aesthetics, themes, or plot points that work in one title undermine a very similar work—or contrarily, when things that sank one rescued another. It's all about context.

He's still relentlessly critical of corporate bullshit, whether that's publishers forcing Marketable™ elements into a context that doesn't artistically support them or executives maintaining and concealing an abusive work environment.

And of course, he still starts each video with a shot of some hand-written title card, set to thematically-appropriate music that almost certainly gets every video copyright claimed.

Some things are hard to quantify.

In an absolute sense, the filmography (youtography?) of the infamously hidebound Doug Walker has changed more over the years. But that's the kind of fact that conceals more than it reveals.

Walker adds new tools to his toolbelt and throws new ideas into his productions, but the fundamentals stay the same. He makes the same kinds of complaints, tells the same kinds of jokes, films the same kinds of shots. He doesn't try to improve his media literacy, or his writing, or his cinematography. Or his white-balancing.

Part of why Caldwell-Gervais's old videos hold up so much better than 2013 Walker videos (or 2022 ones) is that Caldwell-Gervais started at a much higher level of quality—fewer moving parts than even pre-Demo-Reel Nostalgia Critic, with every piece mastered. (Except audio.)

But part is that Caldwell-Gervais has improved, and not just with audio. I can't put my finger on it, but something about his writing has changed. His older videos feel more superficial, more focused on the games for their own sake and what works or doesn't work for a given genre or franchise. His newer ones feel like they're trying to be deeper, to go beyond individual video games and use them to say something about gaming as a whole, or even the world beyond.

And unlike Walker, NCG's efforts to Do More are backed by the skill, effort, and attention to detail needed to pull them off. I rewatch NCG's older videos out of a self-destructive sense of completionism, or a desire for familiar background noise. I rewatch his newer videos because they're interesting, even on subsequent rewatches.

[maraudershq]

Could you give us a few of your most wanted majors? I always have trouble picking one

𝒊 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒖𝒕! i'd love to see some film production, pre - med, biology, journalism, graphic design, classics, english literature, fine art, history, human sciences, law, mathematics, music, philosophy, physics, psychology, kinesiology, & theology majors! EDIT : if you were looking for more magical studies majors, then hit me up & i'll list some of those as well!

[lil-tachyon]

Hey logan, i'm trying to get into sci fi more, do you have any media, movies or otherwise you'd say it's a must watch for someone starting to get into it? Thanks

Super broad question! And precisely the thing I love to talk about. Although unfortunately I really don’t watch a lot of movies or TV so the best I can do for you is list some stuff I like and hope that you find something you enjoy. If we were talking sci-fi literature, that’s something I would probably write a full essay on- if anyone’s interested in reading my thoughts on that and getting my really long list of recommendations, just let me know. I might even do it on my own anyway, just for fun…

I guess if we’re going to talk about “must-watch” sci-fi movies then we have to talk about Star Wars first just to get it out of the way. I’ll keep it brief, far too much ink has been spilt regarding this franchise and you can find more in-depth opinions somewhere else. The original trilogy is great- there’s a reason it launched one of the biggest media franchises of the past 45 years. Endlessly rewatchable, somehow still looks better than basically any other big budget SFF popcorn movie and just plain fun. If you somehow haven’t seen the OT yet, get to it. 

You don’t really need to watch any other Star Wars stuff aside from the OT. The prequels aren’t exactly essential and they’re unquestionably worse in terms of dialog, acting, pacing (i.e. the nuts and bolts of storytelling.) If you’ve never watched Star Wars before you won’t have any nostalgia for them so you can skip them. Don’t even bother with the Disney sequels- pointless and incoherent. If you DO for some reason want more Star Wars in your life I can give you two recommendations: 

First is the masterpiece that is Genndy Tartakovsky’s (creator of Samurai Jack) Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) (no, not the CGI Clone Wars show you’re probably thinking of). Split into 25 episodes ranging in length from two to twelve minutes, the whole show is only about two hours long but boy is it sweet. There are no main characters and not much in the way of an overarching plot. Instead the show is composed of a series of rapid-fire vignettes that take place across the entire Star Wars galaxy and tell dozens of unique microstories. It’s pulpy and fun and never takes itself too seriously and the whole thing is on YouTube because for some reason Disney actually hates everything that made Star Wars good and hasn’t taken the time to copyright strike it.

Second recommendation is the Mandalorian. I didn’t believe it when people started raving about it, but it really is great and tells a poignant, self-contained, original story. It’s not perfect and it definitely suffers from the Disneywars curse of really obnoxious references to the OT, but it’s absolutely worth the watch.

Damn that’s so much more time than I wanted to spend on Star Wars. I always forget how much of a SW geek I am until I start talking about it…

Quick list of the other big “essentials” that I’ve seen and can recommend before I get into more personal stuff (in no particular order):

Alien (1979) - Weird and creepy and gross and with impeccable visual design in every single frame. I need to rewatch it, only seen it once.

Akira (1988) - Massive, groundbreaking, unsettling, beautiful. Brought cyberpunk into the visual realm, brought anime to the West in a whole new way. I could rewatch it a hundred times. 

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - A foundational film that moves at a foreboding crawl and leaves you feeling unsafe and unsure of what you just watched. (Also my dad’s band referenced the monkey scene in their big-label debut music video, so that should be reason enough to watch it)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - UFOs, the American West, and the most 70s-looking cast imaginable. It feels more a product of its time than most of the others on this list, but I love it for that and it does nothing to make it any less impactful or engrossing.

The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) - I waited waaaaaay too long to watch these. I only got around to seeing them this past year in fact. I had always just written them off in my head as nothing more than cheesy 80s action flicks but my God are they good and so much different from what I expected. The first one is basically a sci-fi slasher film and the second is probably the best sequel film I’ve ever seen and takes everything in a totally different direction that still manages to build on all the groundwork laid by the first. Please watch, don’t be like me and wait until you’re twenty-six. 

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) - My favorite Ghibli movie. For being a film about people flying airships and fighting bugs in a giant toxic jungle, it really has a lot of important stuff to say and says it very well.

Castle in the Sky (1988) - Hits a lot of the same plot beats as Nausicaä and, imo, suffers a little bit in comparison but still a great anime sci-fantasy romp. 

The Thing (1982) - Disgusting sci-fi horror in the glacial Antarctic wastes

The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) - The first, the best. Sure, it’s inconsistent in terms of quality, but it’s at least consistently weird and inventive and the good episodes are really damn good. Also something I love about it is the acting- it’s very over-the-top expressive and exaggerated. Feels more like it’s meant for the stage than for the small screen. You don’t see a lot of TV like that these days. 

The X-Files (1993-2002, 2016-2018) - Absolutely in my top 5 TV shows. It was great to watch as a 14-year-old because I was still young enough to find it scary, and it’s great on every re-watch because I can really appreciate how much chemistry Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny have and how fun, goofy, and overall weird it is. As I recall it starts to decline noticeably in season 8. Season 9 you’ll have to grit your teeth to get through. The 2016-2018 revival is half composed of unwatcheable “storyline” episodes and half surprisingly good-to-great “monster of the week” episodes.

Cowboy Bebop (1998-1999) - My number one favorite anime, I love everything about it. So much effort goes into small background details and characters that only appear for a few seconds and it really goes a long way to making the whole universe of the show feel so real that you could see yourself living in it. Also the soundtrack is top-notch, I listen to it regularly. 

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) and End of Evangelion (1997) - Another one that I took too long to get to and to be honest I probably would’ve been more into it had I watched it when I was younger, but it’s still great and I recommend it. Features a classic “inflation suit” episode

Stuff that’s less “essential” but I really like it:

Planetes (2003-2004) - My second favorite anime. Starts off as a workplace slice-of-life and slowly builds into a really, really emotional conclusion. Can’t recommend it enough.

Forbidden Planet (1956) - A sci-fi adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (I’m an illiterate piece of shit so I can’t tell you how good an adaptation it is). It’s slow-paced and eerie, and way more atmospheric than its decidedly 1950s visuals would lead you to believe.

Digimon: The Movie (2000) / Summer Wars (2009) - A short story: as a kid I probably watched the Digmon Movie about a million times. It was huge with kids my age and was probably an entire generation’s first introduction to ska-punk. It’s a great movie. Anyway, fast forward about a decade and a half and at some point I sit down to watch Summer Wars with my brother on no other information than that we heard it’s good. And it is! But pretty soon into the movie we both notice something odd- it seems to feature almost the exact same plot as the Digmon Movie. After a bit of digging we find out that they were both directed by the same guy and it seems he just had this idea in his head for a story that he really wanted to make for over a decade because Summer Wars is basically a more mature and less merchandisable remake. Watch them both!

Samurai Jack (2001-2004, 2017) - the first cartoon I saw as a kid that really made me say “finally, something for me!” I wouldn’t get another TV show aimed at me that was “cool” and “epic” and “badass” until ATLA came out. Nothing beats watching a samurai fight a million robots and bounty-hunters on an endless quest to go back to the past. Also the season 5 revival is great and I genuinely don’t get why a lot of people seemed to really hate on it. 

Moon (2009) - It’s been a LONG time since I watched it, but I liked it quite a bit. A lonely lunar miner runs into what seems to be his double and things get spooky…

Prospect (2018) - More space miners running into trouble! Really great costume and prop design on a super small budget (but you wouldn’t know it from how good it looks). 

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989) - Listen- I’m not a gundam guy. I don’t care about all the different robots and I’m not about to watch 40 years of TV to try and figure out the story. Which is why War in the Pocket is great because it’s six episodes long and it just tells a really touching story punctuated by cool robot battles and you don’t need to know anything about Gundam to enjoy it.

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987) - A story about a space race set on an alternate world. What really sets it apart is the visual design- every detail from books, to currency, to texts to vehicles, to architecture is unique enough to feel totally alien but also grounded enough to somehow feel familiar. It’s quite an achievement. Trigger Warning: there’s a very uncomfortable rape scene in the middle of the film that seems to come out of nowhere. I’m still not sure why they chose to include it.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999) - Military police get up to some real nasty stuff in alternate history fashy 1950s Japan. Very depressing, all my friends complained to me about how sad it was even though they went into it knowing what it was about and agreeing to watch it with me. You just can’t win sometimes!

That’s about all I have for now. I know it’s all kind of basic bitch stuff but like I said, I don’t often watch movies/TV. Hope it helps and thanks for the great question!

[ticklemycucumber]

15 questions 🥒💬

( thank you for the tag(s) @hauntedadagium & @seradyn! 🖤

passing this on to @savage-rhi, @mirrim-the-moonfaerie, @noctglaive, @elluvians, @lunarlegend, & @cainballad, if you're feelin' up for it~ 🫂 )

1. Are you named after anyone? nah, not as far as I know.

2. When was the last time you cried? this past Tuesday or Wednesday? my absolute clown-shoes life lately—

3. Do you have kids? not yet! I hope to have a few, someday. 😌

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? eh, on and off, depending on who I'm speaking with. more like a lot of expletives heh.

5. What sports do you/have you played? I'm currently into weight-lifting and themed 5Ks. 👍 but I have participated in field hockey, cross-country, track-and-field, tennis, kayaking/canoeing, & marching band (playing like, 4 pieces of memorized music; while contorting your body, and b l a z i n g around a whole football field; wearing a 10+ lb. thick uniform, inclement weather or not— 💀).

6. What’s the first thing you notice about other people? in-person? their smile, and if it reaches their eyes. 🙏 online? how they treat others, especially considering how nasty interweb climates can get.

7. Eye color? blue.

8. Scary movies or happy endings? no contest: horror is my favorite genre, for any medium. 🔪 I do appreciate a feel-good ending though!

9. Any special talents? I-I can pick up rhythm-based games rather quickly (DDR, Beat Saber, Taiko Drum Master, etc.), I suppose. 😅 and I love to sing! just not in public anymore really. *shudders, as the crippling stage-fright lies dormant*

10. Where were you born? on the east coast of the US of A.

11. What are your hobbies? gaming, cooking/baking, watching/studying horror films, reading, [light] writing, [light] arting. looking to pick up hiking and piano! 🫡

12. Do you have any pets? I dooo~ my little prince of darkness, the sweetest void, Kieran. 🥺 (after the character from the Scream TV show, lol)

13. How tall are you? 5' 3"

14. Favorite subject in school? English/literature.

15. Dream job? the chance to be involved with a horror movie (or game) production, be it advertising, SFX, costume or set design, editing, writing, whatever— yis. 🎃

[dwellerinroots]

6 questions

This post brought to you by @thana-topsy; cheers for tagging me! Hopefully you'll get a few chuckles out of it..!

RULES: answer the questions then tag some folx you want to get to know better/catch up with.

Last Song: Like a lot of you here, I listen to a lot of game music; in general, ambient music is my preferred music for work/writing, since in the field it's easier to hear people talking if there isn't someone else talking... And for writing, words just get distracting. Anyway, I'm cheating here, a bit... Song ft. Vox; Air - Sex Born Poison (the line 'Prince from the Biomass' lives rent free in my head) Song sans Vox; Desiderii Marginis - The Sweet Hereafter (just full of feelings mostly...) Song (gaming games for gamers); Chapter 1 Epilogue, Limbus Company (I'm a huge fan of this company's works. They're very literary and just the right level of obtuse. But even still, what a wild ride this was... Oh, spoilers I suppose...)

Last Show: Television? Anime? What are those? Haha, no, I kid, I kid. I just generally place anything I can't consume at my own pace pretty low, you know..? Let's see, uh... I think it was old Sailor Moon. Dubbed, of course. The only way to watch.

Currently Watching: Isn't this really the same questions as above? Gawoaoaoh!? How am I supposed to answer?! I'm in a pickle, the last movie I watched, uh, hrmn, uh... Probably a horror film, probably Body Count, 1986. I'd link the trailer, but I think it's probably too much for tumblr dot com. You should look it up, though, horror is so dumb. (I say, affectionately.)

Currently Reading: Due to life having kicked my teeth so hard I'm talking through my gums, right now, I've mostly just been reading whatever I can take with me to work, so material literature only. Sorry, I'm luddite. I'm on my nth re-read of The Alexiad, and it angers me so much that a certain power is trying to - take the legacy of Ana Komnena (dreamy sigh) for their own. I've also been thumbing through my local birder's guide, as well as a book of regional mushroom varieties. I'm preparing. Also the Making of Doom 3 design book to cross-reference things. What else, hrmn... A friend of mine picked up a pulp sci-fantasy bundle, and it made me want to re-read The Dungeon series. But there's a lot in it, more then I can recommend here, so poke me if you want questionably-written swords, sandals, lasers, and who-knows-what-else recommendations.

Current Obsession: I feel a bit bad, I don't really obsess over - wait, wait, re-do. My WIFE (fictional) [hoarse croaking] More seriously, I don't really obsess over any one media. I love everything lots, and tend to go back to things that I didn't love 'the most' and revisit them even if they were only somewhat important to me. Similarly, even when I love a media, medium, or idea, it's somewhat at a distance. I realise that's quite disappointing to people, but I'm kind of laid-back. Always have been. Let's see if I can still find an interesting answer to this one, though... Oh, actually, it's not an obsession, but I'm obsessed in trying to promote it? The problem is, it's entirely - I feel like if you aren't a child of slavic descent who had bootleg consoles and enjoyed faerie tales and mushrooms, it's probably a hard sell, ahaha... Mushroom Musume is hard to describe. It's the perfect game for people who might have roughly time for one (1) level in ye old Boomer Shooter, but are feeling in the mood for faerie tales. And that's basically what it is; a faerie-tale simulator. It can be a light-hearted, even treacle-sweet story, one that's a little scary, something dark or melancholy, or a combination of all of the three. Sometimes, things that feel like failures are unique steps in that story that turn new pages; and this, combined with the incredible amount of choice and options available, makes it one of the coolest indie games I've stumbled upon. The score is hauntingly beautiful, the art and writing are divine, and short of mystical birds, it's got basically everything I grew up with. (Now one of the devs'll poke me that there are, in fact, mystical birds, probably.) You start as a recluse hermit, raise a mushroom-hominid as your daughter, and then play as said myconoid, just trying to live life. It's a simple joy of a game, and one I'll recommend to my dying breath.

Unrelated Obsession Stuff I've Been Doing: Again, sorry, I'm not really - even the stuff I love, I'll be like, well, 'that's enough of that, then, time to do something else' bahahahaha...

Re-playing Doom 2016; I'm looking forward to Routine, since apparently Mick Gordon did the score for it, and I thought the project was dead. There are still some flaws I have with it as a whole, but it's good fun.

Occasionally playing Civilisation... 3. With Rise and Rule. Listen, my entire family loves turn-based strategy. I really like how Civ 3 and ESPECIALLY R&R handled climate change, yeah? Complexity is often good. Also, I like games I can play for a few turns, thirty minutes over a cuppa, and then save and quit. I know the joke is 'one more turn' but for me it's 'ah, perfect for a lunch break.'

My cousin threatened said that we'll be playing GAUNTLET: DARK LEGACY on the nintendo gamecub (r) (tm) this weekend assuming that bit rot hasn't taken it's toll. It may not be a 'good' game. But if you're telling me you don't hear this and get amped...

Keeping friends and family from further complicating things in their lives.

Faffing about with writing; I'm also a read/writing mode only person, and if I have to choose between reading fics or writing, the latter wins out. If I don't spill a tiny amount of blood/ink I instantly explode, it's known. Ideally, people will make better decisions into the future and I will have more time. But if not, at least we'll always have TES...

Please don't feel obligated to do this sort of thing, but if you wanna have at it... I'll tag @zombiecatboys, @kulgen, @pikkish, @expended-sleeper, @totally-not-deacon, @beloved-lady-alma, @lyriumspectre, @thattalviel and anyone else who might possibly want it. Legitimately, I've never been good at telling what the proper etiquette is, especially when I'm like - 'wowowowowowo! quizzes awesome!' but know how - tiring that can get, bahaha!

[chaoticwholesome]

11. favourite native writer/poet?

I'm gonna be sadly honest with you here, South African literature is a bit of a blindspot for me and one i'm hoping to do better in terms of my reading! A lot of local literature we were assigned in school was unmemorable at best and Really Bad at worst and i Don't consider that representative of our media landscape.

So i'm gonna pull recommendations from other media forms instead!

Mary Sibande: one of my favourite fine artists!!!! She did a fantastic series of sculptures using her own body as a mold - pulling from her heritage of being the first woman in her family to have access to education while her mother and grandmother had both been domestic cleaning workers, Sibande casts herself in maid's uniform with a twist: the long maid dresses are cut like a wealthy Victorian woman's gown, and all the statues show her in traditional visual poses of power, such as on horseback as the horse rears up, or in other regal poses! These works are lifesize and incredibly powerful in person!! I love coming across them by surprise in different galleries i've been to!

Leroy Le Roux: Animated filmmaker! His and Tina Obo'a short film The Sugarcane Man is amazing, and Le Roux himself just graduated from Gobelins in France!

Brenda Fassie: a bisexual musician and anti-Aparheid activist! From the bits and pieces I've read about her life, she seems so cool!!!

Nadia Darries: Director of the "Aau's Song" Episode of Star Wars visions! She's a musician and animator who brought a lot of Herself into that episode, from her Khoisan heritage being depicted in the visuals and in a character designed after her Shaman cousin, to her musical background coming in centrally to the plot of the story, it's just.... so fucking good man. Deft combination of frame rates, beautiful textures and look developent, and absolutely insane sound design. Go watch Aau's Song if you can.

There are probably plenty more I can't remember offhand, but I'll edit this to mention them when i do!!

[dreamlostdogs]

Hello! As promised, I will introduce myself a little this week!

I’m Fell, I’m a female game design hobbyist from Finland, born in 1997. I’ve been working on Dreamlost Dogs since January 2022, and I have previously completed three other games. These aren’t available anywhere though, since no-one’s first games are that great, haha. In addition to working on this game, I’m also working on my bachelor’s (majoring in archaeology) and doing shifts at a small academic library!

Dreamlost Dogs is a love letter to the very vibrant dog art / roleplaying communities of Finland, active between the early 2000’s and early 2010’s, which used to be my early internet home, haha. I did both horror and sci-fi dog art at the time (and you can definitely tell that I was a teen, haha)

I eventually got a degree in graphic design, which came with the drawback that I burned out hard; I hardly drew anything from 2016 onward. It was this burnout that sent me searching for an alternative creative outlet, since the skill I had been cultivating all my life had essentially been taken away from me. I used to make games even before my burnout, but I started to approach it much more seriously and on a grander scale than I previously had. Luckily, I feel like I’m steadily getting over my burnout though, illustrating for this game has definitely helped, haha

All my projects are about weird/surreal horror, drawing heavily from the atmosphere of nightmares. I adore the dreams I have, and everything I do seeks to capture the feeling of being in a dream. For the longest time I used to keep a dream diary, but no longer do. 

Besides archaeology, dreams and making games, I have a great love for art, films, literature and museums! Here’s some of my faves in the realm of films, books and music:

I feel like that’s all, for now at least, haha. Expect another devlog by Sunday at the latest!