#i love this world‚ the light that only you can give it ; noé

[cangrellesteponme]

Hmm…maybe #7-12 for a fic of your choosing? 📚

i'm going to be answering these for Howl :)

7: Which character gave you the hardest time writing correctly?

I think no one's surprised to hear that it was, of course, Vanitas. Part of the process of writing Howl was about figuring out what major character flaw could/would/does negatively impact their desired/future/current relationships, so writing Vanitas was hard because I could very easily name over ten, each one as terrible as the next. I kind of had that problem with Domi too, but it all comes back to her being too giving (and her characteristic absence of self), so I easily focused on that aspect (and of course the fic was initially only her part, so i already had a lot of inspiration for her). With Vanitas though... the multifaceted bastard man doesn't ever show the same flaw twice. It was so hard I almost gave up on his part, but ended up just taking a break from it, writing Jeanne's part, and coming back to it. In the end I just went for the "bitter bitch who observes the misery of others and refuses to look at how to get his own shit together" angle, which is something I consider to be a major character trait and flaw Vanitas regularly exhibits, but you can disagree with me on that one.

12: What are some aesthetics/images you often associate with your fic?

Okay, I think anyone who has ever read anything I've written might notice the severe lack of background descriptions. The thing is I write about feelings a lot but I'm not actually fond of the Romanticism movement (think of me as Flaubert, if you will- I know how to do it but I'd rather make fun of it), so I see no point in talking about the environment unless I want to paint a very clear image for the reader- which I don't do a lot, as it would actually undermine my work because I write a lot about confusion, and hazes, and identity crises, and uncertainty... So no full backgrounds in text.

BUT I'm an artist still, of COURSE i have TONS of imagery in my head as I write. And the ones for Howl... delightful.

(This is going to be very long.)

Chapter one, aka dominoé and the bedroom of infinite sexual tension

I didn't take a look at Dominique's actual bedroom while I was writing, so I really just imagined Noé, with his monochrome look (though at this point he's barely dressed), on a red bed, in a red room, plunged in the obvious representation of Domi's feelings yet unaware and unaffected, which would be represented by the lighting which obviously clashes with the intended colour of the room. Basic symbolism aside, I often imagine dominoé interactions with warm, domestic, indoors aesthetics (and a whole lot of red for obvious reasons) so I really just want to give them all the soft beds in the world.

Chapter two, aka Vanitas trying real hard to out-stupid Dominique

The aesthetic is just that one "Mal D'Amour" episode (don't ask me why i remember that name, i don't even know. isn't the english name the incurable disease or something??). It's one of my favourites, of course it haunts me.

Imagine grumpy, frowning, bitchy Vanitas on a double date in the beautiful streets of Paris, just staring at Domi while Noé and Jeanne desperately try to get his attention. All of this with that episode's vibe. Peak comedy, and Vanitas is a whole clown.

(no pics because i cannot be bothered to get screenshots of this one. you've seen the episodes.)

Chapter three, aka Jeanne, haunted by love (and homophobia tbh)

So yeah the general vibe was "no thoughts only Jeanne".

No, seriously, since the whole point of that chapter was Jeanne going "if i think hard enough about how embarrassing vanitas's whole existence is, i can forget how i'm also hopelessly in love with dominique", the whole vision was Jeanne turning and tossing around in her bed in the middle of the night, red in the face, absolutely haunted by the horrors of love. There could've been more of an aesthetic, but I'm gay, and all I had was blushing maiden Jeanne.

Isn't she so pretty though?

Chapter four, aka Noé being very lovely and a little silly

Noé and Jeanne are having a coffee frienddate but by the end of the date the friend part is questionable ngl. Need I say more?

and yeah, that's it for my silly rambling, have a nice day

#my writing process is just chaos and this is further proof #ota's ask answers

[the-original-skipps]

i know u said u only write for vanitas but theres still barely any noé content compared to vanitas 😢 is it okay if i can request one for cuddling/sleeping with him u can ignore this if u like😭

ANOTHER NOE INVASION?! mehehe

It's no secret that Noe loves sleeping. The feeling of warmth the covers give him and how soft the pillow feels against his head. It really is the best feeling in the world.

He likes to burrow himself deep into the covers with only his head poking out. While Murr either sleeps by his feet or on his stomach but since Noe moves around a lot in his sleep, Murr just finds his own comfortable place to sleep without getting hit.

Noe likes to either sleep on side or on his stomach. On days he's really tired you'll see a trail of drool from his lips and some light snoring.

Now, let's add you into the equation! Noe enjoys sleeping and now it's a whole another new experience when you sleep beside him.

He would immediately wrap his long arms around you so he could pull you flush against his back or chest. It's his new favorite sleeping position.

Once you're in his arms, you would have a hard time escaping from his iron grip. So waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom isn't possible.

The sight of your sleeping face when Noe wakes up before you gives him butterflies everytime. How the golden glow of the early morning sun casts a beautiful glow to your skin. You look divine to him.

Cuddling is a must whenever you both go to bed or before you wake up. You were way more soft and warm than his covers that now if you don't cuddle Noe won't be able to sleep.

If during the day you both have nothing else to do, Noe will randomly carry you to bed claiming he wants to take a nap. He'll happily nuzzle against your neck and sigh as he slowly falls asleep.

#vanitas no carte x reader #vanitas no carte #noe archiviste x reader #noe x reader #vanitas no shuki #vanitas x reader #the case study of vanitas #memoir of vanitas #vnc noe #vnc headcanons #vnc x reader #noe archiviste

[bemused-writer]

VNC Anime Episode 1

And so the first anime episode came out! I'd say it was actually pretty faithful to the manga; adapting an 88 page first chapter into a singular episode is no easy feat. XD Mochizuki really was making them hefty at first. With that in mind, I figured I'd just talk about some of my first impressions and the few changes they made.

The opening is the obvious first change. The episode itself covers all the same info we learn early on, just in a different order. The manga opted to focus on true names and Teacher's warning to Noé, which ties in more directly to Amelia's plight and Noé's circumstances later on, while the anime chose to open with the vampire Vanitas, which is sort of like the driving force behind people's attitudes towards the blue moon. Will this shift be a big deal later on? It seems unlikely; both give you information you'll need.

I do have to say I hope we get more of this particular art style. The creepy fairytale vibe is so perfect...

La Baleine itself looks amazing as well. In the manga I was always struck by how cool the design was (thanks to Ryou Yamaguchi who designed it), but seeing it animated is something else and made me really think about how if that thing fell from the sky there would be some massive problems. 8D Truly, the only thing keeping that in the sky must be astermite.

Later on, when Amelia destroys all those lights, I realized I'd always misinterpreted that scene. I'd always assumed the broken lights were from Vanitas breaking through the window and, in his usual dramatic fashion, broke everything else, too. But no, it looks like it was indeed Amelia! My guess is that since she's losing control of herself she's also accidentally rewriting the world formula as well.

Okay, I'm going to nitpick the translation just a bit here, but in the manga they go for the more literal "What are you?" which is what Vanitas is really asking. That, to me, seems pertinent, because asking who Noé is is one thing, but asking what he is reveals that Vanitas is used to dealing with all manner of people, several of whom aren't human at all.

And on the note of translating things, I think I'll detour slightly to talk about Vanitas's voice type because I've seen a couple people say he sounds too rough. I get this because the English translation (both versions) tend to make Vanitas sound kind of elegant. However, the fact of the matter is that Vanitas has always been speaking very rough Japanese and isn't very elegant at all. 8D That's a difficult thing to capture in a translation since it's not like he's cursing like a sailor or anything that would make it easy to portray; it's just a style of speech. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that them casting a "rough" sort of voice for Vanitas in the anime actually fits in with how he's been speaking in Japanese.

You know a character has pulled some stuff when one of your favorite moments is them being chucked across the room. XD Ah, Vanitas, if you took a few seconds to explain things maybe you wouldn't be in the middle of a fight right now... However, the anime definitely played up how extreme of a hit this was. Don't get me wrong, Noé sent him flying in the manga, too, but in that he only slammed into the bench rather than through a statue and everything else. While I can appreciate the added drama, it does raise the question of what Vanitas's spine is made out of for it not to have snapped. (^^)"

Wow, Naenia is even creepier animated. :D Her voice is basically exactly what I thought it would be with that delightfully creepy reverb. I'm loving it. And I also like that they kept this manga panel and just added color.

And this is the moment that will have many of you mistakenly thinking Vanitas is a noble-minded fellow, but don't be deceived! He has about 10 million issues and at least half of those are aimed at women. 8D The rest are aimed at the entirety of vampire and humankind. That's not to say Vanitas is without redeeming qualities--he is still one of the heroes of this show--but he's not as straightforwardly wholesome as Noé.

Dante was actually quite a highlight of this episode for me even though he was barely in it. I love the voice they chose for him and he's also the only person who knows what Vanitas is actually like, so he has the most natural reaction to him. XD Everyone is amazed and impressed by what Vanitas has done--as well they should be because it is impressive--but Dante has to work with him. He knows.

This was probably my favorite part of the whole episode. The combination of the music and visuals really emphasized the nostalgic vibe of this moment. It really feels like a beginning and and end. I'm so glad we got to see this animated.

Teacher! They deprived us of seeing him at the start, but we got this shot in the flashback. I still find it strange that they made the estate more... estate-like rather than opening up into a forest like the manga, but it's still effective. We also get to see the silhouette of Louis. ): Truly, everything about Noé's statement, saying he finds the blue moon beautiful, is something we see challenged throughout the series in subtle ways. Can he find something beautiful when it's the source of so much pain? The series isn't over, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I will say that the end of the episode with Vanitas's manic grin and Noé's declaration he would eventually kill him by his own hand felt a little more impactful in the manga for me, but it was still very good in the anime as well. I did like that the anime included more people in the "what we gained and lost" section, such as Roland and Loki.

Anyway, the anime is off to a fantastic start! Ahh, the fact that we'll get an episode weekly is so exciting; definitely looking forward to the next. (^^)

#vanitas no carte #vnc #case study of vanitas #bemused's post #long post #vnc anime only spoilers #not sure how to tag that...

[this-idiots-left-eye]

I'd love to see more fics exploring Noé & Domi (not necessarily in a shipping light, though I do love those two. It's the ~history~ y'know! *chef's kiss*). But I also agree, Roland & Olivier are two characters that would be really fun to explore. What are they doing when they break out of chasseur mode? I find it amusing that Olivier is so popular with the ladies but can't be bothered by all that. Heh!

Hey there! I'm so so sorry it took me forever to get to your prompt!! I loved it and fully intended to return to it...but my inspiration sort of left as soon as it came.

So I thought maybe I'd use some of these prompts for the vnc countdown since it's giving me some more! I hope that's alright!

Enjoy!

Noé’s brow was creased, his hand to his chin,

“If you keep thinking that hard, your thoughts might decide to start walking out of your head.”

“Sorry, Teacher.”

“No need to apologize,” his teacher laughed, more than anything at Noés mundane reaction at such a strange statement, “I just thought your head might appreciate a little relief. Come now, let’s look at the options over here!“ He beckoned him to the next part of the store. “What do you think?”

Noé observed the dresses towering above him, trying not to think too hard this time. He didn’t want to say he didn’t like them till he gave them a proper think over.

Then he turned to the side…and saw it.

A dress of brilliant gold, with flowers, butterflies and bows—though nothing too terribly lavish, just perfect little accents.

Noé’s eyes became stars, and his hands became triumphant fists at his sides.

“That one.” He pointed like an explorer who’d found land.

His Teacher raised an eyebrow, lifting his head to find the object of fascination. “Ah! You have taste, my dear Noé! A fine piece!”—He called for assistance—“Our dear Dominique will look lovely in that.”

He agreed. Even with her hair like that, and her eyes all sad, she would look beautiful in this. He could only hope she would be able to see it too.

*

Noé sat in a chair in Dominique’s room, swinging his legs back and forth, waiting patiently, but determinedly.

Domi came in what might have been minutes, but felt like hours later. It still made him sad to see her hair so short, and her eyes ever glazed. Gold looked better when it was allowed to shine.

She was still wearing Louis’ waistcoat.

Noé shot up at her arrival and Domi’s eyes widened upon seeing him there.

“I have—!" He fumbled with the box, almost dropping it, but managed to regain composure, holding it out to her. “I have something for you!”

Domi didn’t say anything. The curiosity in her eyes was almost imperceptible beneath that glaze, but it was there. She took the lid off the box and observed the article within. Her eyes widened, and she looked from it to Noé.

“Domi, would you please join me for dinner tonight?”

“Huh? We always have dinner together.” Her voice was low and soft.

He smiled, though there was something sad in his eyes at hearing her voice. “Yes, but tonight’s special! I know this request might seem a little strange, but I would like you to meet me in the woods later!” He pulled a badly drawn map of the forest out of his pocket and pointed at an over-exaggerated X on it. “At this location!” He looked up at her, and the look in his eyes told her she couldn’t refuse. “Will you?”

Domi’s brow furrowed. “You haven’t lost it have you, Noé?”

“Please let me know if I have! Teacher says if I think too hard my thoughts might walk right out of my head!”

“He was just saying that.”

“We can only hope, but I still don’t want to chance it.”

*

Domi’s thoughts frayed as she looked at herself in that golden dress. Like a rope that isn’t quite sure it can hold onto anything.

It was Louis. It was supposed to be Louis.

Why did they pick her? Why? Why was he cursed, and she blessed? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair they had to choose. Choices were for ice cream flavors, and what book you wanted to read, not for brothers and sisters.

Not for twins.

That word gummed up her mouth, even when she didn’t say it aloud.

Twins. She and Louis, twins. Part of her still couldn’t believe it, and the other part of her could only believe it.

That word had one benefit. With her hair cut, and wearing his clothes, she could pass for him.

Which was surely what everyone wanted. All as it should have been.

She could pretend to be Louis. And pretending to be Louis was…better that truly being Domi…wasn’t it?

So…why did Noé want her to wear this dress? Didn’t Noé prefer her looking like Louis?

“I like it when you have your hair long too. It feels so much like you’re Domi, then, and…I really like it.”

Or perhaps…

Would he like that? Would he really?

She looked at herself in this dress and she thought in some far-off part of her brain that, perhaps she was beautiful. And perhaps he picked this dress because he knew she would like it, and he knew she would look nice in it.

But she would have looked better in it if her hair were longer.

*

Noé was so glad to have Domi.

He missed Louis, and he wanted Louis back, certainly. But he was glad to have Domi, and he wanted Domi to be, well, Domi. She was no pale imitation of her brother, and didn’t deserve to be treated as such.

It made him so sad to see her cut her hair, and put herself in Louis’ clothes. It made him so sad that she thought that’s what she was, what they all wanted.

He had to show her he appreciated her.

He waited in his chair at the table with equally determined, yet barely simmering excitement.

Noé had once read a book Teacher brought from the human world in which a group of mad characters had tea in the forest. Noé thought it was rather fantastic idea, and asked Teacher if they could accomplish such a thing. The table had to be long, and the tea had to be all over it, with lots of cakes too. Teacher laughed, said What an amusing notion, and that he was sure he could set something up.

Noé wasn’t sure exactly how, but when he and Murr entered the forest, was delighted to find it almost exactly as he’d pictured. (Okay, not exactly. There was more substantial dinner food than tea, and not nearly enough desserts, but still.)

When Domi came through the forest Noé stood up, like she was a princess who deserved respect. And he wouldn’t say she didn’t look like it; he had made the right choice. The short hair looked kind of nice with it.

“You look great!” He pumped his fist at his side again.

Domi looked at the ground, but brushed her hair behind her ear.

“Why are we doing this?” She asked, but her eyes scanned the table and the dishes with that barely perceptible curiosity.

“It’s for you!”

“I mean what are we celebrating?”

“Uhh, we’re celebrating you, then, I guess!” Noé continued determinedly, pulling out a chair for Domi, as Teacher poured some blood into her goblet.

“But it’s not my birthday.” She continued looking at the setup as she sat down.

“Why does it have to be for us to want to celebrate you?” Noé sat down in another chair next to hers.

Domi’s eyes widened, and her eyes changed as she observed the table, becoming more awed, with an almost tearful shimmer to them.

When she turned back to look at Noé, for the first time since Louis’ death, he thought he really was really seeing Domi.

* Fin *

I really hope you like what I came up with! I had hoped it would be longer but I do really like the idea. And please do send me another prompt if you were hoping for something different, or else have a new idea!

Oh also, I realized after I wrote it that it's possible Noé couldn't leave the manor at that age, but I don't remember, and I didn't want to change the beginning since I realized this when I was about to post

For Roland and Olivier, I don't have something ready quite yet, but I am working on something, and I thought I'd post a snippet here for you! I'm honestly quite proud of this XD

Olivier was having a perfectly satisfactory morning. His coffee smelled just the right shade of black, and was perfectly scalding. He brought a book he’d been hoping to read for a while, but hadn’t had the time for. He lit a cigarette, and the smoke was as decadent to him as any dessert. He was just opening up said book, just bringing the cigarette to his lips when—

“OLIVIER!”

Oliver didn’t jump. Didn’t shout or otherwise react in surprise at the sudden disruption to his morning. Instead, very slowly, he closed the book, very carefully he set down his coffee. Very slowly, he lifted the cigarette and took a long drag, blowing out a wisp of smoke.

And he silently regretted (not for the first time) telling Roland where his favorite coffee shop was.

Question. For this Roland and Olivier fic, would you be more interested in reading about them running around trying to help someone find their lost pet, or a fic exploring them going to fly that small aircraft Roland was talking about? Or do you have another idea for what Roland might be worked up about? XD Feel free to put it in my ask box, I could always put this fic with that ask!

Thanks so much for sending me this prompt!!

#vnc #vanitas no carte #vanitas no shuki #noe archiviste #the case study of vanitas #dominique de sade #noé archiviste #olivier obsidian #Roland fortis #les memoires de vanitas #les mémoires de vanitas #vnc asks #vnc prompts #vanitas #vanitas no carte fanfiction #vnc fanfiction #vnc fanfic #vnc fic #vnc writers

[sugarsourgoat]

Manga I’m Reading This Valentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching (a few hours), I have noticed that I am constantly being asked the question “What will you be doing for Valentine’s Day?” Granted, I have never made any specific plans for this day (simply because I’ve never had a valentine). However, this question got me to thinking, I may not be going anywhere special, but that doesn’t mean I can’t spend it with the people I love.

Many of the people I love, however, are not real but are instead characters in the many mangas I’ve been reading. 

With this in mind, I decided to compile a full list of all the manga I would be reading for Valentine’s day. Surprisingly, I have been very into reading shoujo manga so many of the manga listed may be shoujo related. However, it is likely that these are not the popular (in America at least) manga’s you may come across. And it is also likely that some of the manga is so far removed from romance, you may think something is wrong with me (or you may be happy because you don’t enjoy valentine’s day or anything to do with romance).

Hopefully, this list will give you some mangas to enjoy with me. I also hope that I was able to shed some light on some underrecognized mangas. I decided to start this blog to do just that. There are many mangas out there that I believe need more attention, and I want to help share as many as I can. 

Press “Keep reading” for the full list.

xx, 

Sai

1. Ghost in the Shell by Shirow Masamune

Deep into the twenty-first century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg superagent Major Motoko Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including “ghost hackers” who are capable of exploiting the human/machine interface and reprogramming humans to become puppets to carry out the hackers’ criminal ends. When Major Kusanagi tracks the cybertrail of one such master hacker, the Puppeteer, her quest leads her into a world beyond information and technology where the very nature of consciousness and the human soul are turned upside down. 

2. Kiss and Cry by Higasa Nozomi

Tatsuki Tachibana used to be the top junior figure skater in the world, but all that changed when he fell into a coma due to a traffic accident. A year later, he finally wakes up and discovers to his shock that he had forgotten everything about figure skating. The people who knew him before are also shocked to see that he is now a completely different person. Now, he is determined to regain his place--from the very bottom.

3. Ao Haru Ride (blue spring ride) by Io Sakisaka

Now in high school, she is determined to be as unladylike as possible so that her friends won't be jealous of her. While living her life this way contentedly, she meets Tanaka-kun again, but he now goes under the name of Kou Mabuchi. He tells her that he felt the same way as she did when they were younger, but now that is the thing of the past. Will Futaba be able to continue her love that never even started from three years ago?

4. Berserk by Kenturo Miura

His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned -- and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance. Created by Kenturo Miura, Berserk is manga mayhem to the extreme -- violent, horrifying, and mercilessly funny -- and the wellspring for the internationally popular anime series. Not for the squeamish or the easily offended, Berserk asks for no quarter -- and offers none!

5. Shortcake Cake by Suu Morishita

Ten Serizawa has a two-hour commute through the mountains to high school every day, so she can’t spend much time hanging out with her friends in the afternoon. She decides to move into the local boardinghouse, where one of her friends and three other boys are living. Ten’s friends consider her to be as oblivious as a rock when it comes to noticing boys and falling in love, but will she be able to keep her calm and steady heart in her new living situation?

6. The Case Study of Vanitas by Jun Mochizuki 

During a blimp ride to Paris, Noé Archiviste meets Vanitas: a human claiming to be a doctor for vampires, curing them of the malnomen which cause vampires to behave predatorily against their will. The book with which he heals, the Book of Vanitas, is connected to the original Vanitas, the Vampire of the Blue Moon, hated by the Vampires of the Red Moon who form traditional Vampire society. Noé and Vanitas join forces to heal vampires, but there lurks a threat of some unknown force named Charlatan which may be responsible for corrupting the sick vampires.

#manga #sai reads #valentine's day #shortcake cake #vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #kiss and cry #anime #berserk #ao haru ride #blue spring ride #ghost in the shell

[noiseartists]

SUBSONIC EYE: The rising noise pop stars from Singapore

It is through the great Shoegaze Japan Facebook group that I discovered Subsonic Eye. Thanks, guys for all the fantastic wealth of knowledge that one can get being a member.

Needless to say that I fell in love with their music and they made their way into our playlists, Noise Artists Favorite of 2018 and of course in the Singapore Shoegaze & Dream Pop guide that includes as well Astreal, Stellarium, The Pagans, Cosmic Child, Sobs, and Pleasantry. You will see in Subsonic Eye's interview that some of the band's members are also members in some of these other bands.

The current lineup is:

Wahidah, vocals and synth

Daniel, guitar 

Jared, guitar

Spencer, bass

Lucas, drums

According to their bio, they were created in 2015 by Daniel Castro Borces and Nur Wahidah when they met in school and realized they shared a love for the same type of music. They started off by just writing songs for fun that sounded like the bands they listened to. The rest is history.

They are part of the record label Middle-Class Cigars along with other great Singapore bands, Cosmic Child, Sobs and Handsome Girl.

 THE MUSIC

The Comparison Game

The Sundays: Wahidah’s vocals are in the same sonic universe than Harriet’s, both in the texture and in the way she unfolds her melodic lines. The rest of the band also has a sense of composition that makes me think of the iconic English band.

There are loads of other influences and comparison, but this one it the most obvious. The Sundays being one of my favorite bands, this is a real compliment.

Why we like them

Amazing songs: some of the songs of their first album are absolutely world class. My favorites are Cosmic Realignment and Into the Void. The first one made in Noose Artists favorites of 2018 are some of the best Noise Pop production I have heard

The sense of composition not often found in a young band. When you remove the beautiful and distinctive voice, you can ear the work in the guitars’ arrangements and all instrument music lines. This is precision work and if the band continue to learn at this pace, there could be a bright musical future.

The live feeling. Look at some of the videos online and you will see that while bass, drums, and second guitar are good, the vocals and Daniel's guitar playing are amazing. Give them a year or two to play together and you will have a live band to reckon with.

Musical work

There is only one LP so far. The band hopes to have a new LP maybe before the end of 2018. 

  1. Intro  00:46

"A small instrumental introduction, an invitation to step in the band’s musical universe."

2. Illiterate Stars  01:55

"Illiterate Stars is about beginnings and endings."

A great theme to start this album. The song's mix of great melodies, vocals and sound is the perfect introduction to the band's music world. Short and sweet.

3. In Limbo  03:21

"In Limbo is about being confused."

You can feel confusion counted in the lyrics, vocal melody and arrangements, though always with the optimistic feel that characterizes the band. The various type of breaks and the bells at the end, add nicely to the feeling of confusion without making it strange. A great adequation between the theme and the song.

4. Cosmic Realignment  03:43

"Cosmic Realignment is about moving on."

Many people have heard this song and loved it. Some of the more knowledgeable agree that the vide and sonic universe is close to the Sunday’s. This a perfect happy pop song that reminds me of "this is where the story ends".

5. 178  02:37

"178 is about love."

The sound of rain in the background, a little ballad talking about "Summertime", the song is not the light and heartwarming love song, but rather the show that every love story has always some sad aspect during or sometimes at the end. And it can be short, like the song.

6. Early Girl  00:27

Small musical interlude before the second part of the album.

7. You in the Pleasant Things  02:48

"You In The Pleasant Things is about missing someone."

Pleasant it is. Feet tapping, light, and headbanging. Almost as if missing somebody is a great feeling. Well, it is when it is not too long, and being reunited is a great moment of joy. probably what the song means.

8. Sun Kissed Skin  04:05

"Sun Kissed Skin is about memories."

The only ballade really of the album. you can picture yourself looking in your own memories while listening to this song, as it carries your mind through your neuronal loops. It works very well with me.

9. 2daze  03:34

"2daze is about leaving."

Synths and Chinese like breaks makes this song very different from the rest. I like the atmospheres that are counted by these different instruments.

10. I Think I've Entered The Void  04:35

"I Think I've Entered The Void is about the Gaspar Noé movie, 'Enter The Void'"

If you want to know more on Gaspar Noé's psychedelic movie, follow that link.

This a 2-parts song, with maybe what is their finale in a concert. Powerful, melodically pleasing, and psychedelic like the movie it was inspired by, it is a perfect live long piece. I personally love it ... a lot. The proof on this music Video.

 INTERVIEW

The Band

Noise Artists (NA): Where are you from? Where are you living now?

We’re all from Singapore!

NA: What did you study?

Daniel: Wahidah, Spencer and I study Music & Audio Technology. Lucas studies Performance, and Jared studies Audio Production.

NA: What is your day job at present if any?

Daniel: All of us just finished school really recently so it’s the holidays now for us so we’re still looking for jobs… but 3 of us will have to go in the army later on in the year because of conscription :(

NA: Do you dream to live from your music or is it a passion you do not want to spend your full time on?

Daniel: We’re more of going with the flow… if we can live from it that’ll be really awesome but if not then that’s okay as well

NA: Could you tell me how the band meets and decided to do music together?

Daniel: I met Wahidah in school, and I already had some instrumental songs I made that needed a vocalist. I became friends with her, realized she has a really nice voice and asked if she would want to start a dream-pop project with me for fun. She agreed, and we just met the rest along the way through school or mutual friends.

NA:  Can you tell me the inspiration behind your band? You can detect the influences of shoegaze and indie rock. I am thinking of the Sundays for example. You took all these influences to make your own music, your own sound, which is not easy. Could you tell more?

Daniel: Our inspiration is really just personal experiences with situations and emotions, then trying to translate the particular experience into a song. We like incorporating and borrowing elements from shoegaze, dream-pop, indie-rock, and psychedelia to make our own sound. It’s fun and liberating to be able to do anything without being confined by “oh man what if this doesn’t sound like us”. There are no rules!!!

NA: Was there a vision of sorts or did you know what you wanted to do when you started up

Daniel: Not really, I just wanted to put up a couple of songs online and play some shows at my favorite venues but aside from those I didn’t really have any other expectations.

NA: Do you have any other musical side projects apart from this band?

Jared is the mastermind behind Sobs

Wahidah’s solo project is elephant stampede 

Lucas plays drums for Pleasantry

Spencer’s in a hardcore band called Charm… I think they’re putting stuff out online soon

I used to play in an indie-rock band called The Neptune Waves 

NA: Could you tell me more about the band composition? Do you have plans to add new members, or is there possible departure scheduled from existing band members?

Daniel: I hope no one leaves because everyone is equally vital to the band, but it would be nice to have someone on the synthesizer or something…

NA:  Can you tell us more how you came to have the band’s name?

Daniel: It’s actually inspired by Title Fight’s Hyperview album… Hyper = Subsonic View = Eye

 The Creative process

NA:  Who writes the song and the music and how do you get to the final song? Is it a community process, do you have leaders in composing or arranging music?

Daniel: Normally I’ll come up with an instrumental demo, and then send it to Wahidah and she’ll sing over it, and then we show the demo to the rest of the band and then they’ll give their ideas and play it their own way etc.

NA:  Do you listen to the advice of your bandmates? What would you do if they said a song was shit but you liked it?

Daniel: Yes I listen to their advice hahaha. When they tell me that the song doesn’t really sound good or they’re not feeling it, we’ll usually try to improve upon it and if it doesn’t work we’ll just throw it away. Attachment is the worst enemy!!

NA:  There’s a degree of unconventional songwriting with you guys. Was it kind of intimidating going to record knowing people might not be engaging with the songs in terms of hooks and such and trying to deliver an engaging sound on record?

Daniel: Not really. I see music-making as a very closed-off and introverted personal thing so I don’t really worry about what outside people think, as long as we ourselves are happy with the music.

NA:  Talking about the lyrics: who write them? Is there a common thread in them, a theme?

Wahidah: I write them! I think there's no particular themes - just happenings in my life and how they affect me emotionally and mentally. I guess I write about love (in many forms) and insecurities a lot too.

NA:  Do you labor over your lyrics? Is that something that comes easy?

Wahidah: I think whenever the band jams out something nice I'll just come in with random mumblings that I keep for some time until I have to record them. That's when I actually have to sit down and think about creative ways to convey things. Lyrics come easily to me because I always have things to say (I'm talkative) but after some time I have to step back and weed out the irrelevant lines.

NA:  Do you have a message that you want to get across in your music? If so, what are some of the messages you want to spread?

Nothing specific

NA:  Did your listening habits changed over the years and does it affect what you write?

Daniel: Yeah. Back then I was more fixed to playing it safe but now I’m trying to get out of that shell and experiment with more things.

NA:  How is your recognition going in US and Abroad? Is it growing? Are you happy with it?

Daniel: I actually don't know hahaha we don’t really check these things, but if it’s growing well that would be nice but if not that’s okay as well…

 The path to music

NA:  Is it easy to find producers and studios where you lived for indie-rock?

Daniel: I don’t actually know as well, we really just keep to ourselves so we record and produce everything ourselves without looking for external help.

NA: Was it a community work to try to have the best sounding music possible or mainly driven by the sound engineer or by the band?

Daniel: I’ll mix it according to how I hear the song in my head, then I show it to the rest for the feedback and then work on it accordingly.

NA: Can you tell us how the recording process was?

Daniel: We have a whole documentary on that!

 NA: Any interesting anecdotes on some recording session you would like to share?

Daniel: We recorded everything at our friend’s studio (he was interning there) but there were some complications with the rest for the place and the studio ended up closing down, so we lost all the tracks and had to start from scratch… but luckily we backed up the drum tracks.

NA: Instruments: are you mainly a Fender band? Could you tell me what inspire you to use fenders rather than other brands?

Daniel: Yes we love the single coil sound. Like most bands, we’re inspired by the band we looked up to and they all used Fender style guitars so it made sense.

NA: A question for a future paper I have in mind: if you use often a Fender Jaguar, could you tell me more about what makes it good to play (sound, neck, …). I find there are a lot of noise artists that are using this guitar and I am interested to know why.

Daniel: I don't use a Jaguar, but I use the Jazzmaster which is still under the same roof. I love the thick and bright sound it has, and you can get a lot of variety of sounds with it when you make use of the different controls. I love the weight of the guitar and the feel of the neck. I love the floating vibrato system. I love how feedbacky it can get. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!! But it’s definitely not for everyone, it comes with its own set of quirks which you may or may not love.

NA: Tell us what you are looking at when trying to achieve your sounds? Do you experiment a lot or have a clear idea of what you want?

Daniel: Whatever serves the song. We usually experiment around until it feels right.

 The Scene

NA: Singapore Shoegazing is not very well known internationally. Could you tell us more about it?

Daniel: There’s really not that much shoegaze bands, and they don’t play that regularly too. I don't know why… check out our good friends and label mates Cosmic Child 

NA: Is it easy for a Singapore indie band to be known internationally? Do you have any example?

Daniel: I think any band from any country can be known internationally if they try. Does Sobs count?

 The Future

NA: What is the next album due?

Daniel: Hopefully by August

NA: Do you plan to continue music for a long time or are you tired of it?

Daniel: Right now I’m tired of it…

  SOME MORE ABOUT THE BAND AND THEIR MUSIC

 A very nice video of their track 2daze is available on youtube:

Their youtube channel has some good music videos but also some documentaries about the band.

Where can you buy their music

Bandcamp

Middle-Class Cigar

 Their presence on the web

Social media:

facebook

twitter

Instagram

For more reading on the band and their music, you can read the following features:

Band presentation on Asia Times

In-depth interview on Singapore Esplanade

Strawberry Feels review in The 405

 OUTRO

We hope you enjoyed discovering the band and their music. Support them in buying their music, following them on social media, sharing their music and this article.

[ollyarchive]

Olly Alexander on harnessing the power of sexual fantasy in pop

The Years & Years frontman talks about owning his queer sexuality in the mainstream and writing a twisted disco album about ‘holy wood’

Owen Myers

9 March 2018

“It’s like my Rihanna Loud era,” declares Olly Alexander, before breaking into a laugh. The Years & Yearsfrontman is referring to his cropped curly hair, which is freshly coloured to the hue of a nice Merlot. It’s a cold February evening, and he’s puffing on a roll-up while huddled in the fire exit doorway of a Camden venue. His new dye job has to be kept under wraps, he explains, until its official unveiling in the band’s new video. “It’s so stupid,” Olly says with an eye roll. He then flashes me a grin, suggesting that this moment of starry subterfuge is not entirely unwelcome.

Olly Alexander really likes being a pop star. He says that it’s full of “fairytale” moments, like when his Years & Years earnings enabled him to buy his mum a house, or when he and his ex-boyfriend, Neil Milan (formerly of Clean Bandit), became embraced as British pop’s new golden couple. After winning the BBC Sound poll in 2015, Years & Years’ earworm synth pop was everywhere. They had an inescapable number one single, “King”, and their album Communion was the fastest selling debut that year from a signed British band. Olly says that there are downsides to the tabloid headlines and Twitter trolls that come along with being “a public gay man” – a phrase that he puts in self-deprecating air quotes. But right now, those pressures feel far away, as he prepares to change into a bright pink boiler suit and play to a boozed-up Saturday night crowd, at an Annie Mac-curated showcase. Or, as he put it on Twitter earlier today: bring his “gay agenda” to The Roundhouse.

Years & Years’ great new single, “Sanctify”, contrasts lurking vocals with an ecstatic synth-fuelled chorus, and is as unapologetic as any of Olly’s pithy social media posts. He was newly single when he wrote the song, and reading Andrew Holleran’s 1978 chronologue of gay desire, Dancer From the Dance, had got him thinking about a couple of hookups he’d had with straight-identifying men. “It would always be under darkness,” he says. “It had this added layer of eroticism because it was somewhat forbidden. But (being with me) was a window where they could be themselves, and I felt responsible not to fuck them up.” Those conflicting feelings come through in evocative lyrics about obscuring masks and sinful confessions, with a climax that’s about as on-the-nose as chart pop gets. “I sanctify my sins when I pray,” says Olly, quoting the chorus’s payoff. “What do you do what you pray? You get on your knees. So is it a sexual baptism?” He laughs. “I was just like, ‘There’s a lot to work with here.’”

Years & Years are a three-piece, but the other two members, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen, tend to hunker down behind synths and let Olly take centre stage. His soul-searching lyrics give the band’s maximalist pop its heart, with a singing voice that pierces through a constellation of synths. Their videos bring acts which are often shrouded in darkness into the light, showing the singer cruising in a dank car park, or at a pansexual orgy. The new “Sanctify” visual riffs on dom/sub culture, with an elaborate sci-fi plot that is a device for Olly to perform “Slave 4 U”-inspired dance moves to an audience of androids. When he was commissioned to write a song for the Bridget Jones franchise, he made it about bottoming. “I have sex, I enjoy sex,” he says flatly. He’s sitting in his cosy dressing room the Roundhouse, which rumbles with bass as Disclosure and Mabel soundcheck next door. “In the past, I think gay men (in pop) have often shied away from being overtly sexual, or being commanding of their sexuality. But I believe that our sexual fantasies are a big drive for us all. Exploring that side of yourself is super empowering.”

In the past year or so, many well-known LGBTQ artists have begun to bring queerness into their music in sex-positive ways. Pop’s boy-next-door Troye Sivan strapped on Tom Of Finland leathers for a back alley moment with well-fluffed trade, Janelle Monáe caressed women’s bare thighs, Fever Ray returned with a concept album about queer kink. For better or worse, Sam Smith is now calling himself a “dick monster”on primetime telly. “Sometimes seeing a man express themselves in an overtly sexual way, especially a gay man, makes certain conservative people feel a bit uncomfortable,” Olly says. “I always wanna keep people a little uncomfortable.”

“I believe that our sexual fantasies are a big drive for us all. Exploring that side of yourself is super empowering” – Olly Alexander

Years & Years are far from the first mainstream British pop act to proudly put gay sexuality at the centre of their music – that’s a lineage that runs from Will Young to George Michael, Pet Shop Boys to Bronski Beat, and beyond. But Olly’s performances are a reminder that mainstream pop can be open to explicit queerness (at least, when it’s embodied in a handsome white cis man). Olly has faith that you don’t have to be “generic to be palatable,” and that “straight guys can hear a song that I’ve written about being fucked by another guy, but still relate.” LGBTQ+ people like me grew up seeing straight culture pretty much everywhere; seeing more of our community thrive is crucial.

Growing up in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, Olly was a flamboyant kid. That got him bullied at school, called a “batty boy” before he was even aware that he was gay, and meant that he retreated into drama lessons. While acting, he felt it was okay – a good thing, even – to be expressive. He always nurtured a passion for music, too; he taught himself how to play Joni Mitchell songs on piano, and obsessed over “Dirrty”-era Christina Aguilera. An early performance at a year six assembly blended intimate songwriting and outré entertainment: Olly played piano and sang lyrics about lost love, while two of his friends did a dance routine.

In his late teens and early 20s, Olly cropped up in whimsical micro-budget indie films like 2011’s The Dish And The Spoon, alongside Greta Gerwig, as well as Gaspar Noé’s Enter The Void, and Skins. But his early experiences at school stayed with him. “Your first encounter with your sexuality is often from people bullying you and calling you the thing that you just pray to god that you won’t be – but deep down suspect you might be,” Olly says. “Well, no wonder we have an incredibly conflicting relationship with our bodies and our sexualities, because we’ve had to experience all of that.”

Reflecting on these difficult early years in his dressing room, Olly speaks openly about his own decade-long experience with depression, and the inadequate NHS provisions for those who are struggling with mental health. LGBTQ+ folks disproportionately struggle with depression and substance abuse, he recognises, and there’s only one UK organisation, London Friend, that caters directly to the specific needs of the queer community. “I’ve been there,” says Olly. “They’re amazing, but they are over-subscribed, with a tiny office, old chairs, and not a lot of money. When you’re seeing that people aren’t getting the help they should be, there’s an issue there.” That’s something he knows from first-hand experience. Last year, Olly fronted a BBC documentary, Growing Up Gay, about young LGBTQ+ people struggling with their mental health. His openness around the subject made him a kind of ambassador for those struggles, and he’s trying to work out how to deal with the “almost daily” DMs he gets from people at their lowest moments. “I feel very privileged that someone is wanting to share that with me, but it’s frightening,” he says. “We’re all in fucking pain, and I don’t know if we’re communicating with each other that well.”

“What do we expect a male pop star to do? As a society, how do we want them to behave or present themselves?” – Olly Alexander

Years & Years’ second album, out later this year, mixes gliding pop melodies with churning bass and twisted disco. The new songs feel more varied and exploratory than Communion, thanks in part to new collaborators like current pop’s minimalist masterminds Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, as well as Greg Kurstin, who co-wrote “Shine”, Years & Years’ best song to date. The album’s centred around a motif of Palo Santo, a healing incense-like wood that you burn and waft around a room. (Olly dramatises this with hand motions as if he’s conducting an invisible orchestra.) Perhaps Palo Santo, with its power to expel evil spirits, could be a metaphor for the songwriting process? Maybe, Olly says. “But (when writing the album) I was angry about loads of things, particularly men. Palo Santo literally means ‘holy wood’ and I was like, ‘This is fucking perfect.’ Like, thinking that your dick is holy? I’ve known guys like that.”

Years & Years’ renewed vision also extends to creating a futuristic universe for their new music to exist in. That’s an idea that Olly’s idols – “Bowie, Prince, and Gaga” – have embraced, and “Sanctify” is the first part of an interconnected series of “weird, wonderful” videos. It marks the next step for a band aiming to join British pop’s pantheon, at a time when Olly, too, has been reflecting on his place in music. “What do we expect a male pop star to do?” he questions. “As a society, how do we want them to behave or present themselves? If I was asking myself, it would be like, ‘Well actually, I’ve always loved this kind of popstar. Maybe I should just be the pop star I want to see in the world.”

#olly alexander #years & years #yearsandyears #articles #interviews #dazed

[alosyair]

Happy birthday @noearchivistes !!! Sorry I couldn’t celebrate your birthday by killing Laurent off, even if it’s a ‘perfect sacrifice potential’

so have Laurent admiring Noé instead!

Summarry: Laurent was searching for the truth, and, unexpectedly, he found it in a vampire.

The world was a place way lighter, than it seemed. It was a bit unexpected, with all the shadows and dark corners, but the sun kept moving across the sky, shining brightly. Laurent always loved the sun. Chasseurs’ home was located deep underground, and the only light there was made by fire reflecting on the stone walls. All of the churches he got to visit in his lifetime seemed rather dark too. That was why Laurent was always excited to get to the surface, preferably during afternoons, so he could see the sun and wide blue sky. But it wasn't until Noé that he noticed exactly how light the world actually was.

Laurent believed he stood on the right side; was it just for priests or for the humankind in general. Chasseurs stood in the light of the world, and maybe that's why - after a lot of thinking Laurent was convinced that was the case, - Olivier, Maria, and the others often just saw the dark sides of things and events. If you stay in the light, you can easily turn around and see the shadow. But in the shadow you are fully surrounded by light.

Noé was a vampire, and although he was supposed to be an enemy of his, Laurent saw more and more of the light that of the shadow in his actions. And in his eyes.

It was when they met again, peacefully, in the bright of a day, Laurent felt free and ready to search. There wasn't a specific thing he would search for, but it didn't matter: Laurent loved learning, and it was the fact. He found what he was searching in Noé, the vampire walking around him. He saw it in his sincere purple eyes. And the thing was the truth.

Noé’s face reflected everything he had on his mind, as they were going further in Paris, passing people and houses. He couldn't stop looking around, smiling widely, and he was no less excited than Laurent was about it. Vampires stood in the dark, they were the shadow, but the more Laurent was thinking about it, the more he realized that there was nothing wrong in the shadow side. The sun kept moving across the sky, and the shadow changed its location, lightening up places that were once dark. Eventually, it was all the same.

The knowledge amazed him day by day.

It didn't even take Laurent a while to forget that vampires were once scary, so natural his new friendship was. Noé was the kind of wonderful. Wonderful enough to make Laurent shiver from excitement, from overwhelming feeling of delight, but never from being frightened to death. Opposite of scary, Noé was calming. Laurent met his company with warm embrace and a soft smile- and oh, what a joyful smile Noé always made sure to give him back.

Laurent wished the rest of chasseurs could accept befriending a vampire as something sinless.

It was actually Vanitas who taught his friends to call Noé by his name. Olivier, Maria, Georges - Laurent was glad to have them by his side too, seeing them slowly getting closer to the truth with him.

‘If you think being called ‘a human’ is rude, you don't call him ‘the vampire’,’ were Vanitas’ words, and Laurent beamed.

It must have been the basic rule of friendship.

Laurent loved learning. And it just came that Noé was his favorite subject.

Having Noé as a friend felt good - much better than it would be to have him as an enemy, not only because friendship were better in general, but because Noé was strong, not only kindhearted. Also Noé had soft hair - Laurent got to touch them a couple of times - and a beautiful voice. Sometimes Laurent lost count of all the traits the vampire had, the good traits, that made him want to get to know Noé over and over again. Oh, he was a good friend. Or more than a friend, Laurent could tell, as Noé in his eyes meant much more than a simple word. He was a friend, a partner, he was an experience, and the light in Paris streets.

Laurent was in constant search for something, sometimes new, and, eventually, Noé became the truth Laurent was ready to die for.

#vnc #vanitas no carte #laurenoe #laurent fortis #noe archiviste #you wanted a laurenoe fic so #I hope this is good enough #happy birthday! #my post #fanfiction

[lefilmdujour]

500th movie celebration

Last month I have quietly passed the 500th movie landmark on my Tumblr, so I decided to make a post with text instead of pictures for a change.

Five and a half years ago, I have decided to create a Tumblr, my own personal space where I would upload film frames, mostly so I could remember all the many movies I watch. By associating an image to a title, it helps to maintain my mind fresh and pinpoint exactly why I loved or despised a certain movie, linking them to the people I have watched them with and the surrounding circumstances.

The criteria is simple but methodical: no more than one post per day, all films I watch are represented even if I am ashamed of having spent time with them, all films are represented only once regardless of the amount of times I’ve re-watched them throughout the existence of the Tumblr.

I like to watch Artsy Avant Garde movies. Trash movies. 80′s “classics”. 70′s sleaze. Documentaries, a whole lot of them. Surrealism. Nouvelle Vague. The occasional Hollywood blockbuster. Skin. I usually get complaints from people about the amount of nudity represented in the Tumblr. 

Movies, regardless of how bad they are to the viewer, always mean something special to someone, so I respect them all.

To celebrate the 500th movie landmark, I decided to pick 50 of the ones that evoke the most vivid memories in me. Quality and circumstance were the deciding factors. Random order. I recommend them all.

The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman) - An inspirational exercise on mythology, symbolism, and pacing.

Philanthropy (Nae Caranfil) - Romanian New Wave is my latest passion. This one is a highlight. A very entertaining tutorial on how to scam and be scammed.

Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders) - Poetry in motion. Falling in love every day.

The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (Stefan Komandarev) - A road movie, on a bicycle. Friendship, memory gaps, backgammon.

The Red Turtle (Michael Dudok de Wit) - If a movie makes me cry, it goes to the favorites bucket. The story is simple, the animation is fluid, the outcome is expected. Yet, its message is always powerful.

The Imposter (Bart Layton) - More than a very compelling story of deception and manipulation, this documentary shines due to its brilliant editing. Made me feel pity, anger, compassion and repulse, often at the same time.

American Movie (Chris Smith) - If you love movies, then you cannot skip this documentary about a film director who makes his life mission to finish his crap movie, despite lack of funds, means, and talent. Funny and heartfelt. Highly quotable.

Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven) - Growing up as a woman in traditional Turkey. A feminist look on a closed society. Beautifully shot.

Mad Max Fury Road (George Miller) - A throwback to a time when action movies were being made with a sense of movement and a requirement for suspension of disbelief. Amazing cinematography, highlighted in the recent “Black & Chrome” edition.

Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini) - The fruitless search for true love. Finding it, losing it, finding it again, losing it again, getting up, trying again. “Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks in it”.

Bicycle Thieves (Vitorio de Sicca) - A masterpiece. The importance of a bicycle as an instrument of survival in 40′s Italy. Puts things into perspective. Nothing can be taken for granted.

Underground (Emir Kusturica) - In my opinion, the greatest Kusturica movie. The sad story of a country that no longer exists.

The Hourglass Sanatorium (Wojciech Jerzy Has) - A very surreal experience where time and space are meaningless. Living in a lucid dream.

Despair (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) - The only Fassbinder movie I ever watched to date. I always want to watch more of him, but somehow keep forgetting. This movie makes justice to it’s title, despair creeps in slowly, but overwhelmingly by its end.

Mary and Max (Adam Elliot) - A claynimation film about friendship and mental health. Funny and melancholic. People should write letters to their friends more.

Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche) - A beautiful love story.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson) - Twee as fuck, like all Anderson’s movies. This man can do no wrong.

Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen) - I have a special interest in movies related with mental health. The last great Woody Allen movie to date.

Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata) - I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I claim that this is the saddest movie ever made. It took me days to recover from the emotional impact it left in me. War makes victims of us all.

Teorema (Pier Paolo Pasolini) - What would you do if you have been touched and subsequently abandoned by Divinity? The final scene is one of my all time favorites.

Forbidden Fruit (Dome Karukoski) - Two girls escape from a oppressive religious cult and experience life for the first time. The scene when one of the girls watches a movie for the first time, in a theater, left a good memory in me.

Forbidden Zone (Richard Elfman) - I like musicals too! This one in particular was scored by Danny Elfman, who also plays the devil in its most memorable scene. A weird freakout of a movie. Specially recommend the colorized version that adds up to the surreal atmosphere.

 Enter the Void (Gaspar Noé) - To be seen on a big screen with the best speakers money can buy. Intense psychedelic experience. Stay on the safe side, remain sober while watching this one.

My Best Fiend (Werner Herzog) - I find most of Herzog’s documentaries to be very relaxing. Not this one. Klaus Kinski was a fabled asshole. Werner Herzog is an eccentric lunatic. How these two geniuses managed to work together without killing each other (although both came very close to it) is definitely documentary material. An intense story about friendship, respect, and guttural hate.

The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) - My favorite Coen brothers film. The week from hell on an otherwise quiet and unremarkable life. Improves with repeated viewings.

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch) - Spent years analyzing and trying to make sense out of this movie. I only understood it upon giving up on my quest. My favorite Lynch movie.

Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (Shunya Itō) - 70′s Meiko Kaji is a Goddess. A talent wasted in exploitation movies. Her eyes talk louder than all of the movies’s dialogue. This film is a Pink Women-in-Prison Japanese cheap thrill on surface, but the amount of symbolism and surrealism adds weight to a paper-thin plot. And the title song was borrowed to Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Truly one of my favorite movies ever.

Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein) - Soviet Propaganda? Yes. Compelling gut-wrenching story? Yes. Cinematic masterpiece? Yes. Regardless on how you feel about the topic, there is no question that the Odessa steps sequence is a work of art. 

The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky) - Watch in on psychedelics, or don’t bother.

Heima (Dean deBlois) - A documentary about Sigur Rós’ return to Iceland. Even for people who are not fans of the band, the landscape is undeniably beautiful.

Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino) - I am finding the latest Tarantino efforts to be a tad boring on repeated viewings. I usually love them when I see them on cinema, but then abandon them half-way when I try to watch them at home. But this one passed the home test, so it gets my thumbs up!

Disquiet (João Botelho) - Squeezing in a Portuguese movie due for national pride reasons. Not that I care much about those things. But I believe more people should watch this movie. The dialogue is lifted from my favorite poetry book, written by Fernando Pessoa. Heavy, dark, contemplative narrative.

Baraka (Ron Fricke) - There is a particular documentary style associated with both Ron Fricke and Godfrey Reggio that I find very appealing. Visual snapshots of people in their homelands. The silent contrast between traditional and modern. And the omnipresent feeling that all life is meaningless and mankind is a just a random occasion on a ball floating in space. Baraka is the best of all.

Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa) - There is nothing in the World like Kurosawa’s samurai movies, and no better samurai than Toshiro Mifune. Rashomon rises above the other excellent Kurosawa movies by its symbolism and usage of light. A murder story told by four different characters. The truth is somewhere in between the lies.

Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos) - A perverse tale of innocence and isolation. 

Gomorra (Matteo Garrone) - Disturbing stories from Napoli’s crime underworld. Realistically shot, no sugar coating, no happy endings, no poetic criminals.

Kids (Larry Clark) - I had this one on VHS, a double feature that also included Trainspotting. Found memories attached to this movie, I saw the actors as a parallel to the kids in my street. Several of the participants in the movie are dead or living miserable lives nowadays. Just like the street kids from my youth.

A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes) - It is not easy to get into this director. And this is a psychological scarring movie. The audience is led to descend into madness like its main character. 

Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch) - “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.”

Daisies (Vera Chytilová) - My most popular post for some reason. An excellent, imaginative, innovative, playful, senseless fun movie to watch. 

Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami) - A man’s quest to end his life. The ultimate taboo.

Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus) - Greek Mythology meets Brazilian Slum. A wonderful, poetic ending makes up for some dull parts in between. Excellent soundtrack!

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Robert Wiene) - Insane expressionist film with lovely painted backdrops that add a sense of depth and misdirection to its scenes. Timeless movie experience!

Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) - Modern Fairy tale. Inspirational. Makes me want to enjoy life more.

Oldboy (Park Chan-Wook) - Part of the Vengeance trilogy, I picked Oldboy because I now realize that I haven’t seen Sympathy for Lady Vengeance again ever since I started this Tumblr. Both films are excellent tales of twisted revenge. Oldboy’s fight scene has inspired a generation of copycats.

Spring Summer Fall Winter... And Spring (Kim Ki-duk) - Episodes of the life of a Buddhist monk, from childhood to old age. The wheel of life and rebirth. As Buddhist as it gets.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam) - This got me into Hunter Thompson. There’s no such thing as too much drugs.

Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku) - A high school class is taken to a remote island and instructed to kill each other until only one survives. Classic 80′s video game plot, tickles the nostalgia bone just right without resolving to remakes and rehashes. Incredibly fun!

House (Nobuhiko Ôbayashi) - A horror movie, a comedy, a fever dream, an art-house lysergic extravaganza. Don’t know what to make of this movie, just that watching it is an amusing experience.

Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard) - I love all Anna Karina’s movies with Godard, so it’s hard to pick one. I went with Band of Outsiders because of its dance sequence. Godard had fun while experimenting with filming techniques, and this feeling is contagious to the audience. 

Thanks for reading and sticking around.

#50 movies #yay me #movie recommendation

[bemused-writer]

VNC Chapter 42 Review

Well, this review is long in the making. Nearly time for the next chapter! I almost considered waiting and then combining the two reviews, but, well, that seemed like it might get a little long. Since we're going to get the next chapter tomorrow, I'm going to keep guesswork to the minimum if it's likely to be answered in the very next chapter and instead focus on what this chapter gave us, which is already plenty. There was a lot therein that will probably only make sense in future chapters, but here we go! The first thing I have to wonder is: Can Noé reattach his hand or can't he? Both he and Dante don't seem to have any clue, but mostly that seems to indicate neither has been trained in first aid, so...

Personally, I think it would be a little anticlimactic if Noé just gets his hand back without any repercussions, but I suppose we'll find out soon. The cold might have preserved it well enough that it can be done, I suppose? Outside of that ongoing question, there was an interesting thing Dante pointed out: astérisque flowers appear when the world formula has been altered.

I looked this flower up, and I'm having no luck finding anything, so I can't really go into any depth regarding possible symbolism. To me it looks like a peony, but Google translate informs me that is not how you say peony in French, so I'm unsure. If anyone has any ideas on that, I would definitely welcome the insight! Flowers appearing after the world has been altered is certainly poetic, however. It suggests, to me, ideas of rebirth, cleansing, etc.

We also got insight into Astolfo's backstory, and it's as tragic and sorrowful as we all feared it would be. This boy wants to rectify a wrong done to his family, I completely get that, but he's targeting the innocent and that changes things. If he were only going after the vampires that killed his parents and assaulted his sister, I'm pretty sure we'd all be rooting for him. As it is, he's killing vampires indiscriminately, lumping them all together, and that makes his revenge more of a hate crime. Seeing him and Roland together is ... difficult. Roland was the one who saved him, saw him at his absolute lowest. Astolfo owes him in ways he can't repay and I think all of this explains their potentially very messed-up relationship. Roland is a constant reminder of his sister's death, of his own weakness. However, Roland is the one in charge of him, the only one he willingly obeys, and the one he professes to despise. Why is that? No doubt it's because Roland puts on a carefree facade, makes light of everything, and still manages to be one of the most powerful paladins, and he's the very individual Astolfo owes the most. I don't think any of that mixes well for him. As for Roland, he seems... severe, around Astolfo.

I wouldn't say he seems cruel, exactly, but so far his lighthearted nature disappears completely when Astolfo is around. Perhaps this is another issue Astolfo has with Roland: he's happy and kind to everyone but him. No one comments on their exchange, but Noé has a sad, understanding look on his face. He's becoming more aware of how cruel the world can be. Astolfo didn't stand a chance.

Jean-Jacques and Chloé were given a happy ending, and I'm definitely okay with being wrong with all my gloomy predictions from before. :D Watching them bicker really made me feel like they were Jeanne's parents. We also see that Chloé has been fed up with life for a long time. She longed for a peaceful death back when she was watching over Jeanne in a beautiful location free of her usual troubles. Thankfully, she's now in a much better place, and she and Jean-Jacques can begin to rebuild now.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without our resident vampire doctor, Vanitas, who is having some troubles of his own.

Vanitas is in danger of being rewritten. What does this mean exactly? My first guess is that he could become a vampire. It would be somewhat fitting, I suppose. He would hate that and we all thought he was going to be the vampire in this series to begin with. Having said that, I'm not sure I really like that interpretation. It's also possible he's being consumed by the mark, which is a lot vaguer. I see two possibilities at the moment: he will be consumed until he ceases to exist or he will become something, or someone, else. Either way, the mark is certainly wider by quite a bit. The growth is quite alarming; he's had to use its power directly only once so far and it's already grown that much? His entire arm will be covered if he keeps it up, which we know he probably will. It's interesting that while Noé loses his left hand, Vanitas has trouble with his right. Once again, they're almost perfect parallels of one another. That's one theme of the series that's been remarkably consistent, and I suspect will only continue. The left hand was traditionally associated with evil or bad luck, while the right was considered right and proper. We could easily see this as symbolism for their relationship with one another: Vanitas is causing Noé trouble/bringing him further down a dark road while Noé is improving Vanitas's outlook and lightening his burden. This is a very simplistic way of looking at it, of course, and the truth is that their relationship is a lot more complicated than that with a much more even give-and-take, but on a surface level that is one way of looking at things. Regardless, Vanitas isn't given much time to sulk as Jeanne finds him and thanks him profusely for his help. It figures Vanitas would be confused by this; someone thanking him for a good deed? He has no idea how to handle this.

Things immediately take a different turn, though. I think the realization that she owed all of this to Vanitas sort of increased her affection for him, which in turn triggered her desire for blood, which in turn gave us this scene that I can only assume will go down in this fanbase's history:

So, it looks like Jeanne's venom is producing a pleasurable effect here, but this is actually somewhat noteworthy because that is not how things were in their previous encounters. Behold:

I know there's some room for interpretation here, but to me it looks like Vanitas is in a lot of pain, especially in that first example. But in our most recent chapter, he isn't. Why? Personally, I think it's because they're more compatible now, which leads to some interesting possibilities with a vampire's venom. Perhaps, just as in real life, two people can not be "compatible" at first, but through shared life experiences they can become so. Jeanne and Vanitas definitely weren't compatible when they first met, but this arc has transformed their relationship into something more equitable. Having said that, they still have a long way to go. Neither of them seems especially good at asking for permission so far. Vanitas kissed her without permission in the first volume, Jeanne drank his blood without permission in chapter 42. It's not quite the same since they've both come a long way in their relationship, but still. There's no doubt that Jeanne's feelings for Vanitas are softening, though.

Vanitas has given her something she desperately wanted: he saved Chloé, he kept his promise. That's a big deal. And I think, for the first time, Vanitas saw who Jeanne really is:

He thought she was a pushover he could manipulate into anything and that she would never love him. Decent chance he was wrong about literally every single one of those things. :D Jeanne's quiet, obedient demeanor seems more like a learned habit, a way of surviving in a world that wants nothing to do with her. In actuality, she's very forthright, a bit of a tomboy judging by her childhood behavior, and eccentric. She's the exact opposite of Dominique, who learned that, in order to survive, she needed to be more boisterous and bizarre as opposed to the quiet, feminine girl she once was. Anyway, this leads to Vanitas flashing back to VotBM commenting on how she hoped someone would embrace him the way she did. I'm not going to lie, I think it's kind of weird a romantic scene led to a family-style platonic scene (at least I'm assuming...), but maybe Vanitas is so starved for affection he can't tell the difference. I would almost believe it.

It's interesting to note that VotBM says "Just as the two of you are here for me..." There were two people in her life that prevented her from feeling lonely. Likewise, Vanitas has two people in his life that are preventing him from feeling lonely: Jeanne and Noé. Of course, the person that allowed for him to be this close to Jeanne is Noé, it's why he was so made at Noé a couple chapters ago. He promised Jeanne something because he's been influenced by Noé's own do-gooder personality. We symbolically see that all of this is because of Noé walking into his life in the last panel.

It will be interesting to see how things continue! Needless to say, I'm very impatient for the next chapter. 8D Till then, you guys!

#vanitas no carte #Bemused's post #vnc meta

[eirinizp-blog]

The Best Movies of 2019 (So Far)

The cinematic dry season (post–awards season, but before the good spring months have arrived) has officially ended, and the summer blockbusters are upon us. Will we remember any of them by the end of the year? Hard to say, but we can point to a few gems among the more conventional genre releases of 2019 so far: a politicized zombie slasher, a documentary about two nights at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, a Mary Kay Place vehicle, two Swintons for the price of one. Here are the best movies of the year that Vulture has reviewed, according to critics David Edelstein and Emily Yoshida, and frequent contributor Bilge Ebiri.

Arctic

Enjoyable and excruciating. In Joe Penna’s survival drama, the riveting Mads Mikkelsen plays a man whose plane has gone down in the frozen wilderness. That’s all we know about him and all we really need to — it’s what he does and keeps doing that defines him. Thrown together with a grievously wounded, non–compos mentis woman, he tugs her well-swaddled form on a sled into the unknown, trudging and grunting and falling and trudging and heeeaving and trudging and heeeaving — and just when we think it can’t get more horrible, we realize that up until then he’d had it easy. The movie really takes your mind off your own troubles. —D.E.

Birds of Passage Set in the north of Colombia among the indigenous Wayuu, Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s knockout film is part ethnographic documentary, part The Godfather. Over 20 years (from 1960 to 1980), people whose ways first seem strange metamorphose into a familiar breed of narcos, moving tons of marijuana and become avid materialists. As in Guerra’s last film, Embrace of the Serpent, the disjunction between ancient ways and modern, ephemeral fashions and technology, is not just jarring but toxic, a shock to the system that will almost certainly kill the host. The drive toward revenge kills the characters long before anyone dies — it kills their souls. —D.E.

Escape Room Escape Room didn’t need to be good, and its release during the very first week of the year seemed destined to make it a 2019 B-movie footnote. But the ensemble thriller from Insidious and Paranormal Activity vet Adam Robitel is a whole lot of fun, throwing a group of strangers together into a hyperbolically lethal version of the titular team-building game. It’s much more of a puzzler than it is a horror film, and Robitel doesn’t need gore or jump scares to keep the whole thing tightly wound. The grand finale is so audacious that you’ll be ready to buy a ticket for the sequel before the lights come up. —E.Y.

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Fighting With My Family The unlikely collaboration between writer-director Stephen Merchant and executive producer the Rock is an unexpected joy — a true story that skips along its inspirational sports-movie template while finding real pathos and tough truths under all that sparkly spandex. As WWE champion Paige, Florence Pugh is equal parts ferocious and tender, a misfit struggling to find the right way to share her talents with the world. It’s a WWE production, but if it’s propaganda for the sport, it’s the kind you’ll gladly let win you over to the joyful absurdities of the sport. —E.Y.

Transit Director Christian Petzold (Barbara, Phoenix) changes the time of Anna Seghers’s 1944 novel, in which refugees from the Nazis stuck in Lyons wait for ships to North America: It’s still Lyons, but the period trappings are gone and they’re now fleeing all-purpose “fascists.” At the heart of the story is a slow-motion mistaken-identity farce in which a concentration-camp escapee, Georg (the charismatic Franz Rogowski, who bears a resemblance to Joaquin Phoenix), assumes the identity of a famous writer whom only Georg knows committed suicide — and then falls madly for the writer’s discombobulated wife (Paula Beer). The physical, temporal, and emotional geography is very confusing, but the film is still potent. Petzold is part acrid realist, part romantic: His protagonists lose everything but their passion, emotion being the last refuge. 

Climax It’s Step Up crossed with Battle Royale, a house-music Suspiria, and exactly as fun and harrowing as that description would suggest. French adulte terrible Gaspar Noé (Enter the Void, Love) brings together a vibrant ensemble of dancers led by dynamo Sofia Boutella for a party gone horribly awry thanks to some no-good sangria. In what feels like more or less real time, we watch a cohesive, unified group of very-much-alive young people devolve into screaming, hallucinatory chaos, all set to an incredible disco-techno soundtrack. Noé’s desire to shock is still ever-present, and all trigger warnings still apply. But the dizzying, acrobatic camerawork and the impressive physical and emotional work of Boutella and the rest of the cast make this his most crowd-pleasing — dare I say, even sentimental? — work yet.

Diane A stunning platform for Mary Kay Place as a compulsive do-gooder out to expiate her sins as everyone around her is either dying (a first cousin with end-stage cervical cancer) or on the brink (her addict son and a slew of elderly friends and relatives). Kent Jones’s drama—mostly naturalistic, but with the odd expressionist flourish — is generally regarded as one of the most depressing ever made, but once you accept its un-transcendent, death-centric baseline the movie is strangely exhilarating. In between scenes are shots through a windshield of rural landscapes passing in every season, with soft, haunting music by Jeremiah Bornfield, the film’s protagonist (like all of us) going from someplace to someplace on the road to who-knows-where. In its mundane way, Diane shows you glimmers of the sublime. —D.E.

The Brink Alison Klayman’s On the Road With Steve Bannon doc is essential, sad to say, given that Bannon is not a fringe hate-monger but a man with the ears of protofascist, xenophobic movement leaders in the U.S., France, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, and the U.K., as well as sundry billionaires. Why would Bannon let Klayman be a fly on his wall — or in his ointment? He has faith in his message. He already has “a solid enough minority that’s immoveable.” He just needs to sway an increasingly susceptible 15 percent of the rest, and he’s excellent at making people feel as if they’re being marginalized by a dark (in all senses) cabal — while he denies and denies and denies that he’s saying what he in fact is. Klayman doesn’t have to editorialize to make the point that Bannon is one of the most dangerous people alive.

Ash Is Purest White Jia Zhangke’s epic revisits many of the themes he’s explored throughout his past few films (Mountains May Depart, A Touch of Sin) particularly the near-absurdities of a rapidly changing modern China, and its as profoundly wrought as ever. With Ash, however, there’s a genre twist; a sort of pulp gangster romance shot through Jia’s patient, wide lens. A deceptively steely Zhao Tao stars as a woman separated from the man who, for better or worse, is the love of her life, and sets out to find her way back to him over two and half decades. It’s as much a story of a country rebuilding itself as it is of one woman doing the same, and by its gutting resolution you’ll feel as if you’ve walked those miles and years in Zhao’s shoes. 

Us A politicized zombie-slasher film in which subterranean doppelgängers — separate but mystically “tethered” to their aboveground analogs — swarm our world with scissors and the message, “We exist.” Once you get over the disappointment that Jordan Peele’s second feature isn’t as trim or impish in its satire as his marvelous debut, Get Out, you can settle back and salute what it is: the most inspiring kind of miss. It’s what you want an artist of Peele’s sensibility and stature to attempt — to broaden his canvas, deepen his psychological insight, and add new cinematic tools to his kit. Fans will rewatch the film to savor the fillips, the purposeful echoes, and the “Easter eggs,” as well as a dual performance by Lupita Nyong’o that’s otherworldly in its brilliance. As the double, “Red,” her voice is the whistle of someone whose throat has been cut, with a gap between the start of a word in the diaphragm and its finish in the head. It’s like a rush of acrid air from a tomb.

Amazing Grace Over two nights in 1972, Aretha Franklin, then at the height of her fame, came to Los Angeles’s New Temple Missionary Baptist Church to record a selection of gospel classics. The resulting album, Amazing Grace, was one of the most acclaimed of her career. Director Sydney Pollack documented both nights with a small array of 16 mm cameras, but the footage languished for decades until producer Alan Elliott bought it and put together this concert documentary, which was then further delayed by Franklin’s own, somewhat surprising refusal to let it be shown. But now it’s here, and it is transcendent. Resplendent in her caftans but otherwise humble, Franklin gives off no diva or rock-star airs. But as soon as she starts singing, she’s in — eyes closed, head up, half-grins turning into flights of ecstatic joy. So is her audience, shouting their support, cheering her along, dancing in the aisles. And so are we. The movie itself feels like a church service, and it’s enough to make you get religion. —Bilge Ebiri

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote Terry Gilliam’s notorious film maudit, three decades in the unmaking and already the subject of a 17-year-old documentary about the collapse of its production, is, uh, here. And it’s surprisingly light on its feet. The story follows a slick commercial director (played by Adam Driver, an inspired choice) who returns to the Spanish village where he made his thesis film ten years ago, an adaptation of Cervantes’s Don Quixote, and discovers that the lives there were ruined by his production. Reuniting with the aging cobbler who played his Quixote (Jonathan Pryce), he discovers that the man still imagines himself to be the 17th-century knight-errant. Their ensuing journey mixes medieval gallantry, contemporary topicality, and typically Gilliamesque chaos — a swirling vortex of disguises, dream visions, broad humor, and a delightfully disorienting look at both the creative and destructive power of imagination. —B.E.

Trial by Fire Murderously hard to sit through, which is not something you’ll see on top of an ad. Maybe that’s why the film had been a commercial bust. But this portrait of Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell), a Texas ne’er-do-well executed for burning his three little girls to death, is painstakingly well-made and important. The director, Ed Zwick, isn’t cynical about the motives of the investigators who allegedly screwed up so badly in interpreting the evidence. The lie of most police dramas isn’t that they’re on the side of the angels — it’s that they’re always competent at what they do and that there are fail-safe mechanisms to keep innocent people from the death chamber. Laura Dern plays the divorced mother who volunteers to be a pen pal to someone on death row and gets sucked in when she reads the trial transcript. Dern is a great detective actress — she externalizes thought. 

Souvenir A coolly intelligent autobiographical film by the British writer-director Joanna Hogg, who doesn’t often give you your narrative bearings — and spoils you for over-shapers, the spoon-feeders. Her protagonist (Honor Swinton Byrne, daughter of Tilda, who plays her mother onscreen) is a well-off, socially conscious 24-year-old film student who wants to make a movie about a boy growing up by the grotty docks near Newcastle but is thrown off course by her foppish, madly pretentious, and (as it turns out) heroin-addicted boyfriend (Tom Burke). At times the film seems too distanced, but it’s never obvious or banal. Hogg convinces you that incoherence is the only honest way to tell a story with any emotional complexity. 

#thebestmovies