#the song the visuals the PATHOS

[evadingreallife]

I like so many of them both for the music and the visuals, tell me in the tags why you like them!! Or hate them i guess...

#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #fma #fmab #fma brotherhood #fma 03 #tbh my absolute favorite is again #the song the visuals the PATHOS #but i love almost all the others too #especially rain melissa and rewrite #ive had all the fma&fmab openings on my playlist for so long shzhshjahKld #polls #october 3rd #the art of making polls to poll

[respectthepetty]

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow 101

Lesson 1 - Visual Rhetoric

Because I get so many asks about colors, I decided the best way to celebrate Pride is to educate anyone who is interested in how to better Read the (Visual) Rainbow and simultaneously allow myself to appreciate queer media.

So let's begin!

Did you stop when you saw the above image? Why? The post just began, yet you probably paused when you saw the image because it reminded you of a stop sign even though it has no text that tells you to stop.

This is visual rhetoric.

The Basics

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion

Aristotle is considered the father of rhetoric

He created the rhetorical appeals - ethos, logos, pathos

He also taught about rhetorical situations - audience, purpose, tone, argument, medium

All of this simply means that Aristotle believed that to persuade people, the speaker or author had to appeal to his audience by establishing credibility, giving a logic argument presented with evidence, and appealing to the audience's emotions. But most importantly, the speaker had to know his audience well enough to know what evidence to use, what emotions to appeal to, and how he could make himself look credible.

Visual Rhetoric

We live in a visually-dominated society. We see thousands of images every day. But in order to stand out, companies must appeal to its targeted audience using Aristotle's rhetorical theory.

Since television is a collection of moving images (medium), a show is never solely about the dialogue or the acting; it's also about the collection of images and how they support the story. This can be done through:

colors

clothing

symbols

text

layout

environment

Even in this textual post, some words are bigger than others to show a new section is beginning (logic/logos). "A NEW SECTION IS BEGINNING!" doesn't have to be stated because the visual element does that instead. Even though it isn't a colorful moving image, this is visual rhetoric.

Concept Question - How can you distinguish you are in a queer-friendly space without anyone having to explicitly state it? Much like the stop sign at the beginning, the rainbow is associated in most parts of the world with being queer-friendly.

And it can pop up in subtle ways as well to let us know this is a queer space without having to verbalize it.

Activity 2 Review

If you watched Eugene Lee Yang video "I'm Gay" from the orientation [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpipLfMiaYU], you were tasked with looking at the colors, clothing, space, and references to global events. Trigger warning - the implication of gun violence and the implication of physical violence and blood.

Applying Aristotle's rhetorical theory to the video, we must consider who Yang's targeted audience was, what was his purpose for creating the video, and what was his argument. We also need to examine how he appeals to his audience.

Targeted Audience - fans of The Try Guys and newer fans from other social media platforms

Purpose - to let people know he was gay

Argument - ???

To figure out the argument, we must examine the visuals:

Sound (not a visual, but worth noting to figure out the argument)

The video's song, ODESZA's " A Moment Apart", opens and ends with the sound of breathing and only features one repeated lyric: "I love you most. I love you more now."

Colors

Since Yang's purpose was to tell his audience he is gay, he visually depicted that by tracing his journey through the colors of the rainbow (layout).

The other people in these scenes are wearing black or white while the community members wear colors. The blacks are friendly while the whites are more aggressive, which is the opposite of how these colors are normally represented. White tends to be for innocence, while black is more menacing.

Clothing

Yang also establishes his conflict with gender norms and his desire for fluidity with gender expression through his outfits, yet the scene where he wears the most masculine attire (jeans) right after the club attack, is also the one where he is beat up and shirtless; therefore, he is exposed and vulnerable even when trying to conform, stuck between the white and black.

Environment

Each color is set in a different location: Red - Yang with his family, Orange - Yang at church, Yellow - Yang dancing during spring, Green - Yang dancing at a club, Blue - Yang on a street in front of trash, Indigo - Yang being pushed by the "others"

For time's sake, let's focus on two: Yellow & Blue.

Yellow in the Pride flag is new ideas. Yang's yellow is set in spring. Spring is the season of new life and change. There is also the popular musical Spring Awakening which is a coming-of-age story about sexual awakenings in a repressed society. In Yang's yellow, he dances first with a woman wearing black, only to notice and dance with a man in yellow.

Blue in the Pride flag is serenity, but Yang's blue is anything but calm. He is located on a street in front of trash as he is beaten. The people beating him treat him and associate him with the trash he lays in front of instead of viewing him as human. These people are in white, so as mentioned in the colors section, they are the worst aggressors.

Worldly Events

The concept question asked how we know we are in queer-friendly spaces, and the answer was to look for the rainbow.

Yang's green is set in a gay club, but then a man, dressed in white, enters and lifts his two fingers to indicate a gun.

This is a reference to the 2016 Pulse Club Shooting in Orlando, Florida, but also alludes to the several incidents of queer spaces being assaulted.

Text

The ending credits are the only text featured within the video, but it ends with this dedication - For the LGBTQIA+ community.

Argument

Referring to the above notes on the visuals, we know Yang wanted his fans (audience) to know he was gay (purpose). However, him dedicating this video to the community shows that everything we saw before that moment was his argument.

The link to the video includes a fundraising box for The Trevor Project which advocates for suicide prevention within the community, so there is credibility (ethos) in his argument.

Through the layout of the rainbow scenes, Yang offers the logic (logos) and the appeal to our emotions (pathos). Yang showed through the visuals that those who were thought to be the most innocent and pure (the whites) were the most violent towards the community. He showed that in spaces that he should feel loved and comfortable with his family and at church were the places he had to put on the biggest show. He showed the queer safe space where he was happiest was the most dangerous. He showed that he was seen as trash even when conforming, and when he did emerge as himself, others still wanted him to conform.

But in the end, he sits with his community, and it is powerful.

The sounds also support his argument. The breathing fades out as Yang begins his journey through the rainbow. The lyrics constantly remind him that he is not only loved, but more loved now as he continues through the rainbow. The video ends with the breathing resuming.

If you watched Love, Simon, you know the beautiful line, "You get to exhale now." Yang, after his journey to self-acceptance and coming out, can exhale now.

All of these visuals support the argument that although the world is cruel, there is love and strength within the community. Yang made this video to tell people he was gay, but he is also telling people he is part of a community.

And that community is strong, together.

Activity 1 Review - Next Lesson

The orientation posed a few questions for you to think about. We will cover those in the next lesson.

You should also watch ONE of the following videos to better understand the next lesson. As you watch your chosen video, note which color emerges first and think about why.

Sam Smith & Kim Petras "Unholy" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq9gPaIzbe8

Jessie Ware "Free Yourself" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD7F6M9fsms

Troye Sivan "My, My, My" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5TqNsr6YuQ

See you for lesson 2 on Friday - Color Basics

#Reading the (Visual) Rainbow #lesson one - visual rhetoric #eugene yang “I'm gay”

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Uh, yeah....

Like, Viv...?

Babe?

My precious Baby Girl?

I love you, and while I can look past a little bit of jokey tackiness in the announcement trailer (even though it's still a major eye roll ...🙄)

If that little, um ...typo? Was in anyway meant to be an intentional pun, or if the entire last part of that paragraph and wording about "visuals" with *that* spelling was meant to invoke some sort of unneeded innuendo and complete tonal whiplash in the minds of your audience after just releasing such an emotional song for this kind of character with your brand new voice actor that you supposedly handpicked debuting for him, I'll be the first to admit that this wasn't it and this is not how you promote the new material, especially after Roman just proved himself more than capable of providing Angel Dust as a character with more respect, dignity, and pathos than I honestly believe Kovach had ever intended to or could. And this tweet shows a lack of respect for both Roman and Angel Dust as a character, which was already there, at in the fanon and fandom, mind you, but should've been dealt with and forgotten once... certain people involved in the original pilot moved on.

Like, everyone's talking about how Blake's voice braking immediately gave them chills and how beautifully serious he seems to be taking this character when it counts, in the way I still believe Kovach never could and wasn't prepared for. And then you go back to social media and where are we? Right back to making jokes about cum.

Which I'm certainly no prude and don't mind when the mood calls for it, but right now it very obviously didn't and I love this series but I'm sick of how it's constantly killing it's own vibe and and mood through it's own marketing by caving to it's "cringe" reputation every. single time. something actually good happens for it. 💀

I'm aware that they were never gonna hire a sensitivity consultant for writing Angel Dust specifically because it's a cartoon, but maybe the people involved could let their only Sex Working character have the same amount dignity from his shows (outside of all the cringe ass marketing) that he's allowed to have within the actual canon? For five seconds?! 💀

I don't like using the term "brainrot" at the best of times, but the leftover hunicast brainrot feels so real right now and I can't believe that little mouth covering emoji ether. Like she's aware of exactly how she's making things sound, she has to be, and in this case it's the sheer tonal dissonance of it all that's really quite tactless of her and actually unfunny. It's in poor taste, even. This shows marketing is constantly eating itself and ruined everything for everyone trying to promote this show to any actual adults outside of fandom spaces and I'm starting to agree about our little emo girlypop needing a social media manager. This is legit the most cringe, most unprofessional thing I've ever seen her do now regarding her own staff remembers outside of expecting her own fans and supporters to act as her personal therapists on her patreon and tumblr, which is something she should've especially kept nuked and never reopened, considering she (rightfully so) doesn't seem to particularly care for it, since she hasn't actually updated it, as far as aesthetically speaking, in years.

And again, if any Antis or ~"criticals"~ attempt interaction with this post, I will shoot you in the foot, just like this shows shitty marketing keeps doing to poor Angel outside of his actual canon. So no wonder why he doesn't like his feet then, l o l! 🤭

#Hazbin Hotel #hazbin hypocritical #Angel Dust #angel dust hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel angel dust #hunicast #hanicast critical #hazbin hotel cast #vivziepop #viv medrano #michael kovach #can suck it ... #Blake Roman #Deserves better than this ... or at least *that* tweet... #And that was her response to his FIRST TWEET man ... #I can tolerate all her cringe posting about the nepotism Owl Shitty musical like it's good and her Seth Rogan Sausage Obsession and her #being a little emotionally unstable bc the bullying and I know she's not in charge of the shows marketing but giving into the idea of her #own comfort character being some such kind of dumpster THE MOMENT the new voice actor that you hired takes over debuting an emotional power #ballad that you've just wrote in an attempt to afford the character a little more dignity than he was given previously by fanon is a BIT su #to say the very least of it .. LOL! 🤭 #undescribed #twitter #media comprehension #media literacy

[aquaquadrant]

hey its villainous thing anon again (lets js say 🎵 anon bc wow. Songs) and i js wanna say eventually by tame impala fits so well with your ethubs drabble! for me at least, the intense music in the beginning fits really well with how desperately dbubs tries to get patho again after he leaves (like u know that part would be playing in the background while hes trying to fight the jungle) . and literally every lyric hits so hard for the scenario. love ur work :)) -🎵

omg hey there :)

also. holy fuck. i’m speechless… this song is perfect. i could literally visualize the whole scene. the lyrics, the vibe… no notes.

#hels to pay au #HTP tunes #pathbubs #i wonder if patho has left before thinking it’d be the last time #telling himself it’d be better for both of them #but he always comes back eventually

[herrlindemann]

Rock Hard - April 1996, Interview with Flake

Thanks to Ramjohn for the scans!

It's been a long time since a national newcomer in such a short space of time as Rammstein. In addition to the excellent debut work 'Herzeleid' and the charismatic charisma of the musicians, this is mainly due to the literally hot gigs, which their reputation as a spectacular modern version of Alice Cooper and (masked) Kiss shows already precedes. It was not for nothing that the club tour that just ended was sold out almost everywhere.

"We don't want to be a bloated hype, we want to earn our fans in order to win them over for the long term," says keyboardist Flake. « That's why we withdrew our already shot video of ‘Du riechst so gut’. It just came too soon, the timing wasn't right. When people talk about Rammstein, they should have the band in mind and not the band with the 'great' clip that's always on MTV or Viva. »

Especially in the five expensive federal states, the influx was enormous with well over 1,000 visitors per show. However, Flake doesn't want to know anything about the East-West divide: « For example, we also had over 800 paying guests in Bochum. »

On the other hand, there were only 300 in Duisburg due to capacity and not more in Cologne shortly before. In my opinion it cannot be denied that the Ossis are more open to the Electro-Metal genre; the drastic differences in popularity of bands like Oomph! or Think About Mutation in West and East make this abundantly clear. For Flake, however, the reunion seems to be complete in every respect. In view of the different culture that has developed over the decades (USSR-oriented instead of USA-oriented), this assumption is quite naive. Just like Flake outright. Incomprehension for the assumption expressed by some sides that Rammstein could be a right-wing group. Of course, there is no solid basis for this rumor after a thorough examination of the band and their songs - but anyone who lets themselves be photographed for record covers as a 'gentlemen' with a neat short hairstyle and a naked, oiled upper body, sings in German with a rolling 'R' and titles like ‘Weißes Fleisch’ — it could just as easily be black, red, yellow or just naked meat — shouldn't be surprised if hypersensitive leftists quickly miscategorize it.

However, Flake finds the accusation so absurd that he doesn't even consider it necessary to take it seriously. Laconically, he only remarks: "I think we look like golden-brown broilers (East German word for 'grilled chicken') on the cover. On the one hand it was summer at the time — that's why the tops were bare — and on the other hand we didn't want to look like bums — that's why the neat hairstyles. »

Art needs inner tension as a driving force. These have Rammstein in abundance, even if they present themselves as a unit. Six musicians, six opinions - that promotes the creative process, but makes it almost impossible for the individual to realize themselves one hundred percent. Nevertheless, Flake and guitarist Paul in particular, who both used to play in the punk band Feeling B, try to live out their generally cheerful disposition on stage instead of subordinating themselves to the pathos that is embodied above all by singer Till.

« We both don't take the image that seriously, and that's why we don't bow to Till either. If he takes it seriously, that's his business. »

But the front man doesn't seem to take his theatrics that seriously, because during the show in Duisburg he had to skip a whole verse of 'Das alte lied' because he got a fit of laughter after a dildo blow job . Personally, I would find Rammstein much more intense if all six members would also implement the brutal music and rough poetry on stage visually, but the at least partially possible self-realization of the individual musicians is of course an understandable argument for the supposedly contradictory performance.

« We don't want to create a specific image. Although we have a defined framework, each of us can move freely within it. »

As much as I believe the musicians are best friends, I believe they have countless internal battles over the band. After all, they wear a stage outfit specially designed for them and invest several thousand marks in pyro effects at every gig.

In view of this financial expense, which only serves the optics (and thus the image), the scope for the individual is inevitably smaller.

"Not necessarily," counters Flake, "because we just want to entertain and offer the audience a colorful evening - whether with flamethrowers or funny gimmicks.”

That's all well and good, but in view of the specific reference to the tragic Rammstein plane crash, I don't think there's any room for humorous aspects. After all, it would be extremely tasteless to use such a catastrophe with umpteen deaths as a cheap shock effect. However, it is precisely these permanent contradictions that are fascinating about the Rammstein phenomenon, which can never be fathomed in detail because every band member represents a different point of view and there is therefore no ultimate overall statement at all. Curious about the extreme plurality of opinions: Rammstein never give interviews together, because otherwise they would constantly contradict each other.

In the "Wa(h)re Liebe" program (VOX) from 29.02. a certain Yvonne was a guest, who had already unpacked her Sado/Maso preferences under the pseudonym Marlene as the cover model in "Stern". This self-assured woman, who initially said that she was thoughtful and well survived, suddenly freaked out and yelled like a teenager that she really wanted to get to know Rammstein and would do anything (!!!) for the boys. When the band elicits such extreme reactions even from relatively mature personalities, the image obviously cannot fail to have an effect. Not to mention the drooling hordes of wench folk who routinely rule the front rows at the shows. What do Rammstein have that others don't? Is it the musicians' looks? Is it the pumping mid-tempo grooves? Is it the current show gimmicks like dildo and S/M gear (mask, whip, harness and leash)? Or is it lyrics like 'Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen?' ('Sex is a battle, love is war.'), 'Weißes Fleisch' ('Red welts on white skin, I hurt it and you whine loudly .') or 'Du riechst so gut' ('I can't see you, I can feel you.')?

Yvonne or.

Unfortunately, Marlene or whatever-her-name didn't reveal it during her TV appearance, and Flake doesn't have an answer either. Till, who is said to have broken countless hearts and is already a father of several, certainly knows one, but at Rammstein there is - as I said - only one interviewee per journalist.

This also makes it difficult to look ahead, which Rammstein gave us during the tour in the form of the three new songs 'Sehnsucht' (in the 'Herzeleid' style), 'Spiel mit mir' (the keyboard and guitar theme is strongly reminiscent of the Krupps ) and 'Feuerräder' (groovy Techno/House instrumental at around 140 bpm).

Flake doesn't really want to let the cat out of the bag and mainly limits himself to general statements like: «We are not limited in any way and just compose as it develops. Maybe we'll go more in the Techno direction soon, maybe not. »

I tend to bet on the former, because with the commitment of the really good Berlin scene DJ Komm, who played the pre- and post-program of the club gigs and even jammed with the band in the middle part of 'Weißes Fleisch', the boys have a clear sign set. In addition, it can be heard between the lines that Till will possibly sing more than speak on the second work, in order to ensure a certain degree of variety.

The only concrete statement from Flake: «On the next album there will be a song called 'Der wilde Wein', which we actually wanted to record for 'Herzeleid': without guitar and drums, only with vocals and keyboard. »

But before we completely digress into the future, it is not necessary to work through the current disc. Director David Lynch took a liking to it and chose Self Destruction, Final ('Rammstein' and an instrumental version of 'Heirate mich') alongside Nine Inch Nails' for his new film 'Lost Highway'.

« We sent him and some other interesting directors like Stephen Kind our disc to get a statement for a possible video shoot. However, due to lack of time, David was not able to deal with 'Herzeleid' at first - his cameramen and assistants even more so. Eventually he asked the film crew what they were listening to all the time, and that's how he came up with us. Maybe working together on a clip will work out in the future. »

However, the iconic filmmaker is far from the only prominent Rammstein fan. Clawfinger, whose producer Jacob Hellner is responsible for the controls for 'Herzeleid', and the Ramones, who engaged the promising newcomers as the opener for their farewell tour, are also among them. With an understandable touch of pride, which he is almost embarrassed about, Flake reports that Joey & Co. even wore Rammstein T-shirts at their Berlin gig.

A certain modesty is also evident in other areas. For example, there is no cast list with the names of the musicians printed in the booklet. That means: What counts is the band collective and not the individual. This attitude is even reflected in the autographs that the keyboard player gives during our interview. Instead of strikingly brushed line structures, as known from doctors and rock stars, Mr. Lorenz paints his pseudonym neatly in meaningless block letters.

« If it gets too much for me, I just put a stamp on it. It also counts as a real autograph, because after all I only have the one. »

You certainly can't accuse him of being a fan fool. As one of very few bands, Rammstein allow their fans free backstage access ten minutes after the show.

Whether this nice gesture can be granted for a long time is questionable in view of the daily increase in the number of visitors on the tour...

#Rammstein #Flake #Flake Lorenz #Till Lindemann #interview #1996 #translation #*scans #*

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

Tbh I was initially critical of the performance of Gethsemane in the 2000 film but after listening to it like 100+ times it’s really grown on me and while the visuals are less exciting than the 73 movie and it lacks the instrumental painting moment, the emotional delivery of lyrics like “let them hate me hit me hurt me nail me to their tree” and the emphasis on “noticed” and the ending with the bitterness of “god thy will is hard but you hold every card. I will drink your cup of poison…” like the fluctuations in tone add a lot to the desperate pathos of the song in a way that fits with the style of acting and performance across the movie

#jcs #jcs 2000 #I don’t know that I think one version is better I just think they’re using different approaches #tho the painting instrumental break is a film moment of all time to me so

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 11/1/22

watched a good movie made a good soup

listening

Witch for a Night by Sugar Pie DeSanto. i think any song that starts with the lines

I'm gonna be a party-poppin, show-stoppin, wig-floppin witch for a night!

will never disappoint you.

_

reading

The Markup did a huge crunchy report about how they figured out poorer, less white neighborhoods got slower, more expensive internet than their wealthy white neighbors, and a more accessible writeup.

they do absolutely exquisite data visualization.

good data viz really makes a fuckin difference. this is damning!!! look at this shit!!!

and none of the ISPs had anything productive to say about their methodology!!! not literally bulletproof but pretty damn fuckin close, since it's pulling price and address info directly from ISP sites.

_

watching

Saloum (2021, dir. Herbulot). this is a West African terror film with a good dollop of acid western stylization to create the world's tensest dinner parties as a curse does what curses do. i really really loved this bc if we take a "western" as any movie with a group of mercenaries in an arid colonized land, it is a fun take on what a modern spaghetti western can be with all the visual flair and pathos i love about this subgenre when it's good.

this is the kind of film tarantino loves to rip off. Herbulot cites two video games as direct influence and they are rdr2 and metal gear solid v.

i do want to underscore that the director is very clear about his "terror" categorization:

But the cursed king that they're talking about, it's a real story. It's real mythology. That is from the Saloum. And so this story is real. This myth is real. This curse is real. Now beyond that, what's the curse and how does it work? I don't know yet. I don't want to know (laughs). But that was our starting point. It was essential for me that, if we were going to shoot the Saloum region, we wanted to be as respectful as we could be, especially for [collaborator] Pamela, because that's her birth region.

this is a really fucking tight eighty minutes. apparently this was originally closer to three hours long, with a lot of backstory about the Hyenas (a gang of mercenaries extracting a drug lord and a briefcase full of gold) and Awa (the girl they meet in a tourist camp when their plane comes down in the desert after sabotage).

this is a film, like all my favorite spaghetti westerns, that is very concerned with revenge and what makes a hero. it frames most of this during the world's tensest series of dinner parties at this camp as they try to get fuel and resin to fix their plane. and then, of course, things go sideways.

this is a very beautiful and well-made movie (and not just Good For A Budget Movie, just straight up a good lookin movie) with a lot of care put into framing and setting up shots. the director used to be a comic book artist and used to shoot music videos, so the framing and shot setup is really thoughtful. this movie is simply fun to watch. it is very good at holding and building tension, everything unravels in slow motion until it doesn't and then it's a level of your favorite first-person shooter. it does suffer from the "the monster isn't actually as scary as the anticipation of seeing the monster" but this group of mercs looks so fuckin sick all the time it more than makes up for it imo. yes he is wearing white dishwashing gloves paired with a machete. also versace pants and shoes.

this podcast episode was very helpful bc their guest is from the Gambia and had a ton of important and useful context to give. this is fundamentally a "recap the movie and do some bits about it" podcast so your tolerance may vary.

i would strongly recommend signing up for a free week of Shudder with a burner email and watching this movie legally, bc it will almost certainly never see wide release :(

how'd i find this: like many other things, this is indirectly @morrak 's fault. last year he said "hey have you listened to this podcast episode dunking on the hyperloop" to which i said "no i have not" and then fell into the alice caldwell-kelly podcast cinematic universe. her podcast Kill James Bond is not my favorite, bc it is mostly a podcast recapping spy films and doing bits about them, which i have a limited tolerance for, but it is very good at going WOW THERE'S A LOT OF RAPE IN THIS BOND FILM and reminding me i should not rewatch literally any of the older movies, as much as i love daniel craig's outings.

_

playing

i did nick valentine's final companion quest in fo4 and cried my fucking eyes out, again. why won't they let me romance the robot and why is he trapped in this incredibly mediocre game :(((

_

making

red lentil soup with lemon bc i realized if i buy a bunch of soup-serving-size-i-like plastic off brand tupperware, i can have microwaveable soup lunch for much cheaper than just buying a lot of canned soup. and it does not require any more prep than setting an alarm to take a unit of soup out of the freezer and into the fridge the night before, which is good bc my brain is fuckin fried by 1 PM.

the leek and potato soup i made last month did Not freeze well. it's like edible but the texture is...not ideal. the internet said lentil soups freeze well, and even though this recipe is from the nyt it looked reasonable enough with some modifications.

recipe here. shit i changed:

not quite tripled, bc i wanted to use up an entire bag of lentils at once.

did not add red pepper flakes to the soup itself as it cooked bc i'm bad at estimating how spicy i like things.

added cumin until my heart said to stop, deffo far more than a teaspoon. probably two tablespoons? the fun thing i previously knew about lentils is that they absorb a lot like A Lot of flavor so just like. keep fuckin going with ur lil shakers.

the lemon is really crucial here, it's perfectly fine on its own with just salt/pepper/cumin, but the lemon does a lot of work

added in the entire 6oz can of tomato paste, bc i never remember to use half-cans up and then they mold in the back of my fridge and i get cranky about it. also like. one tablespoon??? really??? get the fuck out of here.

added in many carrots bc i like a stew-like consistency and also had a lot of really sad carrots in my crisper

threw in like five stalks of celery bc i bought a clump or whatever a unit of celery is called for something else and wanted to use it up

most of a bag of small-medium onions and like 4oz of minced garlic bc that was what my heart said on sunday night when i made this

still nursing along some green onions on my countertop, bought nice bread specifically for dinner. i buy the spreadable carton of brie bc i hate peeling cheese and i like brie, and i think brie goes well with this soup.

#this is So long whoops #i really liked this fuckin movie!!! #will be pitching it individually to pallas and chase later #bringing my presentation setting up my slides #tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

[miyakuli]

We Are OFK

It's quite difficult to define We are OFK ; a visual novel? yes and no, some moments make the player active beyond the reading. An interactive adventure then? yes and no, the dialogue choices don’t impact the story in any way, so the interactions themselves are not that important. Either way, don't venture into this game if you're looking for some gameplay, think of it more as your miniseries for the week where you can kick back and enjoy the debut of this virtual music band

❤ Funny and friendly slices of life but which also bring their share of emotions, not in the pathos on the contrary, with an intimate and chill side. ❤ Cute & colorful graphics and simplistic yet effective animation. ❤ Excellent voice actors who really make the characters authentic! ❤ Inclusive <3

+/- The music videos are really cool (whether you like the music or not, personally I really liked it!) but the interaction phases are uneven depending on the song (the one from episode 1 remains my favorite <3)

✖ Too many choices of dialogue via the mobile phone ; it's silly but I find it more impersonal and it dampens the emotions of the characters imo (except for that scene from the audition because the directing contributed to that, too bad there weren't more moments like this). ✖ I would have appreciated a finale with at least one concert scene of the group, apart from the clips ; at no time do we see them performing as a band, it's a shame. ✖ Some lengths in the episodes.

I would also like to point out that the game is currently only in full English (dub & sub) and the game contains a lot of abbreviations and slang language through the sms conversations (I address this obviously to non-English speakers).

I spent a nice time of this story, it was charming without being transcendent. Good thing though is that I discovered a new band to follow ;p

➡ My Steam page

#we are ofk #really enjoyed their songs for real #and the characters were really charming (Jay & Carter <333) #I wonder if we'll more of them...maybe in a second game #Lola plays games #personal #Youtube

[twistedtummies2]

Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - Number 4

Welcome to Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I have been counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios! We’re nearing the end of this event… Today’s entry should ring a bell. Ha Ha. Number 4 is…The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

“Hunchback” is an oddball in the Disney Canon. It seems to be a movie that polarizes people, in a way that no other picture from the Disney Renaissance period seems to. Depending on who you ask, it is either one of Disney’s darkest and most interesting animated movies, or it is a bizarre misfire that wasn’t very well thought out. Obviously, I fit into the former category: while I will concede the film does have some flaws (well…really just one flaw, which I’ll get to later), I don’t think those are nearly enough to warrant any real animosity towards the picture. And while it very, VERY clearly makes drastic changes from its source material…well…if people can forgive movies like “Hercules,” “Pocahontas,” and “Frozen,” I think “Hunchback” is more than deserving of a pass, too. This, in my opinion, is one of Disney’s absolute biggest films. And I don’t mean that in the sense of its popularity, technical merit, influence, or anything like that. I just mean the film, itself, feels MASSIVE. There’s something grand and sublime about so many of the things in this movie. The visuals are stunning, almost everything feels just gigantic, from the cathedral the tale centers around to the underground haven of the Court of Miracles. The themes are quite impressive, as well: while the story isn’t allowed to be as dark and adult as Victor Hugo’s classic novel, the movie nevertheless touches on some ideas that most Disney movies can’t go into. Faith, corruption, prejudice, madness, lust vs. love…these are things you don’t find in too many family films, certainly not ones with a fine “G” rating, today. These elements are only heightened by the music. Once again, I don’t just mean the songs (which are, of course, exceptional; I’m quite certain no one here needs to be reminded of the magnificence of “Hellfire,” just for a start), but the soundtrack itself. A commonality between all four of my Top 4 Favorite Disney Films is they all have phenomenal soundtracks, and a big part of what makes me love each movie comes from the splendor of the music on display. “Hunchback’s” score carries the breadth of its emotional and physical scope alike: naturally, the liturgy-influenced sections, with their Latin chanting and use of pipe organs, bold brass, and pounding percussion cause the film’s most dramatic moments to ascend to a higher plane, almost giving it an operatic sensibility. But even the smaller moments are affected, with tunes that carry a smaller, more “homey” sort of feeling, more like a traveling carnival or county fair, or the warmth of a family parlor.

If there is one downside to “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” it is that perhaps that emotional playing field is a bit TOO broad. A very common complaint most people have about the film – no matter whether they love it or hate it – is that its tone is slightly scattershot. Keep in mind, animation was still seen very much as a children’s medium at the time, and Disney DID want to market this movie to a wider, family-oriented audience. As a result, the film does have issues with the dark, adult tone suddenly grinding its gears as it brakes to a halt to allow some slapstick silliness for the kiddy-winks to enjoy, before slamming back into high gear with pathos and power. The most egregious example of this would be Quasimodo’s talking Gargoyle friends – Victor, Hugo, and Laverne – who most people tend to regard as obnoxious comedic filler figures. While I will concede the tone IS a bit of a problem, I’ve never really minded THAT much. Heck, after recent years of watching various forms of anime, maybe I’ve just grown increasingly desensitized to radical shifts in tone. But as a kid, I always loved this movie because it made me feel like I was watching something different, something I couldn’t see anywhere else. As an adult, I actually respect it even more, not less, for the effort it took to pull this movie off with any degree of competency. The characters are great (for the most part), the voice acting is great, the artistry on every level is great…this film, in my opinion, not only deserves all the attention it seems to be getting more and more in recent years…but perhaps even more later down the line. We’re officially entering the Top 3! The countdown continues tomorrow with my 3rd Favorite Disney Movie! HINT: It Is a FAIRY Good Film. (Ha Ha. Again.)

#disney #disney 100 #disney 100 special #list #countdown #top 15 disney animated movies #fifteen days of disney magic #number 4 #hunchback of notre dame #disney hunchback of notre dame

[redzphr]

Discussion 4: Rhetoric Analysis

I’ve been a small fan of FKA Twigs, her song Cellophane I didn’t expect to be good at first but one sad 3am rainy night and it immediately became one of my favorite songs by her. I still wasn’t super familiar with her discography so I decided that picking up this article would explain more about her to see if it was worth checking her out a bit more. As a first impression, I’m immediately really impressed with the UX of the article. UX design is really overlooked when it comes to blogs and articles. It is super under-appreciated and I was really interested in how this blog was done specifically. The design is visually appealing, striking enough to maintain reader interest. 

When we look at the article itself, we are immediately hit with a video in FKA Twigs. Setting us up for an example of Pathos in a second. She dressed in what I might assume to be a Geisha or some type of clothing dating back to southeast asian culture. Looking at it from a different angle, it also reminds me personally of somewhat middle eastern Turkish dancers. Now looking at this, it paints FKA Twigs in this ethereal vail of who she is and how her music is influenced by a mythical sense of herself. Overall, Myers' article is an appeal to Pathos. His use of GIF, Image, and Videos to take up the entire screen is intentional to make the reader see Twigs in a more glorified light. His appeal to Pathos takes form towards the middle of the article, where he writes about the consequences of two of Twigs' former celebrity relationships. The most noticeable of her partners is Robert Patterson,who is most well known for his role in Twilight as Edward, didn’t emotionally support or shield her from the massive amount of internet or media harassment she got while they were dating. So giving a lot of context into her music makes her a lot more emotionally relatable to her audience, allowing for others to want to emotionally relate to her songs. Alongside that, we get  a small glimpse into her personal life. She watches Love Island, plays with her dog, and sings her favorite Frank Ocean song. People emotionally connect to artists that they find relatable plus we use our own sense of Ethos. Since her status of being an artist, we the public whose line of separation doesn’t know how to Adequately separate celebrities from our IRL friendships, will apply our own sense of credibility to the artist. So we take everything they say as a very honorable source. 

Overall, I think this article is great at applying Pathos and Ethos to it by letting us see into the personal and professional life of FKA Twigs and seeing how both of these perspectives and aspects of her life influence each other into creating a somewhat balanced version of herself. It was an interesting read for sure and it makes her persona as an artist make a lot of sense. 

[beatrixisakitty]

Listening to The Twin Fantasy by the car seat modern lovers and thinking about how I can like understand the musical aspects and totally decode every production flourish and musical influence like how its so utterly wavves and cloud nothings and seventies folk taken to a proggy scale. I could like replicate the specific sounds perfectly if I wanted to. but the underground resonance, the counterculture nature of it, the autobiography, writing a song ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL, literally not something I am or have ever been capable of, because the mindset I have to go into and unconsciously go into when I make music is powerful detachment to the point of borderline dissociation. It's the one thing I don't have. plenty of my peers have it and not much else - big part of the magic of le twin fantastic is that it has pathos AND a fucking ridiculous amount of compositional and instrumental skill - but it's something I'll be chasing forever probably. it's so frustrating that I pretended it made me better than everybody else for a while. but it doesn't, it's just a frustrating flaw when making art, that the mode I must go into to write or perform any aspect of music is total emotionlessness, utter removal from my own life or feelings. I make songs in exactly the same way whether I'm gleeful or suicidal. I could never make a song to get my emotions out because making songs is a way i keep my emotions IN. It's fucked. It's why my music will never find internet success in the way my peers like Cecily have. Great for live performance, collaboration, production work, "building a deck" as it were. Not great for somebody so autistic she can't express herself in any way but art. I dont know. Maybe i'll just stick to visual art. I have trouble seeing myself ever finding a way to get past this.

[satoshi-mochida]

Musical 3D platformer Billie Bust Up to be published by Humble Games

Gematsu Source

Humble Games will publish Giddy Goat Games-developed musical 3D platformer Billie Bust Up for PC via Steam, the company announced. A release date was not announced. It will be playable at Gamescom 2023, which will run from August 23 to 27 at Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.

Here is an overview of the game, via Humble Games:

About

A showstopping 3D platforming musical. Embark on a magical, musical odyssey in Billie Bust Up, a 3D platformer inspired by your favorite timeless, tuneful, and imaginative animated films. Play the lead role as an adventurous and headstrong young goat named Billie on a quest to follow in her long-lost father’s hoofsteps and reclaim a powerful magic. Alongside your mystic axolotl mentor Aristotle and playable pet fox Oscar, you’ll explore strange realms, take on showstopping villains with their own unforgettable songs, master incredible magical powers, and discover a darkly fantastic world where skillful gameplay and memorable music are harmoniously intertwined.

Key Features

Move to the Music – Put your platforming and musical talents in the spotlight in fun, challenging rhythm-based battles. Attacks drop to the beat, and lyrics clue you in to what’s coming next.

An Enchanting Ensemble – Ghosts. Feline smugglers. Puppets. Adventure alongside a charming cast of brave heroes and sinister villains, each with their own complex backstories and personalities.

For the Young at Heart – Fanciful fantasy with thrills, humor, pathos, and heart. Discover a tale of friendship, family, and the shadowy secrets that sometimes lurk behind the most vibrant exteriors.

Showstopping Songs – Each main character has their own signature song revealing their personality and motive. Bust out your own vocals with an optional sing-a-long mode for every song!

Incredible Magic Powers – Tap into a symphony of awesome abilities to take on the world’s challenges. Glide over obstacles with your umbrella wand. Conjure shields, ice, and distracting decoys.

A Welcoming World – Accessibility features like user interface color and sizing options, assist modes, and options for visual and audio cues help ensure more people can join the fun.

View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

#Billie Bust Up #Giddy Goat Games #Humble Games #Platformer #Steam #Gematsu

[respectthepetty]

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow 101

Lesson 8 - Recap

Because I get so many asks about colors, I decided the best way to celebrate Pride is to educate anyone who is interested in how to better Read the (Visual) Rainbow and simultaneously allow myself to appreciate queer media.

Well, we have finally reached the end of these lessons, and now it's time to review what we have learned. But before we begin, I want to thank the thirty-some-odd people who showed up twice a week. You're cool kids, and I appreciate you. Hopefully, you learned a thing or two, and if not, at least I provided something nice to look at.

Let the recap begin!

Lesson 1 - Visual Rhetoric [Rainbow]

In the first lesson, we learned the basics of rhetoric, which is the art of persuasion. To figure out what the media (text, show, film) wants to persuade us of, we must look at the rhetorical situation such as who is the creator, who is the intended audience, what is the purpose of the piece, what is the argument, and what is the tone, as well as other points. We must also figure out which rhetorical appeals the creator is using to persuade us: our emotions (pathos), with logic (logos), or through credibility (ethos).

Much like the first lesson where we applied these concepts to Eugene Lee Yang colorful "I'm Gay" video, we are going to walk through all of these lessons for Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow's "Industry Baby" music video to see how much knowledge we gathered through our time reading the visual rainbow.

Lesson 2 - Colors [Red]

We stepped into the red for our second lesson with Jessie Ware's "Free Yourself," Sam Smith & Kim Petras's "Unholy," and Troye Sivan's "My, My, My" and learned about colors. We covered the basics of color theory, color psychology, and color symbolism. Color theory looked at ways we can combine and mix colors for different visual situations by using hues, tints, shades, and tones, while color psychology taught us how colors are connected to humans' emotions and behavior. We used both to see how colors are used as symbols which is known as color symbolism.

Applying this lesson to our example video, we notice mainly pink with some red and purple tints (blended with white) mixed in.

Using color theory, we know the lighting is brighter and they are more warm colors. Color psychology tells us that these are happier hues and normally associated with femininity. The symbolic value of the colors could be establishing the lighter tone of the video and possibly commenting on gender and masculinity.

Lesson 3 - Other Visuals [Orange]

The third lesson moved into the orange with George Michael's "Freedom" and Hayley Kiyoko's "She" to examine how objects provide metaphor, metonymy, and meaning. For example, clothing, posters, signs, and books can all provide additional information about the piece's purpose as well as represent a larger abstract idea.

In the example video, we notice Lil Nas X in his jail cell polishing his Grammy Awards for "Old Town Road", fixing his framed multi-platinum record for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)", and walking past a poster for his 2021 performance at the BET Awards.

We should note that all of these objects were points of controversy in the rapper's career. "Old Town Road" was removed from country lists for not being country enough, which prompted multi-platinum country singer Billy Ray Cyrus to join the song. The song ended up wining several awards including two Grammy Awards and was nominated for Best Record of the Year. His music video for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" titled after himself and the queer film of the same name caused a ruckus due to its explicit queer themes which some believed to be harmful messages. His performance at the 2021 Awards caused the same issues due to his on-stage kiss with one of his male dancers.

Once again, all deal with controversy regarding the rapper's queerness and societal norms/labels, so the music video is making a statement about these concepts. The title of the song is also stylized in all caps ("INDUSTRY BABY") as if shouting the artists are new generation of show business.

Lesson 4 - Barriers & Boundaries [Yellow]

For the third lesson, we danced in yellow with Silvy in "Queen" and Joel Corry x MNEK in "Head & Heart" to see how external barriers and boundaries are shown to demonstrate internal emotional disconnect between characters. An object between two characters, different background colors, lines on windows, doors, bridges, and much more could serve as visual barriers. People could even be a barrier between characters. We also looked at how other objects can serve as boundaries such as bars showing oppression, and levels and steps demonstrating power dynamics.

Because the example video is located in a prison, we see plenty of bars.

Yet strangely enough, the rapper nor his collaborator, Jack Harlow, are kept behind them. If they are shown behind bars, the doors are open, they are walking around them, or the gates are opening. As much as people want to oppress them, the men are free to walk and dance around as they please, and aren't at odds with each other since there are no barriers between them.

Lesson 5 - Group Effort (Go Team Go!) [Rainbow]

For the fifth lesson, we had to call on some rainbow friends in The Internet's "Come Over," Bob the Drag Queen's "Gay Barz," Saucy Santana x Latto's "Booty," and Scissor Sisters' "She's My Man" to see how a group of people helps the leads reinforce the story's purpose. If each character has their own color, it shows that a group effort is needed to accomplish the goal. If a main character wears the same color as the rest of the characters, he belongs to the group. But if the lead is wearing a different color than all the rest of the characters, he is independent from the group or being ostracized. If the two main characters are wearing light and dark clothing, the story might be about balance.

The rapper and his accomplice both wear the pink prison uniforms, so they fit in with the entire group. However, both the rappers take off their shirts to distinguish that they are different from the rest who remain fully clothed.

The only outliers to the group are the prison guards who wear black uniforms. However, it is shown that both prison guards lust after the leads and are depicted as the repressed characters contained to single rooms, while the pink prisoners are more sexually and physically free.

Lesson 6 - Cultural Awareness [Green & Blue]

The sixth lesson required we sit in the green and blue to gain cultural literacy as we viewed Avicii's "Silhouettes" and Bad Bunny's "Yo Perreo Sola." We had to understand that in order to learn about some of the visuals we were seeing, we had to understand the culture from which they came, and we had to move away from ethnocentrism which is assessing other cultures based on our own culture's expectations.

Although the video is American, which most of us are culturally included it, the video has several American, Black, and queer culturally references.

The video begins with Lil Nas X being sent to prison for essentially the crime of being gay, but the case alludes to his real life legal issues with Nike after releasing a "Satan Shoe" even though the company had no issue with the previous released "Jesus Shoe." The obvious references are to the films Escape from Alcatraz and The Shawshank Redemption which both deal with (innocent) men being sent to prison and being treated unfairly. The video also includes Colton Haynes, an actor in the very popular Teen Wolf and Arrow, who was forced to go back into the closet due to Hollywood's expectations of action stars.

Lesson 7 - It Could All Mean Nothing [Purple & Pink]

Finally, we landed in the purple and pink and learned about the use of literary criticism and critical media studies, so we could find the best ways to analyze media such as Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's "Rain on Me" video. We had to come to terms with the fact that some visuals don't enhance the narrative, but we also recognized that although they don't matter to the story, they still provide information about the rhetorical situation.

The example video features mostly black men in the prison which is reflective of America's disproportionate and unjust incarceration rate of Black men. The rapper had previously made comments about the Black community's denial of homosexuality after his 2021 BET Awards performance, so the open displays of Black queerness were a cultural note as well, but don't necessarily shape the video's purpose.

Jack Harlow wears a KY necklace but that merely tells us he is from Kentucky, while Lil Nas X receives a book about aligning his chakras with a secret tool hidden in it. The book could be symbolic of him restoring balance, but it doesn't hinder the narrative if we don't understand it.

Lesson 8 - Recap: A Full Circle! [Pink -> Red]

In this lesson, we ended where we began - dissecting a video from an openly queer artist for its visual rhetoric as we move through the colors of the rainbow.

Gathering all of our elements, we can come to the conclusion that the rapper's message was one about not conforming to the music industry's standards regardless of the punishment, mostly in regards to queerness. That message was explicit, but the minor visuals we noticed along the way reinforced this message.

Because that's what visual do.

So if you learned anything from these lessons, let it be that visuals support the narrative so we can have a better understanding of the overall message.

Now be free on this hellsite!

Happy Pride!

All the video examples were by queer artists or focused on queer themes, and all the visual examples came from various countries' BLs. If you have any videos or visuals you know that include examples of the concepts covered in these lessons, please feel free to share them with me, so I can add them to my always-growing collection.

Once again, I greatly appreciate everyone who showed up for this journey through visual rhetoric and queer media, and my parting gift on this last day of Pride is one final activity.

Activity

To celebrate our four-week educational adventure coming to a close, I would like you to watch Tegan and Sara's "Closer" and simply enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e9NSMY8QiQ

#Reading the (Visual) Rainbow #lesson eight - recap

[bethanydelleman]

Which classic lit adaptations capture what you specifically enjoy about the original books?

This is a hard question. I know what my favourite adaptations are but saying what they capture is a little harder.

My favourite classic lit adaptation of all time, bar none, is A Muppet's Christmas Carol. But you have to find the original version where The Love Is Gone song is maintained (my poor VHS eventually died) I'm not sure what that says about me, but I watch it every Christmas Eve. I feel like it really captures the pathos you are supposed to feel for the Cratchit family and Scrooge has a very believable redemption arc. It also does this wonderful job of showing how Scrooge has been missing out on joy. But that book is not one of my favourites... (I think I’ve read it once)

I actually think the more I love the original work, the less I like the adaptations. Because it is so hard for a movie to capture the whole story and it’s hard even for a mini to show every facet of the characters. I love Mansfield Park and I think a lot about the characters, so I wonder if any adaptation could sufficiently capture them in a way that would satisfy me!

Which is not to say that I don’t appreciate Classic Lit adaptations, I do! I really love some of them. Pride & Prejudice 2005 is what brought me to Jane Austen. But I also think they create misconceptions of the characters because inevitably a character gets flattened when you move from text to the screen. There is just so much richness in these amazing books, which is why they are so popular today, that doesn’t translate to film.

A Christmas Carol might work so well in adaptations because it’s short, it has a strong moral message, the characters aren’t terribly complex, and the message is still relevant today. But how to translate Mansfield Park, with it’s largely silent heroine, or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which explores a very destructive but not very visual form of spousal abuse, those are tricky! And I think it’s very hard to turn these longer books into a comprehensive movie, though it has been done well.

Jane Austen’s text are also tricky because part of what I love is the narrator ripping her own characters to shreds and making super sassy and sarcastic comments and that just doesn’t translate to screen at all. But I also love the strength of her female characters against a society that expects them to do impossible things, like choose to love but also marry with a competency. And I think the movies have trouble explaining how tricky it is for women to walk that line between prudence and avarice.

Anyway, this question is hard because I have a difficult time saying what exactly I specifically enjoy about my favourite classic literatures.... Like I just read Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and I LOVED IT. But I don’t think I actually can tell you what exactly I liked, I just wanted to keep being with Molly and living in that novel. I don’t know why I love Jane Austen so much, I just do. 

So I think I tend to like bits of things, like how Northanger Abbey 2007 really got Henry Tilney and John Thorpe spot on, but there were other things I think fell short especially within the time constraints. And Emma 2020 and Clueless I really love how they do Emma, even if the story isn’t perfect there either. And Sense & Sensibility 1995 really did a perfect Willoughby for me, even if other elements bother me, like Elinor being far too old.

I hope that was kind of an answer.

#classic lit #classic lit adaptations #a muppet christmas carol #question response #jane austen #charles dickens #anne brontë

[meirimerens]

I'm currently reading ATA and your writing style is so beautiful and... unique? It's charming and recognizable and always feels so filled with emotion & passion..... I still have some chapters to read but it's already one of my favorite patho fics (and just fic in general) of all times.

If you don't mind me asking, what inspires you? Other writers, or just Things In General! And how's the general writing process for you, if you feel comfortable sharing?

HI BESTIE... SO HAPPY TO HEAR YOU'RE WIKING IT SO FAR... it was the fic i had the most fun writing in a long time even though she Drained me she sucked me dry (not even in the fun way)

and i don't mind you asking... let me see if i can answer you thoroughly...

Inspirations:

i had already given a quick overview [here] but i have a few things to add:

symbolism and surrealism as art/literary currents have been my very favorites since i studied them first in middle school.

symbolism has all these manners to conjure the dream-like, the esoteric, and it's a big thing To Me; so think Baudelaire, Verlaine, Mallarmé...

surrealism pushes that even more and gives a big part to "écriture automatique" (automatic writing) which i will come back to in a sec (surrealism, think Breton, Mallarmé again, a number of "previously" symbolist writers since they all kinda hung out together...)

a number of texts and poems from these movements have in some way a very deep inclination to like... the sensory/sensible/sensitive. about synesthesia in some way (this is very present in Les Fleurs du Mal, where the sense of smell with mentions of incense, perfume, the smell of sweat; the sense of sight with mirrors, reflections; the sense of hearing with songs, whispers, etc etc, are Pivotal themes of the poems.

people have already mentioned it to me (if you were here then, that anon who told me "do you have scent hcs for pathologic characters, you seem like the type to have"... so classic) that my writing & worldbuilding is Heavy on like. The Senses. yeah babey that's my Baudelaire upbringing.

re:écriture automatique, a lot A LOT of parts of ATA have been written as écriture automatique in some way, as I've mentioned in my fic disclaimer, meaning BRAIN OFF. VIBE RECEPTORS ON. it's all about conjuring and bringing to the surface all things from the esoteric, the subconscious, the... subterranean in some way. for me, it works way better when I'm Fucking Tired/really seepy, because the veil between the conscious (awake) and the subconscious (seepy & dreaming) is the thinnest, so words flow more naturally from one state to the other.

this leads into The Writing Process:

ATA was written non-linearly. like ooooh girl. for example i had finished writing chapter 9 before I even had gotten to chapters 1 to 8. ATA was written A Lot as phone notes typed furiously in bed just as i was getting ready to sleep -> because the Flow of words from conscious to un/subconscious was denser then. it was not exclusively written like that and thank god, because otherwise it'd have taken one more year to come out. i cannot Force écriture automatique/Da Flow, and if i force myself to be sleepy in order to write, I'm not going to write at all. so ATA was written as écriture automatique notes/sudden Not Automatique But Really Sleepy notes that then my Conscious Self had to re-work so they actually made human sense & then wove them together with the linear thread of time & canon events.

other things that inspire me that are not strictly surrealism and symbolism are for example Solange Knopff's, Agnes Pelton's, Ernst Haeckel’s, Hilma af Klint’s artworks (all mentioned in the post i linked above). while not about senses/sensory experiences, a very good... exercise I guess? is to describe these visual works with words. the shapes. the senses, again.

i've also recently read david batchelor's Chromophobia, an essay on color theory mostly but which discusses the part and the place of color within sensory experiences, sensory bonds, links, mirrors... very very interesting read btw. relatively short and accessible too.

other inspirations: The Patterns. i do not actively seek, but bear witness to how patterns bodily and natural (= of the body and of nature) reciprocate, mirror, call each other back. it's a big narrative language of pathologic which is Just Right Up My Alley as i have a personal spirituality tied to nature and a "mother" earth in some way, which i think made the writing of ATA easier/quicker/more like. Oh Yeah Bro I'm In My Element.

SORRY FOR DA RAMBLING... hope you enjoyed this horizon tour though and feel free to ask whatever else 🕊️👍

#ring ring (answers) #anonymous #ATA fic #refs #i didn't even say proper thank you i'm wicked... THANK YOU SO MUCH... means so much to me that you think that... worms my heart

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Knock at the Cabin (Shyamalan, 2023)

Shyamalan is a very good visual storyteller, so a lot of this is tense and elegantly directed. Dave Bautista is very good, bringing a nice amount of subtlety and texture and low key physicality to his performance when lesser actors would have either overplayed or dialed down the character too much. I liked seeing Mr. Mindhunter Jonathan Groff as well playing a man who is sensitive in different ways. Actually most of the performances are very good, except for Mr. Ron Weasley Rupert Grint, who is very bad in a “former child trying to darken his image” way, although I suppose the movie solves this problem soon enough.

So as a suspense piece I found this pretty involving. But this very bluntly invites comparisons to current events, and I’m not sure it conjures much insight about what drives people to conspiracy-minded thinking or what living in a time of constant malaise and catastrophe does to one’s brain beyond the obvious. I suppose the movie also raises some theological questions that I am not smart enough to unpack, so I will instead direct you to this review I very much enjoyed reading by longtime internet friend deadandmessedup, a much more thoughtful soul than myself.

This probably pairs interestingly with The Mist, another horror movie about extreme religiosity on the face of catastrophe. I like this one more because it doesn’t insist on caricaturing its characters so readily. I am not sure either one offers a satisfying ending, although I found this substantially less obnoxious for the most part. (This one does that thing where they try to imbue some weight into a seemingly upbeat song, and I’m getting pretty sick of that trope.) But Shyamalan is a fundamentally compassionate filmmaker, so he manages to wring some pathos out of the proceedings even if his writing can be tin-eared and awkward and he softens the blow of the ending. I found the warm depiction of the gay couple fairly moving, and if the “family values” types actually cared about family values and didn’t use the phrase as a euphemism for bigotry, they might get something out of it too.

#film #movie review #knock at the cabin #m. night shyamalan