#I believe a lot of american folks are doing the same so I wish you all the best

[canisalbus]

Someone please blast me with high-density productive energy telepathically, I have so many things I have to get done today and so very little willpower to do them.

[ludinusdaleth]

hi I’m from Australia and I’m just wondering if you can explain the phenomenon of people from “blue states” seemingly wishing death on people from “red states/southern states” cause alot of people I follow are queer/bipoc communist folk from the south and I keep seeing “do not dehumanise us just because we are a red state” and “do not celebrate the hurricane just because it’s happening in the south” and like… do people do this??? I’m almost scared to ask. Cause here in australia even when it takes place in the most conservative part of idk, deep north queensland, something like a bushfire is nationally mourned as a tragedy and people rally to fund rebuilding and rescue efforts. I don’t think ive ever seen someone say “those damn liberal-national voters had it comin” so im so lost at the concept that this is something that apparently happens in USAmerica. Can you possibly explain this? What makes supposedly “progressive” folks so cruel? All the love to you by the way I hope your friends and any family in hurricane affected areas are safe, totally understand if you don’t want to answer the question at this time ❤️

yeah, ill try to explain. thank you for the well wishes, though i am currently fine. im in texas (and not on the coast), so i barely get any hurricane brunt at any time, but i have close friends in the current affected states who i am sending all the love & support i can to. ill put this under a read more because there's a lot to cover.

all americans im sure are the exact same to non americans, but basically due to the civil war about a century and a half ago, there is a big cultural rift between the north and south states - mostly in the east, but western blue (liberal) states definitely fit the northern mindset, and some more northern states along the appalachian mountains are considered southern. because of the grip of slavery on the south before that war, we in the south have never really escaped that history (many songs cite the south as being full of ghosts of history, and god, it is). we are also stereotyped presently as racist dumb redneck hicks. combine those two and you do not garner sympathy.

the thing is that the south is the most diverse area in the entire usa, and there there are a multitude of factors that lead us to being "less advanced" than the north, many of which hinge on that fact. the south has always had a more conservative grip due to the slaveowning elite just evolving to be right wingers nowadays. because we had worse building blocks to start with than the north with its better weather and an economy not built on slaves, we had work to do anyway, but conservatives in office refuse to fix or change any infrastructure. because they want to stay in power, our politicians purposely cut any and all educational funds and preach evangelical teachings so many of us grow up deeply propoganized - though some of us dont or work to break free of that thought process. we are not a monolith. you will find some of the most stalwart leftists here as well as the most violent ring wingers, almost like, we're a massive & diverse group of people. what we believe barely matters though when our politicians gerrymander and ensure county/town lines are drawn in such a way that priveleged votes always matter statistically more than oppressed ones do.

that's where the whole cruel progressives thing comes in. folks in blue areas, the north & canada especially, are blue, yes, but generally neoliberal when it comes to others beyond their purview. there is a smugness that they were born somewhere not haunted by a history of enslavement (ignoring the norths own racism - everyone i know who's moved north says their bigotry is highly noticeable, and slavery is legal everywhere in the country due to an exploited loophole in the 13th ammendment), and born in an area not as "punished by god" (a phrase used by southern pastors often) by natural disaster. every time there is even a modicum of news about a tragic event in a red state - a tornado, a hurricane, a shooting, things that can all happen in their lives too if less often - you will not be able to go near any comment section online or some northerners in reality who will not mock it. we deserve it for choosing to live here (as if we are not the poorest area of the country or as if the south is not also beautiful) and for choosing to vote red. there are occasional times this reverses - southerners love to jump on california's hypocrisy about this when they have earthquakes and fires - but it's not an equal balance. especially not when northern blue folk, who claim to be leftist & therefore compassionate, actively cheer on the deaths of those who could not evacuate because they were poor or desperate, and who make up our largest bipoc & queer populations in the country.

that is where bitterness, anger, and begging others to see southerners as human stems from. there is a lot more history & nuance to it than i can comprehensively express early in the morning, but that is the beginner gist of it. feel free to ask more if something wasnt clear or similar. my home is a mess, and i love it all the same, and my heart aches for my neighbors, and burns at others dehumanization of them and us as a whole. i know it will only get worse as climate change does and i wish we could all stick together instead rather than still drawing these boundary lines like our leaders want us to.

[king-craftsman]

Sorry to ask this as an anon, but what do you think about white/western people? Being one myself it sometimes feels like we get the blame for everything. Now a days it seems like we are all brushed over the same comb. Because of this I even find my support for certain causes wavering. What does it matter what i do or think, if I will be hated anyway. Even as an "evil white western" person I wish for Palestina to be free. But I also hope my country can still exist and aren't globally hated.

I have no clue why you'd ask a...*checks notes* transformation fetish blog, about views on white/westerners, but here goes:

When people criticise whiteness, it's more the institution than the actual skin colour. I notice a lot of white people tend to view such criticism through the lens of discrimination because we live in a world which has trained people to view others as "lesser than".

You're used to thinking that when someone says "(blank) people", they must mean in the derogatory/racist way because that's mostly what whiteness teaches, that some races must be superior to others. Nobody thinks black people, asian people, hispanic people, etc. are genuinely "superior" to white people. It's just white people throughout the history of the West have often tried to ascribe this "superiority" in order to justify their institutions.

You have manifest destiny. You have justification for slavery. If you dehumanise indigenous and black people enough, you can subliminally coach yourself to believe that due to your superiority, you are better. They are not human. Therefore their pain, their agony, their suffering is more justifiable because they are not on your level.

It's just that this has gone on for so long that it is now the bedrock of much of Western society. When you create a society based on the justification for discrimination, for stealing land, for slaughtering people, you cannot just "move on." You have to embed those lies into society and not just in thoughts and feelings, but in culture, laws, history, the overall system. Otherwise, what's the point?

Nobody hates white people. People hate "whiteness", they hate this concept of a superiority complex because not only has it led to uncountable numbers of deaths, lynchings, imprisonment, hate crime, suffering and so on, but it doesn't even help you now.

Now, when we say "we shouldn't do this or that", your instinct is to feel attacked and guilty and believe we will come for you, the way that you have come for us. That isn't true and it never was. It's the same reason why when people say "Black lives matter", others will say "actually no ALL lives matter."

When did we say they didn't? We know they matter. When black people say "we want this", it is not "we will TAKE this from you", it is "we want this too." Whiteness has evolved you to instinctively believe that the only way you can interpret "we want this" is a "we will TAKE this" because that was what was done in the past.

Also there is nobody who is anti-racist and will genuinely believe that all white people are evil. Once again this is what the West has trained you to believe, as if racism, discrimination is just a natural instinct. It was a tool of oppression used by a select bunch of white people in order to justify why they could have a bunch of land, money and power.

People will do anything to get the power that the colonizers had and still often do have to this day. They tricked you because rather than actually aid the average white person, they treat the average white person how everybody should be treated and use you as a foot soldier to keep others down. You get the least amount of benefits for most of the risk.

The American Civil War is a prime example of this. The Confederates helped further create racist white folk who were so hell bent on this "whiteness" they would do anything to preserve it, even if it meant going to war for the sake of keeping slavery. Then they died and lost and many lucky enough to survive were now disabled from war injuries or had PTSD and slavery was overturned anyway. You see how far "whiteness" got you then? It's a trick, used for the sake of power.

Perhaps in some sense, the lie got so riveting that the colonizers truly believed it. I think for the most part, they did. But any evidence on the contrary, cannot be accepted.

If you look at history, the modern day views on race would be far from how we engage with it and I don't mean, "oh well it's wrong to say the N word and segregate people compared to 100 years ago", no when I say modern day history I mean the last couple hundred years.

We've been on this planet for thousands of years and not until very recently in the scope of our human history did we have very...odd thoughts about race. Genetically you would be so shocked at how completely different people from different countries can share more similarities than say two ethnicities that have grown up in the same area beside one another.

If your support for certain causes waver due to the criticism not even of you, but just the society that raised you and protected you at the expense of others and continues trying to brainwash you, then I don't know what to say. Like yeah it sucks being criticised, but it sure sucks a lot more to have to worry about your skin colour, race, stereotypes, culture being mocked (and then stolen anyway), your hair, your clothes, the way you speak and more. Then continue to say "oh but come onnn we stopped enslaving you and segregating you and mocking you, so we're all equal now right?"

Sure bud.

But what do I know, I'm just a transformation-fetish blog and I got some writing to do. 💀

[makethatelevenrings]

Hey! I'm jewish and I just wanted to say you're doing fine. I stand with Palestine. This situation has nothing to do with religion. You've done nothing wrong

I kept this in my inbox for a few days bc I just wanted to ruminate over this and I chatted with a lot of IRL folks and yeah. Yeah. I want to just kind of expand on this in a way I don't think people really think of but idk it's been marinating in this brain soup of mine for a few days now.

I was heavily, heavily Christian a few years ago until I hit rock bottom mentally and realized how hard the church was on my mental health. And I had to unravel so many pieces and parts of me and expose so many open wounds before I could come to terms with who I was outside of religion. Somedays I still listen to hymns when I feel the need to, but I haven't been able to pick up my Bible in two years. The Beatitudes and Psalm 23 still rests on my tongue a lot. I use religious allegory and allusions frequently in my writing.

But oh how jealous I am of the devotion I see Jewish and Muslim people have towards their religions. I hold so much jealousy and love because of all the people I've met, I have been so amazed by their devotion and also their kindness. I think of my Muslim neighbors bringing over a platter of Syrian desserts on Christmas Eve with a note that wished us a Merry Christmas and blessings into the new year and that while they didn't celebrate the same holiday as us, they hoped their prayers would mean just the same. I think of my Jewish friends in college listening to my struggles with my own faith over coffee and bagels that they insisted I had to try. I remember sitting in our campus nondenominational room with a Torah, Bible, and Qu'ran seated next to a statue of Lakshmi, a Catholic portrait of Christ, and a prayer rug.

Perhaps this is such an American formerly evangelical protestant thing for me to say but I love the way that people who love their religions have so quietly touched my life. I remember how blatantly I would tell people I would pray for them, how we would grab hands with strangers and just pray over them, how we would stand on street corners and wave signs inviting people to church, how my church shunned me for asking questions.

But then there was the quiet Muslim man who handed me a free copy of the Qu'ran at a local food festival and he bowed his head as he handed it to me and asked that, "if you have any questions, concerns, anything, please come by our mosque." There was a few days ago when I expressed interest in Jewish theology that my friend plied me with links upon links of free resources, explanations of the Torah and the Tanakh, Mishnah, Kabbalah, etc. and told me to ask questions.

Idk this is a ramble of thoughts that have been whirling around in my head for a few days now. I just find myself craving the peace that many people find in religion, especially now. I hope that, right now, that those who believe in a higher power are able to lean on that.

[crypticroyals]

Ok. This might sound controversial but I need to get this out there.

Some people (not a lot and definitely not everyone) are saying it's cultural appropriation to use their or native American folklores for things outside of the native's context.

Alright I guess Greek and Norse and Japanese mythology can't ever be used again anymore guys. Remove all the fiction we have ever made. Library of Alexandria style.

Like, yes, I get the concept of not bastardizing a folk myth in the sense of like, "oh here's a w*ndigo, they're a hero!" when the creature is an embodiment of evil and represents all the negative things racist people ever associated with native Americans. Yeah I get that, but that shouldn't mean someone can't take the story and use it in their own in the right context.

That's what native America groups have done in so many different tribes. There is like 5+ different versions of the myth that are all native culture (all are Algonquian in close region iirc but still they have different things) so why can't I keep the main features that all cultures explain, use it in the same context but the lore is changed slightly to fit the story I'm representing it in?

THAT IS WHAT FOLKLORE IS

Don't get me wrong, if someone took a creature/being from folklore and made it something completely different and than tried to use the name of it, that isn't the same myth anymore and should be given a different name, not the one they tried to say was their new depiction. But that still shouldn't mean I can't use a myth. The main reason Im upset about this is because you have a small amount of people saying it's bad and shouldn't be done even if used accurately even tho pretty much every other culture does.

Norse mythology? Look at Marvel with it's Odin, Thor, Hel and Loki. Greek mythology? That existed years ago and a few modern day pagan Greeks use it outside context and allow others to use it because it's ancient stories full of culture heritage. Same with Roman mythology which is basically Greek mythology but changed for a new context and many use that. Hell we have planets named after them!

I'm not saying "take a myth and make it something no longer that myth but claim it is" because that would be super rude as it ruins what the myth ment and stood for. But things change constantly. No two versions of a myth are exactly the same. Who's to say I can't represent it in my own way? I love learning about cultures and all sorts of myths and tales and cuisines and traditions. But if people can represent Zues or a Kirin and no one bats an eye than why do some people get mad when someone uses a native spirit of greed and winter hm? I know some people of native groups prefer to not speak certain terms as they see it as taboo. The W*nd*go for example. But some do. So why can't I represent cultures in a fantasy setting? Sure the myths aren't real life and consist from cultures all over with different contexts, but if we can't use windigos why can we use fairies and elves and gnomes? Is it because those are white myths? If so that seems very rude. But I'm not sure that's what it is because we have Asian myths and Greek myths in which are used. So I suppose it's because how people back than treated Africa and the Americas. That and how some "modern" takes resemble nothing of the cultures' actually things. Like in Africa Voodoo is now some "heebe jeebies murder witchcraft" and in Algonquian cultures the windigos are now for some reason weird deer minotaurs???? Like, why are they deer now? That's a new thing now, give it a new name please.

Anyways, I do not wish for people to believe this is some angry rant about how people should be allowed to steal and bastardize cultures. Because that isn't true. That's also something wrong people really shouldn't do. But what I guess I mean by all this, is that cultures spread and change over times everywhere and so many connect and change and show heritage and history. We should love each other and other's cultures no matter differences. In the end, we're all human. We shouldn't be fighting someone who wants to make a story about some sorcerers and rogues trying to hunt down a monstrous thing of evil that has been torturing a scared town that represents native cultures. We should be fighting the people who try to make a movie about a myth for the thrill factors that completely change the myth till nothing of the old tale remains and dare to call it the same.

I'm pretty sure this won't get a lot of representation besides hate from the few I spoke about but I felt the need to at least get this off my chest and I apologize if this offends anyone no matter how.

Hopefully one day humanity can get along better than it does. 🤞💕🤝

[thisaintascenereviews]

Sierra Ferrell - Trail Of Flowers

Kacey Musgraves dropped a new album a few weeks ago, entitled Deeper Well. It’s a pleasant folk-pop album that leans into 1970s singer-songwriter aesthetics, and is even further from her country roots than most people expected. Instead of pivoting back to something that she knows works, she went to another sound, and you know what? Good on her. The album isn’t that bad, and it’s got some solid stuff on it, but let’s also be real — Kacey Musgraves isn’t the only woman in country that’s made an impact within the last decade. There are plenty of women that make the kind of country music that they wish Musgraves would make again. One such woman is Sierra Ferrell. She’s a name that’s probably very well known within the underground country scene, but mainstream audiences may not know her as well. She was featured on Zach Bryan’s last album, but more so in a backing vocal role, yet that song wasn’t one of the more popular ones (the one with Kacey Musgraves was the big single, and for good reason).

It’s been a few years since her debut, and I listened to 2021’s Long Time Coming a couple times, but I didn’t spend enough time to really sink my teeth into it. It was good from what I remember, but I always appreciated how she has a more old school sound, similarly to a lot of other artists on the rise. Her new album, Trail Of Flowers, is very much in the same vein, but like Musgraves, it weirdly leans into singer-songwriter territory. This is still very much a country album, but it has a lot of acoustic elements, too. If anything, it’s a nice mix between country, bluegrass, and folk. This record reminds me a bit of Musgraves’ new album, but it has more of a country sound.

Unlike Deeper Well, however, Trail Of Flowers is a very lovely sounding album, but it also has some substance to it. I liked Deeper Well, as I said, and it had a few good lyrics in there with a pleasant sound that ultimately felt forgettable in spots and songs ran together. Her voice was also fantastic, as Musgraves usually is, but a lot of people were wondering where the country sound went. Like I said, I’m glad she doubled down with moving into a new sound, but if you want a country album with a retro influence and great lyricism, Trail Of Flowers is perfect for you. I think that ultimately Sierra Ferrell has a better way with words on this record, and has better grasp on a good balance of sounds here. This record isn’t just an acoustic and folk album, which is fine in itself, but this album always feels fresh and interesting. No two songs sound alike, and everything feels memorable.

I really enjoy this album, but I do have a couple of issues with it, which I’ll get to later one. I still have a lot of fun with this one, and a handful of songs are some of my favorites of the year. You can tell that she had a lot of fun making this record, but this is such a fun, catchy, and authentic little album. I don’t know how else to describe it, she just sounds authentic. The lyricism is really the best part of it, though, and is what sells this album for me. Her voice does, too, which has this southern twang that is very distinct and unique. Her lyrics are very much story driven, and while this album doesn’t have a straightforward concept, a lot of the songs feel like there’s a common theme. Songs deal with southern living, whether it’s cooking chiltlins, going fox hunting, the Smoky Mountains, and a lot of other southern imagery. Songs like “American Dreaming,” “Fox Hunt,” “Dollar Bill Bar,” “Chitlin Cookin’ Time In Cheatham County,” “I’ll Come Off The Mountain,” and “Money Train” all tell stories, all the while feeling very lived in and authentic. She makes it very believable, and I really appreciate the authenticity of the album.

She has sense a humor, too, especially with “Dollar Bill Bar,” “Wish You Well” (which you can take as a joke or as something rather sad), or my personal favorite song on the record that always cracks me up when I hear it, “I Could Drive You Crazy,” which is about how Ferrell can’t do all of these stereotypical southern things, such as hunting or fishing, but she’s good at driving her partner crazy. A few songs don’t really do anything for me, such as “Why Haven’t You Loved Me Yet,” which is still a tongue in cheek song, or closing track, “No Letter,” but when the album works, it works well. It helps that the album is only 38 minutes, so it’s a relatively short affair, but it has a lot of heart, wonder, authenticity, and description, it feels like a loose collection of stories from someone. A few songs don’t work as well, because they fade into the background, but I do enjoy this record quite a bit.

[firespirited]

I'm not going to post a review of the film I saw today as the fandom is concerning to say the least.

I will just vague that clearly a lot of Americans never grew up with fae/mermaids/sirens as deceivers as part of your folklore... think of it like vampires. Yes an entire 'race' of creatures that are beautiful, enticing and also predators by nature who will use your humanity against you. Often using a sob story or request for help to drag you into the swamp.

Do I believe we should kill all vampires if they existed? Well that's something I've thought about a lot over the years. Part of the point of a supernatural predator like the incubus, vampire or siren is examining how we'd cope with a sentient being that's not redeemable and has no wish to change, or can maybe fake it for a while in pure self interest but is not committed to changing for any ethical reason. Rare people who are actually only held back by things being illegal and having bad consequences for them.

While some fairytales were used to demonize folks or retconned as propaganda to demonize folks, a lot of this 'monster that looks human' folklore is about teaching you that some people will be unimaginably cruel and callous while also still looking friendly. You can't fathom why because there is no why, they just don't operate on the same base humanity as you. This is a very real situation that many people throughout history have had to deal with: people who are humans like you but consider you just pawns or prey.

So I'd have to make a deal with a vampire to not eat me. We'd have to live as seperate species abiding by strict pacts to not harm eachother. And I'd have to put the vampire in a dungeon if they broke the pact and ate me.

The vampire or fox or siren metaphor is for us to examine our own power over others and how we wield it. But mainly as a metaphor for marginalised people to talk about folks who will use and abuse people throughout their lives and get a pass. How to we use the whisper network to teach eachother red flags, warn eachother, rescue eachother. How do we talk about people that are evil that we can't bring ourselves to kill either and our complex memories of that relationship and the choices we made.

The vampire story allows us to be fooled not because you were an idiot, but because that is just the nature of the vampire.

Personally speaking, the folklore I was taught was that some bad people will use your humanity against you and that you should never go into nature alone because it's easy to get lost and those friendly fresh looking lakes, bogs and streams have currents that will pull you down (that and a lot of don't continue mining where miners have died! )

[escapaldi]

Re, the latest US Supreme Court idiocy: I wish that every time a Bible-twisting cosplayer was handed the right to deny others theirs that the word Christian was not used to describe them. They are frankly incapable of even attempting to follow one of the most basic rules of Christianity (love thy neighbor) and are honestly just using the intangibility of faith to lie their way into the ability to be an asshole without repercussions. Not only that, but they are extremely un-American for wanting to enshrine these false beliefs into law and the Constitution, which increasingly blurs the line between Church and State that they only seem to bring up when they’re upset that they need to meet on Zoom or else they’re at significantly higher risk of catching a plague they refuse to be vaccinated against as though someone did not make that vaccine with their God-given talents. The Lord gave us people of all walks of life so that we may truly understand Him and instead people spit on it. Why would He give us LGBT+ folks if we weren’t meant to strive to figure out how to care for them and let them thrive in a society of love? They can love God just as much as any cishet person--possibly even more than, if you’ll allow--and to theoretically deny someone something as inconsequential as a wedding website? For being gay? It makes me want to SCREAM.

The fact this is coming on the tail end of Pride is not lost on anyone. I’m sure there’s plenty in my archdiocese who would call me a bad or cafeteria Catholic for thinking that LGBT+ folks shouldn’t be denied service based on “freedom of religion” or “freedom of speech”. Well, guess what? Not only is the Lord disappointed in how you treat other humans He made in His image, but the Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves because of how severely you misinterpreted those freedoms. It means the State can’t throw you in jail for being a Christian or a communist dissenter, ya fuckwit, not that you have free reign to be an asshole and not get called on it. And you refer to yourself as an Originalist? Ha! If you were an Originalist, then you’d know that the “Men” in “all Men are created equal” means “people” and that you’d have to acknowledge that women are part of “Men”. Because it’s capitalized. Like the difference between God and god. LGBT+ people are part of the race of Men. So are our Jewish and Islamic cousins in Abrahamic faith. So are our neighbors of varying other faiths and traditions. People who look different, talk different, experience things different, they are still Men. As in the synonym for human. And they’re all equal in their pursuit for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, which is something some people like to deny. A lot. Because they’re libertarian and hands-off-government unless it’s about people who don’t look and act and sound like them being given the same rights and treatment. They claim to be about defending families and traditional values and it’s, like, you’re pissing on real families. A family can be anything. By claiming to defend families and traditional values, what is being offered? Safe places and nurturing environments? No--it’s hate, pure and simple, against anything that doesn’t look like Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best.

So please, when reading the headlines today and in the future about the latest travesty that was allowed to happen because a sycophant stacked the court, remember that the greatest lie that mainstream media is knowingly spreading right now--and I’m a huge believer in mainstream press integrity--is that these people are Christians. Because they’re not. Jesus was a cool cat and this was not what He would have wanted. People doing bad shit in His name did not stop at the Crusades, but is a real and genuine problem within the Church and outside of it. If we can see it in sex abuse scandals and money laundering, then we should be able to see it when it comes to people denying the humanity and existence of their fellow Man. It’s there whenever people laud the denial of health care, the denial of legal rights, the denial of history... those are not Christians. Those are little more than weird LARPers attracted to power and the ability to say their word is God’s. Well, guess now’s the time to say that even the famous “papal infallibility” clause of Catholicism has loopholes, because as much as I like the Pope in general, he’s still a weird little old dude. He might have the clearest picture from the Lord, but he’s still human, and therefore is still capable of fcking shit up with a bad turn of phrase or reluctance to go all the way (and honestly, I’m not entirely unconvinced that he’s been avoiding an anti-pope all this time, because I feel like he’s been toeing that line from Day One and am surprised nothing’s been triggered yet). That’s why the conservative rightwing Catholics at least think they’re in the clear despite the fact that even with all his shortcomings, the current Pope sort of has one of the clearest heads in a long while, so oops too bad now stop shitting on the Pope.

In related news, Frankie’s supposed to be due to replace my archbishop sooner rather than later due to an age cap and I hope he can get one not as... tolerant of Christian nationalism and hate towards Men in there. That’d be nice to have, you know, LGBT+ outreach that isn’t underground.

[f3ralblog]

Why Everything Isn’t and Shouldn’t be “Jazz”

I came to Pittsburgh and learned more about jazz music than I had ever anticipated learning, thanks to the rich history in the region and the stories the music itself tells. Musicians like the great Roger Humphries, Dwayne Dolphin and Ahmad Jamal who both exist in history and propel the music today. Artists like Mary Lou Williams, Stanley Turrentine and Billy Eckstine who exist through performance and the retelling of stories, in a language that can be heard, felt and explored universally: jazz.

I love the music. Unequivocally - it speaks to me on a level that very little does. It’s intellectually stimulating, emotionally charged and present-facing by its nature. Improvisation, as a form of expression, changed my life.

But when I read the word “jazz,” in publications or in descriptions of music, I can’t help but believe that the word has been diluted. The work of countless Black artists, and over a century of art, has morphed into a catch-all for music that isn’t well understood. Or soothes you during your morning commute. Or literally just contains a saxophone.

An entire American history, forgotten.

There is music that is jazz, and there is music that is not. If it’s confusing for you, great, because this train of thought haunts me daily. I don’t think I can easily define jazz music. I hear with my own ears the influence of jazz in music today and every day. The general understanding, though, is that music that developed from jazz deserves a cavalier shove under the same umbrella. That could be fine for all of the other genres. Not that it is, but that it could be.

Not this one. Not the pioneering, uniquely American achievement that is jazz music.

Pittsburgh loves its generalizations. WDVE and rock music? Synonymous - everyone knows that! They just know rock music, you know? Media and journalism - same thing right? Television news is completely unbiased! Their sources - infallible! Indisputable!

Not this one. Not the pioneering, uniquely Black American achievement that is jazz music.

My band, Feralcat and the Wild, has been called jazz. And well...I don’t think that’s quite it. More like a hyphenate. It’s easy to hear that jazz music has inspired so much of what I make. I just don’t think my work fits into that same umbrella. The wisdom of all of his past lives are available to him, but ultimately the impact Aang makes is on his present. Yes, I’m comparing myself to the Avatar, the Last Airbender.

It’s like I keep getting pulled back into a meeting that I’m desperately trying to escape from.

I think I wish, like any lifelong learner would, that more folks saw what I see in the music. I see innovation, and a bold, never-ending legacy of evolutionary storytelling. In my own lessons, I implore my students to dive into the details of the music; an effort to develop critical thinking and a historical context for the impact of black Americans on music in the 21st century.

I immediately think of Robert Glasper, who popularized blending hip-hop with jazz and soul. He has gone on to win several accolades for his work, which both takes clear direction from and diverges from “jazz.” Glasper doesn’t call the music he creates “jazz”. In a NYT interview with Nate Chinen, writer of the book Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century, Glasper said “A lot of the time I prefer not even to say ‘jazz,’ because technically I do more than that.” He, like so many contemporary artists who have studied jazz extensively, works within his medium to ultimately evolve from jazz music.

Might I suggest using descriptors like “jazz-inspired” or “jazz-influenced” instead? Maybe use more specific sub-genres to create a clearer picture: free jazz, jazz fusion, bebop, swing, post bop, and cool jazz are all wildly different means of describing improvisational music based in jazz harmony.

Perhaps go deeper, and try to understand what about the music you’re listening to made you think of jazz. Are there rhythmic feels derived from Carribean and African musical traditions? Is there noteable individualistic expression? Are there references to the “Great American Songbook?” Use those words to describe the music you’re hearing; unless you can draw a clear line between the sounds you hear and the legacy of Bird, or Miles, or Lady Day, or any historic jazz figure. Even then, be that specific.

Jazz is dead - reborn, not resurrected.

If it lives, it lives to preserve history. If it lives, it is through its everlasting impact on the evolution of the arts.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Historians Have To Be Interested In Truth

Historians have to be interested in truth. The facts matter to those endeavouring to decipher things that have happened. Historians, then, tell us stories about the things that occurred and what were the motivating forces likely to have inspired them. It is an inexact science, as much of life and the accounts of its people often are. Historians might scour the media for the reporting and op-eds, which appeared at the time, to shed light on the matters being examined. If the time frame is fairly recent, they may well interview first hand sources – those who witnessed directly the events in question. Primary sources are the gold for any historical account worth its weight and wishing to be counted as factual. Photo by Designecologist on Pexels.com

History, Fake News & Social Media

We are living in an age, where truth and facts are distorted and disparaged by political leaders hell bent on power. The rise of social media has put gossip and lies in a seemingly credible format. The digital revolution has seen style eclipse substance. Thus, making utter rubbish look believably cogent. Images and video are manipulated to tell the kind of story so desired. Fake news is the joker in the pack, along with AI rendered identity fraud. Yuval Harari, a historian, has been warning all and sundry about the dangers we are facing from counterfeit human beings. Bots and scammers are undermining the faith we once had in our institutions and each other.

The Failing Religion Of Science

No one can arrest this slide into nihilism, as the religion they call science fails us. Political leaders in cahoots with billionaires consistently cast doubt on climate scientists. This has triggered a chain reaction where stupid people feel emboldened to reject all expert advice on everything. Pandemics have become political and public health policy a battlefield. Vaccination and mask wearing fought over as badges of partisanship. Social media accelerates the mass sharing of toxic falsehoods.  I always wondered how the great American empire would fall. Historians endlessly wonder on what caused the ancient Roman empire to crumble. Wealth and power are not ever set in stone. The craziness of people and how conspiratorial beliefs can sweep through populations will bring down even the greatest. The populist demagogue is harbinger of the coming destruction. Putting fools and low life’s in charge of things will hasten the end. Historians have to be interested in truth. Unfortunately, the general public do not share the same care for finding out the facts about things. Too many folk love to take stuff at face value. The Internet is full of deceiving digital faces, where you cannot sniff out the deception. I wonder how many of us, unknowingly, have online conversations with machines? Bots spreading false flags on forums. The incredible success of scams in the online space is testament to this. Criminals and those running foreign influence campaigns have found a new home. The Internet is their mansion with many rooms. “Foreign actors use misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation campaigns to cause chaos, confusion, and division. These malign actors are seeking to interfere with and undermine our democratic institutions and national cohesiveness.” - (https://www.cisa.gov/topics/election-security/foreign-influence-operations-and-disinformation) It is a billion dollar industry and capable of shifting the outcome of elections. Too many folk are untrained in the use and perils of the online space. Lots of people get on their social media after a few drinks. They have let their guard down and it might be greed or loneliness driving them to connect with persons or machines unknown. Perhaps, the Internet should come with a warning for persons of all ages ‘ DO NOT TALK TO STRANGERS!’ A beguiling spiel and fake image can not only take your breath away but your savings too, it seems. Photo by Dua'a Al-Amad on Pexels.com I blame Steve Jobs and the iPhone. Not only have people been gulled into spending thousands of dollars on a phone but it has poisoned a whole generation so far. Human beings now stare into this hand held screen looking for reaffirmation of their existence. In digital image and text they seek belief in who they appear to be. An electronic mirror reflecting back filtered data in pictures and text. Algorithms count things like number of friends and views. Technology measuring stuff to determine health, wealth and happiness. The addictive nature of this personal device can be observed by how close it is kept by most owners at all times. If you showed someone from the past via a time machine the current state of play I am sure they would be amazed. The invention of the mobile phone, which has become a multiplicity of devices in one, filters much of life and our engagement with others through it. This means that too many of us are far more susceptible to impressions of reality coloured by digital deception. You may be familiar with the alien machines depicted in HG Well’s War Of The Worlds? Well, we have been invaded, but not by Martians, and these machines are far more subtle - but much more powerful in their effect upon human consciousness. The invasion has not come from without but from our own Big Tech. The widely held belief that we Homo sapiens are super smart is erroneous. We are simple creatures in our gullibility and unquestioning herd like adherence to fashions. Our behaviours and habits belie any real cleverness or smarts. Our love of high tech is like our earlier love of shiny metals and colourful gems. Both can sparkle and draw us in. Our addictive attachment to screen worlds and applications like social media have made our fall from grace possible. Grace being at one with truth or a basic commitment to getting at the facts, at the very least. If we keep looking for the answers in our phone we are doomed. AI is only going to increase the deception in its sophistication. Historians have to be interested in truth and they will not find it in their phones. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©MidasWord

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[demoisverysexy]

I want to say something witty or clever or intelligent about the news today. And honestly I dont have anything.

Just. This is going to hurt so many people. Its going to hurt the rights of people with uteruses, those who can give birth. That much is obvious. The amount of death, suffering and poverty this will cause specifically for poor cis women, trans men, and enby folks cannot be understated. But even beyond that, Ii will also hurt families trying to control how and when they have children, and it even hurts the right and ability of anyone to have sex as they please. And given that the supreme court is looking to limit contraceptives and reintroduce anti sodomy laws, it seems that they just want nobody to have sex ever. This isnt merely an attack on the the bodies of people with uteruses (though it is primarily that). It is an attack on the bodily autonomy of every american, and it is opening the door to new forms of abuse.

More though, it is increasingly clear to me that the GOP wants people to suffer. It wishes to enact laws to create suffering for those it hates, and to control them. Perhaps even destroy them where they can. The recent slew of Supreme Court decisions proves that. We are headed into a dark chapter of american history, one that will forever live in infamy, and it will end, I believe, with Americans having the same sense of national shame and humiliation that Germany did after WWII. Assuming that there is an America left once the tides of fascism sweep across the country.

I am perhaps a bit too gloomy right now. Things are as bad as I am saying, and I dont think I am exaggerating. But I dont think all is lost. Progressive ideas are still far more popular than conservative ones. We have a majority when it comes to social issues,and people are slowly becoming more sympathetic to progressive economics as well. While we have lost a lot of power and momentum, we can win it back. History is never set in stone. We can change things. The fact that conservatives were able to overturn Roe v. Wade is proof of that. We can fix things. We can make things better than they were before.

At the end of it though, dont get lost in the bad news. Turn to the loved ones around you. Go outside. Take a deep breath, and know that the world is still turning, even if we have lost a lot today. The world hasnt ended. And youre still here. There are still things you can do to improve things.

Stay strong. I love you. Take care of yourself. And hit me up if you need anything.

Stay safe, friends.

[alesreadings]

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson.

4.75 stars. “Pip wished she was strong enough, but she’d learned that she wasn’t invincible; she too could break.” tw: mention of rape, death of an animal, kidnapping, death, drugs. Notes. 1. If you haven't read the book and don't want to spoil yourself, I recommend that you don't read any further. 2. The spoilers section, and possible random spoilers, will be signposted to avoid any misunderstandings. I must admit that this is my first thriller book, so I'm not very familiar with the genre, and now I want to read more. And it's also one of the first I've read entirely in English, and as you know that Spanish is my native language, I assume you'll know that it was a bit complex. Although, I'm adapting a bit more to reading in English. Wish me luck, folks. In A Good Girl's Guide to Murder we follow Pippa Fitz-Amobi, a 17-year-old student whose final year project is the case of Andie Bell, who was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh and taken for granted by the police. But Pippa knows Sal is innocent, so she decides to find out what happened five years ago and who really killed Andie Bell. Pippa discovers that Andie had many secrets, that she was not the beautiful and tragic victim that the people of Little Kilton martyred and idolised, branding Sal Singh a murderer and a monster, treating his family very badly for it. In addition, Little Kilton holds even more secrets that intrigue Pip and make her want to keep digging to solve the mystery. Writing. I don't think I remember reading a book like this, with diary-like entries speaking in first person and then in third person. It was a bit strange, if I'm honest, and it took me a bit longer to adjust. However, it was an easy read in some respects. And, I don't know if it's because of the difference between British and American English, but there were phrases that I had to look up because I didn't understand them, lmao. Plot. The plot kept me glued in my seat, not wanting to put my phone down, wanting to know what would happen next. I mention that I was late with this book because college is eating me alive, though I made time to keep reading because I was consumed with thoughts of not knowing what would happen, who the killer would be and if Pip was going to find out. There are a lot of plot twists that I wasn't expecting and a lot of things that made my brain almost melt from thinking about it so much. Pacing. It was a quick and light read, and I take back that I was late because of college: I would have finished it sooner if it weren't for homework. It's not that complicated to understand and the pages turn very quickly. Characters. Pip is a good girl, addicted to homework and determined to solve the Andie Bell case and prove that Sal Singh is innocent at all costs. So eager is she to find out what really happened, that she finds herself lying to others so that they won't worry about her and try to stop her from abandoning her project. Ravi is the younger brother of Sal Singh. He has been the target of criticism, and is known as the brother of Andie Bell's killer. Ravi knows his brother is innocent, and when Pip shows up at his door asking him a few questions, he thinks it's a joke. And soon, Ravi becomes Pip's partner in crime, both looking for answers about his brother's sudden death and his innocence in the case. Ravi is a beautiful little baby, don't touch him I want to take care of him. Also, Ravi: marry me. Andie was a bitch and it doesn't surprise me much that bad things happened to her. Everyone held her in such high regard, believing she was a good girl whose boyfriend murdered her. Andie ruined several people's lives, and although I thought I would feel bad that she had died, I didn't really. When you find out the truth about Andie Bell, what she did and didn't do, you don't feel any empathy for her. Cara is Pip's best friend, her older sister is Naomi, who was in turn Sal's best friend and who also keeps a big secret that makes Pip dig very closely into her and her life, including her family. (Bonus and unnecessary fact: Cara translates from

Spanish to English as: 'face' and 'expensive'. Unnecessary examples: Su cara es hermosa= her face is beautiful. La camisa es cara= the shirt is expensive.) Follow me for more unnecessary Spanish classes, they are free of charge. Pip's family is ok. They're the typical caring and normal family. Tho I loved Vic's jokes, jsjsjs he laughing at his own jokes (just as Ravi) is totally me. Max Hastings can die and I wouldn't care for him. He deserves the shit going on in his life. He's a dick and you can easily see it. Please, go fuck yourself, you fucking bastard. 🥰🥰🥰 ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️oK, PEOPLE, SPOILER SECTION. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ Tho I loved this book, I really enjoyed and liked it a lot, there were many ??? things that left me with a bitter taste on my mouth. First of all, Pip felt a little bit dry and typical. She's a good girl who starts to lie for her project and she doesn't feel the same anymore. I mean, idk, I can't put it into words, I just hope she felt more real and not flat. Second, how quick all of the possible suspects told Pip the truth, when they lied to the police or omitted information. I found it quite unbelievable and a little bit ilogic. Also, Mr. Ward confessed really quick and it felt dry... I don't quite know how to explain it, but I was expecting more. Becca Bell also confessed really quick, and spilled her secrets out as she were talking about the weather, which also felt a little bit bitter. aND THE FINAL STRAW: BARNEY. NO. NO. NO. NOT MY BABY BARNEY. HE WAS AN ANGEL AND I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM WITH LOVE. LEANNE CRYING OVER THE CHRISTMAS' VIDEO OF BARNEY GIVING EVERYONE A SHOE BROKE ME DOWN. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THIS!!! ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ End of the spoiler section⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ In summary, I really liked this book, was a quick reading and many plots got me hanging of the cliff. This is a "you must read" book.

[d-criss-news]

1883magazine.com

Darren Criss

On his new EP ‘Masquerade,’ the multi-talented Darren Criss welcomes everyone to the party.

Throughout his career, Darren Criss has never been one to shy away from boundaries. As an actor, he has won numerous awards and critical acclaim for his portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s award-winning drama American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, as well as hearts and a cult-like following for his portrayal of Harry Potter in Team Starkid’s A Very Potter Musical. As a musician, his talent shows the same range; he is as well known for his ability to belt a broadway ballad as he is for his covers of Top 40 hits on Glee.

For Criss, this is because all music is simply music. Musicians and listeners alike need not box themselves into certain genres and while this concept is currently growing in mainstream media, it is one Criss has known since he was a teenager. At Warped Tour, he encountered fellow San Franciscans Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, a punk-rock cover band that specializes in the unexpected (their most played track on Spotify is Country Roads.). Inspired by what he’s always known was possible, Darren’s career has had freedom most artists take years to explore — and with his new EP, it’s clear that is the most recent chapter.

‘Masquerade’ is an exploration into Criss’ more eclectic side with each track on the record representing a different persona or masque for the artist. The overt character-driven quality of the EP lends not only to allowing fans to learn more about Darren Criss, but also to create a project where something can be found for everyone.

1883 Magazine spoke to Darren Criss about his perception of genre, his new EP, and the curse of creative people.

Congratulations on ‘Masquerade’. I love it. It’s so fun!

Fun is a very fair adjective, I would agree.

I feel like there’s a very cohesive vision or aesthetic to it. When you set out to make the project, did you have this end goal in min  or were you just making music?

Yes and no. First and foremost, when you’re dealing with the whole of what an artist does, there are so many different facets that make the whole piece. To start, I’m just a songwriter — that’s the main thing that seeds everything else. But, because I’m a creative person, I’d like to think that I have a somewhat cohesive vision for my projects. However, you can conjecture and pontificate over what you want to happen, but ultimately a project is going to come out how it does. The thing that ties it all together, hopefully, is the artistry of the music or the person’s voice. When I heard you say “cohesive” my mind was like, “Phew!” Because we’re all scatterbrained people and we just constantly pray other people somehow think that we planned something or we had it envisioned all along, so to hear that is an enormous relief.

That being said, I had hope for how the EP would come together. I’ve been leaning into this notion of a character-driven song. The dirty secret about that is all songs are character-driven; all art is character-driven in some way or another. I just use that wording to aide folks that might be perceiving me as an actor and to apply that methodology to music.

How so?

I always thought it was a bit of an unfair double standard — where actors can be in a horror movie or romantic comedy — and we’re still behind that person as an actor. Actors can put on a prosthetic nose or a wig and do different things to service whatever story they’re doing. Historically music has been a little trickier, but now I think that’s changing. I’ve always been a self-proclaimed genrephile. I love so many different kinds of things. Growing up it was difficult for me to really assert this without confusing people. Now, that kaleidoscope has shifted in my favour, because people are more into eclecticism and musical diversity due to playlist culture and the whole homogeneity of everything. I’m employing this notion of being an actor and being behind a character and applying it to music by treating each song as its own kind of character. I want the art to correspond with that.

That’s an interesting concept to apply to music.

I know that everything I just said is horrifically more cerebral than it needs to be. If you like the music and it’s fun, great. I’m just trying to help people out that might be confused by perhaps some of the cognitive dissonance that’s happening between some of the styles. At the end of the day, it’s an artist’s voice, literal singing voice, and heart voice — what they have to say and how they say it — that tie everything together. People are more accepting of that than they used to be. This is exciting for me because I finally got to lean into something that I’ve always leaned into my entire life.

The last EP you released was ‘Homework’ in 2017. How do you think you’ve grown as an artist since then?

For me, obviously, there’s personal growth and professional growth. I think my growth is much more technical — getting better at recording music or being able to translate abstract ideas into physical recording — the things that I don’t think necessarily would be seen on the records. Again, much like an actor, ‘Homework’ was me playing the part of making a very low-key, singer/songwriter record. I’m a big believer in dressing for a party. I had some singer/songwriter songs that I wanted to honour. Each record I release shows a different version of myself that I haven’t gotten around to sharing.

The songs on ‘Masquerade’ are not like, “oh man in the past few years, I’ve suddenly become this person.” The EP was me finally getting in touch with my more Garage Band musician roots that I hadn’t been able to flex. It made sense to me to finally make this music. I had linked up with people that I thought could help me bring it to life in a way that hadn’t been done before and I felt like the timing was right. As I mentioned, it seemed like audiences might be a little more privy to this kind of thing.

I don’t want to be so stubborn as to think that there hasn’t been growth. I’ve been so lucky as an actor, that I’ve been busy as an actor. The only obstacle to me putting out more music, which I wish I was doing all the time, is time. I’m not an artist that just shows up, sings, and checks out. I’m writing, I’m producing, and I’m really in the weeds. It takes a great deal of investment, emotionally and mentally when I make music.

So, when you say, “you wish you were always releasing music,” do you mean to imply you have more music or at least ideas for more music?

I think the curse of creative people is that our ideas move faster than our bodies can execute. What this inevitably will create is a huge queue of unattended things that you will always be haunted by. From there, you have to catch as catch can. At any given moment, there’s still so much more in the queue that I want to put out. It literally took a global shutdown for me to finally have the time to look at the said queue, and say, “Okay, which project do I not only really want to do, but also do I have the resources to do and do I think fits into where I am right now?” Because I’m very cognisant of l where I am in my career. I have this huge selection of songs and when I have the time to focus on music, I go through and pick the ones I think fit where I am mentally and how I think other people are feeling.

With all these different genres of music you’ve released and all the music-centric projects that you’ve been a part of, is there a type of music that you enjoy performing the most?

I would say everything, but I don’t mean that in a way to just include everything. By nature, I’m a dot connector; I like shortening the distance between two things as much as possible and showing people how they can coexist. It’s my MO personally and professionally. Genre, while it has a lot to do with the cultural background and history of a type of music, is the boxes that we’ve arbitrarily made up to categorize and market music. I’m completely nondenominational when it comes to genre because all I can hear is chords, melody, and lyrics. It’s never been separated to me. When I’m performing live, I relish getting to lean in and bring together genres. I love using the setlist to show an audience how similar different genres are. For example, I’ll play a punk rock song and right after that I’ll sit at the piano and sing a ballad. My voice will be a little different, but it’s still my voice. Just like in acting, no matter what character an actor is portraying, it’s still their face and their body. Trying to minimize a distance between genres when I perform is an exciting prospect because I like getting audiences to rethink what they think they know about the differences between genre and how really at the end of the day it’s all just storytelling. So…I like performing it all.

I didn’t say you couldn’t say you liked everything. [Chuckles] That’s a perfectly acceptable answer.

I like putting all of it together specifically to show the similarities. Historically, all the great steps forward in a new kind of art form have been by mashing two or three seemingly unrelated things together. It’s happening constantly. It’s happening right now. Culture is a constant conversation back and forth. It’s a sharing of ideas that ebb and flow to create something new. I’m not saying that I’m taking part in this ancient conversation, but I’m certainly enjoying it. When I see pieces of it that I would like to showcase, I jump at the opportunity to do so.

Since ‘Masquerade’ has been in your creative bank for a while, what would you say inspired it?

Every song has its own inspiration. The album doesn’t really have an inspiration. If anything, I’m trying to make sure that I can show up for myself. I feel like with everything that I’ve done musically, I haven’t gotten to represent who and what I am and what I do. To me, this EP gets me closer to that goal. I still think that only a small percentage of me has been represented and that’s just because of time. I haven’t been able to focus on music in the way that I’d like, but ‘Masquerade’ is a huge stride for me.

Speaking of you being on Broadway, Elsie Fest is Sunday! On top of it just being exciting because it’s back, it’s your first public gig in almost two years. What did you miss most about the festival?

Listen, even without a global pandemic to worry about, putting on a music festival is hard enough. It’s one of my favourite times of the year because I’m very proud of what we’ve built and what we’ve continued to build and expand upon over the years. There’s been a community that has been built around not only people that come to the festival but people that have been part of it. I’ve followed these performers’ careers and I’ve been really grateful that we got a piece of their magic and got to be part of their journey at Elsie Fest. Magic which I can’t take credit for. I just lucked out with having incredible people perform. Over the years, we’ve had Cynthia Erivo perform twice. The first time she premiered a song called ‘You Will Be Found’ from a musical that would open in a year called ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’ We premiered a song from a movie called ‘The Greatest Showman.’ Keala Settle went on to win a Golden Globe for that song. Last year, we had a young girl from Disney sing for us — her name was Olivia Rodrigo. Those are just three examples. There’s been a lot of people that I’ve been thrilled to see do their thing. This year we have an incredible lineup. Barlow & Bear are coming, along with Jordan Fisher, Adrienne Warren, Pentatonix’s Kirstin Maldonado, and Alex Brightman. It’s gonna be great.

The obvious and the biggest answer is getting to perform live within as much of a safe and comfortable environment as humanly possible. Luckily we’re an outdoor festival, so that’s already to our advantage. I will be performing this new EP, but there is also a lot of music to catch up on and a lot of music I want to share. I’m mainly excited to share it with other human beings. I look at performing as a service industry. Everything that I do isn’t worth a whole lot unless other people experience it because it takes on a life of its own. The audience is not there for me & I’m there for them. I’m trying to service an experience that’s bigger than both of us and create something that couldn’t have been there if both parties were on their own.

Before I let you go, I need to tell you that Tramp Stamp Granny’s is one of my favourite bars in LA. I’m obsessed! I haven’t made it back yet. Like I said earlier, the editor Kelsey is also one of my best friends and when she comes, it’s top on my list of places to take her.

Really?! That makes me so happy. You couldn’t have said a better thing. We’re open again to limited capacity. We require vaccinations cards at the door and we’re only open Thursday-Saturday. Talk about being with people — the night we reopened, about a month ago, I got pretty emotional. It was nice to see people just being happy to sing and celebrate life with strangers. That was a really encouraging sentiment because despite the use of digital communication which I do think is an amazing thing, we, so clearly, inevitably, yearn for each other. Despite everything, people were coming to the bar and were so happy to be there and be around other people. Our need for other human beings is a constant that is extremely encouraging to me as a bleeding heart idealist. It’s nice to be a small part of that.

Finally, you said earlier Barlow and Bear were going to be at Elsie Fest. I cannot wait for the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical and was so excited to see you’re involved.

It’s cool meeting them because in a much more organized and impressive fashion they’re doing what my friends and I did ten years ago with ‘A Very Potter Musical.’ They are insanely talented and deserve to be the huge phenomenon they have become. They’re the future. I’m trying to grab onto their coattails however I can. [chuckles] They’re just getting started. I’ve been a big fan of Emily’s for a long time. She hates it when people say this, but [mock yells] she was a child prodigy and she still is. She’s an amazing human being.

Masquerade is out now.

Follow Darren Criss @darrencriss

Interview by Sydney Bolen

[senseandaccountability]

Hey, did you get a chance to watch season 6 of Lucifer? What did you think of the finale?

This is going to be salty (sorry) so I put it under a cut for people who prefer joyous things in the feed.

I didn’t like the final season.

To be brief: It felt like a story where the writers knew how they wanted it to end, and therefore the plot ruled over the characters. It wasn't a main plot I enjoyed at all, and it was told in a way that made it difficult for me to appreciate even the small bits I liked. (Ella reveal. Ghost Dan.) I thought it suffered from a jarring tonal shift and when it comes to several overarching themes, I felt it negated/trivialized previous seasons. In many ways it also managed to be both cheesy and cruel, often at the same time. I had the impression it was a compilation of (unfortunately rather boring) fandom wishes and tropes more than authentic storytelling.

To be anything but brief:

I dislike the season in part because it undid a lot of great things about Lucifer as a character.

By the end of 5B Lucifer had come full circle. I think that season finale is great. The Lucifer vs Michael fight was so well done thematically - he fought himself, and unlike the first fight in 5A when he wants to hurt his twin he had now reached a state of personal growth, of compassion. Not even when Michael kills Chloe does he deserve death because everyone deserves a second chance. And then the funny and pitch perfect “Oh, my me”. Ambiguous enough about the details to fuel the fandom, clear enough about the themes and the lore to offer closure. (No, Deckerstar didn’t have a date or much of a snog but I can fill in the blanks there though I am aware that many fans were disappointed by the lack of on-screen love.)

Excellent way to end the show.

Except they didn’t. S6, I feel, tried to tell the same story all over again, only not as well or even coherent.

Over the seasons it’s been pretty clear that while Lucifer can be caring, he mostly cares about the handful of people in his life. S6 even touches upon this, has him trying to care for random people in their hell loops. But S5 already did this, but better, with Michael. The family dinner with God was excellent, it showed broken people all around and had Lucifer, the self-centered drama queen of the family realizing that he’s not the only one that’s been hurt. It showed the best and worst of them all. Sparing Michael, considering Michael worthy of redemption, was peak growth for Lucifer as a character because in that moment he also considers himself worthy of the same thing. That’s when he truly forgives himself. I thought. And then season 6 shows Michael as a prisoner in Hell, just once, never to be mentioned again. Is that a second chance? Is that redemption? Is that really the symbolism they were going for or just a spiteful and stupid little addition because LOL SOME PEOPLE DESERVE HELL. (Do they? Says who? The show doesn’t answer that because the show that focuses on the neutral character the Devil and the totally untarnished place Hell doesn’t much care about such divisive matters, but more about that soon.) I dislike the season, in parts because I wasn't satisfied with the moral/quasi-theological backdrop. The system is wrong, Lucifer concluded by the end of 5B. Season 6 has him return to the system, as an Afterlife Coach of the Damned. Is that really the best they could do?

I mourn all the cool possibilities of what Lucifer, the advocate for free will and defender of desire, could have done with hell as a concept. Blown it apart, closed it, tossed the keys to someone else and rode off in the sunset. At the very least he could have altered it so that it’s no longer solitary confinement but a collective of doomed souls trying together to achieve redemption but hey, never mind me, I’m a bleeding-heart socialist and I don’t believe in revenge and I don’t believe in God but if I did, God would forgive. Otherwise, what the hell is the point?

I parsed through the season with my husband, a real-life minister who doesn't think anyone deserves hell and who gets to suffer my long-ass questions about the theological themes of popular culture a little bit too often. Because we both felt slightly insulted after watching. "Is this bullshit what they offer me?" my husband asked me as the timey wimey time travel plot unfolded. But timey wimey bullshit aside, we concluded that the real reason we were both so annoyed and frustrated with the season is because it highlighted how flat the background lore really is. I mean, I guess they wanted to be yay, neutral and non-divisive themes galore! It’s good to be good, folks! If you’re not, well, I guess you might have your spine broken by the Devil or sent to a never-ending hell loop but let’s not talk about religion! The main issue, for me, with the whole system of heaven and hell and earth on the show is that for every equation, there’s a part missing. The show has borrowed the character from the comics verse but left the entire lore and its internal logic behind. It borrows a bit of moral philosophy, but cuts away the troublesome bits otherwise Lucifer can’t both be on a redemptive path and happily slaughter people in fits of vengeance; it uses Heaven and Hell and vaguely also the concept of sin but never answers any questions about it, apart from the central message of course: it’s up to you. In fact, the show discourages questions about the lore because it has no answers. It doesn’t care. The ending of the show brushes off the much needed systematic changes of heaven and hell like it’s just another joke. (Want to know a show that has compassionate writing about morality while managing to be very funny? The Good Place. And you know what, morality should be serious. I’m a softie and again, a bleeding-heart, but it’s important to be a good person and it’s important to get a chance for redemption. It matters. It’s not just a minor detail.)

Which brings me to the damn therapy theme. I know a lot of people like it and I have also liked it a lot in previous seasons. I have. It’s been quirky. (Also highly unprofessional, but hey.) But as the key to your afterlife/redemption/second chance it’s just not good enough.

It is so very, very individualistic that it makes my skin crawl. It’s the ultimate American solution to systemic injustices and suffering - hey, it’s up to you, man. You decide if you deserve hell. You decide if you deserve Heaven. You make the difference! You can do it! Live the afterlife dream, achieve all your goals, get a hell loop that no longer loops but… stays in one static place where at least you’re moderately happy. Navel-gazing into your soul is certainly one way to get some insights into your mistakes. But it’s not redemption. Redemption is an active choice to be a better person. You don’t have to earn redemption or deserve it. And redemption isn’t the same as forgiveness either. Redemption is the opposite to pointless, everlasting punishment. It’s hopeful and it’s ugly and it’s full of purpose and the chance to be better and add something good to the world. Even Lucifer doesn’t get to do that on the show. He deals only with the already doomed. The here and now on Earth fades into the distance as Deckerstar, too, gets their happily ever after in Hell. You’ll get pie in the sky when you die. Or you get to shag on a throne in Hell. Either way, life on Earth doesn’t matter. (Here the show lean into some really dodgy Christian themes, I’d argue, but hey, it’s not about religion! It’s just a fun romp about a reformed bad boy!)

“Hell is just revenge porn for fundamentalists and other people who believe in eye for an eye. I just want there to be a level of collective forgiveness and hope, you know?” I told my husband whilst chugging down beer. As you do when you watch crap that makes no sense. “A level of hey, I’ve got this, I forgive you, you can do better. Go and do better. And then the actual opportunity to do so, even if it's just reliving your life as a ghost again and again until you figure out what went wrong.” “Honey,” my husband said. “I hate to tell you this since you’re an atheist but that level you’re talking about? That’s Jesus.” Well, screw that.

I really don’t want to need Jesus to make sense of a story. I just want decent bloody storytelling.

[chaotichedonist]

Tharunka (Kensington, NSW : 1953 - 2010)

Wednesday 9 June 1976, page 14

   Some funny moments to tease you into reading:

Press: Roger, you're noted for your amazing screams.

Freddie: It's a controlled scream. I'd rather call it art.

/

Freddie: You're joking dear. I'm just a singer, dear.

/

It’s been a struggle, because in the beginning nobody knew what we were doing. We were the only people who believed in ourselves.

  back at the hotel sleazy

  For all those fans who were misled by the media, Queen did not spend a couple of days-relaxing on sunny Perth beaches - it rained the whole bloody time they were there. (In Melbourne the hotel was 'besiged' by fans, who to quote Pete Brown — Queen's personal manager — seemed to be emerging from the wood work). Not to be put off however, by the Australian conditions Freddie Mercury (lead vocals and keyboards) attended the press conference in white pants and a simply sumptuous summer synthetic top with delicate butterfly sleeves curling gently over his shoulders. He was even more beautiful than Sophia Loren.

  They were all quite chatty only Roger (Meadows-Taylor, the drummer) would keep interjecting, usually over John Deacon (bass) who said not an audible word.

Press: Would you describe your music as mock opera? 

Freddie: They call it cock-opera back home. 

Roger: I suppose because the vocals are in the 'grand style'. 

Press: When is your next album coming out? 

Freddie: We'll have a rest and think about it.. 

Roger: We just don't bung'em together. 

Brian: We don't sort of write sitting in hotel rooms you know. 

Freddie: We gather influences. 

Press: Your music has been described as snob rock. What do you think? 

Freddie: I couldn't describe our music as anything. We certainly don't put across that this it intelligent music that is on a completely differenrt level to the people who come to it. 

Roger: It's written for the people. That's what it's all about. 

Press: The theme of death recurs on your albums. Why this preoccupation?

Roger: Freddie's morbid mind.

Press to Freddie: Do you consider yourself a sex-symbol?

Freddie: You're joking dear. I'm just a singer, dear.

Press to Roger: Do you consider yourself a superstar? 

Roger: As meaningless, (blows kisses).

Roger on the media - absurd for a magazine combine rock and politics. 

Press: Roger, you're noted for your amazing screams. 

Freddie: It's a controlled scream. I'd rather call it art. 

Undauted by the fearless Australians they continued talking about their lyrics and the esoteric implication.

Roger: Freddie just loves the word 'Beelzebub'. 

Freddie: Yes, well, Brian's got a taste for unusual words. 

Roger: You talking about dandling on your knee and things? 

All four of them write songs and each has at least one song on 'A Night At The Opera'. 

Brian: It's very difficult to talk about our songs as a group because we all have different ideas of what the songs are about. 

Roger: No we don't. 

Freddie: Roger's the sensitive one. 'I'm in love with my car' is the most sensitive song on the album (Night At The Opera). 

Roger did tend to sit there pouting at the bows on his pink lame gym-boots. One hardly noticed the dark roots in this gold angelic hair. We did ask, but unfortunately Roger didn't have a pic of himself in the gymboots. Roger was later accosted by David Essex fans in the foyer of the hotel, who wished to know if he was a popstar, girls now have Roger's autograph. Back to the lyrics..

Freddie: Every song is written by one of us and means something special to each one of us. Certain songs have a very literal meaning and can be understood straight away. Then there are some songs that can be taken on a lot of different levels.

He describes a lot of his songs as fantasies. 'We want to consciously lose ourselves. There are certain things we want to escape from in our lives or whatever.' He feels that people should create their own private fantasies from the images in his songs and so doesn't like to talk about what they mean to him. 'I'd hate to shatter someone's illusion. If I listen to somebody's songs I conjure up a fantasy of what its about and I like to keep it that way.'

He elaborated further.. 'Lyrically it is helpful to use certain words. You see it depends.. sometimes I want to use words that are phonetically useful. In the beginning they're surface words but you entwine them into the meaning of a song. That's what I mean about different levels.' 

Brian May has a different approach to his songs, 'There's usually something serious behind them, but I feel a big responsibility not to over-indulge in idealogies. In 'White Queen' I was very interested in the significance of Queens and White Ladies in English folk lore. The song started off as a personal experience, the frustration of not being able to communicate, I was thinking about Robert Graves' ' White Goddess' and that became involved in the song.' 

Roger: Romantic slush.

Brian: Our 'Now I'm Here' song is really about our first American tour. A big experience for anybody. It's a conglomeration of all the experiences we had on that tour. We had a great time with Mott the Hoople. I suppose they taught us to be a touring band.

We're very critical about each other and very cynical. We don't get deeply into meanings because you're living with it all the time. You have to be a bit light-hearted about it.

With four individual writers the albums were not done with a specific concept in mind. The 'White Queen' was written four years before the 'Black Queen'.

Brian: I don’t think that Freddie’s 'Black Queen' was a reaction to the 'White Queen'. We just discovered that we had these songs and the rest of the album seemed to fit around it.

Freddie: It probably subconsciously coheres.

Similarly ‘A night At The Opera’ has no overall concept though the name of the album is related to Freddie’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

As Brian puts it ‘We are four very different people with four very different directions, but there is a musical development that does make some kind of sense. Queen is very much an independent thing. We are always bouncing ideas off each other. We are very aware that we need each other.’

The rapport between them onstage bears out this statement. They work off each other in a carefully intergrated show thatt creates an atmosphere of spontaneity for the audience.

At the opening of their set there is a flash of fire and smoke as Queen emerge on stage. While music winds up they launch into ‘Orge Battle’. Like a Greek God or a simister Mephistopheles Freddie's powerful vocals cut through the smoke and flames. 

With the stage show the band is doing something different to stimulating their records. Brian: "You don't get up there and behave like you do in the street. You go up there to entertain people and give them some kind of excitement". They have rearranged some of their songs especially for stage performance, including a medley of 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Killer Queen', 'Black Queen' and 'Leyroy Brown', which grinds down into 'March of the Black Queen' and then skips out on a lighter note which features Brian on genuine Japanese ukalele. 

The brilliant solo Brian performs in 'Brighton Rock', with sweet high Paginini frills and harmonies, stimulating two or three guitars on stage, is in a style he has evolved himself. He got the idea the first time he was in a recording studio. Says Brian: "It was my first experience of doing multi-tracking. It happened to be in the cannon-things which repeat themselves. You play one, then you play the same over the top of it after a time interval. Later we started to do those things on stage but there was the problem of how to do it. We started having a single delay and then another one over the top of it. Then afterwards you do another repeat on the second. You can then do three part harmonies with yourself. We started to base it all on ten second solos and it grew and grew. There's a lot of other people doing it now and I'm glad because it’s a thing you can play around with.' 

In the stage arrangement of "Prophet's Song' Freddie uses a similar echo feedback system which multiplies his voice into a celestial choir. His voice floats as a vision - "Listen to the madman' - while Brian plays some beautiful guitar.

encore amore

Brian describes their encore performance as the time when the band really unwinds. "It's nice at the encore to just completely unbend and make a fool of yourself. It gets rid of the tension between the band and the audience. I used to get a kick out of going to concerts to see rock groups like the 'Who' and feeling involved, like the group knew you were there. WE go by the kinds of things we think people would like at an encore. It's at a very basic level really, an energy level, a physical level. Rock and Roll is kind of a body music. I get as much satisfaction out of basic rock'n'roll like Status Quo as the most sophisticated music I know.' 

The audience certainly enjoyed it and really let loose their energy. Roger (who claimed the most female screams) in rainbow mop-wig opened the encore with slow heavy rock-beat as Freddie did a dramatic entrance in a silk kimino. As he eased into 'Big Spender', he peeled off to striped hot pants for an outrageous version of 'Jailhouse Rock' - simple hard-driving rock'n'roll that had everybody out of their sets.

gettin' feelin' thru th' transistors

Brian was rather upset that the Australian Press should braiid them as a manufactured band. If 'Bohmeian ,hapsody' can be seen as incorporating the spectrum of s talent - mood changes, heavy stuff, the soft ballad - it is not because they (men of letters from universities) have developed a magic 'X' formula. Rather the song can be seen as a musical progression, a reworking of motifs off their other albums. 

Brian can only say that, 'They obviously didn't see us in the earlier days. I can understand why they'd say that over here. Big impact. Overnight success. It must have been all calculated. If you’d seen the way it happened in England, you wouldn’t think that. I’ve had years playing pubs in England where people were drinking beer and discussing what other people were doing and not listening to the music. I want to build up this thing where people do want to go to a concert. While it begins to look like the commercial side, it;s what it’s all about. I want knock it because I want people to come and hear what we do. 

It’s been a struggle, because in the beginning nobody knew what we were doing. We were the only people who believed in ourselves. We started playing because we had some kind of vision that we thought was worthwhile. For over a year and a half we were playing to ourselves. Gradually you gather people around who believe and that’s the way it happened.

Nobody is going to tell us to play what is commercial. What we play comes from us. We’re very lucky really in that we have a kind of audience who are attentive to whatever direction we choose to follow. One of us will come up with a song and we'll say, 'Yeah, it needs that kind of treatment and maybe that turns out to be something you call heavy and sometimes something which is light.' 

To get back to the charge that they are a manufactured band, while he doesn't like it, he can only take it as a compliment that they think the band is so good. He doesn't consider himself a technician "technically I've stayed the same for the last six or seven years. Progress is what you feel and what you are putting across. That's what playing is about for us.' 

Freddie: There's a lot of music there too.

Roger: A bit of music, yeah.

low key queen

By Anne Finnegan

Wednesday 9 June 1976

If you save, do not forget to leave a link to this, coz i kinda found it by myself and made and transcipt. Thanks :)

[sanstropfremir]

the hotly anticipated kingdom episode 7 review is here!!

this episode was a lot less spectacle-y than the last one (the last episode with stages, i mean), and i think that was a good choice for all the groups on the whole to tone it down on the run up to the finale, because at the rate everyone was headed there would be no room to go any higher. i'm very glad that there was actually a collab stage and not just a song swap, especially because it gives a chance for the boys to work together and make friends when they otherwise arent going to be able to interact much. love love love to see them making friends and having fun doing these stages!

i'm not really sure why mnet didnt put the vocal stage this episode, because what on earth else are they going to put in the next episode with it??? i know it's a content stretch but still, it seems like a weird choice to me. anyways, there’s four stages for me to talk about this time and i'm going to try to not ramble out of control, but we’ll see. i did enjoy watching all of these, but we’ve all got favourites and i'm going to rank by which group i liked better out of the two for each stage, and then i put a few conclusions at the end. strap in folks this is another long one.

rap stages

skz + btob + atz

i was actually really surprised at how much i liked this stage. i would not classify myself as a rap fan and believe it or not i actually do not place a lot of importance on lyrics when enjoying music. although i have very high lyric retention and comprehension, i focus more on the sound than the literal words, so a fair amount of rap is swing-and-a-miss in my personal listening. plus when you add a language barrier on top of that, a lot of the nuance and technical skill of it just flies over my head. so i really dont have much to say about the sonic elements this time around, sorry. also.....i know i joked that nobody from the kingdom staff is reading my reviews.....but is someone from the kingdom staff reading my reviews????? i specifically mentioned that i think skz should do an art themed stage and then we got one????? i know i manifested the punk ateez stage but did i manifest this also??? am i just that powerful???

costume

obviously these are pretty basic rap/hiphop stage looks, but the white was a really good choice for visibility’s sake, and also thematically: it reflects the colours in the lighting really well.

i am DYING to know who the designer of minhyuks jacket is. if somebody knows please tell me i love it so much. it looks like some of the recent belted jackets that dior was putting out, but the drawing on the front armscythe piece reminds me of the superm/kim junggi collab for tiger inside. say whatever you want about superm, but you cannot deny that that is not some of the coolest merch on the kpop scene.

loved the traditional korean elements that came through in addition to the western references: the screens, hongjoong’s fan, minhyuk’s big fuckoff brush, the masks, and the sleeves on the dancers at minhyuk’s bit. those are a costume feature from a style of korean traditional masked dance called bongsan talchum. the masks themselves are versions of hahoetal masks, which are used in a very specific archetypal ritual dance in andong. i think these are imae masks, who is the servant/fool archetype that mocks the nobleman and the scholar. i suspect that was a deliberate choice, but i can only speculate.

another point about the masks which is not relevant but maybe a fun fact for people who don’t know. i actually thought at first that they were western theatre half masks, which are a very old style of mask that, like with hahoetal masks, represent a number of archetypes/stock characters. maskwork is a very common training practice in theatre schools, because it teaches body language and control, because half your face is covered and you cannot speak in your own voice (sometimes you cannot speak at all, this is one of the rules of full mask). the tradition of usings masks to portray emotion goes all the way back to the ancient greek chorus, but more commonly people in the west sometimes know it from the italian commedia dell’arte, of which you will have definitely seen some of the character archetypes before. i just find it neat that the same types of art pop up in different places seemingly independently of each other. humans are cool.

set

not much to say here, it's pretty bare with just some propwork. thought the screen use was fun and they used it smartly in a couple of transitions. 

thought changbin’s bit of ‘interrupting’ the artists was cute and fun. there’s obviously a picasso reference there, and the four technicolour paintings are a reference to andy warhol’s pop art silkscreen portraits, most famously of marilyn monroe, but he also did many other celebrities in the 70s and 80s.

lighting

i LOVED this lighting. super bright and fun, lots of use of colour, obviously. the projections were there to enhance the visuals and weren’t distracting in any way. i thought the transition to black and white/ink with minhyuk was smart and had good contrast, it gave a strong rhythm to build back up to for the climax.

sound

bang chan’s ‘spelling colour with a u’ bit had me SCREAMING with laughter. we spell colour with a u normally bang chan, the americans are the ones that are wrong. 

staging

i don’t really have a whole lot to say here, it was pretty straightforward and fun. like i’ve said in previous reviews, i wish they were more conscious of the steadicam direction and would stop showing extended bits of the production crew. at least everyone was wearing full blacks this time.

fun use of the upward angle combined with the groundwork/leg choreo during hongjoong’s verse, that was a highlight for me.

sf9 + tbz + ikon

nothing against this stage, the other one just hit harder for me. bobby is the best rapper on the show and he really carried this stage with his charisma. he’s a fun performer to watch and he knows how to command a space. i'm sure there’s technical notes that people have about the raps themselves, but i'm here looking at visuals as a priority, which i'm sure you’ve all grasped at this point.

costume

these were clearly extensions of these idol’s personal styles, with is a perfectly fine choice, especially for a rap stage where the emphasis is more on authorship. LOVED bobby’s 11yro girl at recess look.

amusing that both rap stages involved paint in some way? loved the backup dancers shooting supersoakers filled with paint at them, but i wish i knew the reason for it? i'm glad i saw this stage first because i would have been underwhelmed by the paint throwing if i had seen this after rainbow bonanza.

set

almost no set at all here, just a few props. i'm not judging as harshly on lack of set this round because these stages are meant to be more about skill than anything else. 

lighting

i loved the projections, i thought they were unobtrusive and i admit, i LOVE outer space themed anything.

i liked that they did more concert lighting and had no projections in the first half to put more focus on the performers, it really highlighted the fact that this stage was about them, and not about anything extraneous.

sound

it was indeed a song.

staging

i do wish there had been a bit more control of the space, because it did look very empty at some parts and they could have staved that off by keeping tighter camera shots. this stage is so fucking big, holy shit.

they really brought their onstage chemistry and they looked like they were having a blast, which FINALLY!! 

i actually really liked hwiyoung’s opening, i think there was a lot of potential there for some sharp contrast work that i wish had been played through a little more, especially with the cool white light overtop the black costumes. it actually reminded me a bit of the intro in the music video from a rapper i do actually listen to, bewhy’s gottasadae.

glad to see some more use of camera effects with the black and white, but why did they do it over the paint throwing? it just made the trajectory of the paint invisible because there was no colour contrast.

performance stages

sf9 + tbz + ikon

ok obviously im gonna have a lot more to say about the performance stages, nobody is surprised there. this one was the better constructed of the two and my personal pick for better stage, but i actually liked watching the both of them equally.

costume

king shit, literally. we love contemporary hanbok in this house. there was good colour and style distinction between the three of them without clashing. 

costume change was fun and neatly blocked, it's pretty common to see backup dancers and chorus hiding quickchanges but i liked how this was a more unusual formation.

taeyang rocking the organza skirt and the big purple eyeshadow, thank you for keeping it cunty as always.

i really liked juyeon’s underlayer look. finally we get a good tbz costume look thats thematically relevant!

set

like all the stages this round, pretty minimal. the setting was almost entirely established through the costumes and the projections, which is some really good designwork. it's pretty much just the litters (the lifted chairs they entered on), and some smaller props. they managed to not make the stage feel empty because there was a lot of projection visuals to compensate, which is difficult to do without being overbearing, but i think they mostly pulled it off.

i originally thought it was gonna be weird to try and mesh the traditional korean architectural aesthetic with the weird mnet deco, but i ended up not noticing it as much as i thought i would.

lighting

like i just said, projections very well done and do a fantastic job of conveying setting without being overly distracting. like with the atz/skz/btob rap stage there’s a really broad range of colour use here that they offset by brightening and properly fill lighting the faces so you can actually see what’s happening.

the use of the strobing lasers and more concert style lighting fit really well with the change in the music from traditional instrument sounds to electronica and the more hiphop/isolated movements.

sound

i liked it well enough! i think it had a good arc that we can see echoed through the rest of the piece, like previously stated in the lighting and movement style. 

staging

like i mentioned with the quickchange, there was some really interesting formations using the backup dancers here, especially as a lead toward/away from the camera

having the three of them enter on litters; again, literal king shit, love to see it.

this has a pretty clear narrative that doesnt really need an external explanation, which is good. i have to assume that the burning of the paper with 妃 (concubine) is intended to be a gesture of ‘burning’ the love out of their hearts, but that was the only thing i'm still confused on. this may very well turn out to be a reference to a specific story that i just have no idea what it is, but we’ll see once the subs are out!

i loved juyeons solo bit with the alcohol drinking and the table flip, that was the choreographic highlight for me. i just really wish he would use the other muscles in his face more often. we know youre pretty, you dont have to blue steel your way through all your performances!! take a page out of donghyuk’s book and make some ugly faces, it's good for you!!

i though taeyang’s swordwork was fine, but since i do actually have a decade of sword training i'm very judgemental. it's not bad, he obviously has practiced with the weapon and he knows how to control it, but he doesn’t have the same understanding as someone who has trained with a sword as a weapon and not just as a prop. if we hadn’t seen another stage with swordwork in it i probably wouldn’t have brought this up (that's a lie, i still would have brought it up, i have a third dan), but you can really see the difference between how minhyuk moves with his sword and how taeyang moves. a lot of this has to do with the proper weighting of the blade, which i mention briefly in my second episode review in btob’s section (and also this ask here, where i talk about properly weighted weapons in relation to the gun choreo in sf9’s and ateez’s previous stages); minhyuk is likely using a ‘real’ sword (it’s blunted but still made using proper methods and materials), and taeyang is using a cheaper-made replica (unless you’re doing full contact striking a LOT there’s no way a properly made blade breaks like that. also you would never tape it together hello??? respect the blade). if you know what you’re looking for, you can tell from the movements themselves when someone has training. minhyuk did a load of real training for a film where he was a swordsman, and you can tell; the sword is an extension of his arm, all the movements lead with the tip of the blade first, because that’s your first, your fastest, and your most dangerous point. you do 90% of your cutting with the first eight inches of blade, but it takes a lot of specific training to get your hands and arms to a place where that kind of movement is possible. taeyang’s movements are driven from his hands, which is unsurprising, because that’s where he’s used to his extensions stopping. the tip follows rather than leads. wow this got insanely sidetracked i hope you liked this crash course on swordwork.

this is pretty much what i expected to see from this unit. these three groups all have standout soloists, so i wasn’t surprised to see these three boys as the picks. juyeon and taeyang especially, theyre both from groups that are more likely to do experimental stages and choreography that highlights them as soloists and skilled dancers.

skz + btob + atz

this was a letdown from ateez’s last two stages, because they knocked those out of the park, but it's only fair that they have a bit of a fall. that being said, i did really enjoy watching this for its sheer ridiculousness; i’m forgiving the wolf concept this time because well, it’s wolf. you can't cover wolf and not do a wolf concept, that’s against the law. also, like i’ve said before, i'm all for dark concepts IF you give them thematic weight. is it on the nose? yes. is it thematically relevant? also yes. is it dumb? also also yes, but that’s never stopped a single kpop group in the history of ever.

costume

friendship restored with ateez stylists, rivalry started with skz stylists. the fur shoulder fluffs??? stupid and i love them. perfect in every way. however i keep seeing the same fucking costumes on the skz boys and i will come directly for the stylists at jype if they dont get their shit together. be! more! creative!!!

i really really wish they had gone more 2013 kpop with it, we need more of that ugly ridiculous styling. peniel was actually pretty close, with the overly long tunic and those yellow lenses. very vixx on and on (yes i know they were vampires from outer space, let me live)

i actually thought the wolf gloves were fun? the small bits of uv paint actually worked instead of looking out of place, and i'm glad they put them on wooyoung because the uglier an outfit, the better he pulls it off. 

set

same dice, just the long table and the camo net at the beginning, which i thought was unnecessary. the table was useful for levels though, so happy to see they utilized that.

lighting

there is so much happening all the time. lots of lasers. it's definitely aiming for camp territory, and i dont actually hate it as much as i did on my first watch. it actually wasn’t as dark as i thought either, because its mostly lit with blue and amber. but it doesn’t really have that great of an arc and its not really that good on the whole.

the projections are a bit much for me, but that’s only when i'm actually looking at them. true to form, i didn’t even notice the excess of red slashes until like my fourth rewatch because i was too busy watching the performers.

sound

rookie exo my beloved. the original wolf goes so hard for absolutely no reason, so i’m not knocking this stage for being ridiculous. in fact it should have been more ridiculous. i think they did a fine job updating the song for a.....less 2013 sound. 

i like that they didn’t bother to live sing the stage even though they recorded vocals for it, it gave them all a chance to actually focus on just the dance.

that being said, i am kind of missing all the adlibs from the original. but even though there’s some strong vocalists in this unit, they aren’t made of the same stuff as baekhyun, luhan, chen, AND d.o.

i literally just realized that peniel had already debuted when this song came out AND is technically exo’s senior because btob debuted like two weeks before exo officially did.....oh no

staging

choreographically this feels a lot more like the skz stages that we’ve seen rather than the ateez ones, so i'm curious as to who the choreographer was. 

the tricking was definitely more ridiculous in this one, but i can't really say any of it was there for no reason because it all had elements of fighting in it. the scale of the tricks was quite large though and not very well blended with the rest of the choreo, which ending up making them look awkward. i thought it was a nice detail that they shone a green toplight on the dancers that made up the cliff wooyoung climbed up so that it looked like there was grass on it. cute.

the blocking is lacking a lot of fluidity, and i think that’s partially the scale of the tricking and also the editing, because this editing is TERRIBLE. there’s so much cutting, why is there so much cutting!! haven’t we already learned that longtakes are the best for this???

there’s a lot of stuff here that had good potential but could have been pushed a little farther. i feel like i say this for every mediocre stage, but what can i say, i'm good at constructive criticism. 

they should have given more showcase to the tree and the scratching arms; it's the most iconic move!! i also wish they had kept some kind of iteration of the different unit ‘leaping’ in over the exiting one, i always thought that part of the original choreo was really fun and did a lot for establishing them as wolves. 

i LOVED peniel entering with all those backup dancers in chains, thats some fucking iconic shit. very ‘im the alpha wolf,’ which is valid because he’s like at LEAST five years older than everyone else on the stage. i wish that instead of being the backup dancers it was the actual members, because THAT would have been an image. theyre all wearing harnesses and collars anyways, just clip em in! he’d be like one of those dogwalkers!

me last week: specifically talking about how krump is an uncommon style in kpop and it's very hard to get right kingdom, throwing the manifesting dodgeball at me for the third time: here would you like a KRUMP SOLO?

if you didnt believe me before that krump is hard to get right, i sure hope you do now. peniel did fine, but you can see how easily you can veer off into looking ridiculous.

some conclusions

i mentioned this really briefly in an ask i got earlier today, but i do think it's important to establish that the two performance units are doing two different types of performances. i can understand why people are underwhelmed by the atz/skz/btob stage and wanted it to be less of a traditional kpop dance stage and more like the experimental stages we’ve been seeing for the last few weeks. and i agree! i think they could have done more with it. but i also think that this kind of stage was a good choice for this particular subunit. unlike with the sf9/tbz/ikon unit, there are not really any standout technical soloists in ateez or skz. ateez has, in my opinion, the highest ratio of dancers with actual stage presence of any of the 4th gen groups ive seen. they’re at a solid 75% for any given performance, and occasionally they can bump that higher depending on the stage. that high of a stat is rare. it's extremely rare for a group to have all its members have good stage presence (i can think of like, maybe two or three?), and to get over 50% is pretty damn impressive. but ateez’s strength isn’t in how good they individually are as dancers, but it's in how well they work together. there’s a reason why they put FIVE of them in the performance unit. one of the first things i said about ateez to hanya is ‘i love wooyoung but he doesn’t stand out when he's not centre.’ which is for good reason!! he’s not supposed to! they all willingly give up centre and take it back when they need to, because they have that charisma. there’s a very cohesive push and pull to watching ateez that speaks to their strengths as performers. dancing in a group where you are all meant to be equal is a very different skill than just being a talented soloist. you have to understand what to prioritize in a different way. taemin dances differently with shinee that he does in his solo career, especially since they’ve been back. he understands when to step back; more often than not i find key to be the standout dancer in shinee choreo.

this is a very long winded way of saying that wolf was a good choice for them even though the stage didn’t turn out as well as it could have. also the fact that they made a cohesive performance at all, with a week of rehearsal and while working with essentially strangers is a feat and speaks to all of their skill at their job. performing in a group is a huge part of kpop, and they did call this the performance stage, and not the dance stage.

i'm not entirely sure on what the breakdown is on why each of the subunits were formed. i know the team sizes are extremely uneven, with sf9/tbz/ikon clocking in at 26 people and atz/skz/btob clocking in at 17 (i'm not counting changsub because he's not there and probably has a scheduling conflict), which is like, a whole extra group of difference. but atz/skz/btob utilizing their whole groups for each of the units (5/3/1 for performance, 1/3/1 for rap, and 1/1/1 for vocal, for 7/7/3 total), verses sf9/tbz/ikon only bringing out six people for these two stages and then six for the vocal stage is......weird? that's over half of their group number that’s not performing. i do think the groups brought out their standout performers and made smart choices with the stages but the balance still strikes me as odd. i do wish tbz had actually done some group choreo because they are very strong group performers and it would have been fun to watch.

ateez really played the long game here, good job boys. teaming up with the group who gets the highest fan votes AND the group with the strongest technical skills? i see you.

i think this is probably too wild of an assumption and is only based on circumstantial evidence but.....i think hongjoong might actually have a lot more creative sway than i previously thought. all the stages he’s been a part of have been very well designed, and i know he provided suggestions for the two ateez stages prior to this... i’m probably thinking too much. 

ok you know what i know there were some other points in my brain somewhere but this is already 4000 words so i’m going to stop. if i remember anything else its probably gonna end up in the answer to some of the asks i’m inevitably going to get because i think my opinions on these ones are a little bit more controversial, whoops!

not entirely sure if ill do an extensive review for next week’s stage, because i'm not really a ballad fan and i dont really do vocal reviews, but i could do a quick one. i guess it also depends on what else they put in the episode. we’ll see!!