#Noel Fielding is a force of nature

[markscherz]

you might like IT crowd, it’s a fun show very nerdy. More tech end of humor but nerdy to no end

I have seen it several times.

[slowcatsworld]

Noel Noa SFW Headcanons

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Takes his coffee black. This was the first way he had ever tried coffee when he was an older teenager; all of the add ins he tried later just never gave him the same feeling. The bitterness of the drink is enough to shock his body into a reactive state. If you ever offer him coffee, he requests some milk in it.

He prefers to dress more formally when the situation calls for it. By this, if he is going to a meeting with his club team it means he will be wearing a suit. The elegance of fashion and the social status of what you wear is most definitely not lost on him. It is a noisy static in his mind until he wears something more classy.

When he is in the solace of his own home, his guilt pleasure is to stay in his pajamas as long as he can. He just got home from practice at 8am? He’s putting back on his fuzzy pants. He got back from his morning workout he does during off days? The thick socks he wore to sleep are coming back on once he showers. He just arrived home during lunch hour? His sleeping sweater was on him by the time you stepped foot in the door. He does value his comfortableness in more private settings.

He is both a dog and a cat person. His stoic nature draws sweet, stray felines towards him weekly whether he’s out in the streets of Germany or France. The way cats will purr so loud he can hear them when he’s standing tugs at his heart, though he never mentions it. (He would so let a cat just climb up him like a tree). Dogs don’t really come up to him the way cats do, yet when he sees one out and about he is always tempted to ask the dog’s owner if he could pet the animal.

He doesn’t much like bread. It was one of the few things he was able to eat somewhat frequently during his early childhood in the ghettos of France. That bread will always taste different than the bread he has available to him now to eat, but the feeling of dirty grit will never leave his mind.

He takes pride in his title of the world’s best striker. It gratifies him to look at his teammates and his opponents and think to himself, ‘I’m the best forward there is here.’ About them both alike. He is somewhat humble, though. It’s only when his title is being threatened or ignored does he feel the need to be a total force of dominance on the field.

Can be seen as a slightly sore winner sometimes. The success and privilege that comes with winning a popularity vote, a league game, etc fulfills a dead space in him. To know he has worked hard enough to be the best and he got what he trained to earn is a feeling he will chase forever. It changed his life, gave him a life worth living for. So he when you come up to him saying it was unneeded for him to point out to another soccer player that he has the title of worlds best striker and he is the favorite to win the upcoming finals game for their league in a couple weeks; a ghost of a smile graces his face as he squeezes your hand.

He didn’t quite realize he was perfectly ambidextrous until he tried shooting a soccer ball with his supposed non dominant foot and it was just as easy and smooth as his other foot. This was where he began to plan, to get motivated to use soccer as a way to better his life.

Because of the ambidextrous quality in both his legs and arms, he is able to learn ball control movements and tactics at a faster rate. He’s also able to write very well with both hands, however his right hand has neater handwriting. He uses his phone in his left hand.

Enjoys intelligent conversations. The bounce back and forth between him and another person about whatever topic. Doesn’t actually need to be a topic that is only for those of a higher intellect to understand, it can be anything you are passionate and knowledgeable about. How they are able to articulate their thoughts and understandings and show Noel through speech or body language. It is engaging and he wants to know all of what you think and feel at this moment. It will forever outweigh the basic question-answer format he can get accustomed to in interviews.

Like Marc Snuffy, he does view football as a job. He has to in a sense. In the early days of his career, he had to be diligent and desperate to stand up above the sea of other players. He had to work harder than everyone else on the field, he had to work faster than everyone else on the field, he had to need football more than everyone else. He tries to carry this drive with him even in the peak of his football career, he won’t allow them to shelve him- not yet.

Unlike Marc Snuffy, Noel doesn’t try to rope in his whole team to create a ‘work force’ per se. He makes sure everyone on his team that plays either with him or with his name brand is a competent, driven, and rational person on the field. They do go over play strategies he’s, but he is sometimes dissatisfied at the level of tenacity in Snuffy to have such rigid plays.

Is a silent cheerer. He doesn’t yell and he doesn’t stand up and pump his fists in the air. He’s quiet, waiting and watching. He’ll occasionally mumble praise or encouragement, but you won’t hear it unless you’re right next to him.

He goes to bed really early most days if he can. When he is alone, he sleeps like a dead man. No movement and no noise. Even when he has a nightmare, he’ll just jolt awake in the same position. When he started sleeping next to you, the pair of y’all would just begin to wake up entangled with each other. His arm wrapped around your waist, his feet holding your ankle. Your hand in his short, frosty hair and your chin on the top of his head. He moved quite a bit with you, always seeming to try to burrow into you in his sleep.

Has received numerous compliments on his eyes. He didn’t really understand why people were so entranced with them, especially when he paired it with his eyeliner until you. You loved them. You loved staring into them during bed time, gazing at them across the room. They were precious to you, so they gradually started to become precious to him as well. They aren’t his favorite feature on himself, but it brings you enough pleasure to look at them so he confidently thinks they are one of his top physical characteristics.

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9.15.24

[residentialrabbit]

So we can have more information about the species of angel, (Type function, appearance of the wings, etc.) I wanted to make an OC angel, but we don't have much information about them.

I keep some vague for people to just add their own ideas to characters so they aren't bound to hard rules.

But some basic info-

All angel types have one set of white, light blue tipped wings and have conventional human eyes friendly forms.

Angels: Angels are sort of the average joes of the angel classes. Their kingdom is where most common humans end up living and their towns/cities are meant to reflect architecturally. Very much small-town energy. Their jobs are the most varied since their job is to tend to the needs of humans( and even angels) so things like bakers, cooks, delivery, maids, town mayors/city officials, carpenters, etc. if the town needs a role filled then an angel will be assigned to it! Angels true form are just humans but with wings

Archangels: Archangels typically have one of these two jobs. Being an arch guardian or a transporter/shepherd. Arch guardians watch over individuals or families down on earth, essentially acting as guardian angels (I just wanted to give em a different name), and protect. The second one is a transporter/shepherd and they pick up and drop off souls at the proper afterlife based on their death reports and the life they lived. They are essentially grim reapers or ferrymen. Archangels true form is a dragon and depending on how well they are with magic and age they have additional eyes on their body. Their kindgrom is the weirdest of them all as, to summarize it, looks very vaporwave/weirdcore. Usually, a human gets promoted to this class or the Angel class.

Principalities: Scholars, magicians, wizards, archivists etc basically anything that required high amounts of intelligence. Principalities angels value knowledge and truth above all else. Principalities true form is very nimbus-y in appearance and even in the more conventional form they have very textured and/or fluffy hair. Their kingdom is composed of many libraries and schools specializing in various fields of academia.

Virtues: Artists, writers, philosophers, architects, actors, singers, etc these angels embody everything that is beaufiul in humanity both physically,spiritually, and morality. Though, less importance has been placed on morality. Their true form is similar to angel's forms but they exclude a bright radiant light from their entire body and are extremely beautiful. Virues angels also have 4 wings similar to the Seraphim but are still tipped blue. Their kingdom is one of, if not, the most beautiful kingdoms with artistic beauty in even the smallest blade of grass to the grandest buildings.

Powers: Military branch of the angels. They protect Utopia and Earth from the forces of evil threatening them. Powers angels begin basic training from a young age and are divided into teams once they have mastered their fighting style. Melee, ranged, magic, healer, etc you basic RPG/DnD classes you get it. Other angel types can enlist themselves into the Powers branch even if they aren't natural born powers angels. They can master multiple types of combat but generally have one signature that they stick to. For powers angels that use weapons their weapon can be summoned at any time (unless fallen like Noel) and take form/adapt to the user. Powers angels true form are giant moving masked statues with wings that harden into steel.

Cherubim: Cherubim angels are the angels of nature in that everything that is living was made by them. Animals, plants, mountains, oceans, were all designed by them. Their kingdom is at one with nature with many of the buildings being built into or decorated with it. Their true form is a multi-headed beast hybrid.

Thrones: Lawmakers and work beside dominion angels, having a hand in everything to ensure it is running in perfect harmony. Their true form is (play the game and use process of elimination to find out!) Mostly "extinct" since Lucifer's fall. Remaining thrones angels that didn't rebel with Lucifer were absorbed into the dominion class.

Dominions: Dominion angels work(ed) alongside thrones angels to establish the law and order of the mortal and afterlife. The enforce the law and tasks to the other kingdoms that they and The Choir have decided upon. Their true form is (play the game and use process of elimination to find out!)

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (18-24 Feb 2024)

i'll always prefer the og but this iteration is entertaining

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍 The Old Codgers Greatest Hits Album (AggressiveWhenStartled, author; quietnight, narrator) - 57K series, canon-divergent stucky co-starring peter parker. Reread of this hilarious forever fave where first teenage peter is forced to deal with two body-swapped geriatric supersoldiers and then bucky is forced to deal with two teenage spidermen trying (and failing) to stealthily rescue their "dog". Great podfic by quietnight, absolute hilarity

🥰 History of American Capitalism (Zenaidamacrouras1) - 85K, shrinkyclinks college AU with superstar QB!Bucky & history nerd Steve - incredible found family dynamics, can't believe @zenaidamacrouras1 made me actually really get into an AU that involved both undergrads AND football. The nerve! The talent! (the fic is single POV but there's an amazing companion piece that's Bucky's convos with this sister that give a his POV on some of it and it's equally amazing)

💖💖 +347K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Half sleep, half waking (softestpunk) - The Sandman & Rivers of London crossover: dreamling, 8K - amazing crossover! I wish there was 60K of this for me to read

Road to Joy (Oddree13) - Stranger Things: steddie, 25K - latest chapter in this omegaverse steddie series that I absolutely adore

Knit One, Purl Two (mollus) - MCU: stucky, 32K - reread; forever fave WS recovery fic with lots of softness in the form of: knitting, dancing, soap making and senior citizens

Red, White & Royal Goose (fairestfaerie) - RWRB: alex/henry, 7K - I just love a good Soulmate Goose of Enforcement fic

This Sunlit Land (eyres) - MCU: stucky, 38K - wonderful canon/timeline-divergent WS recovery AU

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Resident Alien - s1, e1-3

QI - series S, ep 7-9

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "The Fall of New York City" (s7, e1)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Heaven and Hell on Earth" (s7, e2)

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Stress Tested" (s21, e7)

D20: Adventuring Party - "A Negroni and a Bowl of Spinach" (s16, e7)

Ghosts (US) - s2, e16-22; s3, e1-2

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Vibe Check - Hey, Sis: featuring Kimberly Drew

The Sporkful - Can A Restaurant Makeover Make Diners Spend More?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Boston’s Blue Hill

Short Wave - The Life And Death Of A Woolly Mammoth

Desert Island Discs - Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cellist

I Said No Gifts! - Jay Jurden Disobeys Bridger

The Assignment with Audie Cornish - Where Does Fani Willis Go From Here?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - World’s Loneliest House

⭐ Switched on Pop - Adult Contemporary, but make it cool (with CHROMEO)

Shedunnit - The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Green Penguin Book Club 1)

Up First - Julian Assange Extradition Hearing, Egypt Buffer Zone, Louisiana Special Session

Today, Explained - The Panama Canal is drying up

It's Been a Minute - Jada Pinkett Smith, the artist

Vibe Check - Welcome to Tip Check

Outward - True Detective: Night Country’s Lesbian Subtext

⭐ Code Switch - Why menthol cigarettes have a chokehold on Black smokers

Short Wave - When The Sun Erupts

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Stone of Destiny

⭐ 99% Invisible #571 - You Are What You Watch

Films To Be Buried With - Tyler James Williams

Ologies with Alie Ward - Black Hole Theory Cosmology (WHAT ARE BLACK HOLES?!) Part 1 with Ronald Gamble, Jr.

Off Menu - Ep 226: Noel Fielding

NPR's Book of the Day - 'Thank You Please Come Again' pays homage to Southern gas station food shops

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Buffalo Soldiers National Museum

The Assignment with Audie Cornish - Jake Tapper on American Political Scandal

⭐ Throughline - Dance Yourself Free (Throwback)

If Books Could Kill - The Better Angels of Our Nature

Our Opinions Are Correct - We Don't Give a F*ck About Canon

⭐ Today, Explained - Fight at the Museum

The Sporkful - Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Bagels

Dear Prudence - My Friend Has a Master’s Degree in Lying. Help!

What Next: TBD - The Coasts are Sinking

Short Wave - Didn't Get A Valentine's Love Song? These Skywalker Gibbons Sing Love Duets

Endless Thread - Endless Thread: The Musical

⭐ Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Industrial Musicals

Strong Songs - "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

You're Dead to Me - Queen of Sheba [turned out to be really perfect timing to have this knowledge right before getting to certain relevant bits in my current read The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi]

It's Been a Minute - Have we hit celebrity overload? Plus, Miyazaki's movie magic

Simply Reflecting - Did You Say Delusional?

Under the Influence - Seeing is Believing: The Power of Demonstration Commercials

Hit Parade - The Bridge: Bon Soir, Barbra

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Chromeo

Living Colour

Chicago House Foundation

Presenting Soundgarden

Swing Fever [Rod Stewart & Jools Holland] {2024}

Adult Contemporary [Chromeo] {2024}

Campfire Classics

[unhappytimeleaper]

Hello!!, may i please request yan eichi with an oblivious darling?

Requested by anonymous 

Word Count: 1,250+

Update that most might not care about but might give some context to my absence. I found out I’m moving back to Korea in like,, less than 3 weeks to start a new job. Lots of things to get done in not a lot of time…

I promise I will get to the alphabet; I was thinking about this one at work and wanted to get it out.

Also, I played Repurpose, and it was such a good game,, genuine brain rot over most of the characters; I deeply loved Noel’s route and Ramón was a favorite I didn’t expect. Kalei was still just too cute, Mitts was everything I was hoping for, and DJ was an unexpected one I came to enjoy the route for. Give me poly DJ/MC/Noel or give me death /j. If you have 7$ to spare and want a cute game to kill some time highly recommend and I will be pestering the one friend I have endlessly about it.

Tenshouin Eichi; Unedited. Gender Neutral Reader.

Warnings; yandere content, blackmail, manipulation. Eichi is Eichi, take that as you will. 

This blog is 17+ please have your age in your bio or tagged; any ageless blog and below the age asked for will be blocked at the end of the week.

I think being oblivious to Eichi is hard, and I don’t believe that it would be the right word to use. In a way, I think everyone at the start might have some level of ‘obliviousness’ before there just is no possibility of denying the truth of his plan.

What I mean is that unless you are extremely perceptive, like ungodly perceptive, Eichi is cunning. He is a master at manipulation and the ability to get others to not only trust him but do what he wants as pawn pieces. There is a reason he was able to gain such power over Yumenosaki in the first game, and there is a reason even from the second he was introduced, there was a wave of power that Eichi naturally exudes. Despite everything, he can come off as very non-threatening given his frailness which might make it easy to confide in giving him needed ammo to blackmail you. Something about your family here or there, a secret about a friend that slipped out and he promised he’d never bring it up again [he will], or even a moment of frustration with working in the idol field. He naturally has an air of eloquence that makes it easy to fall into a web of words and let out more than you expect to share [it also helps he naturally talks a lot in a way that is easy for others get lost in]. He has connections nearly everywhere for better or worse, and can use those to gain links to you, either knowing the little things you swore you hadn’t told him or closer to something on your schedule to randomly show up. Questionable, but nothing you can prove as being shady, so it’s best to brush it off regardless. Who would believe you over one of the most well-known idols in the industry? This isn’t to say obliviousness, in general, doesn’t help him if you manage to make loops to justify all of his weird behaviors. Still, even I think some of those who think of themselves as incredibly cognizant would also fall into these types of traps, even if he has to tiptoe a little harder to get them all to work.

However, this game Eichi plays with you manipulated into a false trust won’t last forever. In fact, he doesn’t want it to because there is something much better about being able to move into a true relationship, the one where he can be open to his motivations and desires. All of this was a stepping stone in the bigger picture for him. Getting the basics down, and being able to tangle you deep enough that struggling to escape only digs the knife in more.

Eichi has two ways this facade comes melting down, revealing the reality behind the set pieces of the stage he’s built to lure you in. The first one is external forces; Eichi has a reputation in nearly all eras of the game for his mental strength and ability to use this to get others to do what he wants. It’s not some hushed topic that no one acknowledges, even Eichi is well aware of his status, and while Eichi likely would be able to shift his opinion to his favor if you talk to him at times, there will be many others, even Eichi’s closest friends willing to call out the dangers he imposes. At that point, it’s no longer really just obliviousness to his actions when often proof and multiple people are able to recount the story where he is the villain. Antagonist? Oh well, semantics; regardless, he often is not framed well. Being oblivious to the signs, the warnings and red flags Eichi holds from this are genuinely hard to pass off with a lack of awareness.

But that is not just the end; Eichi is well aware of this. Often times he won’t deny it either because Eichi doesn’t see what he does as necessarily wrong. To an extent, yes, he has some awareness of the damage he causes and the impacts it has on others, but Eichi very rarely shows remorse for those actions deeming them as a necessity. Much like with you. If you have a bleeding heart and want to believe in the best from him, you can always ask if they are lying. What they said isn’t true. Eichi might have done some things wrong, but even then, everyone makes mistakes. Right? Eichi won’t bother lying or covering up what he’s done to others, and even if you are put in vulnerable positions where he is blatantly manipulating you, he is upfront with his actions. Aren’t you at least happy the confessions are coming from him and not some stranger you work with?

I think back to when Eichi tried to get Trickster to disband; the group did know it was manipulation to make them feel as less, that the win was a fluke only provided due to Undead and 2wink. However, it didn’t comfort them in knowing this was all just the result that he wanted, and they still fell apart in the moment. Eichi wasn’t hiding his intentions but knew he held the power to easily get others to crack regardless and succumb to his desires because, in a sense, resistance is as futile as lying to you. Nothing is gained, and nothing is lost if you can stay so far ahead as he can in most scenarios.

It’s Eichi’s greatest strength as a yandere that out of everyone, he would be the most lucid and, as far as he can push it, make you aware of the lucidity that his actions, while immoral, are the path he will continue to take for the sake of his ideals. Even the most oblivious, good-hearted are forced to come to this realization at some point, just like with Tsumugi’s relationship with him. When, not if, but when Eichi gets what he wants through manipulation, he has no problem shattering the rose-tinted glasses people might wear to him. You can deny it all you want, and you can run from what is the monster that is Eichi to believe he isn’t truly this, but you can’t run forever. He will drill it into your head, sear all of his crimes into your mind to the point you can only accept that the mask he had at the start was to use you. Use your kindness, uses your ignorance, use your trust to gain what he wanted to use against you when the time called for it. It’s a crushing burden to know that the one who sealed you to this fate with him was no one more than yourself. This is what makes him such a terrifying yandere, not the fear of what he will do or can do to keep you as his. But that in the end, you are only as powerless a puppet in the world; he wants you a pawn stuck to his side.

Life with Eichi is trapped in the lucidity of both of you. Once knowing this, you can make it the best of what it is and give in to love him with the cage you’ve been trapped in or make it just as miserable. The glasses will have been shattered, and no amount of glue will be able to mend them. The choice is up to you, but there is no way to keep a lack of awareness of his actions in the long term that you once clung to.

[witchfall]

dirt in the wound

4 - healing

[Heavensward-era. After the Ravana fight. Izzie, still coming to terms with the weight of their duties...]

It stings like a bastard, the cut on her cheek.

Pebbles and dirt grime the edges of it; the skin is splayed open from the detritus of crystal crushed under Ravana's spindly, insectoid feet. The slice had been perfectly even, a gift from his terrible blade, until her mortal body plummeted to the ground from the force of it.

The moment is slippery. Her mind doesn't want to find purchase on the pain, burning hot with aether and the taste of blood, but she'd thrown herself forward to shove Noel out of the way of his sword's arc -- and she supposes that must be the culprit for this particular injury.

There are stories for them all, but she'd be damned if she could remember them.

She is ruminating on the nature of this work when the cool touch of magic digs into the sting -- yanking out the infection, pulling together the torn skin like laces in a bodice. She gasps aloud and recoils, because that sure as hells isn't what Noel's magic feels like--

"I'm sorry. I--I apologize, I simply..."

Alphinaud's unusually stuttering voice brings her back down from the rocky climb unto panic.

She glares at him from her perch on a cold stone, because that is easy. That is the known dynamic. Fall back into it, like a dance, and prepare for his pirouette, for his haughty rejoinder about how he wouldn't need to heal her if she wasn't always like this--

He pulls back his gloved hand. His eyes, so beautiful and dark, are wide enough to form their own gravitational pull.

Her glare dies -- shocked into smoothening, her answering expression that of confusion.

"Please." His hand hovers in the air. She watches his long, delicate fingers. "I'm sorry. I normally would leave it to Noel's discretion, of course, but she is still with Ysayle--"

"Ask next time," she grumbles out. Her skin burns with heat. She doesn't know why.

It's not like he's never seen her hurt before. He has, plenty of times. Why does this time feel weird and different? Why does it feel like she did something wrong, in making him look so upset? This is her job. She did her job. She shouldn't feel bad.

"Yes, of course," he says, entirely too quickly. His relief crushes his shoulders down. "Of course, I wasn't thinking. Forgive me."

She closes her eyes as his hand hovers just over her cheek. Barely an ilm away. She could lean in and he would touch her skin -- which is a very weird thought to have. Why is she thinking about that? She shouldn't.

Maybe because, for the first time, he sounds their age instead of like the hoity-toity lordling he pretends to be around these Ishgardians. Around storied personages like the Azure Dragoon, who is pretending not to watch with amusement near a wet boulder.

She winces against the coolness of his aether, not at all like the soothing warm salt water of Noel's cure spells. He's like a river, washing the blood and grime away, eroding the crux of the world with the force of his will. The injury will fade because he demands that it shall.

"Why do you care, anyway?" she asks, before she can stop the words from tumbling out. "It's just a cut."

"It looks painful," he says quietly. "And you needn't scar from such a thing when it is in my capacity to mend it."

She bites her lip. "I...forgot."

She forgot that he can heal.

Because he'd never had to, before. He'd never been in the field with them before. But things are different now. There is no one else to rely upon, save herself, Noel, and him. They are all that is left of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, or at least their warrior contingent, and that reminder kicks the air out of her lungs hard enough that she takes in a sharp breath through her nose.

All that is left. A barely of-age girl with more grit than sense, a barely of-age boy with more brains than wisdom, and a brilliant adult woman broken entirely by grief thanks to that fucking Crystal Tower.

"Sorry," she mutters.

He blinks. "Whatever for?"

She doesn't know. All of it? All of her snapping at him, how he's stuck with her again, how his delicate little lordling body has to drag through the mud with them, how she'd made him worry? "A lot of things," she decides, for the sake of her pride. "But this time for forgetting."

A breathless, choked, single giggle bubbles out of him. Tension snapping. "Quite easy to forgive, I assure you."

His hand lingers in the air for a split second after the chime of his aether fades away. Like he's considering something, and then at the last moment, decides not to.

Instead he says: "Would you like help with your hair?"

Her face flushes hot. Angry, right? What else could it be? Surely nothing else but that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He is the one that recoils this time. "I just meant...! Well, you tangled it quite severely in your last engagement, I--"

"My hair is fine! Thank you!"

"It has blood and dirt in it!"

"What if I like it that way?"

This. This is more normal. This, somehow, is healing.

She feels a smile pull at her lips as he angrily fumbles a response in turn...a smile that only grows when he finally, finally seems to realize she's fucking with him.

He glares at her, face turning pink -- and she bursts into laughter.

And when he sees her laugh, his confused smile in return is...pleased.

A healing only she can offer him in turn. This is their game. Theirs. And no blade, no gil, no scheming in the night can take that away.

[unquietspiritao3]

amazing old Noel interview. i wish he’d do more press bc every interview i love him more. some favorite bits from this one:

there’s this video of him doing a signing at Rough Trade (record store in london) and his care for the fans really comes through there, too, he’s like asking them if they’ve eaten and if they’re warm enough, haha. this is why i think he’s a natural host and dm for parties.

[coolasakuhncumber]

Narratives of 2022

Books

- Why first borns want to rule the world and later borns change it, Michael Grose

- Any Ordinary Day, Leigh Sales

-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

- I Confess, Alex Barclay

- Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon, Buzz Aldrin and Ken Abraham

Films

- MIB: International

- High Fidelity

- Three Summers

- Good Luck Chuck

- Poms

- The Fuck It List

- The Royal Treatment

- Ride Along

- Happy Anniversary

- Encanto

- This is Where I Leave You

- Pretty in Pink

- Shall We Dance?

- The Bubble

- Hairspray

- Senior Year

- The Batman

- A Perfect Pairing

- Home Again

- Top Gun

- The High Note

- Top Gun: Maverick

- 2 Hearts

- Baby Done

- Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between

- Bookclub

- Purple Hearts

- Wedding Season

- Persuasion

- Look Both Ways

- 6 Festivals

- Good luck to you, Leo Grande

- Mamma Mia!

- Elvis

- P.S. I love You

- Spy

- The School of Good and Evil

- Wedding Crashers

- Shrek 2

- Mr Self Destruct & Other films

- A Wedding for Christmas

- A Walk to Remember

- Christmas Ransom

- Shrek the Halls

- The Noel Diary

- Too Close for Christmas

- Broken Hearts Gallery

- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

- Message in a Bottle

TV

- Noughts and Crosses (s1)

- Outer Banks (s2)

- Below Deck (s4, s7, s8)

- Five Bedrooms (s3)

- Home Economics (s2)

- Total Control (s2)

- The Book of Boba Fett (s1)

- Space Force (s1, s2)

- Clone Wars (s1 e1 - e4)

- Midnight Diner (s1e5 - s2e??)

- Fisk (s1e3 - e6, s2)

- Muster Dogs

- The After Party

- A bunch of the Aus Open

- Australian Survivor (s7), a few episodes

- Married at First Sight Australia (s9), a few episodes

- Bump (s2, s3)

- Fresh off the Boat (all)

- Bel Air (s1)

- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (s1 e1-3)

- Only Murders in the Building (s1, s2)

- Starstruck (s2)

- Heartland (s15)

- Bridgerton (s2)

- Australian Story: Caught in the Act (Courtney Act)

- Superstore (s6)

- How I Met Your Father (s1)

- Ted Lasso (s1, s2 rewatch)

- Selling Sunset (s5)

- The Barons (e1 - e3)

- Lego Masters, a few episodes

- Travel Guides, a few episodes

- Grace & Frankie (s7e4-16)

- Grey's Anatomy (s18 - s19 e6)

- Heartstopper (s1)

- Love My Way (s1e1)

- Below Deck Down Under (s1)

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

- Wong Fu productions - Single by 30

- Everything I Know About Love

- Surviving Summer (s1)

- Peaky Blinders (S1 e1-2)

- Celebrity Apprentice Australia 2022, a few episodes

- One Day at a Time (s1 e1 - e4)

- Snowflake Mountain

- Below Deck Mediterranean (s5, s6)

- Un coupled (s1)

- Indian Matchmaking (s2)

- Never Have I Ever (s3)

- Skins (s1 e1 - e5)

- My Mad Fat Diary (all)

- The Bear (s1)

- Old People's Home for Teenagers :)

- Andor (s1)

- Take 5 w/ Zan Rowe

- Heartbreak High (reboot) (s1)

- Derry Girls (s3)

- Partner Track (s1)

- Blockbuster (s1)

- Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin (s1)

- Undressed with Kathryn Eisman

- Firefly Lane s2

- The Flatshare

- Home Economics (s3e1 - e10)

Gigs/Plays/Theatre/Exhibitions

- Vivaldi 4 Seasons @ National Gallery of Australia by Phoenix Collective

- Ancient Greeks Exhibition

- Judith Lucy & Denise Scott

- Keating! The Musical

- In Their Footsteps

- Sculptures @ Shaw Winery

- Lizzy Hoo, Hoo dis?

- Aaron Chen, Sorry Forever

- Hot Potato Band

- Jeffrey Smart Exhibition

- Six the Musical

- Schapelle Schapelle the Musical

- Reconciliation Day Eve concert aka Electric Fields, Briggs, Christine Anu, Caiti Baker

- A Royal Hoopla

- The Jezabels

- Jimmy Rees

- Girl from the North Country

- How to Vote!

- Whitefella Yella Tree

- The Comedy of Errors

- CJ Stranger

- HMS Pinafore

- Bill Bailey

- Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

- Winging it: The Musical

- Human Nature

- A Christmas Carol

In summary, 5 books, 49 movies, 64 tv shows of varying levels of engagement and 27 cultural experiences.

Easily the least number of books I've read in a single year since I could read. Mostly because it's hard and tiring for me to read with bad eyes and spending long days reading with my job. Interesting that I'm being drawn more to non-fiction than fiction these days.

Wow I watch a lot of tv and film. I really enjoyed Fresh off the Boat and multiple seasons of Below Deck this year. The right balance of entertaining and easy to wind down to and knit to after work.

I feel like I don't gig anywhere near as much as I used to, and that makes me sad. But I do like that I'm still doing on average a cultural thing every two weeks. Less gigs, more other types of culture and I'm definitely throwing lots of support behind the local culture scene.

[ckenvs3000]

Final Blog Post

This week’s blog post is very important, as it requires us to reflect on what we have learned in this course and consider how this has shaped our beliefs as a nature interpreter. Writing this final blog post is a bittersweet task. I have thoroughly enjoyed this course because these blog posts have given us the opportunity to communicate our personal opinions on course themes, and they have allowed us to interact with each other and share our views on nature interpretation. Whether you are leading an interpretive hike or discussing ancient artifacts, this course has given us many tools that will be useful in the broad field of nature interpretation.

Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, British Columbia. Photo taken by me.

Ethics are defined as “moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity” (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Each individual has a set of ethics that influence the decisions that they make in life. One's ethics can change as they mature and encounter different experiences. It is important that nature interpreters acknowledge their personal ethics, and consider how their ethics may influence the delivery of their programs. Personally, I think it is important that my programs are inclusive and accessible to everybody who is interested in them, regardless of what their “invisible backpack” may hold. According to Peggy McIntosh, privilege is an “invisible knapsack of unearned assets” (McIntosh in Noel, 2000, p. 116). In unit three we learned about the role of privilege in achieving environmental education and how interpretative programs aren't always accessible to everyone (Hooykaas, 2021). In the setting of nature interpretation, privilege can govern the experiences you have access to, the destinations you can travel to, and your level of comfort while participating. Thus, it is important to me that everyone who is in my interpretive program has access to the same experiences, regardless of their privilege. The role of a nature interpreter is to share their knowledge of the natural world with their audience, and this experience should not be affected by an individual's age, race, gender, class, education, etc. 

Photo Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2021/03/implementing-inclusive-policies-across-a-global-organization

One way to make nature interpretation more accessible to a wider audience is by using different methods of delivery. For example, someone who does not have the resources to attend an interpretive program at a provincial park may be able to watch a youtube video on the same topic and receive nature education this way. Chapter eight of the textbook discussed how to interpret to the masses and reach a wider audience via radio, social media and other outlets online (Beck et al., 2018). Additionally, the current pandemic has forced interpreters to come up with new ways to reach their audience, which has made the online delivery of nature interpretation more prominent. Thus, alternative methods of delivery (such as social media, podcasts and online videos) have the benefit of being accessible to a bigger audience and being accessed remotely. 

Different methods of delivery are also advantageous because they can cater to different learning styles. In unit two, we learned about the diversity of learning styles and how to cater to audiences with different learning styles (Hooykaas, 2021). Personally, I am an auditory and tactile learner and I benefit from listening to someone explain a concept or idea. However, I think one of the major responsibilities of a nature interpreter is to acknowledge your audience's learning style and adapt your programs to fit their needs (Hooykaas, 2021). In order to achieve this, it is helpful to use multiple learning theories in your programs to make your program suitable to a large diversity of learners (Beck et al., 2018). Approaches that I would include in my programs are items and artifacts that the audience can interact with, visual aids (such as diagrams) , auditory aids (such as a discussion) and activities that the audience can participate in. These approaches cater to auditory, visual and tactile learners (Hooykaas, 2021). According to Beck et al. (2018), multisensory learning is beneficial because it engages more senses which enhances learning. I think it is important to consider these things while developing interpretive programs in order to ensure that all participants can synthesize the information you are presenting. 

My friend and I on a hike in Algonquin Park. Photo taken by me. 

There are many responsibilities that come with being a nature interpreter. Primarily, I think it is important that you have all the first aid and safety qualifications required for your programs. For example, if you are leading a canoe trip it is critical that you have wilderness first aid training, ORCKA training, bear safety training, etc. As the trip leader and guide, you are responsible for the health and safety of your participants and need to be prepared for any situation. It is important that you can act well under pressure and know how to adapt to various dangers that may be encountered. Another major responsibility that interpreters have is to share accurate information with their audience. There is a lot of false information that circulates in the media, online platforms and social media. Thus, it is important that interpreters ensure that their audience is receiving correct information. When collecting information for my programs, I would use primary literature, and peer reviewed journals and have colleagues review my work to prevent the spread of false information. 

A photo of me collecting water samples in Algonquin Park. We are always required to wear PFDs while working near water and we receive extensive training before starting field work (WHMIS, Bear safety training, Workplace health and safety training). Photo taken by my co-worker. 

One of the elements of nature interpretation that I find particularly important is education on environmental conservation. It has been made evident that climate change is progressing, and this involves the simultaneous enhancement of environmental degradation. Therefore, it is critical that we, as interpreters, communicate accurate information regarding climate change to the largest audience possible, regardless of their “invisible backpack”. I have strong beliefs about how anthropogenic activities accelerate climate change, and environmental conservation is a topic that I am passionate about. Due to my beliefs, I will try to incorporate environmental education into my nature interpretation. As climate change proceeds, it becomes progressively important that environmental education and science education are synergistic (Wals et al., 2014). As a marine and freshwater biology student, it is my goal to spread awareness on climate change and how it impacts the health of aquatic ecosystems. This course has taught me how to use social media as an outlet to communicate my knowledge on climate change, and encourage my peers to get involved in making a difference.

My friend and I collecting zooplankton samples from the Woolwich Dam. This was used for our research project on the impact of dams (anthropogenic disturbances) on zooplankton alpha diversity in riverine systems. Photo taken by my group member.

Thank you for reading my post! 

Cassie

References 

Beck, L., Cable, T.T., & Knudson, D.M. (2018). Chapter 6: How people learn. Interpreting cultural and natural heritage for a better world. (pp.105-111). Sagamore Venture.

Beck, L., Cable, T.T., & Knudson, D.M. (2018). Chapter 8: Interpreting to the masses. Interpreting cultural and natural heritage for a better world. (pp.165-182). Sagamore Venture.

Hooykaas, A. (2021). Unit 3: Risk Versus Reward in Interpretation [Course Website]. University of Guelph Courselink. https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/666945/viewContent/2590559/View

Hooykaas, A. (2021). Unit 2: Teaching Learners [Course Website]. University of Guelph Courselink. https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/666945/viewContent/2583079/View

McIntosh, P. (2000). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In J. Noel's (Ed.). Notable selections in multicultural education (pp. 115-120). Guilford, CT. Dushkin/ McGraw-Hill.

Oxford Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

Wals, A., Brody, M., Dillon, J., & Stevenson, R. (2014). Science education. Convergence between science and environmental education. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 344(6184), 583–584. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250515

[mystech-master]

Blazblue rewrites Part 1: The Age of Origin and beginning of the Looping World.

(put this on my Reddit may as well put it here)

As we all know, the Blazblue series is one of the most convoluted and over-complicated pieces of media ever. Mainly due to its quantum physics talk and very chuuni dialogue and a lack of good explanation for a lot of points. Naturally, one good thing about being a fan is that through the power of hindsight we can look at the entire series and basically fix what we think was messed up. Of course, we have this freedom since we are usually individual people, don't have a massive writing staff and marketing we need to appeal to, and pretty much the entire skeleton and pieces are there, they just need to be rearranged and/or be tweaked a bit.

I remember getting into Blazblue around the end of high school/beginning of college, almost 5 years ago. I thought the setting was neat and I am into anime action BS. Of course, the story was bonkers and made no sense until I started looking deeper but the main thing that has bugged me were the characters. There is just so much Bullshit that the characters do and brush off that just irritates me, especially when it comes to Ragna. This series has made me rethink the meaning of life, of showing kindness to people, or if "doing things because it's right" is a good enough excuse, how much should you desire your own happiness? All sorts of existential questions that Blazblue has made me think, not from the plot, but just from the BS character interactions.

If you check out my Ragna the Bloodedge tag, or have just been following me for a while, you will see/know how much I will defend this guy to the fucking grave because of all the bullshit that this guy is expected to take and deal with and it being seen as"inspiring" or "heroic" when it is really just sad to me. It isn't me liking the character, it is just a massive amount of pity and feeling sorry for him, to the point where I kind of have a massive bias towards him and end up making him an all-powerful unstable badass in most of my fic ideas with him. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I wanted to lay out my ideas for how I would make a Blazblue rewrite. If anyone wants to use these in their own fanfic, feel free. I don't give a shit about credit.

Starting with the timeline, we have the XBlaze series, Bloodedge Experience, and the core C-Series (ft.

the Phase Shift Novels, and Remix/Variable Heart Manga). In the actual story these are all separate “Possibilities”, or Timelines/Universes. That is dumb and I think that we can tweak things to make it all one linear timeline.

XBlaze takes place in the year 2050, 50 years before the Dark War is stated to begin, and 149-150 years before the main games start. This is plenty of time to make things different. We know from the backstory that Takamagahara, the god-supercomputer that mankind made, was not completed in this possibility due to Touya’s mother iirc. In my idea, all this does is delay the inevitable, Takamagahara will be made, just at a later date now. (edit) There is also the Mitsurugi agency, which was kind of behind the Wadatsumi incident in XBlaze's backstory. With their connections to the Mage's Guild, the Amanohokosaka Clan, and their desire to get the Azure, we could say that this is the agency that discovered the Susanoo, the Boundary, and did most of these experiments to the Prime Fields.

I do not know the exact year when Bloodedge Experience takes place, but I am going to estimate around 10-15+ years from XBlaze, putting it at 2060-2065+, since they do mention Mei as the head/leader of the Amanohokosaka Clan. I am not too sure what the branching-off point is here, Valkenhayn mentions Clavis having killed Naoto in the core C-Series Possibility so maybe it was during their initial meeting. But is Naoto surviving gonna change that much? The only other detail that would need addressing would be Raquel’s relationship with Rachel. According to the wiki bio “Raquel was created when a user of Soul Eater went havoc and killed hundreds upon thousands of people. Clavis Alucard stopped the user and killed them, but was forced to take the lives of 128,932 people in order to do so. When this happened, he held an Embryo. Three years later, the Embryo became Raquel and she was born. Maybe sometime later Raquel could end up being killed or something and another Embryo results in Rachel. I mean we never see or hear mention of a mother, or maybe it’s some reincarnation thing? IDK. We see how stern Clavis was with Raquel, so maybe seeing his first “daughter” die he ends up spoiling the next one rotten, leading to the kind of haughty holier-than-thou Rabbit we know today.

However, all of this needs to be put in perspective of the Origin and Terumi. I may mess up some of the finer details.

The plot of Blazblue started when Susanoo ditched his body, the Susanoo Unit, and then mankind discovered it underground. They excavated it, dug deeper, and found a Cauldron which led to the Boundary, within which they found the Master Unit, the God Computer that would allow them to control reality, and beyond that, they found the Azure, basically the primordial absolute force of the Blazblue Universe. However, the Master Unit can only respond to something anthropomorphic/humanoid and humans can’t survive the Boundary. So they made the Prime Field Devices, Androids meant to go into the Boundary. Pretty weirdly specific criteria that results in robot girls but I don’t see how I can mess with this.

One of them manages to reach the Master Unit and upon touching it she gains the Eyes of the Azure which gives it the power of the Azure and basically becomes not only sentient, but basically a god. The Humanity, freaked out about her new free will and the power she now has, tosses her back into the Boundary. Within the Boundary, the PFD, the Origin as we know her, sees her “sister” units all being tortured. Most likely to break any souls they have so the scientists don’t have to deal with their “free will” getting in the way of their plans. Maybe to bring in Terumi telling Noel that they became weapons, other groups heard of the guys making the PFDs and them getting god power and obviously would be trying to stop them/take this power for themselves, so they decided to make the PFDs into mindless robo-soldiers to fight them off. Origin gets mad and ends up making all of them sentient. Probably by Observing them as sentient, like she sees all of these things “like her” so obviously they must be sentient or at least have the potential for sentience. Kind of like Jotaro going “It’s a similar type of Stand '' to DIO and then getting Time Stop.

Anyways now mankind is fighting these robot girls who want revenge for being treated like tools, all humanity sees is all these in-human weapons killing them for no reason, just because destroying is what a weapon does, and with the Master Unit’s Phenomenon Intervention, they can just rewrite all of their failures into victories. Mankind sees the Origin and the Master Unit as basically the same thing, an evil machine god. His leads into why the Origin and Amaterasu can’t just be separated so Ragna doesn’t have to sacrifice himself to stop the time loops, the world sees The Origin and Amaterasu as one, there is no distinction. This is also apparently the time period when Clavis Alucard helped mankind make the Izayoi, with its Immortal Breaker and ability to resist Observation to fight against the Origin and the PFDs. Ironic that it eventually became known as the prototype for the Lux Sanctus: Murakumo, but I’ll talk about that later.

So what does mankind do? Make a Black Beast to destroy it. I mean we are told to believe that a Black Beast is the result of Azure Grimoire (or just a piece of the Azure) + Murakumo Unit = either a Black Beast if the fusion is imperfect, and a powerful Kusanagi God Slayer is done right. But tell me, why the hell would they build ANOTHER Prime Field Device to fight the PFDs? I will be getting into the exact nature of Black Beasts later. Mankind is apparently cool with the Black Beast destroying the world because so long as they can get the Azure and plug it into Takamagahara, which is basically a manmade Master Unit supercomputer, they can just reset time. But due to a bug or something, the Master Unit stopped this and when the world was destroyed she just made a new one based on her memories. This is the world the characters live in now. And since the last thing she remembers about the world is the Black Beast and obviously she doesn’t want the world to hate and try to kill her, the Black Beast enters the world with everyone having no context to its existence and no other enemy to fight, leading to the Black Beast going from a weapon of Mutually Assured Destruction, to the new Ultimate Evil Enemy of the World.

A few things we need to take note of here.

XBlaze and Bloodedge Experience would need to take place during the Age of Origin, between mankind discovering the Boundary but before the Prime Field War starts. I mean the two things needed for that part to start would be Prime Fields and Takamagahara, and while there is Es who is sort of a PFD, you could simply say that her model isn’t suited for full Boundary Exploration. I know I am really glossing over the Embryo stuff about her but I haven’t seen XBlaze stuff in a while and I would need to find a way to connect it with the Embryo in Centralfiction.

Apparently, there was some off-screen war in which Hihiirokane (the Soul Cutting Sword protected by Jubei’s clan, used by his brother Tomonori to fight Terumi, then put in Clavis’ grave) was used to fight some enemy, “Outside of logic”. I have no idea what this is and it feels like something that shouldn’t be glossed over.

Mankind made a Black Beast on their side to get the Azure and fight the Master Unit, which A. means that in a weird way the Black Beast was sort of on mankind’s side at first before the Origin retconned it into being the destroyer, and B. mankind would have needed to make a Murakumo Unit to fight the Murakumos, knowing that the Origin is making them sentient and turn on them, which kind of feels like a dumb move. But again, I will get to this later.

This will all lead into the Looping World. Now, this is weird because of the main thing which the loop revolves around, The Black Beast. It is either A. as Terumi says in CS, a Cauldron that went batshit (which is precedent by the short story That Which Is Inherited where Sector Seven tries to smelt a Nox but everything goes tits up and a Black Beast forms from the Cauldron (no souls or prime field required), or B. a Time Displaced Ragna and Nu. The Black Beast is a Self-Observing weapon. Observation in Blazblue basically means “deciding if/how something exists” by Observing itself, the Black Beast declares its existence in this time period, which means that no matter what time paradoxical BS you may try to pull, it will always appear (Kind of reminds me of the Time Medallions Clockwork gives team Phantom in Danny Phantom). But a less mind-mushing way to look at it could simply be that, no matter what, this will always happen. Like, say the Assassination of Kennedy is Observed as an event that must ALWAYS happen, then even if you find and stop the sniper. He is gonna still die. Maybe there is another sniper, maybe the sniper gets a good hit on you and manages to make another shot down the road, but anyway you slice it, Kenedy gets shot. That event is permanently locked in history and no matter what you do, this event is inevitable.

But suggestion A is weird because it could either mean that 1. He is talking about the first Black Beast from the Age of Origin, or 2. Since that part of the story probably wasn’t written yet and they are talking about this specific Beast, he is talking about the Dark War Black Beast, in which case there actually was a bit of time before the time loops started, or at least the very first loop, so then there was a bit of time before shit went sideways.

Maybe the Origin didn’t make a Black Beast war and it was all Terumi’s idea. The world would’ve continued as normal but since Terumi hated the Master Unit and mankind wanted power, they tried to make a Kusanagi but it fucked up and made a Black Beast, but without a publicly known Prime Field War to justify it, mankind doesn't see this as a necessary evil which will get the Azure and then reset the world better for them, it’s just a big evil monster.

Okay, that is my interpretation of the Age of Origin for my Blazblue rewrite idea. Not many changes since this is all pretty self-contained and not much needs expanding on. Just make sure to justify some actions and connect the three timelines. I probably missed out on a lot of finer details but I think I got the broad strokes of it. Feel free to correct me.

Next time I will cover the Dark War and hopefully go into explaining how I would make the Powerset make a bit more sense (Ars Magus, Grimoires, Nox Nyctores, the Azure Grimoire, and the Black Beast).

[noelclover]

Off the Cuff 26/09/20

A topic about the nature of art and art as a product. I forgot to post this and it’s been over a month lol

This topic has been on my mind for quite a while and, like with most topics I finally pen down, I go about it in circles for months, at times dragging in anyone who would spare half a ear and a smidge of attention to the topic as I rant like a broken record, trying to figure out how best to start on the topic. And I figured that the best way to go about it was to simply ask the age old question that has many rolling their eyes, that everyone seems to think they have an answer to:

What is art?

The nature of art is a really difficult one to pin down. Some believe that art has to transcend humanity, display the best and worst of us, elevate us in some spiritual fashion. Some believe that as long as it’s beautiful or has a point to make, it’s art. Others still believe that if it’s called art, then it must be art. I agree with the first two to some degree, despite them occasionally butting heads, but I can never agree with the last bit.

(( Points at the banana being taped to the wall work of “art” ))

And it is because I understand their arguments and points, due to having studied art history despite my lecturer thinking that I was just goofing around, that I find myself, with the advent of two... pieces of media put out this year, in a perplexing position that can only be described as

“I get it. But why.”

The first of which is “The Last of Us 2″ and the second being the recent “Cuties” by Netflix.

((Please note I have not partaken in either product. This isn’t a criticism or endorsement of either of them, but rather a point at the decisions of the people who made them.))

Now, before I elaborate further on either of them, I’d like to talk about Dadaism.  (( Note that this is partially by memory and some quick fact checking. Additionally, I’m absolutely terrible at categorizing things through timeline and if something can fit multiple boxes, I end up jumbling them up. So please take the following explanation as more of a guideline and general gist than some academician toiling about the technical details of a topic )) Dadaism is an interesting field of art that was essentially “anti-art”, or grew out of a movement that believed in being anti-art and challenging the notions of what art is and from it sprung the surrealism and conceptual art movements. The term dada is said to be as a child saying “dada”, to highlight and evoke the absurdity and childishness of the movement. You can see examples of dada works with a quick look through Google, from which you’ll find a signed urinal being called a “fountain” and considered “art”, and you might find “Artist’s Shit”, a “work” consisting of 90 steel cans allegedly containing 30g of the artist’s feces.

Now, most of you may go “Noel, that’s absurd. How is that art?”, which is a fine and expected. I will now fully admit that dadaism simply strengthened my belief that art isn’t art just because some artist decided to slap a label on it. But here’s the thing: Ironically, dadaism became art. By being a criticism of contemporary art and arguing the nature of art, it ultimately became thoughtful in it’s absurdity and the meaningless, the worthless pieces of “art” created with it in mind became meaningful despite the lack of tangibility to whatever art is defined as in the minds of the masses.

Now that I’ve highlighted how “art” can be defined as something having a meaning or a point no matter how absurd, and have hopefully explained my view and ability to see how these things are art, I’d like to bring the topic back to “The Last of Us 2″ and “Cuties”. I understand TLoU2′s controversial decision, despite the fact that I brought up the question of “why”. I understand that they wanted to push the anger, the hatred before showing you that Abby is human, just like the characters you loved. Your hatred and anger towards her is justified and you fall into a cycle of hate and anger, either denying any attempt to know her better or begrudgingly because the lens of which you view her is stained by her actions. If the director’s idea is to force the player into a position where they absolutely hate Abby, then the decision to go with the storyline instead of rearranging the timeline so that players could get to know Abby first is the right thing to do.

I understand the idea of Mignonnes or Cuties, as it’s known worldwide. Our world is becoming more sexualized, the effect this has on children is worrying. The way we would look at a woman in a more appreciative lens is applied in the movie on prepubescent girls who try to be grown up (( hopefully )) creates a sense of disgust, to disturb the viewer. I know why the film is done in a more gratuitous manner, it is to elicit a response from the viewer, for us to criticize and think of the consequences of the pushing the boundaries we’re pushing. ((I am not endorsing the film. I haven’t watched it, and most likely will never watch it. I get the idea behind the decisions taken, that’s all.))

I get it. And note, I am not, in any way, stating that it is wrong for the creators to make the product the way they made if looking at it from the lens of “art”, if we consider art being a blunt tool that has you thinking.

Yet despite my understanding of this, the question in my mind doesn’t change:

But why?

You see, like the art pieces, the game and film are pushing boundaries and that’s fair. But unlike the art pieces in galleries, it’s marketed to the masses, most of whom probably won’t like the product even if they understand the idea behind it. From a marketing standpoint, and one of public relations, such works are generally bad. They’re meant to be “art” works, media that satisfies a small niche, delivers a message or has you thinking. They’re not works for the average person who wants to sit down and watch a movie or play a game at the end of the day. They’re not for the majority of the audience, as proven by the general publics dislike towards post-modern art, dadaism and the two products in question.

If you make something like that and embrace the fact that it will probably land you in hot water or not sell well, it’s all good. But it seems to me, based on the impressions I’ve had from memories of whatever it is I read, that the directors, that these creators expected the general public to embrace their works. It makes no sense and screams of naivete, if not outright stupidity.

It screams of a bloated sense of self import, as though one is beyond reproach and the audience, the masses are expected to open up their wallets and give these people their money. It reminds me of the PR disasters of Blizzard really. To sum it up, I suppose the point of this post is to simply highlight what I think we can all consider common sense: If you’re selling a product, make it appealing to the consumer. ((I’d like to add that in the case of Mignonnes/Cuties, the question of whether or not such depictions need to be made should be asked. I won’t get into that because it’s probably been talked to death, hell and back.))

[back-and-totheleft]

Romantic, freewheeling, containing fathoms

IT'S early in the piece but maybe the best way to explain the allure of Oliver Stone’s romantic, freewheeling autobiography is to tell you how one of my best friends took on the experience.

My mate, a self-confessed Stone nut, downloaded the audio version of Chasing the Light - as read by the author - and then proceeded to drive around Cork city with the Oscar-winning director and screenwriter for company. “Love how he paints a picture of post-war optimism in New York circa 1945-46,” he messaged me. “Take me there...” Throughout his storied but turbulent career, Stone has certainly taken us places - the steaming jungles of Vietnam, the (serial) killing fields of the American heartland, the fervid political theatre of El Salvador, the grassy knoll. Even if we didn’t always like the destination, more often than not it was worth the journey.

Reading Stone's words in Chasing the Light, it’s impossible not to hear that coffee and cognac voice. The words roll from the page, sentences topped off with little rejoinders, just about maintaining an elegant flow. Drugs are mentioned early and often, while the word “sexy” features half a dozen times in the opening chapters alone. As in his best movies, Stone displays a positively moreish lust for life, at one point referring to how the two parts of the filmmaking process, if working well, are "copulating".

The book tells the story of the first half of his life, up to the acclaim and gongs of Platoon, and it’s clear that his own sense of drama was underscored by his family background, which is part torrid European art flick, part US blockbuster. His mother, Jacqueline - French, unerringly singleminded - grew to womanhood during the Nazi occupation of Paris. She downplayed her striking appearance as the jackboots stomped the streets but quickly scaled the social ladder, becoming engaged to a pony club sort. Enter Louis Stone.

Considerably older than Jacqueline, Louis quickly zoned in after spotting her cycling on a Paris street. In no time Jacqueline has jilted her fiancée (who, remarkably, appears to have turned up as a guest at the wedding), Oliver is conceived and one ocean crossing later, William Oliver Stone is born.

This family contains fathoms, Stone's father straight-laced and Commie-hating on the surface, yet a serial adulterer (even threesomes are mentioned) and positively uxorious towards his own mother. "It was sex, not money, that derailed my father," he writes. Louis's infidelities nixed Jacqueline's American dream, and Oliver’s with it. Jacqueline ultimately cheats on Louis, not simply via a fling but a whole new relationship, and with a family friend to boot.

What’s even more interesting is Stone’s reflections on *how* it was dealt with. Already dispatched to a boarding school, he learns of the disintegration of his family down the phone line. It has the coldness of some of the best scenes from Mad Men, children of the era parceled off to the side even as momentous events in their home life detonate in front of them. As things veer ever more into daytime soap territory, Louis then tells his son he's "broke", echoing the impact of the Great Depression on his own father's business interests.

By now, Stone is unmoored. He has secured a place in Yale but blows it off for a year and heads to Saigon to teach English: "I grew a beard and got as far away from the person I'd been as I could." On his return he decides he is done with academia; he'll be a novelist in New York, much to the distaste of his father. "That's why I went back to Vietnam in the US Infantry - to take part in this war of my generation," he writes. "Let God decide."

And here we are at the pivotal moment in Stone's adult life. Plunged into the strange days of 1968 in the jungle, he recalls a scene in which his patrol group comes under attack, imagining itself surrounded. Time elides and a metre may as well be a mile, explosions going off everywhere and bullets flying amid paranoia and uncertainty that borders on the hallucinogenic. "Full daylight reveals charred bodies, dusty napalm, and gray trees."

Tellingly, Stone focuses on this arguably cinematic episode while other incidents in which he is actually wounded don't receive the same treatment. By the time he leaves Vietnam he has served in three different combat units and has been awarded a bronze star for heroism. So many of his peers were drafted, yet he had decided to go. You never get a direct sense that his subsequent career is in any way a type of atonement, yet it is never fully explained. "Why on earth did you go?" he is asked. "It was a question I couldn't answer glibly."

From this point on, Chasing the Light mainly becomes a love letter to the redemptive power of the cinema, pockmarked with acerbic commentary on Hollywood powerplays. Stone's firsthand experience of jungle combat gives him a sense of perspective that no amount of cocaine or downers can ever truly neutralise, and it also imbues him with a sense of derring-do. At NYU School of Arts, his lecturer is Martin Scorcese, an educational home run. Watching movies is a place a refuge, writing them a cathartic outlet. It leads to visceral filmmaking, beginning with his short film Last Year in Vietnam. That burgeoning sense of career before anything else brings an end to his first marriage - "'comfortable' was the killer word". The seeds are sown for the plot that would germinate into Platoon.

As he moves past the relative disappointment of his first feature, Seizure, the big break of writing Midnight Express, and then onto the speedbump of The Hand, his second movie, Chasing the Light becomes a little more knockabout, though no less enjoyable. Conan the Barbarian, for which he wrote the screenplay, became someone else's substandard vision, Scarface a not entirely pleasant experience as his writing efforts move to the frosty embrace of director Brian de Palma. Hollywood relationships rise and fall like scenes from Robert Altman's The Player. His second marriage, the birth of his son, the slow-motion passing of his father, and all the time Stone is chasing glory on the silver screen.

By his late thirties it feels like he's placing all his chips on Salvador, a brutal depiction of central American civil war based on the scattered recollections of journalist Richard Boyle and starring the combustible talents of James Woods and John Belushi. His own high-wire lifestyle is perhaps best encapsulated in his reference to Elpidia Carrillo, cast as Maria in Salvador: "Elia Kazan once argued against any restrictions for a director exploring personal limits with his actresses, and I wanted badly to get down with her," he writes with delightful candour. Yet ultimately "I convinced myself that repression, in this case, would make a better film." Note: in this case.

Salvador was a slow burner, not an immediate critical or commercial success, but then in the style of a rollover jackpot, it started climbing the charts just as Platoon is about to announce itself to the world. Despite some loopy goings-on, that shoot in the Philippines had never gone down the Apocolypse Now route of near-madness, the drama mainly confined to warring factions within the production team. Ultimately, Platoon was the movie mid-Eighties America wanted to see about Vietnam. The book finishes in triumph, Stone clutching Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

There are piercing insights and inconsistencies dotted throughout. Stone lusts after good reviews but rails against the influence wielded by certain writers, such as Pauline Kael. He makes frequent reference to his yearning for truth and factual accuracy, yet hardly raises a quibble with The Deerhunter, the brilliant but flawed movie by sometime ally Michael Cimino which - particularly in the infamous Russian Roulette scenes - delivers an entirely concocted depiction of North Vietnamese forces. But then again, Stone revels in what he says is the ability to "not to have a fixed identity, to be free as a dramatist, elusive, unknown."

We've come to know him more in the decades since - through the menacing Natural Born Killers, the riveting but wonky conspiracy of JFK, the all-star lost classic U-Turn, even the missed opportunity that was The Putin Interviews. As my friend, who is the real authority, correctly observes, Chasing the Light is also weighted with nostalgia for a time when political dramas and anti-war films were smashing the box office, something hard to imagine today.

The second volume, if and when it arrives, will surely make for good reading - or listening. Buckle up your seat belt and take a spin.

-Noel Baker, “Oliver Stone’s freewheeling autobiography tells the story of the first half of his life,” Irish Examiner, Jan 17 2021 [x]

[vincentpaints-blog]

Paintball Mind

Paintball is a genuine gathering shooting sport in which players clear out enemies from play by hitting them with round shading filled gelatin compartments considered paintballs that break upon influence. Paintballs are normally shot using low-essentialness air weapons considered paintball markers that are powered by compacted air (nitrogen) or carbon dioxide and were at first proposed for remotely checking trees and dairy cattle.

The game was from the start developed in May 1981 in New Hampshire by Hayes Noel, a Wall Street stock shipper, and Charles Gaines, an outdoorsman and author. A conversation rose between them about whether a city-occupant had the sense to make due in the forested regions against a man who had spent his youth pursuing, calculating, and assembling lodges. The two men gambled upon a business for a paint gun in an estate stock and were stirred to use it to settle their conflict with 10 other men all in particular competition, over the long haul making the round of paintball.

The game is played for entertainment and is also played at a formal displaying level with made contention that incorporates noteworthy rivalries, capable gatherings, and players.[4][5] Paintball advancement is in like manner used by military forces, law prerequisite, paramilitary, and security relationship to upgrade military or other planning.

Paintball Mind games can be played on indoor or outside fields of evolving sizes. A playing field may have trademark or fake domain which players use for key spread. Game sorts and goals change, anyway consolidate get the flag, removal, ensuring or attacking a particular point or region, or getting objects of interest concealed in the playing district. Dependent upon the variety played, games can last from minutes to hours, or even days in "circumstance play".

The authenticity of the game and usage of paintball markers changes among countries and zones. In numerous domains where overseen play is offered, players are required to wear protective shroud, use barrel-blocking prosperity equipment, and cautiously maintain safe game rules.

Endeavoring to pick how to deal with the kids this mid year? Bawtry Paintball has paintball games expressly proposed for kids developed 9 years or more. This article highlights 5 of the best reasons why paintball is the perfect youngsters' development for the mid year events.

1. Paintball is Safe

Various gatekeepers may be careful about their youngsters playing paintball, and you may be worried over how safe the game genuinely is. Regardless, paintball is ensured and has one of the most insignificant injury paces of any game. BPF has low-influence games expected for progressively energetic players, in which weapons shoot paintballs with 33% of the intensity of ordinary paintballs. BPF has a 100% first rate prosperity record and is the UK's most secure multi-activity center, fulfilling all UKPSF rules.

2. Paintball is Fun

Paintball is one of the most exciting and movement stuffed games and one of the most adrenaline-siphoning ways to deal with experience a night. Youngsters can carry on scenes from their favored movement movies in our extent of energizing game zones – from treetop fortresses and unsafe fuel dump to royal residence snare and commando exceptional powers. Paintball is strengthening and empowering and will release youngsters' psyches insane as they become some part of an epic encounter to beat the obstruction.

3. Paintball is Healthy

Paintball is sound for both the mind and the body. Give the youngsters a genuinely important break from sitting inside on development and get them dynamic in nature. Kids will get loads of movement from running, ricocheting, evading, bouncing and moving around different game zones. A series of paintball will get the youngsters out of the house and into the outside air for a sound full-body work out.

4. Paintball Builds Friendships

Paintball is unprecedented for building partnerships. Paintball amasses bonds between allies as they will snicker, participating, and making profound established memories. Paintball bolsters agreeable earnestness and improves bunch building capacities as kids ought to help out their gathering to realize a triumphant framework. Paintball is a social game and accomplishment just starts from coordinating.

5. Paintball Offers Variety

Paintball never gets depleting and offers so much combination. There are a wide scope of missions, from get the flag to discarding players, and a wide extent of game zones, from crossfire to parade ambush. Besides, kids aren't kept to paintball at BPF, they can in like manner have a go at bows and bolts, laser fight, and tomahawk ax and sharp edge hurling. These activities can open youngsters eyes to new experiences and reliably encourage kids to get a handle on new activities.

Paintball is the best kids development for the pre-summer events since it's very shielded, it's unfathomably fun, action stuffed and inspiring, it gets kids dynamic in nature which is unbelievable for prosperity and wellbeing, it manufactures dependable partnerships, and opens your youngsters' eyes to magnificent new experiences. So what are you keeping it together for? Get the youngsters down to BPF for a series of paintball this pre-summer!

[ancientbooshartifacts]

How Dave Brown Falls in Love

Author: coeur_de_noir

Year: 2008

Rating: PG

Pairing: Mike/Dave, Noel/Dave, Noel/Julian

“Alright?” Dave looks up from his sketchpad, a half smile of greeting on his lips before his eyes even properly register the figure lolling in his doorway. His blue eyes glint in amusement as he takes in the jumbled assortment of hair and elbows and knees propped up by the doorjamb, all unlikely angles and unexpected curves. “You look like a Brecht,” Dave says, and chuckles. Noel laughs softly, his intoxicated grin so wide that his back teeth catch and reflect the dim lamplight. “Yeah, and I'm hung like a Pollock,” he retorts, and staggers the short but strewn path across the student common room to the sofa, upsetting Dave’s pencil box, a glass of water and a packet of cigarettes on the way. “Anyway,” he continues, “I’m a post modern bitch, Brown. Warhol, not Brecht, yeah? All bright colours and social irony.” “You’re a tit,” says Dave, patting Noel’s knee with one hand and righting the glass with the other. He shoves a cushion over the puddle of water and watches it soak into the fabric, before pushing it half under the coffee table, like it never existed. He picks up his sketchpad again, and rests it on his knee. “Whatcha drawing, boy wonder?” Noel peers over his shoulder, pushing his errant hair back with a languorous hand, his skin smelling like an incongruous mixture of hashish and musk sticks and sweat. His smooth cheek presses against Dave’s slightly stubbled one, and his breath fans across Dave’s skin, tickling his throat. Dave feels Noel smile as they both regard the sketch coming to life on the page under Dave’s expert fingers. “Hey, its me!” Noels pleasure is evident in his voice, and his arms snake around Dave’s waist, hands clasping just above Dave’s belly button. He leans forward slightly, and his thin chest presses along Dave’s back, so close that Dave can feel the protrusion of each rib. Noel laughs, and Dave’s world vibrates. “You’ve got my nose wrong, Brown. Back to portraiture 101 for you!” Dave swats his forearm amiably. “It’s an elusive nose, Fielding, impossible to capture, changing at will.” “Like a chameleon!” Noel exclaims, and laughs. “Born adapter, blending into its environment,” Dave agrees. “Is it a nose.. no, its an ear.. oh nooo it’s a crooked finger!” Noel giggles and Dave rolls his eyes. “Now you’re starting to sound like a Picasso.” Noel smiles and presses his lips against the pulse in Dave’s throat, and Dave can feel more than see that Noel has closed his eyes. The intimacy is unexpected, but not unwelcome or unknown - it’s Noel, after all, and his casual touches have been more or less constant since Dave met him. It’s comfortable, actually. Somehow right. “I like that you’re drawing me,” Noel says. And it was more or less at that exact moment that Dave Brown fell in love with Noel Fielding. * “You should come see this guy with me tonight Dave, I’m telling you, he’s genius!” It’s months after that night, and Dave still hasn’t done anything about the small shining feeling he has in his gut that’s expressly reserved for Noel. He looks over the top of his camera, smiling at Noel’s enthusiasm and patiently waiting for Noel to recall that he’s meant to be posing. He laughs inwardly as he sees the moment of recollection, the way Noel looks a bit furtive and guilty before settling back on the windowsill and arranging his limbs into a graceful recline. The camera flashes and Dave moves a little closer, setting up the next shot. “Who is he, anyway?” Dave’s voice is absent, and he isn’t really listening, but he likes the way that Noel’s face looks when he talks and he wants to get that on film if he can. His fingers adjust the lens and he bends, poised in a shaft of sunlight, his hair a golden scruff around his face. “His name is Julian Barratt and he’s the best comedian I’ve ever seen!” Noel’s face lights up, and he leans forward, his eyes widening in excitement. “Dave, honestly, its like he’s reaching into my head and pulling out the words..” Dave chuckles. “Trust you to fall for someone who could be you, you tosser,” he says affectionately, expertly clicking and moving and waiting patiently for the next right expression, the next right light, the next right Noel. “Noel Fielding, the ultimate narcissist.” Noel blushes slightly, and Dave, ever observant, frowns in consternation. Noel, that shameless poptart, blushing? He slowly lowers the camera. “Do you like him?” Dave asks, and his tone is almost incredulous. “Like, like him, like him?” Noel bites his thumbnail and looks slightly shifty, hesitating, and Dave thinks that its pretty much all the answer that he needs. “You do!” It’s not quite an accusation, but its close. “Oh shut it, Brown.” Noel’s hesitation dissolves into a laugh and Dave tilts his head, unsure he’s read the situation correctly. “I just told you I liked him, didn’t I? He’s a brilliant comedian.” “Oh. Oh yeah, right.” Dave shakes himself, dismissing his thoughts, and raises the camera again. Noel flashes him that spectacular sunshine grin, the one Dave thinks he should patent, like how Betty Grable insured her legs or whatever. When he’s famous, that’s the grin that is going to melt the pants off every teenage girl this side of London. Noel settles into a more sedate smile and Dave sighs, wanting that animation back. He decides to push a few buttons, and tells himself its for the shots, just the shots. “So,” he begins, “whats he look like then?” “Hmm?” Noel looks up at him, his brows raising. “Who?” Dave tsks impatiently. “You goldfish. Barratt, of course, who else?” “Oh!” Noel pauses, his mouth opening in thought, tongue pressing to the inside of his cheek. His eyes wander upwards and Dave snaps off a few quick shots to make sure he gets that look. “Well, he’s tall, I guess. Hugely tall, actually. And, um, unkempt, kind of. Wears odd clothes. Dreadful hair, looks like its been cut by his mum. A big, manly kind of man. Very.. ahh, masculine. And weird...” Dave relaxes slightly, unaware that he was even tense. This Barratt guy doesn’t sound like Noel’s type at all. “... weird and awkward, like his skin is itching. Like he’s itching right out of his freckled northern skin.” “Ah.” Dave says. “He’s clearly from Leeds.” Noel explodes in a burst of laughter. “Clearly from Leeds! Genius!” Dave captures a few last shots. He’ll call these ones Fielding in Motion: Noel’s all bent in on himself, his laugh exuding from every inch of his body, like a muppet. “You know the type. Doesn’t have a car, picks up women in his tractor.” “Or in his wheelbarrow!” Noel giggles and puts on a northern accent that is still somehow distinctly South London, only deeper. “Oi! Get in me wheelbarra!” “Aww ya cheeky vixen!” Dave chimes in and laughs along with Noel, comforted by the fact Noel is so willing to take the piss. “Alright then. Get your gumboots on lovey. Sounds like we have a date with your husky northern gent tonight, eh?” “As if! Gumboots!” Noels smile of exasperation and excitement, when he turns it on Dave, makes Dave’s heart stop. * The applause is fractured and uncertain as Barratt leaves the makeshift stage, and Dave isn’t quite sure what to think. Noel was right, Barratt was kind of like him, with all the flights of fancy and tangents and movement - but with less natural appeal and a lot more anxiety. He had a tendency to leave the uncomfortable silences hanging rather than fill them with beguiling chatter the way that Noel did, and although he was funny, Dave found himself cringing more than once. Beside him at the bar Noel is fair near bouncing out of his skin. “Wasn’t he brilliant, Dave! Didn’t I tell you!” Noel spots Barratt across the pub and waves him over, his grin too large for his face, his eyes alight with eagerness as the big guy approaches. Dave mumbles something non committal, and it wouldn’t have mattered if he said what he really thought anyway because Noel was already turning away from him, shining the full force of his disarming charm into the face of a clearly discomfited Barratt. “Julian! That was brilliant! Everything... you know, everything that you said .. it was all just amazing. I loved it!” Noel’s enthusiasm is almost as painful to watch as Barratt’s awkward receipt of it. Noel looks like an excited puppy that’s torn between shagging Barratt’s leg or doing a little piddle on the carpet. Just as Dave decides that the mount is more likely, Noel leans over the bar and shouts for a round. Barratt’s gaze flicks in Dave’s direction, but doesn’t quite meet Dave’s own. He nods in acknowledgement, and Dave nods back, and then Noel is pushing the pint into Barratt’s hands and the moment is over. Dave sighs and settles back against the bar, listening with growing pain as the words flow back and forth between Noel and this Barratt character. Noel and Barratt form a circle for two, unconsciously excluding everything else around them as their conversation grows more absurd. Dave can see why Noel likes him - they complement each other almost exactly, like two sides of a coin. Noel is filling in all the awkward silences, and Barratt’s deep tenor is rumbling in appreciation and its like they've known each other for years. Dave forces a smile as Noel turns even further away, drawn against the big man like filings to a magnet. And then Dave sees the look in Barratt’s eyes, and suddenly it’s hard to think of him as 'Barratt' anymore. Suddenly he’s Julian, and the look in Julian’s eyes is familiar because it’s the look that Dave sees every day in the mirror - it’s the look that says that Noel Fielding has entered your life and made you love him and you don’t quite know what to do about it. He gives Julian a half smile of shared understanding and drains his pint in a single swallow. “Righto, lads, I’m off.” “Daaavee,” Noel whines. Noel tries to look at Dave, but he can’t quite draw his eyes away from Julian, and with a sinking feeling Dave suddenly knows that Julian has become Noel’s personal sun, the object that he’ll orbit around for all of his days whether he knows it, or not. It hurts more than he expects, but its also kind of a relief. “Dave nothing,” he smiles, and raises his hand in a half salute to Julian. “See you guys around” he says, and ambles out of the pub and into the dark London night. He was still in love with Noel of course, but that was almost the exact moment that he knew that he would never do anything about it. * Dave sits, laptop nestled in the thick bed of Bollo’s furry knees, blue eyes all smeared with greasepaint and staring fixedly at the flickering screen. He brings up a file, and smiles, his fingers moving with certainty on the mouse. The now famous Fielding-Barratt banter washes over him from across the room, but he isn’t really listening. It’s been years since their personal universe has had the power to hurt him; these days he just records it for posterity. He finds it comfortable to be a part of it, actually. Seeing Julian now - the way his eyes follow Noel like they were on a lead, how he pines for the thing that he wants most but thinks he cant have - Dave thinks he got off lightly. Noel is still Noel of course. He loves Julian unreservedly, and never gives a thought to the fact that Julian is the centre of his universe - Noel just accepts it as the natural order of things and basks in Julian’s adoration, never really thinking about what it might mean to someone who questioned those feelings rather than taking them as their due. Dave’s love as it was has extended, growing to encompass the Boosh in entirety - Noel and Julian and Rich and Mike. His smile deepens a bit at the thought of Mike, actually, and his eyes finally leave the screen to seek the little guy out. Across the room, Mike meets his gaze, wrinkling his nose in Noel and Julian’s general direction as they verbally beat each other. They are co-conspirators, both excluded by the way Noel and Julian are each oblivious to anyone but each other, and Dave likes that - it seems to bring he and Mike closer together. Dave rolls his eyes in sympathy and Mike gets up, his slight figure weaving through the discarded costumes and beer bottles and bubble machines that are scattered over the dressing room floor. He plonks down next to Dave, his turban askew, and passes Dave a roach. As Dave inhales, Mike rests his head on Dave’s shoulder, cosying up to the Bollo fur with a sigh of satisfaction. Dave smiles at the slight weight of Mike, and thinks it feels pretty good. Pretty right, in fact. Mike takes the roach back and glances at the screen, eyes crinkling in delight. “Hey! s’me!” he says, and watches as Dave’s clever fingers add titles and select frames and do all that other mysterious stuff that only Dave knows how to do. “Course it is, little Naboo,” Dave says, in his Bollo voice. “Naboo and Bollo are the Boosh. Never mind them jazzy benders.” Mike laughs and glances over at Noel and Julian, who, having abandoned their sparring, have now settled on the couch, heads bent close as they birth a new creative love child. “Yeah, I’m the hardest working shaman in showbiz!” Mike asserts, and reaches up to brush back a sweaty lock of Dave’s hair. “Blood sweat and tears,” Dave agrees, then adds “sweat, mostly.” Mike grins and looks up at Dave, his expression both innocent and impish. “You look like a Monchichi with your Bollo head off, you know.” he says, and laughs. “Want me to fan your balls?” And it is more or less at that exact moment, that Dave Brown fell in love with another Fielding.

[midnightiscoming-kasabian]

Nine Songs: Serge Pizzorno [1/2]

Kasabian’s Sergio Pizzorno talks Maddy Smith through the songs that have soundtracked his hit-filled career, and why he’s taking on an escapist solo project with The S.L.P.

“I always think that there’s a Japanese take on western culture. One where you can get a different eye looking at society. It’s a cartoonish way of looking at the world.”

A shaven leopard print fade, suede tiger print shirt and cheetah print jacket is not the typical get-up of someone who takes themselves too seriously. Kasabian’s creative force Sergio Pizzorno is just that - a character with a unique view of the world. As we sit down to chat in a London café, Pizzorno’s laid-back demeanour is somewhat at odds with his aggressively loud attire. Discussing his approach to song writing he reflects on a career that spans two decades riddled with no. 1 albums, and he stresses the importance of comedy and light-heartedness in a world that can often take itself too seriously.

“It’s all very visual and imagery is really important, I like to set little scenes in my lyrics, and humour as well. I think there has to be a little twist, or a little darkness, like in ‘Vlad the Impaler’. Calling a track that is ridiculous, so there’s a cartoonish nature to it as well. But ‘Underdog’ actually is about the love of the underdog and ‘Fire’ is about when you keep rolling sixes, when you just can’t miss. ‘Thick as Thieves’ and tracks like that are little stories. I think films and cinema are important, I feel like a lot of my ideas come from that world.”

With five no. 1 albums, a Glastonbury headline set and a wealth of worldwide tours behind him, Kasabian’s guitarist and songwriter meets me in the run up to a new challenge with the release of upcoming solo album, The S.L.P. Featuring Little Simz and Slowthai, he explains the reasons behind his solo venture. “I wanted to make an album where I can collaborate and it’s easier to do that when it’s with a different project. It was almost to create a world that you can visit every now and again. It gives you total freedom; you can be in the studio with anyone, see what happens and that’s really exciting.”

From his tongue-in-cheek dirgy, paleontological lyrics, zesty fashion sense, to the left-field tracks in his nine songs, it’s clear to see an eclectic pattern emerge; a comical twist on the everyday but also on life’s darker tangents. Catching a glimpse of the luminous socks peeking out of his shoes (which are emblazoned with a product available in Amsterdam coffee shops - you know the ones) I inwardly chuckle as I’m reminded that all too often we get caught up in cynicism, and think back to those infamous words from ‘Vlad the Impaler’ where Noel Fielding rigidly terrorises unassuming locals in ‘80’s horror movie fashion through barren fields. “Get loose, Get loose.”

“Dragonaut” by Sleep

“There’s a wicked film called Gummo, have you seen it? This song is on the soundtrack and it’s got that Sabbath thing going on, which we were looking for around our second album. The first album sort of blew up and we were quickly becoming quite big. We went in to record the second album with that in mind, we wanted to have heavy guitars for the live sound, that tone and that evilness, that heavy sort of drone in ‘Dragonaut’ - we just wanted to create some of that.

“It was a big contrast to what the first album was. It was becoming this band on this escapade, so we fell into that and life just got insane. We wanted to make a really heavy record to reflect that, the guitar was at the forefront because we played live every night, so we wanted to take that attitude and capture it in the studio.

“This track has that dirgy sound that I love, for me that will go to a lot of different areas but at the core, groove, flavour and flow is so, so important. We used to call it “The push” because if it pushes, it’s laid back behind the beat.

“It’s funny, because if you know that a musician has got it or a band has got it, it’s like you’re in that clique - ‘I know why you like that, because it’s got that flavour.’ You can listen to a hip-hop tune or a heavy metal tune and somehow get it. I think that was the appeal with making Empire, it was to retain that, ‘Okay, it’s going to be heavy and it’s going to be distorted, but we still need to retain that flavour and that push.’”

“Revenge of the Black Regent” by Add N to (X)

“I love their album Avant Hard, it’s way, way ahead of the game. It must have been the late ‘90s when I discovered it, around ‘98 or ‘99. I used to work in a clothes shop when I was about 18 or 19 and in the square where the shop was there was a record store. We got on with the guy there and he told me I’d love this record. So on the Monday, when the new records would come out, I put that on instantly and thought ‘What is going on here?’

“They were really ahead of the curve with ‘Revenge of the Black Regent’. Add N to (X) were using all these synths that I’d never heard of, that’s when I started to really research and get into the synth world and I became a complete synth nerd.

“What’s interesting is what people can hear compared to what you’re actually listening to. Say with our first album, when people said it sounded like Primal Scream or Happy Mondays and all this, we were actually listening to Add N to (X), that’s where we were getting that sound you can hear on the first record. It’s almost like they didn’t dig deep enough to realise what we were into, and where we were getting our inspiration from.

“‘Revenge of the Black Regent’ is really minimal, there’s hardly any layers and the girl’s voice is amazing; ethereal and floaty, it’s so good. The synths are amazing and the flavour’s there again that I love. There’s a horror to it as well, a darkness to it. It celebrates that feeling of discomfort or like you’re feeling a little on edge. It looks like there’s a thread to these tunes!”

“A To G” by Blackalicious

“That’s going back! For me, the lyrics from Gift of Gab - who’s part of Blackalicious - have such an amazing wittiness and humour about them. Blackalicious are so good at that, combining cleverness and wittiness with that melody and production on the track.

“My friend used to DJ in Leicester as a hip-hop DJ and he used to get me all of these albums. He played that out to me one time, it was that wordplay and the artistry in connecting words and meaning that grabbed me, and the flow on ‘A to G’ blew my mind.

“There’s humour in the song and I feel that’s also important. At the forefront I think humour plays a big part of my taste; there’s humour in all these tracks - even in ‘Revenge of the Black Regent’ and ‘Dragonaut’. I find something quite absurd about them, but I think if you’re writing something that’s a bit weird and wacky it’s really important for people to be in on the joke.

“We actually managed to work with Blackalicious and get a remix done of ‘Take Aim’ by them. We’re going to get that on YouTube at some point, which is amazing. That was great.”

“Plateau” by Meat Puppets

“I came late to the game with grunge. At the time I was a bit young, the rave scene had a massive effect on me and grunge was so far from what I was into. I think back in the day you didn’t tend to like everything, you’d say you were more into grunge, or into hip-hop, or a certain scene; it was very tribal.

"So I couldn’t really connect the dots to Nirvana and grunge, and at the time I missed the wave of grunge. But then when I got into guitar music later on - maybe in the late 90s - I found Nirvana. I heard Kurt talk about Meat Puppets, I think they covered them on MTV’s Unplugged? “Again, it’s the vocal on this track - “And an illustrated book about birds” - you can’t not smirk at that, it’s so far off. It’s the brittleness of the sound, it feels like at any point it’s going to fall to pieces - and I just love that, I like broken stuff. In the studio I play with guitars that are really old and have got one string on them, so I feel like I really connect with this ramshackle, rustic sound and I just want to be in that band. I want to be in the Meat Puppets - I feel like they operate in a whole other world.”

“Six Days” by DJ Shadow

“I’ve spoken about ‘Organ Donor’ quite a lot, but with this track I think the words are really powerful, especially with everything that’s going on at the moment. He talks about “Tomorrow never knows until it’s too late.” It’s a very powerful message and it’s where the world is right now.

“DJ Shadow has always been a massive inspiration and I cite him as the reason that I make music now, because of how big an impact that first album Endtroducing..... had on me and how it made me look at music. He combines a sort of psych/folk with a beat with more of an electronic focus.

“As long as there’s people willing to experiment with synths and electronic influence in rock music - and I like to think there is - I think it will stay popular. Those waveforms must do something to some people’s ears. It’s funny when you hear people getting synths really wrong though, because it’s very obvious. I think you should have to have a licence. There’s certain synths that I hear on records that are so bad, it’s ‘Put that away! Please stay away from pre-sets and do some research if you want to get involved in experimenting with synths. Don’t just pull out a keyboard and start to make music.’ You’ve really got to do your research.”

The Line of Best Fit | Words: Maddy Smith | 23 August 2019

[arundolyn]

Can you tell us more about ur soul eater au? It sounds cool!!

I HAD SO MUCH WRITTEN AND THEN THE PAGE REFRESHED HERE WE FUCKING GO AGAIN I SHOULD BE DOING HOMEWORK BUT HERE WE ARE

i have a 7 page document on this so Get Ready

ragna is kidnapped when he’s like 7 and experimented on for 10 years to be forced into becoming nu’s weapon and together they’re the nigh urban legend the black beast which is just an attempt by DWMA to make a kishin because izanami is fucked up 

ragna’s weapon form is aramasa but nu uses him exclusively in scythe form

kagura and hibiki run into them one night and end up fighting them, then end up taking ragna back to school with them while leaving nu to be picked up by someone who could handle her weird bullshit

celica is the nurse and so she sees her SON mangled and is like ???????? HELLO??????? EXCUSE ME?????? WHAT

izanami enrolls ragna as a student to cover the dark side of DWMA up a little more and act like this is a total fluke and not a backup plan

ragna is too skeeved out by meisters because of nu to let anyone wield him so when he’s forced to go out on missions to remain a student (he’s lowkey fascinated by soul studies but like. nobody’s supposed to know that) he just fights on his own and the meister assigned to go with him is like “dude tf”

it’s usually kagura because he brought him there so like. his problem now

 once ragna gets overwhelmed and would probably die if he didn’t let kagura wield him so he does but it’s a heat of the moment thing so when he tries to train with him later ragna doesn’t match his wavelength cause they aren’t both fuckin panicking

this whole thing from my notes

misc stuff

ragna jin and saya are cloned from izanami and noel lambda and nu are in turn cloned from saya bc it was too much of a pain in the ass to keep cloning izanami

minerva is celica’s gf and also assigned by kokonoe to monitor celica because she has an artificial weapon gene from kokonoe. she’s both celica and kokonoe’s assistant and helps with science and nurse things

i should refrain from posting technical spoilers but celica’s also a witch in hiding

amane’s an urumi which is important to me and also he has no meister cause he’s just that good. ragna argues with him about having to have a meister because if amane doesn’t why does he

the duodecim is families of legendary meisters. heirs are meisters (except MAYBE tsubaki?) and it’s not uncommon to marry their weapons (though not necessarily required) if they’re Good Enough To Be An (insert name here) + being a duodecim’s weapon in the first place requires them to be of pretty high caliber so either a skilled weapon has to work harder for wavelength matching if it isn’t natural or a less naturally skilled weapon has to train harder so when kagura says he’s switching weapons his parents have a heart attack because YOU FOUND THIS BOY ON THE STREET

noxes are descendants of weapons so strong they’re basically urban legends cause it was so many generations ago. except for like. muchorin who is trinity

setsuko yukianesa is jin’s partner and she unwittingly reinforces the idea that ragna abandoned him because he saya and celica don’t really know what happened

the bolverk twins are sigmund and edwin and they’re protect noel squad

nine created demon weapons and also is still trying to make requiem god. uh oh sisters. she’s also pissed at kokonoe for making celica a weapon

hibiki eventually becomes naoto’s weapon because naoto fought alone and was going crazy from black blood but hibiki grounds him and relius probably gave naoto black blood in the first place cause he’s a fucker

each of the prime fields has some weird defect that makes them different from the original saya (who nobody knows where she is (hint: in a lab somewhere) but she’s a really capable meister) like nu can suppress wavelengths so she physically cannot be rejected by a weapon and noel has a dormant weapon gene by accident, and lambda. i still haven’t decided on tbh

lambda is nu’s replacement weapon but she starts to fight against being used like ragna was after meeting ragna or something

rachel and tsukuyomi were partners once but sankishin are just really picky really powerful weapons and she couldn’t stand rachel’s attitude after a while

this to keep things straight

blacked out is spoiler but idk what im gonna do with them yet anyway. it’s pretty obvious who it is idk why i bothered

uh so yeah. that’s by no means everything but i’s A Lot