#and despite it not being 70s horror I do also recommend it if you like 70s horror)

[marypsue]

I was asked for recommendations because of this post, and here are a handful:

The Wicker Man (1973): The quintessential folk horror viewing experience, this movie is exactly as good as everybody always says it is. The soundtrack alone is worth the watch. Has a Wonderland-esque quality, where the main character is thrust into a world where everything he thinks he knows is turned topsy-turvy, and everybody around him seems to be determined to irritate and confuse him into an early grave. If you haven't been spoiled for the ending yet, try not to be before you give it a watch.

House / Hausu (1977): This movie was made in Japan, so most people call it Hausu, but the title card styles it as 'House' in English and has a voiceover that says "House!" at the same time. This is a surrealistic, almost cartoony psychedelic trip of a movie, where characters are named after the archetypes they fall into and special effects are added with hand-drawn animation onto film. Starting out like a parody of slice-of-life high school dramas and quickly getting weird with it, it could be silly and campy, and in some places it is, but I also found it creepy and psychologically unsettling in a way that sneaks up on you and gets right under your skin.

Halloween (1978): John Carpenter's original is a classic for a reason. Unlike many entries in the inescapable trend for masked killers cutting up co-eds that it inspired, this one is a moody, atmospheric, tense suspense thriller broken up by sharp, sudden explosions of violence. This is one of my all-time favourite horror movies and one that I go back to over and over.

Suspiria (1977): This movie is a candy-coloured confection of spun-sugar broken glass, cotton-candy razor wire, and raspberry-syrup blood. The aggressive use of the Goblins' creepily enchanting theme song nearly made me turn this one off in the first few minutes, but I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did. This is one you want to watch if you're looking for a Grimm fairy tale updated into the modern day (in 1977), built around a series of baroque and dramatically stagey murders.

The Haunting of Julia / Full Circle (1977): 1977 was, apparently, a good year for horror. The Haunting of Julia, or Full Circle, depending on the country of release, is a psychological ghost story with an absolutely gorgeous set and soundtrack. Is Julia really being haunted by a ghost, or just her own guilt? By the end of the movie, you may still not know for sure. This one is truly a horror movie for those of us who grew up on the 90s A Little Princess and The Secret Garden movies. (Just bear in mind that the abdominal thrust manoeuvre for helping choking victims, popularised by Dr. Henry Heimlich, wasn't common public knowledge until after an info campaign in the early 80s.)

Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971): This is such a surreal nightmare of a movie that in the end, you may end up questioning whether any of the violence actually happened, or whether its perpetrator was really who it seemed to be. Don't go into this one for the plot (it doesn't make a whole lot of sense), go into it for the imagery and the slow ominous rising dread (and the possibility of ancient immortal vampires).

I've also got Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) and Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) on my list to watch.

There's something about seventies horror that reminds me of live theatre, actually. The sets and costumes are often cheap, and when it comes to period pieces, more 'inspired by' than accurate; the makeup is big and visible; even when the effects are really good, the blood is usually unnaturally red. The acting tends toward the broad and stagey.

And yet, it's also clear that realism is not the goal. Rather, the movie works to draw you in to a unified fiction, to get you to share in its nightmare. The best seventies horror I've seen has a dreamlike, Vaseline-lensed quality, a sense that it doesn't matter whether or not everything that happens in the movie is likely or even possible in real life. We've stepped outside of real life into a self-contained bubble with its own logic and its own sense, a dark fairy tale where the corpses of young girls might transmute into hares or eternally hungry floating heads, or the night of All Hallows might summon a stalking, unkillable masked evil from the past, or a ballet studio might be entirely controlled by witches. Even the lowest-budget, most exploitative Hammer flicks don't escape the touch of that dreaminess, that velvety, enfolding unreality. The movie suggests a world, and we, if we are wise, gladly succumb to the power of that suggestion.

[riseofthecommonwoodpile]

Hi Izzy! I remember back in the day you were a big fan of Sunspring and wrote a beautiful piece discussing it and talking about AI art. Do you think any AI art has surpassed Sunspring? Have changes in the development of AI changed your perspective on it at all? Asking bc I love that essay and I’m very curious :) thx

(context for those who don't know, Sunspring is a short film made about 8 years ago that used a relatively early LLM to generate its script, which was then filmed with a real cast and crew. if you want to watch it here it is, it's about 9 minutes, i highly recommend it)

i've thought about Sunspring a lot as AI art has become such a big topic in the past year or so, and I think the pieces i wrote about it i still stand behind, though i got a few things wrong that i'll bring up when i answer the second question.

to answer the first question: i personally haven't see any AI art that has impacted me emotionally nearly as much, but i also kinda dropped off watching new movies (most of the new-to-me movies i watch are found footage horror movies, 70's porno-chic also-rans, and shot on video movies from the 90's), and i would wager that, if i could somehow experience all of the AI art that exists, there'd be something that hit me in the same way again. there's too much of it for that not to be the case, and too many genuinely creative people experimenting with it. that said, what was so beautiful about Sunspring was how imperfect the tech used to create it was. Almost all of the script makes grammatical sense, but the way it flows, the directions sentences go, the phrasing used is so strange that the friction between the failures of the tech to be truly convincing and the actors trying to bridge the gap to make it still work is what was exhilarating and moving. as the models have gotten better and better, as the rough edges smooth off, that tension so often has just faded into a bland beige unflavored oatmeal of average aggregate language. some of the phrases in Sunspring that have stuck with me the most ("I think I could have been my life", "Whatever you want to know about the presence of the story, I’m a little bit of a boy on the floor.", etc.) wouldn't be created by any of the most popular LLMs today. they're too idiosyncratic, the phrasing is too odd, the grammar almost but not quite there. the plot is surreal and associative, the structuring bizarre and dreamlike. the lines Sunspring ends on— "He looks at me, and he throws me out of his eyes. And then he says he’ll go to bed with me."— are some of my favorites in any film, and it's because they are abstract, poetic, like the computer stumbled upon a phrase so evocative that no written-by-committee script would've let it through. he looks at me, and he throws me out of his eyes. this man who is supposed to love me looks at me in a way where his love of me has gone, where i'm barely even seen as me. it's not the kind of sentence most modern LLMs, with their focus on being convincing, are designed to create.

as far as the second question, i think the biggest change in my perspective is how my belief in the technology, both good and bad, has curdled. i bought into the hype that the technology would progress to the point where screenwriting could be turned into an assembly line, and maybe after that the rest of the parts of filmmaking as well. i had hoped it would become a new collaborative process between human and technology, and i feared it would become a way for movie execs to pay people less and eliminate jobs. the first i haven't seen much of, and the second, while certainly the dream of so many boosters of the tech, has largely been a failure (though plenty, plenty of people have still lost their jobs to LLMs despite that, and as a labor issue i still think it is a very important area of focus). i was too caught up in the possibilities that i didn't bother to research who was making the tech, where the money was coming from, what growth in the sector would look like materially, etc. i still believe LLMs can be used creatively, but most likely any interesting art coming from them will emerge out of models custom-molded by artists to have some of those same rough edges i loved in the first place. i think, in terms of mainstream film, any use of AI is in service to the same bland competence the rest of the industry is mired in, a determination to make products for everyone that inevitably become products for no one. i've become a lot more cynical about the trend towards mediocrity in entertainment, and that cynicism is due at least in part to much of what i've seen come out of the AI space. i do not have a knee-jerk hatred of the tech, but it has not at all panned out how i had hoped or dreaded.

[dick-chugger]

You've infected me with a desire to watch a show from the 70's that I've always actively avoided because my racist great uncle likes it. What have you done to me?

How queer actually is it? Will I be able to bare the laugh track or is it Big Bang Theory level bad? Help. I am afflicted.

First thing: I've only seen a few clips with the laugh track and it's horrible. Probably wouldn't be able to watch the show with it. But it's available without it on DVDs and at least one pirating site (ehich is where I'm watching from). I can send a link in DMs if someone asks me to.

I've only seen like 1 season so I'm not an expert, but like if you ask me it's really queer, especially for a sitcom from the 70s.

I can't remember if you follow me for IASIP but if you do, I think it's pretty similar queer rep. Like there are many jokes about homosexuality in general, but most of the time it doesn't feel like queer people are the butt of the joke. A lot of the show is the main characters hating war and being subversive of the manly culture to either get away or to just annoy shitty people. There are a lot of scenes of the main character flirting with his male friends and making jokes about being bi (and also about getting pegged and getting pregnant) so I think it's pretty safe to say that he's queer. And from what I've seen every single male chaarcter has flirted back with Hawkeye so that's fun. Also without the laugh track one major character crossdressing doesn't feel like a joke, despite the fact that with the laugh track it pretty obviously is supposed to be. So if you can, watch it without the laugh track, you should.

There are also more serious episodes about things like racism, homophobia and the horrors of war (obviously). In general the show feels way more progressive and less mean-spirites than any 2000s sitcom I've watched.

I'd say the worst part is that there are some really shitty jokes directed towards women, and some pretty bad rape jokes. (The worst one so far is in the episode Bananas, Crackers and Nuts.)

This is really disorganised but yeah. I recommend it 👍

[biomecharnotaurus]

Okay, yo here's an odd, and possibly long ask.

1. Favorite Quake game and why.

2. If your answer to that is Quake 4 you can skip this one. I've only played Quake 1, and 4 looks really interesting. So curious on views on that, and whether or not it's worth it.

3. Eh while we're at if you've played Hexen at all what's your view on that. (Cause of boy I have, and it was the awful 64 port.)

1) Quake 1996 aka Quake 1. Simply I really like Ranger as a character (I really like the trophy of a massive tall ass war machine being actually just a very sad man worried for his family that he really loves ok 💔), I like the storyline and the theme of an alternative Lovecraftian realm trying to invade Earth is nice. Also the grotesque steampunk-medieval aesthetic is lovely. Monster design is also nice, definitely darker and more serious in comparison to Wolfenstein and Doom.

2) Quake 4 is good. It has absolutely nothing to do with any other Quake game and it's pretty much the Doom 3 of the series BUT ACTUALLY CREEPY, it even runs on the same engine. I don't recommend it if you don't like horror games with heavy gore and torture elements. It has a VERY heavy storyline and art style and it's extremely unsettling from some points (literally machines made out of mutilated bodies, decapitated bodies with no limbs connected to machineries used as generators, still trying to break free because they are still alive despite their conditions and this type of stuff). I saw some fucked up shit before in irl and these low poly models still grossed me the fuck out.

3) and no I never played Hexen I'm sorry #fakegamer

Tho, I'm terrified by Nintendo 64 ports that are not remastered, I think I lost 70% of my brain that one time I tried to play the port for Quake 1996

[katiesteedart]

My Ode to A Field in England.

My favourite movie. Of all time. Ever.

I've seen it maybe 70 times at this point (since it was released). I watched it on film4 on its release and my daughter was maybe 2 years old and not sleeping. Kids do this thing where they don't like to sleep from time to time. Not sure if you've heard that before 😅 but she wouldn't sleep. I put this film on, cradling her and she just fell asleep. The musics hypnotic I guess.

I can't tell you how much, especially as a new mum, you fall in love with things/people/films that help you to sooth a restless or upset child. I LITERALLY love this film. She's nearly 15 now and It still reminds me of cradling her.

and each time I watch- it just becomes something else. I can't describe how much of a chameleon this film is. It fits each theory I have for it. It's just beautiful.

I'm no critic. Just my opinion below.

Despite the low-budgetness of the film it is also THE most beautifully made film I've ever seen. The black and white is so spectacular. We see only the characters and not the incidentals. To see it in any kind of colour would be a mistake.

I've watched the film forwards, backwards, with no sound, every which way.. it works.

The horror is real and gory. The violence (implied and physical) necessary but used sparingly and the cannibalism simply nodded at. We don't NEED to see them gnawing at a human leg to know... we just know.

The drug induced magic of the film is absolutely hypnotic. Every time I watch it I feel peaceful (which is at odds with what is happening on the field at the time, I know, but still, it does make me feel very much calmer. At peace.

I also must urge you to listen to the commentary (I love a commentary) for this film. It's very informative and funny. Ben Wheatley is hilarious.

All of the cast are perfect.

-Michael Smiley is genuinely terrifying and seductive. O'Neill is a monster, almost Dracula-like in his ability to manipulate.

-Reece Shearsmith meek and then strong and courageous is something else. He was robbed of EVERY award that he should have been nominated for and it really does annoy me just how snubbed this film is

"The coward is here" & "I am my own master" lines get me in my guts every time I hear them.

-Peter Ferdinando is something else in this film. Stoic but also remarkably sweet. As I understand it, (from the commentary) he is a method actor and really went all out to be

-Ryan Pope is genuinely menacing but clearly induced. His performance is chilling.

-Richard Glover's character of 'Friend' is spectacular.

I was reading Philippa Waring's - 'Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions' the other day. I've read it since I was a little girl and there is a passage in the book about idiots in the middle ages being seen almost as their own scrying mirrors.. they let their thoughts lead them and how to be an idiot was actually 'to be blessed'. He says very little but every sentence that comes out of his mouth is cogent, relevant and performed so beautifully.

The score.

I can't even think about the music without getting a tear or two. Jim Williams IS a god.

'Flux of time' and 'Walk to still my beating heart' are SO beautiful. The whole score is and I LOVE Jim's version of 'Baloo my boy' at the end of the film. It's perfect.

Chernobyl by Blanck Mass is ridiculous. Ethereal, off, and rousing and used perfectly to show, not tell us, what has happened to Whitehead. We didn't need to see that. We know it's bad. The music and the performance TELL us everything we need to know.

A theory of mine (one of many) is that in the tent with O'Neill, Whitehead sees what is going to happen throughout the rest of the film. So he is in some kind of déjà vu loop. He knows that he will win which is why he is smiling despite also clearly being terrified.

Despite all it's horror, even at the end. It's an undeniably hopeful film. It's about friendship and certainly not in a cheesy way.

**I recommend everyone to watch it**

(except for epileptics because you'll probably die)

xksx

I shall consume all the ill fortune which you are set to unleash. I shall chew up all the selfish scheming and ill intentions that men like you force upon men like me, and bury it in the stomach of this place!

A Field in England (2013) dir. Ben Wheatley

[living-in-the-pokemon-world]

Hello, I'm here for a pokemon match up!

I'm female pretty shy and usually stay at home. I like arts & craft and cooking, playing video games (board games too if someones there) , watching shows  and I play the clarinet! I don't like crowded places and I have anxiety but I do like walking in the woods. I'm pretty clean and like things to be in their place. Also I'm a college student in a small southern town so it's pretty warm here. It stays in the 70 in winter and in the 80s in the summer! But I plan on moving to the city after I'm done! I plan on working in pokemon care if that helps! I have a fear of deep water and heights so water and flying types probably wouldn't be good for me. I'm a bit of a night owl and stay up pretty late but I'm still pretty happy and energetic around people I know! But i'm a bit shy and closed of in public im a horror fan and im very physically affectionate so a pokemon i can hug would be nice also would like them to be fluffy if its possible i'm really forgetful i forget to eat a lot i would like a pokemon who could provide emotional support and comfort me in anxiety or panic attacks but it isn't a requirement as you can tell i'm a bit all over the place also im very short at a nice even 5 feet tall while i'm not a fan of pokemon contests l  MIGHT battle but it won't happen a lot so a pokemon who really likes battling wouldn't be good for me would prefer a home lifestyle pokemon i have severe allergies and despite my love of them a grass type would suck for me :( I live in a tiny home and i don't have any pokemon at the moment but i do have some experience with them and had many when i was younger for types i do like normal fairy and bugs are my fav thats all :)

There were quite I few Pokémon that I considered for you, and I’m sure all would’ve been great choices but, in the end, one Pokémon came out on top and that Pokémon was Delcatty!

Despite being one of the larger members of the Felis (small cats) genus, Delcatty can actually do remarkably well in smaller spaces thanks to their proclivity for neatness and calm demeanours. This, combined with their sweet natures and overall cuteness, has led to them becoming rather popular as companion Pokémon, especially in their native Hoenn.

As mentioned above, Delcatty are rather clean Pokémon, spending significant amounts of their downtime grooming themselves. While they are usually able to keep themselves presentable, it would be best for you to give them a decent going-over a few times a week, paying special attention to the fluffier, purple areas of their body.

Domestic Delcatty can be slightly finicky when it comes to food, and it may take a bit of trial-and-error before you are able to find one that yours accepts. Many long-term Delcatty owners recommend trying a bit of everything when looking for a food for your Delcatty, ranging from their meat-based wild diet, to premade PokéFood blends and everything in between.

While they are known as kind-natured Pokémon, Delcatty, like all feline Pokémon are still quite capable of causing injury to people and Pokémon who have earned their ire. Thankfully, they tend to be quite patient, so just be careful to not push them to their limit and you should be fine.

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

Thirty One Days of Horror Movies! :D

Starting with the Fear Street trilogy! :D

A good place to start seems like my favourite horror trilogy of the year :D

And yes I am including all three as one movie here because they do form one full story across the three films. It’s like the Star Wars trilogy…you can just watch A New Hope if you want to but your gonna be left wondering “Wait so do the Rebellion stop the Empire? Does Luke become a Jedi? Do Han and Leia get together? DOES SOMEONE GIVE THAT WOOKIE A MEDAL”

So I definitely recommend watching all three to enjoy the full story especially as it takes some great twists and turns across the three films including a HUGE plot twist in the third one which I did not see coming at all but which was very clever and satisfying

The Fear Street trilogy  is FANTASTIC. I’m a huge fan of the books…they were part of a very tiny Samantha’s introduction to horror along with Goosebumps and Point Horror…but even if you’ve never read the books before these are a great trio of films. They’ve got an amazing cast especially the two leads whose fabulous lesbian romance forms the emotional heart of the trilogy, a fantastic soundtrack and they’re clearly made with a huge amount of love for the horror genre.

As well as plenty of references to the lore and world of the books whose universe these stories are set in there’s also plenty of fun references to horror films in general with the first two films especially being loving homages to the slasher films of the 90’s and the 70’s/80’s. There’s some great tense and spooky moments and while the films homage other horror movies it never slips into parody

The design of the undead slashers that are summoned up is brilliant with each one being neat in their own spooky way. I’m especially fond of the Jason Vorhees inspired by and the razor wielding lady. 

And most wonderfully of all like I say is the fact that the heart of these movies is the story of two girls in love who triumph despite the supernatural and human evil they face, leading to a really wonderful and emotionally satisfying climax. It’s also so wonderful to see a movie starring queer women in lead roles where we aren’t killed off.

This is a great start to Halloween Month…in fact me and my sweetie plan to re-watch these tonight to bask in the funky Fear Street goodness once again :D

[danhoemei]

Fandom questions:

2, 4, 7

Thank you for the ask amazing person 💚💚💚 (Ask game)

2. Fanfic trope you like?

SO MANY. But if I were to choose just one it'd probably be slow burn. I love seeing the progress of the relationship, live through it together with the characters, want it more and more as I learn about the pair and crave their happiness. And it all gradually accumulates until the tension reaches its peak, then everything untangles and clears out, and I finally experience catharsis. It just makes me so immersed in the story and gives so much more satisfaction than a short and obvious progress. Especially when it prompts the author to create an interesting background and events, because if the relationship takes long then there is usually something else happening as well.

4. Three dramas/shows you’d recommend?

Oh so many but it depends on what you search for. Also worth mentioning that I haven’t watched many dramas yet. I already tried to sell What We Do in the Shadows or The Good Place, so a few other shows I’d recommend: 

MindHunter to see FBl detective cases in the setting of 70s, when psychology was still not considered science and was laughed at. Follow the main characters who want to prove that with psychology we can understand criminal minds - or maybe even prevent tragedies - instead of assuming that people are born evil and it’s inevitable that they will commit crimes sooner or later. A very psychological and interesting story featuring actual interviews with serial kiIIers 

for a short supernatural story - The Haunting of Hill House if you’re okay with horrors and want an incredibly well made story full of rich characters and uncovering secrets of the past and present

for laughs - Misfits, to see a group of completely different people sentenced to community service, who get tangled up together because of an accident which gave them powers. Watch how they try to fit back in and tackle more supernatural occurrences around them, all the while learning about themselves and each other, growing and changing, and finding a family in each other despite all their differences. Warn about gore, expIicit content, crude humor xd It’s been many years since I watched it but I remember it as a fun and light show, I hope it’s not just my teenage self being into weird stupid stuff xD

7. Three songs you listen to?

Hhhh I don’t really listen to anything connected to the fandom (maybe except wuji piano+flute version bc that grabbed my heart). So let me throw a few songs which reminded me of some characters or events.

Brave New World by Kalandra (yt / sp) - xie lian during xianle war in the Cursed Book Four :’) I so would like to make a video with that x0 Would start at the beginning of the war while xl was safe and out of it, then continue to how he joined and tried to save everyone, then his breaking point, and would end with “You woke a fire inside of me / Fanned the flame and made it breathe” with xl @ wu ming who's just a second away from being consumed :’’’) The lyrics just HIT and the music stirs my soul so much, I love this piece and can fit it to so many places xd

Youth by Daughter (yt / sp) - jing qi @ helian yi, at least before his seventh final reincarnation :’) (I’m still reading) or Riverside by Agnes Obel (yt / sp) also kinda made me think about jing qi in the Yellow Springs by the River of Forgetfulness

Landfill by Daughter (yt / sp) - qijiu vibes (shen jiu @ yqy) OR alternatively bingqiu (lbh @ sqq after the abyss, during all the misunderstandings and sqq’s running away).

Darkest Hour by Low Roar (yt / sp) - wwx @ lwj (and partly jc) at the burial mounds siege:

I hope it hurts :’)

[scope-dogg]

I'm like a mecha noobie, only watched things like Code Geass and Gurren Lagann, but I've wanted to try getting into more mecha anime, do you have any recommendations for toe-dipping into the genre?

If you’re looking for good series that A) aren’t massive time investments and are B) high quality, here are some of my favourites. You didn’t specify specifically what kind of stuff you’re looking for, so here’s a bunch of series that cover a wide variety of subgenres, tones etc.

The Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy (Mobile Suit Gundam 1, Mobile Suit Gundam 2: Soldiers of Sorrow, Mobile Suit Gundam 3, Encounters in Space. Trio of movies compiling the original Gundam TV series, space opera, late 70s / early 80s. The first entry of the largest and most popular mecha series, still one of the best ones despite its dated presentation.)

Macross: Do You Remember Love (Movie version of the original Macross series, space opera, mid 80s. Extremely beautiful animation, good character drama, high-stakes story.)

Expelled from Paradise (Movie, post-human sci-fi, 2014. Plays with interesting concepts, very good looking production despite being animated entirely in 3D.)

Aim for the top: Gunbuster (late 80s space opera OVA, 6 episodes. First work produced chiefly by Hideaki Anno of Evangelion fame. Excellent animation, incredibly emotional and dramatic plot arc.)

Armor Hunter Mellowlink (late 80s war drama OVA, 12 episodes. Spin-off of Armored Trooper Votoms that doesn’t need you to watch the main series first. Unique in that it mostly features the protagonist fighting enemy mecha on foot.)

Getter Robo Armageddon (Dark and violent post-apocalyptic late 80s OVA, 12 episodes, probably the best animated work featuring one of the genre’s founding franchises.)

Patlabor: The Mobile Police (Late 80s near-future setting OVA, 7 episodes. Also there’s a full length TV series by the same name that’s also excellent. All about law enforcement in a post-mecha world, mostly comedic.)

SSSS.Gridman (2018 giant hero TV series, 12 episodes. Technically a giant hero series like Ultraman but hits all the right spots for mecha fans. Good all round production by Studio Trigger, has a sequel series currently airing.)

Planet With (2019 space opera / absurdist TV series, 12 episodes. Extremely bizarre but ultimately well-made and emotionally touching story.)

Bokurano (2007 psychological thriller / cosmic horror TV series, 26 episodes. Features titanic robots, equal parts nightmare fuel and emotional roller coaster, probably the saddest mecha series.)

Overman King Gainer (2002 post-post apocalypse TV series, 26 episodes. Fairly light-hearted production by the creator of the original Gundam featuring excellent hand-drawn animation and exotic mecha designs.)

Terrestrial Defence Corp. Dai-Guard (Late 90s near-future comedy TV series, 26 episodes. Classic super robot setup featuring a giant robot against extradimensional invaders, but with the “realistic” elements played up for laughs.)

Tetsujin 28 (2004 retro sci-fi TV series, 26 episodes. Reboot of the original series featuring the very first giant robot in Japanese media. Highly melancholy series with heavy themes.)

Gun X Sword (2007 sci-fi Western series, 26 episodes. Great characters and humour centred around a story themed around the concept of revenge in a wild-West esque sci-fi setting. Earlier creation of the director of Code Geass.)

Martian Successor Nadesico (Late 90s TV series, space opera, 26 episodes. Tongue-in-cheek story that lampoons the genre with a great cast of characters, highly recommended.)

The Big O (Late 90s retro sci-fi series with noir trappings, 26 episodes. Strange but very compelling setting and story with an ending that remains hotly debated to this day. Visual style very similar to the animated batman TV series from around the same timeframe.)

The Vision of Escaflowne (Late 90s fantasy series, 26 episodes. Isekai series featuring giant robots, and a romance-heavy shoujou-esque storyline. Very high quality production values and soundtrack.)

Note that this isn’t an exhaustive list, there are still several other series that could probably fit this bill that I haven’t seen yet and thus can’t recommend with any confidence. I tried to keep all my suggestions under 30 episodes long, but there’s a bunch more I could recommend over that limit.

[industrial-meat]

When engineers wake up and choose chaos...

Okay, I already did a ranty twitter thread on this, but broke it part-way through because twitter’s UI is delightfully misleading sometimes and lends itself to breaking your threads unless you’re very careful.

Anyway! This one’s a long one. But the summary is: Britain in the 70s was clearly not a normal place.

Truck brake chambers!

They’re a pretty simple thing, all told. A service brake chamber has a rubber diaphragm that pushes on a plunger when compressed air is applied behind it, and is returned to its resting position by a spring.

A park brake chamber is basically the same; except there’s an extra chamber on the back of it, which has A BIG FUCK-OFF SPRING that pushes a plunger forward until it shoves the service-brake plunger forwards and applies the brake. This BFO spring is pushed back by compressed air operating on the front-side of its diaphragm, which releases the parking brake. The service brake then operates as described above.

Seems simple enough, right? Biggest problem is with springs rusting & snapping, and diaphragms being punctured. Also, don’t open the park brake chamber because there is enough force in that spring that it can kill you. No, seriously. They literally put “danger of death” warnings on the fucking things.

And the control for the park brake is a lever-operated valve that either supplies air to the spring brake chambers, or vents it all. (You can, optionally, slowly pull the lever back towards the “park brake on” position, and vent a little bit of air at a time to gradually apply the park brake. This is the equivalent of a secondary brake system on a modern truck, so you have some measure of controllable braking if you -- for whatever reason -- lose your service brake which is controlled by the pedal-operated valve.)

Anyway! Back in the 70s, an engineer at Bedford -- Vauxhall Motors’ commercial vehicle division -- woke up and decided to choose chaos as a brake system option.

[Image Description: A scanned page from a service manual, showing a hideously complex Heath Robinson system in a brake actuator. It has all sorts of springs, linkages, pistons, and assorted widgets.

It is captioned: “When the footbrake is applied air enters the service line port (1) behind the piston (3) which, together with the piston (4) and piston shaft (15), moves against the return spring (2) to apply the brakes by means of the levers (11) and push rod (10).

In the event of failure of the service system, air from the secondary system, already present between the pistons, moves the secondary piston (4) and shaft to apply the barkes, while the service piston (3) remains stationary. The secondary line port (14) is incorporated in the actuator body.

The locking device operates on the piston shaft and consists of eight barrel shaped rollers (7) in a lock collar (6), the bore of which is tapered.

Under normal application of the brake pedal, the lock mechanism is held in the off position by air pressure entering the lock port (12) in the actuator body. This air pressure, controlled by the parking brake control valve, acts on the lock piston sealing ring (13) to push the lock piston (5) against the spring loaded rollers which move into the larger diameter of the lock collar. This allows free movement of the piston shaft when applying or releasing the brakes.

When the parking brake is applied, air pressure from the parking brake control valve enters the secondary line port to apply the brakes and the air pressure to the lock port is exhausted. The spring (8) and thrust washer (9) push the rollers towards the smaller diameter of the lock collar to grip the piston shaft as it attempts to return to the off position. The brakes are thus held on mechanically with no air pressure in the actuators.”

End Image Description.]

But the chaos doesn’t end there, oh no. Oh no! For, you see, a simple hand-control that goes between “apply” and “release” just wouldn’t do, here.

[Image description: The parking brake control valve from hell. It has a lever sticking up out of a path that can only be described as a lower-case H. At the bottom left is “Off”, where the park brake is released. At the top left is “Aux and Unlock”, and in the bottom right is “Park”.

The caption reads: “The parking brake control valve, mounted by the driver’s seat, is supplied with air from the secondary reservoir. When the control valve lever is in the ‘Off’ position the valve supplies reservoir pressure to the rear actuator locks to hold them disengaged.”

End image description.]

Oh christ. Thankfully, it’s remarkably simple to operate, as detailed in the following diagrams!

To apply the park-brake, starting with the lever in the “Off” position (bottom left of the ‘h’, which is position 1), you move it upwards to halfway up the vertical path...

[Image description: A diagram version of the control valve, rendered as an outlined lower-case H with the numbers 1 (also labelled as “Off”) through 4 clockwise from the lower left of the bottom half, with 2 (circled) and 3 at the horizontal stroke of the h. 4 is on the bottom of the rightmost leg of the h, and is labelled “Park”

The caption reads: “When the control level is moved to position 2, air pressure at approximately 5 bar (70 PSI) is delivered to the rear brake actuator secondary pistons to apply the brakes. Air pressure is also delivered to the governor valve to render it inoperative.”

End image description.]

...then rightwards...

[Image description: The diagram, now with position 3 circled. It is captioned as: “Movement of the lever to position 3 exhausts the air from the actuator locks permitting the springs to engage the locks. A hydraulic damper prevents rapid movement of lever from position 2 to position 3 which allows pressure in the actuators to stabilize.” End image description.]

...then down...

[Image description: ‘h’ shaped diagram now has position 4 (Park) circled.

Its caption reads: “As the lever is moved to position 4 air pressure is exhausted from the actuators and the governor control line, and the brakes are held on by the locks.” End image description.]

Congratulations! You’ve just applied the park brake on ... probably a coach? Either way, I’d recommend probably just running away and leaving it where it is, because this is a system obviously designed by madmen and who knows what else lurks...

Just as a side-note, though:

[Image description: A photograph of the underside of the valve operating lever path, showing a sliding block that ensures that the lever can only be operated in the correct sequence. The caption reads: “A sliding gate underneath the cover of the valve prevents movement of the control valve lever from ‘Park’ directly to ‘Off’ without engaging the ‘Aux and Unlock’ position when releasing the brakes.“ End image description.]

So that’s good to know!

Now, assuming for whatever reason you wanted to release the park brake and continue driving this bus built by crack-pipe wielding Brits, you would push the lever forwards from the ‘Park’ position...

[Image description: The ‘h’ diagram again, with position 3 circled. The caption reads: “The correct sequence for releasing the parking brake commences with movement of the lever to position 3 which supplies air pressure, at approximately 5 bar (70 PSI) to the actuators to hold the brakes on, and to the governor valve to render it inoperative.” End image description.]

...then left...

[Image description: Yup. ‘h’ diagram. Now with position 2 circled.

Caption reads: “Movement of the lever to position 2 supplies reservoir pressure to the actuator locks, which may not disengage.” End image description.]

...then forwards...

[Image description: Fucking ‘h’ diagram again. Now with position 5, “Aux and Unlock”, circled. Caption is: “The lever must then be moved to position 5 to supply reservoir pressure to the actuators and permit disengagement of the locks. If the locks do not disengage, the lever must be held in position 5 while the reservoir pressures increase sufficiently, if necessary to the safety valve operating pressure, to release the locks.” End image description.]

And then you’d pull it straight back to position 1 (’Off’), which exhausts air from the actuators (and the governor control line), releasing the brakes and allowing the governor valve to do its thing like normal.

But, for a bonus, you can apply the rear brakes by pushing the lever forwards towards ‘Aux and Unlock’ position, and the degree to which they’re applied is proportional to how hard you push the lever forwards. Y’know, just like how you’d apply the brakes with the foot pedal, but using the hand lever and only applying the rear brakes.

Now, as for why they chose ... whatever the fuck this is, over normal spring-brake chambers, I have absolutely no idea.

It’s not like they couldn’t, because the normal spring-brake type of brake system was also an option and is detailed earlier on in the service manual.

This was just the “Despite it all, I am awake, and I am going to make it your problem” design, I guess.

The worst bit is, this is only page 214 of the service manual, and I’m a little scared to see what further horrors await.

[letterboxd]

A Leaf in a Stream.

The matriarchs of Minari—Youn Yuh-jung and Han Ye-ri—talk to Aaron Yap about chestnuts, ear-cleaning, dancing, Doctor Zhivago and their unexpected paths into acting.

A delicate cinematic braid that captures the sense of adventure, sacrifice and uncertainty of uprooting, Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari might be the closest approximation of my immigrant experience on the big screen yet. Sure, Arkansas is a world of difference from New Zealand. But those dynamics and emotional textures of a family in the process of assimilation—authentically realized by Chung—remain the same.

The film is a wonder of humane storytelling, with the American-born Chung encasing deeply personal memories in a brittle, bittersweet calibration that recalls the meditative, modest glow and touching whimsy of an Ozu or Kore-eda. As Jen writes, “To describe Minari? Being embraced in a long, warm hug.” Or perhaps, it’s like Darren says, “floating along peacefully like a leaf in a stream”.

Neither is alone in their effusive praise. Minari rapidly rose to the top of Letterboxd’s Official Top 50 of 2020, and by year’s end our community had crowned it their highest-rated film. Despite its cultural specificity—a Korean family shifting to the Ozarks in the 1980s—the film has transcended barriers and stolen hearts. Run director Aneesh Chaganty says, “I saw my dad. I saw my mom. I saw my grandma. I saw my brother. I saw me.” Iana writes, “Its portrayal of assimilation rang so true and for that, I feel personally attacked.” The versatile herb of the title, Kevin observes, is “a marker of home, of South Korea, but it can grow and propagate as long as there is water.”

Though a large portion of Minari was vividly drawn from Chung’s childhood, a few of the film’s most quietly memorable moments were contributions from its Korean-born cast.

Youn Yuh-jung as Soonja in ‘Minari’.

Veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung, who’s extraordinary as the visiting, wily grandmother Soonja, traces the origins of the scene where she cracks open a chestnut in her mouth and hands it to seven-year-old grandson David (Alan Kim), to her time living in America. “I’ve seen one grandmother visiting at the time—we don’t have chestnuts in Florida—she brought them all the way from Korea. Actually it was worse than the scene. My friend’s mother brought [the] chestnut. She chewed it and spit it out into a spoon and shared it with her grandson. Her husband was an Irishman. He was almost shocked. We didn’t do that, but I shared that kind of thing with Isaac.”

Most viewers watching this scene will likely recoil in horror, as David does, but co-star Han Ye-ri, playing Soonja’s daughter Monica, notes the practicality of the gesture: “If you give a big chunk to children they could choke on that, so it’s natural for them to do that for their children.”

In another brief, beautifully serene scene—one that is so rarely depicted in American cinema that it’s almost stunning—Monica is seen gently cleaning David’s ears. Han came up with the idea. “Originally it was cutting the nails for David,” she says. “Cleaning your wife and husband’s ears is such a common thing in Korea. Initially the producer or somebody from the production opposed the idea because they regarded it as dangerous, but because it is something that is so common in our daily lives I thought we should go with the idea.”

Neither actress comes from a traditional movie-oriented background. With no acting ambitions, Youn began her fifty-year career with a part-time job hunt that led her to distributing gifts to an audience at a TV station. “It was freshman year from college and they gave me pretty good money. So I thought, ‘Wow, that’s good!’.”

“I’m kind of ashamed about that, as nowadays all the kids plan their future,” she says. “When I talk to the younger generation, they start having dreams about being an actor in the sixth grade. In the sixth grade, I was just playing—nothing. I didn’t plan anything. [Laughs.]”

Han Ye-ri and Noel Kate Cho in ‘Minari’.

Before acting, Ye-ri trained as a professional dancer, and while she wasn’t specifically inspired by movies to cross over into acting, she was an avid film watcher in her formative years. “Working as an actress made me realize how many films I’ve seen growing up.”

“My first memory of a non-Korean-language film left such a strong impression on me, especially the ending,” she says. “The film is called Doctor Zhivago. I saw it on TV and not in theaters. The first film I saw in theaters was Beauty and the Beast. But even growing up I remember because Koreans love films so much they would have films on TV all the time. I watched a lot of TV growing up because both my parents were busy, and in retrospect that really helped become the basis of my career. [Laughs.]”

She also grew up “taking reference from Miss Youn’s body of work to study from, as did many other actresses”. Grateful for the opportunity to work with her on Minari, Ye-ri says, “On set working with her, it made me realize how wonderful it is that this person still carries her own distinct color and scent. And seeing her taking part in this production in a foreign country—she’s over 70—it just really encouraged me that I should be more fearless like her.” She adds: “One of the things that I really want to learn from her is her sense of humor but I think I’m going to have that for my next life. [Laughs.]”

As for Youn’s adventures in early movie-going, she recalls the first Korean film she saw with her father was the 1956 historical drama Ma-ui taeja, based on a popular Korean fairy tale. “I was so scared. I cried so my father had to take me out of the theater.”

“At [the] time, we always had to watch the news on the screen before the movie. It started with a national anthem and every audience from the theater would need to stand up and pledge to the Korean flag. It’s a very stupid thing for you guys but it was like that 60 years ago.”

Han Ye-ri as Monica in ‘Minari’.

For Minari fans who want to discover more of Youn’s work, she recommends starting with the first movie she made with the late, great director Kim Ki-young, Woman of Fire—a remake of his own 1962 Korean classic The Housemaid. “A long time ago I couldn’t see it. Of course I first saw it when it was shown at the theater back when I was twenty. But later on we had a retrospective, so I saw that movie 50 years later. Wow, he was very genius. I was very impressed. That time we had censorship and everything but with that crisis he made that film. That was a memorable movie to [me].”

Youn admits finding it difficult to be emotionally invested watching a film starring herself, including Minari. “It’s terrible, it’s killing me,” she says. “I always think about why I did this and that scene like that. I’m just criticizing every scene so I’m not enjoying it at all.”

Asked which films she enjoys, she offers: “Some other people’s movies like Mike Leigh and Kore-eda Hirokazu. Your Chinese movies I fell in love with. Zhang Yimou when he started. Then later on when he became a big shot, I don’t enjoy [them]. [Laughs.]”

During the shoot, members of the cast and crew caught Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, 2019’s powerful, heartfelt Chinese-American immigrant story. While Youn missed it (“I was just staying home trying to memorize the lines and resting”), Ye-ri watched with interest: “That film also had a grandmother character, so did ours, and these two are completely different. But at the same time from both films you can feel the warmth and thoughtfulness of grandmothers in different ways. To me they are both very lovely films.”

Of her recent viewings, Ye-ri reveals she found Soul made her as emotional as Minari did. “It made me look back at how I live and my day. It’s not necessarily for children but I think it’s a film for adults. [Pauses.] I’m Thinking of Ending Things. I love that film also.”

‘Minari’ is out now in select theaters across the US and other territories, with virtual screenings available to US audiences in the A24 screening room.

[onlyhereforangst]

2020 IN WRITING

tagged by @indestinatus 💕

tagging whoever wants to go thru this journey with me & see their accomplishments in this terrible terrible year!

1. List of works published this year:

Oh god there’s a lot, like 70 total in just 2020. I’ll try to categorize them so this doesn’t get too long 😅but here’s a cut for aesthetic on your dash.

Sequels/Partner Fics: Risk It All (for @hellokaelyn), Finally Home (to Come Back), They Always Do & Could She?, Lucky Day & Completely Yours, Fiery Trance (Two Can Play series), Obsessed (Particular Taste), Soul (to Ignited)

Smut: My Turn (sequel to My Pleasure), Worth It, Maybe We Should, Make it a Double (also a fic request), Shall We (AU)

Fic Requests: Coffee Run, Hold Still, Typical, Deal, Needed It, I’m Home, For Science, Cry Me A River, From Your Dreams (AU), Crystal Clear, Tempt Me, Your Fault, Prove It, Silent Proclamation, A Hundred Suns (angst smut), Duly Noted

Stand Alones: No More, Never Let Her Go, Life is Fragile, Pandemics & Peach Drinks, To Need and Be Needed, Never Let Go, Coming Home, Priceless, Behind The Mask, Need a Hand?

Angst: My Daisy, Status Quo, Can I Stay, I Refuse, Deal

Series/Multi-chaptered: Back Off (Better Apart, Missed The Mark, Change Her Mind, But You Do, Layered Love), Electrified (Don’t Stop (Senorita)), Here By Faith, Forgive & Forget, Angstober ‘20 (Never Has & Never Will, Only In My Head, Long, Long Gone, Do Something, Take Care, Waiting to Burn, Survive the Hell, Find Her, Never Ended Well, At All Costs, One Thing Right, Stay Away, Echoed Back, Smart Man, Not Interested, Flake Again, Release, Slipping Away)

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

Here By Faith mainly because of the topic. Pregnancy & Infant loss has been such a taboo topic for so long and something I have personal experience with so writing this was very therapeutic. 

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

Shall We and only because I truly wanted way more plot in this and it turned out to be essentially just straight smut with a tiny bit of plot. But it is what it is 🤷🏻‍♀️

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

Ok I had 70 fics to choose from not breaking down chapters so I’m sure I’m missing something, BUT I do love - omg typing this out I realized it’s from a fic in 2019 so I can’t use iiiiiit 😩 ok so here’s a couple excerpts. I loved typing out this stream of conscious partner fics (They Always Do & Could She?):

They Always Do:

Yet this time, this time she didn’t have the chance to rebuild. Like a Trojan horse, he waltzed right up to her and slowly dismantled her defense. Joke by joke, smirk by smirk—Nick took each brick down with care. The worst part? It was so subtle, so thoughtfully done, she didn’t even notice it was happening. Didn’t see her chest being pried open, beating heart on display for him to see, and take. Never realized her greatest defenses were missing until it was too late.

That love- precious, fragile, delicate love- had managed to grow again. In her desolate, cold heart, Nick managed to bring to life an emotion she had long given up on. An emotion she was too afraid to ever feel again. Because with it came agony.

They leave, and you’re abandoned- picking up the pieces of a shattered heart.

When you love, you lose. Always.

Could She?:

But-

Even if that was love, even if he loved Ellie with his whole heart, his entire being. Was that enough? Was Nick enough? Was he deserving?

A resounding no clanged around his skull like a church bell in a Southern town on Sunday morning. He wanted to silence it, stop the shrill metal sound that started any time he pictured forever. Any time he truly thought he might deserve to love, even after all he’d done. After all the unimaginable things he’d done, the horrors he’d seen, the pain he’d caused. That bell sounded, loud and clear.

How did he deserve love when he couldn’t bear to love himself?

[...]

Could she love him despite all his misgivings? Could she love him even when he didn’t love himself? Could she love him when there was a risk he’d be taken from her too soon?

Could she?

Please love me.

But please be sure.

There’s been a couple of other inner monologues that I have absolutely loved (I like to think it’s semi my speciality? But maybe that’s super arrogant of myself?) but that’s a different post for another time.

5. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

I said it recently but I *love* when people pick out specific line(s) from my fic and choose to comment on those. More often than not it’s a line I was so proud of either prose-wise or foreshadowing-wise or whatever and I get literally giddy with excitement that someone not only noticed it but also loved it enough to comment on it 🥰but truly any kind of comment is dopamine-inducing 😉

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

As some people may have noticed (& maybe not because I did still semi-run the other main ellick blog despite it) I was somewhat absent for most of the summer/fall. I struggled for the first time in my life with mental health issues, borderline depression after being in a shit work environment, an essential worker with a company that claimed to “care” about us, a community that I once loved but showed their true colors in the midst of the pandemic & election, add in a rough pregnancy & it was a recipe for disaster. I didn’t want to even move from the couch most days let alone write. 

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

I had a lot of fun writing short excerpts from different characters’ perspectives (Jimmy, Kasie, McGee & Gibbs) in my Angstober series & honestly wouldn’t mind doing that again!

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

Honestly not sure, I think I’ve just generally grown as a writer - better descriptions & descriptors, better dialogue, better plots. But that could all be me seeing things 😂

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I’d love to look into writing more seriously. My husband is convinced I could write an episode script or a novel, so I may look into trying my hand at that (even though I feel I’d be god-awful at it 😅)

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Hmmmm I always appreciate the support I’ve gotten from the ellick fandom despite it being rough this year for us, wonderful people like @erinchristmaselvis, @thekeyboardninja, @hellokaelyn & @wanna-be-bold are always there to either hear me vent or cheer me on ☺️

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Haaaaah yes. Lots of it (but I bet you can’t tell because I only add mini snippets so have fun finding those easter eggs 😏)

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Always, always, always write for YOU. Not for anyone else, the kudos, hits, comments, none of it. Write for YOU. And I say this as a reminder to myself as well, it’s so hard to get bogged down in that dopamine-induced craze we search for in recognition but it’s so important to not externally validate yourself rather internally validate yourself on baby steps of growth & accomplishment. 

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

LOL how about all my WIPs? All of those stories I started forever ago that people call me out on not finishing months later when I swear they’ve forgotten about them 😬

14. If you could recommend only one work from yourself published this year:

Hmmmm lemme pick one from each category because I’m indecisive 😉

Sequel/Partner Fics: Lucky Day & Completely Yours (the aaaaangst)

Smut: a tie between Maybe We Should & Make it a Double

Fic Request: A Hundred Suns (because I love me some angst smut)

Stand Alones: Pandemics & Peach Drinks (hahahaha because this was in an Insider news article at the start of the pandemic hahaha so on brand #2020)

Angst: My Daisy (I looooooove this one, but also all of the angst category lol)

Series/Multi-chaptered: literally not one of these is finished and they’re all heavy angst so take your pick 😂

15. Year word count: 103,050 in 2020 which seems like so little 😅

Here’s to 2021 being the year I finish WIPs! she says knowing she’s lying

[georgefurth]

Happy Halloween! My favorite horror musical is the 1970 revolutionary concept musical Company written by George Furth with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Company started as a series of short plays written by George Furth in the 60s as part of his psychotherapy. The plays were originally going to be produced on Broadway in with Kim Stanley as the lead, however this fell apart and George Furth went to Stephen Sondheim for help. From there, Hal Prince recommended the plays be turned into a musical and the protagonist eventually shifted into Robert.

Much of the original female-led plays were later turned into 1971's Twigs starring Sada Thompson. (Which were later adapted in not one, but TWO TV movies in 1975 and 1982!)

Originally, Anthony Perkins was going to play Robert, but Perkins wanted to direct film, so the role was given to Dean Jones. Dean Jones, however, was going through a divorce at the time and left the show shortly after it opened with the stipulation that he'd sing on the cast album. He was replaced by Larry Kert.

Company is uniquely terrifying not just because of the theme it explores.

While a stark exploration of intimacy and fear of it, the show also contains biting commentary on how men treat their wives and partners, a detail that has been ignored or obscured by many of the recent commerical productions. While not as antagonistic as the second Furth/Sondheim collaboration, Merrily We Roll Along, Company has no qualms against trying to get it's audience to consider their own actions.

Company is a comedy, and a funny one at that, but this is contrasted with often cynical dialogue, representations of social isolation, and an overall tone of despair, combined with Sondheim's wonderful, often overwhelming and haunting score.

Like a lot of George Furth's work and despite being 50 years old, Company's social commentary largely remains relevant. And that's, in a sense, part of the terror this show inflicts now. Is Company something that just taps into the human experience, or is it disturbing how social commentary from the 1960s still rings true today (and seems to continue to make people uncomfortable, if the recent genderswapped production's complete destruction of the book tells us anything)

I think another aspect of Company's terror, maybe just for me, is how the show was George Furth's only true hit, despite having a handful of shows on Broadway throughout the 70s and 80s, and how despite the show revolutionizing musical theatre and remaining in the cultural zeitgeist long past it's original premiere, Furth is still often left undercredited and the show's text and themes pushed aside for the most basic possible reading and turned into simply a list of songs. That's scary to me. Probably just me though, haha.

I love Company and think it's the perfect Halloween entertainment if you don't like fantastical elements, or if you just want to sob in the middle of Side by Side by Side (that again, might just be me) , or if you find intimacy as scary as Bobby does! Company is blessed to have tons of proshots! Some of which really do just embrace that terrifying element, maybe watch some if you haven't! And have a happy Halloween!

[notsolstice]

Hey!! So that post about wayward son (after realizing not the song) made me monkey side-eye my bookcase to the two novels on my bookshelf and I googled what ppl's beef w her is and long story short, books are in the garbage lol. I literally only bought them bc of the Kevin wada art and never got around to reading them, so yeah waste of money, but no skin off my nose. That being said, you got any recs for some good books?? I don't think I have a particular preference, but I'd def prefer non-fiction (I get enough of real life from daily news articles tbh). If it's too much work, don't hesitate to trash this ask, but I just thought I'd give it a shot since u seem well read and I literally don't think I've read anything extensively since I hyperfixated on the Sherlock Holmes anthology for 16 hours straight lol

oh hell yeah successfully tricked someone else into thinking i am well-read

and oh yeah i know i joke but yea don’t read rainbow rowell’s books because it doesn’t matter how many beautiful covers she gets from a collab with a high profile asian american artists there’s no excusing her first mess of a book. plus the fact that they’re apparently making a movie (???) she’s really not trying to apologize or rehab her image very well lol

BUT ANYWAYS idk if you meant fiction instead of non-fiction but if you’re after non-fiction unfort I will not be of much help since I’ve read like, 2 non-fiction books in the last 10 years and I almost exclusively read genre fiction so apologies in advance if this list is useless 2 u. also just fyi i don’t really read modern YA because I’m a crotchety grandmother so if you are looking for YA that is more woke then I will also not be of much help here. and don’t read the raven cycle no matter what tumblr tells u

the southern reach trilogy by jeff vandermeer. the books are probably my all-time favorite sci-fi literature ever, although calling them sci-fi is probably not accurate. more like magical realism science fiction? first book starts with a team of all-women scientists exploring an area that is hostile to humans on behalf of a shady institution and things get weird from there. the second book drags a bit but it is SO worth it trust me. don’t watch the movie

piranesi by susanna clarke. this is her most recent book, and I’m reccing it instead of her first book, jonathan strange & mr norrell because piranesi is a quick read compared to jsamn which is 800 damn pages long and dense as HELL and probably a little intimidating if you’re out of practice reading. however I do also recommend that if you have the patience.

DISCWORLD by terry pratchett. the discworld series is actually about like 50 books or something ridiculous and ugh ok I was trying to keep this not intimidating but it’s so worth it I promise. dw was a foundational text to my sense of humor which, actually hm. that might not be the best endorsement but whatever. it started out as just a parody/satire of those trashy fantasy books from the 70s-80s but it expanded into its own universe. also you may know it if you watched/read good omens, sir terry was the other co-author besides neil gaiman. you do not have to read them in chronological publishing order btw, they’re actually more like comics, where you can pick a character/set of characters and read their series within the larger canon. there are a lot of reading order lists out there so it’s pretty easy to pick one and start, but I can definitely help more if u want!!!

salt: a world history by mark kurlansky. ok this is a non-fiction book I just picked up and it is very interesting despite the title but this has exhausted my recs for non-fiction i’m sorry. or you can read the giant book about cancer the emperor of all maladies which was great but wiped me out on non-fiction for about a decade

the matthew swift series by kate griffin. i think it’s got some other fancy name as a series title but i literally cannot remember it right now oh well. not the highest brow of Great Literature but i loved this series about a sad man brought back from the dead to do magic with garbage bins and telephone booths. and it’s a series of books about adults doing magic but in no way can it be described as “harry potter for grownups” so that earns it points immediately

wilder girls by rory power. oh wait I did read one YA book that I liked!!!!! this is kind of similar to jeff vandermeer’s writing, although a little less intense. there’s a lot of body horror and feral teenage girls and is delightful to read if you were at any point in your life a feral teenage girl

the starless sea by erin morgenstern. skirting the edge of YA with this one but it was fun and gay and what you should read instead of wayward sons. or just read some spn fanfic i got recs for that too

I have a lot more books I’m trying to read now but I feel like this is a decent place to stop before I start recommending chuck palahniuk and embarrassing myself with my cishet male taste

[newmusickarl]

Album & EP Recommendations

Album of the Week: For Those I Love by For Those I Love

“I have a love,

And it never fades,

I have a love full of flames that rage,

I have a love that never turns,

I have a love that burns.”

-          You Stayed/To Live, For Those I Love

Every once in a while, an album will come along that is just undeniably special. The debut album from Dublin-based producer and songwriter David Balfe is very much that album.

This is a record that is both heart-breaking and uplifting in equal measure. Pensive and euphoric. A record to be enjoyed at a deep, introspective level but also one in which you can just switch off and get lost in the glorious sounds that are on display. An album about life, love, loss, and everything in-between.

To really get to the heart of this album though, it is important to first know the tragic context of its inception. In 2018, David Balfe’s best friend since childhood and musical collaborator Paul Curran took his own life. Overwhelmed by the loss, Balfe would escape to his parents’ shed where himself and Paul used to create their music as teenagers. Hiding himself away in that shed, Balfe started crafting new music, outpouring all his thoughts and emotions into it; his upbringing in Ireland, his family, his friendship with Paul, his grief - ultimately all the memories of these he now carries with him.

Out of this intensive period of song writing came over 70 songs that were eventually whittled down to the nine that make up this masterpiece of an album. Named For Those I Love, the project was made for his family and friends and was first shared with them a little while ago. Now, Balfe has shared this project with the world and the world will be grateful that he did. This is because despite being an intensely personal record, one where Balfe’s own life and emotions are deeply intertwined into the fabric of every lyric and verse here, the message and music are universal. This album is for everyone who has ever suffered a loss, and those that have yet to experience such grief.

Now you’re probably expecting from that build up that this album is quite an overwhelming or harrowing listen, but it really is not. The heavy weight of the thematic and lyrical content, which is beautifully poetic in its delivery, is balanced out perfectly by the house beats and celebratory dance music that accompanies it. Sonically, you can compare this to The Streets and Fontaines D.C. joining forces with Burial and Four Tet to craft something entirely profound and totally unique. This is an emotional record yes, but Balfe’s love letter to his friends and family also makes for an uplifting and life-affirming experience.

Because of how this album plays out, its hard to pick one or two tracks to highlight as I would normally do – the odyssey and joy this album will give you is the highlight. However, the three tracks (I Have A Love, You Stayed/To Live and Leave Me Not Love) forged around the beautiful central refrain of “I have a love and it never fades” that begins and bookends the album, those are the ones that ultimately end up resonating the most.  

It’s hard to say where Balfe will go from here – for him, much like one of his inspirations Burial after making Untrue, he may decide to not make another record and focus his creativity elsewhere. With the identity of this musical persona so engrained in this particular record and the time in which it was made, it would be hard to make a direct follow up. That said, if this is a one and done project for Balfe, he has more than left his mark on the musical landscape in 2021 with an album that I believe will still be inspiring people over a decade later.

A magnificent tour de force from beginning to end, a masterpiece in every sense - I fully expect this one to be in the Album of the Year and Mercury Music Prize conversations later on this year. If you only have time to listen to one album this week, definitely make it this one.

The Close / Le Réveil by Josef Salvat

In any other week, Josef Salvat would have been my Album of the Week with The Close. Not too dissimilar to Balfe’s debut, on Salvat’s third album (his second in the last 12 months) the Australian singer-songwriter takes on feelings of loss, this time brought on by the breakdown of a relationship, carefully balancing out the sorrow and remorse with a sonic backdrop of pop and dance melodies.

I have loved everything he has ever released, but The Close already feels like Salvat’s most complete and accomplished work to date, propelled by standout tracks like First Time and I Miss You. That said, my favourite track is still One More Night, an ambient yet ravey number that features a danceable club groove made up of synths and panpipes. An incredible album, that I will keep revisiting in the coming weeks.

Collections From The Whiteout by Ben Howard

And finally on the albums front this week, acclaimed singer-songwriter Ben Howard has released his fourth studio album Collections From The Whiteout this week. This album sees Howard collaborate with The National’s Aaron Dessner on production duties for the first time, offering up a record that feels even more experimental than his last effort, Noonday Dream. 

Although the album eventually overstays its welcome somewhat with it being almost an hour in length, it is still a fascinating showcase of Howard’s unique blend of folk and alt-rock. Standouts include opener Follies Fixture, Crowhurst’s Meme and Far Out.

Tracks of the Week

James by Oscar & The Wolf

Now, we may have just had the album and song of the year drop in the same week.

His first new release in three years, Belgian popstar Max Colombie (who goes by the Oscar & The Wolf moniker) has said that the arrangement for new single James appeared to him in a dream, which is quite amazing considering how richly textured it feels. In fact, it has only been out a few days and it already feels like his most accomplished song to date.

Dazzling harmonies, pounding drums and a shimmering central guitar riff eventually transcend into a dreamy, psychedelic guitar solo in the song’s climax. The track is over five minutes long but honestly you’ll wish it was longer – this is perfection.

Smalltown Boy by Kele

Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke served up his second taste of forthcoming solo album The Waves Pt.1 this week, featuring his inimitable vocals crying out a gorgeous refrain of “run away, turn away” over a haunting Interpol-esque central riff. Stunning!

Fall In Love Again by Rag & Bone Man

Also offering a second taste of their forthcoming album this week was Rory Graham, aka Rag & Bone Man, who dropped this heartfelt acoustic guitar and piano driven ballad, anchored as always by his powerful voice.

X by Working Men’s Club

And finally Working Men’s Club have wasted little time readying the follow-up to their impressive 2020 debut, with first single X arriving this week. More reminiscent of The Horrors this one, X sees the band surround Syndey Minsky-Sargeant’s punky vocals with some heavy guitars and ominous synths.

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Jan 13)

With the snow outside and cancellations everywhere, I have more time to kick back, relax, and not do anything. Seriously, playing out in the snow and being an absolute bum is my specialty.

Dropped

Darwin's Game 

It just seemed like Mirai Nikki but updated to smartphones instead of flip phones and with a new interface and system. Seriously, it’s like someone watched Mirai Nikki and went “I can remake this and rake in the money”. The animation wasn’t good (according to our local sakuga geek, there were less than 10 animators who worked on the 40 min premiere because of the inhumane conditions of the studio which adds to the yikes), the soundtrack was great (but I won’t watch a show just for the soundtrack/seiyuu cast), and overall, I felt like I didn’t want to put myself through a show like this.

Uta no Prince-sama

I couldn’t do it fam. I watched two episodes and nearly cried on the inside because it felt like Kiniro no Corda but with a new bland face with new bland characters. I never watched either of these fully. I tried to watch just for the seiyuu (*ahem* Miyuki Sawashiro), but imagine having your life hobbies made into an absolute joke by a character who can’t even read music and is in the composition department while her main song of choice is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the ikemen around her and swooning over it and writing their own songs for her. The guys all have the same faces too! They’re triangle heads that can only be differentiated by colour palette. I’m telling the difference based on voices at this point. I don’t want the ikemen, but I would like people to be into my music too ya know! You may think that I’m dropping this anime purely out of spite for the story and characters, and you’re damn right I am. 

Seasonal Stuff

Pet

This is this close to being dropped, and I don’t mean for the strong BL vibes. It’s a little cringy but not that bad (I’ve watched a lot of cringe straight romance and to me it’s all the same). It just feels so poorly constructed right now. The universe just hangs by a thread with characters I feel ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for. Everything in this anime feels so cheap. I’m giving this one more week before I give it the axe.

Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita 

Okay, this anime is stupid, but we all went in knowing it was going to be very stupid. You’ve seen the screencaps. You’ve seen the cliches. Now get ready to have a pretentious science spin on it as if you haven’t seen these scenes a million times before elsewhere, and the characters (at least one of them) know it. The art... it’s present. I mean, character designs are giving the guys of Reddit what they want (especially with Sora Amamiya being really popular and singing the OP along with voicing the main character). Yuuma Uchida is also there. Nothing really worth noting here except “stay in school kids so you can become a pretentious science kid with no people skills!”

Dorohedoro

I might just watch this anime in place of “Pet” because this anime has a much brighter outlook and despite being CG genuinely looks better anyway. It’s the horror that I wanted to fill the void with (since Pet genuinely isn’t scary or innovative). Everything was pretty good with the first episode! I’m looking forward to seeing more!

From here on out, the rest of the seasonal list are the ones I look forward to the most! Get that head lizardman!

Runway de Waratte 

At first, this doesn’t seem like something that would come out of Shonen Weekly, but it inspires a good message about being who you want to be even with limitations if front of you. You have a girl too short to be considered a model and a guy who designs fashion without having the money to pursue it further. I know nothing about style, but I do know things about being short! Maybe that’s why I have such a soft spot for it...

ID:Invaded

This anime gets more interesting as we go along. I’m all into murder mysteries and things like that, and with the sci-fi mixed it, I checked to make sure I was up-to-date with this one. Each episode gives a new mystery with more details outline our jaded and imprisoned detective’s motives and backstory. I wasn’t sold on the character designs at first, but once you get over that hurdle, it’s all good. I like the psychological aspects of it too!

Kyokou Suiri 

Ever wish you had a female protagonist who was upfront about her romantic motives? Ever wanted to watch a show involving youkai? Here’s the show for you! Plus, her character design is so cute. Mamo sang the ED for this anime too. The animation is great, the story looks amazing (read ahead a few chapters in the manga), and this is one of my most highest anticipated anime for the season!

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

Here’s one of my favourite pilot episodes! This anime left such a strong impression on me that I went straight to my non-otaku friends going, “You’ve gotta see this guys”. The art style is consistent with the manga, and according to the not-so-quiet manga readers, we’re in for a really good anime. 

All the characters in this anime are also adorable and really simple-minded on the surface. Hanako-kun being a boy is a really funny twist on the local urban legend (I’m one of those kids who never dared to say “Bloody Mary” in the washroom so what can I say?)

Recently Completed

Hana to Alice: Satsujin Jiken

Remember Aku no Hana? This is what happens when rotoscoping has a bit more budget. This anime was slow, a little cringy, but it felt really real. The voices felt real, the characters felt real, and the story felt... mostly real. I don’t regret watching this movie art style and all because I think it captures a bit of the exaggerations of being a teenager (rumours blow up like balloons)

Sennen Joyuu

Satoshi Kon really has a certain way of telling stories. I’ve watched Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and Tokyo Godfathers, and while this didn’t have as strong of a punch as the latter, this film was still strong. It shows a story of a young maiden’s resilience, perseverance, and undying love... all things I can’t relate to... but it was good!

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

This show was a trip. You thought it was a fanservice anime until things got really heavy. This anime was funny, it made me feel things with the themes it took on, and it made me remember that the best girl doesn’t always have to win to be a good anime. The art was cute and sweet, the voice acting was so fricking funny (according to the cast, the improv wasn’t always included but the ones that were left along with the dialogue were pure gold), and the story was exceptional for an anime which seemed to have no base whatsoever. And plus, this had something a lot of anime don’t... A CONCLUSIVE ENDING. Give this anime a watch if you haven’t. It’s melodramatic comedic romantic teen drama at its finest.

Orange

Speaking of melodramatic romantic teen dramas, here’s another one that fits that bill! Minus the comedy, more suicide, and far less cohesive plot. Imagine throwing letters into the Bermuda Triangle and having your 16-year-old selves really reading those letters. I was wondering how they were going to explain sending their letters to the past, but they should’ve come up with better BS than that. Aside from really bad plot holes, this anime was alright. It was slow... really slow. I finished this whole 13 episodes plus the movie in about 2.5 hours after trimming the slow recaps. 

The art was alright. The story was slow, but near the end (excluding the last episode and the movie) it got really heavy. It hit close to home. I struggled with suicide for years, and I felt what this character felt. Certain lines of that dialogue just hit hard. It was depicted in a way that didn’t feel as romanticized. He wasn’t saved by just one person, his trauma didn’t go away just like that, it took a group of friends and planning to help him realize that there was more to life then just regrets.

Would I recommend this? I mean, it was recommended to me, but I’m not forcing this anime on anyone... not because of the themes but because it was darn boring and cliche 70% of the time.

Still Watching

Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

Same things apply as previous entries

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

My brother expected me to finish this a while ago but I put it on the back-burner because the number of episodes seemed daunting. Everything else is good though.

Sousei no Onmyouji

I only watched the first episode.

Boku no Hero Academia Season Four

Same things apply as previous entries. It seems like the Overhaul arc will end in the next episode or two (depending on how much they milk this).

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Groundhog Day but isekai. Seriously, this is a pretty big staple in terms of big isekai. Everyone’s fighting over who’s the best girl meanwhile Subaru is trying his best not to die every five minutes. Seriously, Subaru is a champ and what I’d want out of a Mary Sue isekai protagonist. Get em Subaru. Prove to me you’re not a car.

This will be me for the next few days because it’s getting colder where I am so watch me slip on the ice and die!