#and i still don’t really vibe with the pandemic aspect of the story but it looks like it can be well used MAYBE

[fightingdragonswithwho]

okay pause… the criminal minds reboot trailer actually looks interesting and kinda cool?? we cheer

[onlydylanobrien]

Amanda Brugel Dishes On Her New Thriller Flashback 

Now, Brugel is back with her new film "Flashback." Prior to the pandemic, the film was slated for a 2020 release, but the state of the world had other plans. After a long wait, fans can finally dive into the time-bending mystery thriller, which also stars Dylan O'Brien as Fredrick Fitzel. Brugel snagged the role of Fred's ever-understanding boss Evelyn, who watches Fred go down the dark path of a mystery drug called mercury — and possibly time travel.

Looper spoke to Brugel for an exclusive interview, during which she dished on working with O'Brien in "Flashback," revealed how they passed the time on-set, and offered her theory on some of the film's murkier aspects. She also teased the Season 4 finale of "The Handmaid's Tale" and revealed where she wants her character to go in Season 5.

Dylan O'Brien: Defying Hollywood stereotypes

"Flashback" is a wild ride and such a cool movie. What drew you to the role of Evelyn?

I mean, Chris MacBride's script was wild, like you said. I think that's the best way to describe it. And I at first was slightly confused, but also exhilarated, and it was really interesting and I'd never seen anything like it. So really, that was the reason I first wanted to just even talk about doing it. And then I was in L.A. for the Emmys, and Chris called me on the phone, and we just had the most beautiful conversation about the film about life and death. And we shared such similar thoughts on parenting and life and death and losing parents and sort of losing time that I was like, "I have to do this."

What was it like working with Dylan O'Brien?

Dylan is the best. I miss Dylan. I didn't know what to expect. I had seen a couple of the things that he had done, but I didn't know if I was going to get this like, too cool for school Hollywood, young, hot guy. He's so the opposite. He's so generous with his work, generous with everyone on set, and the crew. And he's so funny. I didn't expect him to be that funny, and he really took the material seriously and really wanted to put everything that he could into it. I was so impressed with him, and I didn't really have a lot of time with him. All my scenes are with him, but I didn't. They blocked me out in such a short amount of time that I just, I still miss him.

What the heck is going on with Fred?

This is probably Dylan's most psychological movie yet. And Evelyn is one of the few characters who really tether him to reality. So what was it like getting to watch Fred sort of spiral from a reluctant, moderately well-adjusted office employee to this drug spiral tinged with these fantastical layers?

Well, you know, like I said, a part of my draw to it was that the script was so complex and so complicated, but then having to actually go do that, to be able to achieve the time jumps was incredibly difficult and took a lot of scheduling. So we would ... Poor Dylan would have to change costumes or change whether or not he was broken down or if he was very put together. Because we shot in a very tight amount of time, we would flip back and forth between future to present to sort of some of his hallucinations all in a period of three hours. Dylan was a pro — I'll say that first and foremost. There were a couple of times we both accidentally changed into the wrong costume. We just had to run and change into something else.

And that was stressful. But the parts where he would sort of break down and really spiral were some of the best acting I've seen. There was one part where I almost called cut because I was like, "Is he okay?" Like not the character. Is Dylan okay? He really went for it. And Chris would let him sort of improv and let him roll takes and let him really get to the heart of where he needed to get. So it was exciting to watch. But if you care about your co-star, you are also concerned for their mental wellbeing.

Finding humor during intense scenes

Right, yeah. That was a rough progression. Can you remember anything specific that might've been ad-libbed or added in the moment?

I don't know how much of it I'm trying to think made it in. Just when he flips out in the office, and then he sort of flips out. He threw things. He moved furniture. He screamed at people. He ran about the room, and so every take was different. And so it was great. It was very helpful for my reaction and everyone else's reaction because I genuinely didn't know what Dylan, therefore the character, was going to do. So every reaction was authentic every time.There's a part where I jump, and I genuinely jumped because yeah, I didn't know what he was going to do.

Did you or Dylan do anything between takes to lighten the mood for these intense scenes?

Absolutely. We would go outside. We were shooting in, I think it was a hospital turned into a ... I'm not even sure what it was, but it was just a very cold, large sort of office building. And the two of us as artists, I don't spend a lot of time in offices, so we would go outside and gossip about — I can't tell you what we gossiped about, but we have a lot of friends in common or some friends in common. And so it was nice to sort of just be able to discuss stuff outside of the heavy material that was the movie and also bond and get to know one another and trust one another. So when he had to go to those places, he had a friendly face in the room.

Right. Can you think of anything that might be in the blooper reel or something like that?

Oh, my goodness sakes. No. For myself, when I got scared, I ran into a wall twice, but I don't think that made the blooper reel. I just tried to get out of his way and I ran directly into a wall. But I'm hoping that I didn't make the reel.

I would like to see that.

So would I, because I did it twice. Not once.

That's funny.

Twice and it was the same wall.

The next question contains significant spoilers for "Flashback."

The subtle subtext

So I was getting a bit of a "Game of Thrones" vibe at the end of the movie. Is Cindy supposed to be Mrs. Fitzel? Can you say? Do you have a theory?

I think so. Yes. I personally think so. I think that's why my mentioning the conversation with Chris just about like motherhood, and sort of that is a very strange cycle that has happened throughout his life that I personally think so. I'm not sure, but that's how I read it, and that's how I interpreted it. And when I watched it, that's what I was left with and happy with. Very good, though. I'm glad that you picked that up.

I had to go rewatch that scene three times, and I'm like, "Am I just hallucinating this? Or is this intentional?"

No, I think it was very intentional, but not so obvious that there are audience members that would be disappointed with that or not so obvious that it forces audiences to have one conclusion. I think the thing that I like the most about Chris is that he allows audiences to go away and sort of apply their own story or their own theory to his projects. And I think that's really generous as far as an artist is concerned.

[septiembrre]

Really enjoyed your nuanced post about respect for Latinx characters on the show. Why do you think there’s such a divide between the respect Rio commands from the majority of the audience versus the how the show treats him? I have empathy for all the characters but the longer the show goes on, Rio is the standout “main” character that receives the least amount from the show itself. I’m interested to see how this shifts with the introduction of Nick as the bad egg, but was thrown by bill kreb’s response that Beth will never soften to Rio because of the situations he puts her in. And not that #brio is the entire show but Beth is the person/lens who we see Rio through, so her opinion/attitude is by default the one that matters here (petition for first person Rio POV). I’m not totally sure what I’m asking hahah but would love your thoughts on any of it if you wanted to share. 🧠

Hi Anon! 

When I got your ask yesterday I realized that damn it, I finally needed to track down this post I wrote last April in the middle of Season 3 airing. Back in the day (lol, a year ago, but a year in pandemic terms, okay?), I didn’t tag anything in purposefully -- I mean I only meagerly tag things now -- and thought I had lost it forever, but I’m so glad I found it. I didn’t do all that emotional labor for it to fall into the Tumblr abyss. 😭I fucking transcribed something from a Youtube video (so extra.) 

It’s weird reading it now because so much it still feels salient. I hate that. But, even though it’s time-stamped from a year ago, I think it still gets to your question: 

Why do you think there’s such a divide between the respect Rio commands from the majority of the audience versus the how the show treats him? 

1. I think there isn’t enough support for writing Latinx characters on the show. I wonder if there are any Latinx writers on the show, and if there are, whether they are junior writers/what their power looks like in the writing room. The conversation doesn’t have to stop at writers either, just how many Latinx creators allowed to have voices in the decision-making involved in the show? 

2. I still think MM lacks the traditional star power to have Rio’s character get more narrative weight. I think there are certain things within his control, pieces he can lobby for and effect -- but not larger narrative choices. While Rio is the fan favorite, MM is still the least prolific, known of the cast, hasn’t paid his acting dues to get higher billed, etc. I do laugh tho every episode when MM is billed right above Lidya Jewett the actress who plays Sara, Ruby’s daughter, who has barely been in this season (but kudos to her and her ppl for advocating for her billing spot). 

Importantly, MM doesn’t seem to have allies in the three leads. For example, I would argue Reno’s professional relationship and friendship with Retta and Matthew’s relationship with Christina (lol, Matt seems to be a set favorite) have very much paid off for both of them (especially Matt). It feels strange to watch classic work dynamics play out like this on the show bc you would think it would be more effected by NBC’s bottom line. But I’m getting that classic workplace read, that your job standing is based on who you’re allied with and who is your advocate. And this is just pure speculation, my personal read, but I think there are also vibes of ~unconscious bias~ discriminatory stuff around MM being a Latinx actor from a working-class BIPOC community layered in all of this. 

I don’t want to fully get into the subject of MM but I feel like this ask would be incomplete to not mention the following. Something else that stands out in this situation is MM’s public shade towards the show, and social media presence overall. *sigh*  At this point, I can’t imagine MM hasn’t been come across as unpalatable to his castmates. From the little glimpses we get on social media it hasn’t looked pretty. However, as much as he makes me cringe, I see his work vibes, and I feel a sad echo of my own experiences as a brown Latinx person trying to get my white coworkers to recognize my fuller humanity. 

Anyway, NBC’s gripe is that Good Girls doesn’t make them enough money and the thing is we know how it could. With a few tweaks (not making GG the Rio!Show but giving Rio more narrative weight, putting him in even one substantive scene with Annie or Ruby for example) Good Girls could more easily get renewed, be more popular etc. I don’t think shifts like this would have to compromise the integrity of the story Jenna Bans originally wanted to tell with the focus on the three female leads. There can be more effort put into the Latinx representation without it breaking the premise of the show.  

But, on the bright side in Season 4, Rio has a new scene playmate~ Little by little we are populating Rio’s world, and we finally have someone he can work against one-on-one in scenes independent from Beth. Love for that for him!~* Idk, I’m still skeptical about this Nick storyline. I really enjoy aspects of it, but I feel like it’s pinging a radar re:poorly thought out representation in a way I haven’t fully processed yet.  

Thanks for the ask! (I will take no further questions about MM at this time.🙈)

[wannabecatwriter]

All the story asks not asked by others, please and thank you :)

😁Coming right through!

1. what’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

2. describe your story in three words or less

For Chronicles: Second Chances, Life.

For Witchy Days: Family, Magic, Love

3. describe (insert character here) in three words or less

I'll pick Anna and Jasper.

Anna: Emotional, Apprehensive, Artistic

Jasper: Fixer, Caring, Solid

4. how did you choose the name of your story?

For this one, it was pretty obvious. Anna is the sort of person who always expects something bad to happen. For Witchy Days, I needed a new name, since the story was no longer going to be focused on Barron and Sylvia.

Rest under cut.

5. how do you choose your characters’ names?

They are usually named after other fictional characters, or if I just like the name. Other times you just see a sim/person and think, "they're an Anna or a Rachel."

6. how long have you been working on your story for?

Witchy Days, with the BC has been around since 2017. Chronicles started in 2020, a little before the pandemic started. But other stories on this blog have been around since way before that, more like 2015.

8. what about your story are you proud of?

That sometimes, a character is going to have an arc I didn't initially even think of for them. Which is, I suppose, also an arc for me.

9. what about your story are you looking to improve on?

Dialogue!!! Not going to lie, I always feel like the dialogue doesn't flow smoothly for me.

10. is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end?

Chronicles is mostly planned out. I'm still ironing out some kinks, but the reason I started working on it was that I already knew where things were going. It does have a definitive end, but knowing my schedule and how often I flip around, I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get there. Witchy Days is still full of some questions and I'm thinking of it going on for a bit more.

11. why have you decided to tell this story? are there any messages or meanings within it?

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I sort of had a dream about the main couple of Chronicles. Didn't know their exact appearance and all, but I sort of knew their vibe. And I wanted to tell about them. I think it's a story about accepting that bad things can happen in life - and about moving forward anyways.

12. do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium?

I play a little bit. It's hard for me to make new sims without giving them stories, though.

16. what about the process do you enjoy?

Seeing my characters and their lives come to life.

17. what about the process do you hate?

The technical aspect of it. Getting the game to cooperate can be a drag.

18. choose a song that reminds you of your story.

I already mentioned that Inseparables by Zaz and Pablo Alboran reminded me of Anna and Jasper. So does Kiesza's Crave.

19. choose a song that reminds you of (insert character here)

Stars by Sixx AM is Polina and Atherton's song from Witchy Days.

21. choose your least favorite shot so far.

This one came out very underwhelming, because I couldn't really pose him once he was in the water.

22. choose a favorite character from your story so far.

From Chronicles: I love Demarcus and Candace. Kevin too. They're a fun bunch and I'd love to chill with them, if they had been real.

From Witchy Days: I feel like Sylvia and Terra would both be really cool to spend some time with.

23. choose your least favorite character so far.

From Chronicles: Josie, Kevin's ex. She's really something, and not in a good way. Also, even though he played such a big part in Anna's life and she loved him, Rudy, big time. Why? If he had made her aware of some things about himself earlier, his former drug addiction, for starters, I think that whole mess could've been avoided. But he hid it from her, even though he supposedly loved her.

From Witchy Days: I wasn't a big fan of Bristol when he was younger, but I think getting stranded on a cursed island was enough of a wake-up call for him to become better.

24. are there any characters who remind you of yourself?

Anna! Seriously, we have a lot in common. And probably Jasper too, to an extent.

26. have other sim stories inspired you?

Always! Sometimes I read the stories you all write and just feel blessed that I stumbled upon them.

27. what genres would you describe your story as?

Chronicles: Melodrama (???)

Witchy Days: Fantasy

28. if you could reproduce your story in another medium (movie, novel, comic, etc.) what would you choose and why?

I think Chronicles could do well as one of those family drama tv shows. As for Witchy Days, a cartoon. I feel like fantasy stories just do better in the animated format, where you don't have to worry about bringing special effects into a live action movie/show.

29. what would your story’s rating be? (G, PG, M etc.)

To be on the safe side, I'd go with PG-13 for all of mine.

30. if you were leaving simblr and had to choose another creator to continue the story for you, who would you ask?

I haven't shared enough of my plans for the stories with anyone. But some of the people who sent me sims for the BC could probably handle Witchy Days if it came to it.

31. drop some random trivia about your story.

I started learning how to make sims 3 tattoos all so I could make a custom tat for Anna, because I headcannon that she really wants to get one. I still haven't made one for her 😂

33. Recommend another creator's story.

I'll just give a few blog names, they all have great stories.

@dandylion240 @storiesbyjes2g @treason-and-plot @nocturnalazure @pixel-bloom @helenofsimblr @budgie2budgie @softpine @pink-chevalier @someone-elsa @zosa95

I'm probably missing a bunch more, but these are some good suggestions to start with.

[handsofdarkness]

After The The Aftermath – An Interview With Sharon Den Adel Of Within Temptation

Sharon Den Adel Talks About The Bands Recent Virtual Reality Show, New Album, Tours, And More

Dutch symphonic metal legends Within Temptation have been quite busy as of late. The band recently held an impressive virtual reality stream event, which was unlike anything we’ve seen before. Along with ‘The Aftermath – A Show In A Virtual Reality,’ the band has also released a brand new single, ‘Shed My Skin,” featuring German metalcore act, Annisokay. I caught up with frontwoman Sharon Den Adel, to talk about the recent stream, the new single, and what the band has planned in terms of a new album, and going on tour.

Thanks for speaking with me, Sharon. You’re coming off the release of your event, ‘The Aftermath, A Show In Virtual Reality’, which has been getting a lot of praise. How have you felt about the feedback you’ve been received?

A lot of fans seemed to have liked it. The technology is something new. It’s only the tip of the iceberg that we touched. And it looks a little bit like a game crossed with a music video. It being a show, it did not look as flashy as, say, some of our music videos. Which most people understood, but some didn’t. It’s a new technology after all .I was really happy to see that a lot of people did get the idea behind it, and how we made the show.

The show had to be postponed briefly, and during the filming, did you encounter many technical hurdles?

It was something that we were afraid of that might happen. That was also why the show was prerecorded because we didn’t want to have the show stopped halfway because the data might not have been managed. So that’s why we prerecorded it.

But we still had a lot of technical difficulties because we are pioneering here. After all, it’s a new program. Everybody does it in their own way, and it’s only been out recently. There’s only one other, a Dutch dance event, who did it the way we did as well. And because of so many multi-cameras and all this imagery that’s behind them to canalize the data, it’s a big process. And when something goes wrong, you have to start over again. So there are a lot of technical things that can go wrong, and it takes a lot of time to process.

Fans like to try and immerse themselves as much as they can into streamed content because live shows are something that we all missed, and we miss the feeling of being there. But how difficult is it as a performer to get some of those feelings when there’s no audience to feed off of, and you’re surrounded by green screens?

It’s difficult because you have to really imagine the audience there. But we did have the crew there trying to get me into that vibe, applauding and stuff like that. But it of course, it’s different. I also knew that I had to do it in a very short amount of time. We did it in one day, like the recordings of everyone and all band members.

So it was like, okay, you have one shot, and you better do it well, and immediately go into that vibe as if you are on stage. So you really have to use your imagination a little bit. But I was really happy that people would be watching this, and keeping that in mind is what got me through it.

Something the band is notorious for is performing with these elaborate stage setups, beautiful wardrobes, and stunning visuals. How important was the storytelling aspect of the show, and who came up with the idea of the post-apocalyptic theme?

Robert was really working on that, and I worked with it as well. We’ve seen so many doomsday kind of films over the years. These big, epic movies and stuff. So that was the inspiration, especially coming from a pandemic and talking about where is the world going, and how we living in it.

There was the inspiration from that. It’s something that’s an ongoing process. We also have the Silent Force album; we were inspired very much by that theme, especially because a lot of things were happening in the world at that time as well, as it is now.

How did you go about choosing a setlist for this show? Of course, there was new material, but did you select songs on storytelling aspects to match the overall apocalyptic theme?

Yes, that’s the case because we felt like if you’re telling a story, you need to find the right songs to back it up and give that atmosphere. It also helped that we’ve also had a lot of songs in the past touching this theme. I think it’s also nice for the ones who bought a tickets to see some older songs. Songs that we haven’t played for a long time, like for instance, ‘Forsaken’, which is really an old and golden song from the Silent Force album.

Fans were greeted with many surprises and big moments, but personally for you, what was your favorite moment from the show? And what song did you enjoy playing the most?

The song that registers for me is ‘Shed My Skin”. For the vocal nerd that I am, it’s nice to go from really high to really low. And it’s a real challenge for a singer. So I was really happy to put that song in the setlist.

And very well done too! It was great to see Tarja again; what was it like working with her and getting her to make an appearance for the event?

We always keep in contact with each other, and it’s always an easy connection to make with each other. And we’ve always worked really well with each other, and it’s always fun to work with her. She’s somebody who goes really for the music and is passionate about it. It’s really nice working with her, always.

I’ve always had contact with her throughout the year, and it’s always great, but this time it was not face-to-face. We had a camera crew go to Spain so she could be recorded there. She was very busy with a lot of other stuff as well. So that was the best way to record her live.

Speaking of collaborations, your most recent single, which we’ve talked about, ‘Shed My Skin,’ has a bit of a metalcore twist, and you appropriately collaborated with metalcore act, Annisokay for the song. How did the collaboration come about? And did you specifically write this song for the collaboration?

It’s more that we are always interested in bands who are new and who bring a new sound to the scene. This was a sound we’ve never noticed before. Not for Annisokay, but the metalcore scene was just something that we didn’t listen to much. So for us, it was kind of a new sound with a new vibe, and one of the bands that we like was Annisokay.

And we felt like, okay, let’s approach them and see if they are interested in doing a song with us. And we had already written it. Everything was finished, but they were able to do their own interpretation, but they stayed close to what we had written. It was really fun to work with them.

They are very talented guys, they are very melodic with their music and that’s something that we always like as well. Because we wanted to bring something heavy with the guitars and everything in the music, but we also wanted to bring out a lot of melodies, and that’s something that they do with metalcore.

So we wrote the music and thought it would be cool to approach a band that comes from that scene. And they were our favorites, so we called them and they were really cool and very down to earth and easy people to work with. So yeah, I was happy to meet them and work with them.

Do you enjoy working with other styles of metal and sub-genres, and do you think you’ll do more in the future?

We’ve always done that throughout the years. I think we’re a typical kind of band who likes orchestras and epic kinds of sounds. Throughout our career, we have worked with so many different people. Mina Caputo of Life of Agony, Papa Roach, and some Polish artists. It’s not always people that everybody knows. Sometimes it’s a singer-songwriter, sometimes it’s from totally different kinds of genres that people would not expect from us. But it’s just that some people you really admire or a style that you think is so beautiful that you want to integrate it into your own music. And we’ve always done that in our own way.

Do you plan on releasing any more new music this year, and when can we expect a new album?

We are planning to do maybe one more song this year if things turn out the way we want them to. And, hopefully, at the end of next year, we have a new album out, so we’re working hard trying to manage everything that we have in mind and trying to release new singles every few months. That’s a new idea that we want to try, releasing a new song every three or four months. And so far, we have managed to do that. We’ll see if we can keep it up. You also need to have the right inspiration, of course, to write new stuff.

Are there any shows that you’ll be playing during the festival season?

We’re going to Finland next week, so I’m looking forward to that stuff first, and it’s the only summer festival this year, unfortunately. We also have one in October, which is in the Netherlands, which is also a big festival. I’m looking forward to that as well. But I’m wondering if it will be able to take place because a lot of festivals in the Netherlands have been canceled because of COVID again, unfortunately.

Otherwise, it’s just the shows that we have with Evanescence on the ‘When Worlds Collide” tour, which starts in March and in April. We also have some Russian shows in February, but we have to see how this pandemic is going to go, and where it’s gonna go.

I was just about to bring up the ‘When Worlds Collide’ tour with Evanescence. Do you think that any time in the future we might see a North American tour as well?

I hope so. I think that it’s something that’s on our list, but we don’t know when we’re going to go, because we did have some things cooking, but then the whole pandemic started. We still have to catch up with all these tours that are planed. All the tours and the festivals that we have planed are going to continue and hopefully, after that will be, we will come your way.

We would love to have you guys here. We’re really excited for the upcoming single and the ‘When Wolrds Collide tour,” Which I think is going to happen because everything is opening back up. I just shot my first huge festival here. I travel all over, and there are festivals opening up all over here. So I think that we will be the world stage in seeing how things go in terms of these big festivals if they continue or get postponed due to COVID.

Yeah, I totally understand. And I would love to come to America again, it’s been a while!

We can’t wait to have you guys here, and thank you for speaking with me, Sharon, do you have anything else that you would like to add or say to the fans?

Thank for you the interview, it’s nice to give everyone an update on how were doing here in Europe, and we hope to come your way soon!

[thingsreadinthedark]

GOoDbYe, 2021! 🥂

Yo listen, this year was PEAK BEG. Like I’m over this pandemic like the rest of y’all. We saw some justice served, but did we? Hmm. Let’s not even go there.

Let’s talk about what I learned this year. I learned I got to set my goals and knock them down because I did just that and I got what I needed in one aspect; so I’m going to keep going with that whole vibe next year. I learned that I gotta focus on one goal at a time and give myself over to it consistently. Easier said than done, yea. But, should still be attempted.

I learned that it’s fun to move in silence, it’s comforting to have a private life and a small circle and it’s great to let shit go, it’s also great to diversify in order to move forward. You can’t get anywhere constantly staring at the same shit. I took a couple stabs in the dark that didn’t materialize anything, but that’s okay. Imma stab some bitches up next year. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

I learned that I have so many book crushes. I have people in my life that entertain me with the way that their minds work, and the continuously give to me every single day, even if they don’t realize that they’re giving. I’m apart of some great book clubs that always keep me on my toes and I’ve made some friends that I really and truly appreciate. I love their enthusiasm about reading because I get to nerd out every night with likeminded folks and that filled the need that I have that I used to get from external things like volunteering and community work which has all but been reduced to nothing as we slide through this pandemic.

Hmmm.. let’s get into the reads...

I dropped a thread of my favourite books this morning.. here. But sometimes I like repeating myself so here we go!

Chantel’s favourite reads of 2021 - let us begin..

1) A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib

2) The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers

3) Unfollow Me by Jill Louise Busby

4) Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome — like made me laugh and cry in equal measure; a look into toxic patriarchal masculinity in the Black community

5) Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson - God rest her soul

6) New Animal by Ella Baxter — sleeper hit for the best fiction I read this year after The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

7) The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala — the craziest but dopest book ever

8) Open Water by Calum Azumah Nelson — passionate and unique in its delivery. A love story that’s not a love story but a life story. Fiction at its finest.

9) Daylight by Roya Marsh — Black butch poetry, so much heart like SO MUCH HEART my god! Left me speechless

10) Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi who always continues to astound me with their work. Like their spirit flys so high and the way that they write gets way down deep inside me. I can feel them fucking with my soul even typing these small sentences. A memoir in letters it’s magical. They are a God.

Honourable Mentions because what’s a list without some Honourable Mentions!

HM1) Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell really got up in my cranium this year. It was a really good read

HM2)  How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones — this story filled me all the way up

HM3) The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura — Japanese writers are so dope. They’ve mastered the ‘quietly sinister’ genre perfectly. This was fun and weird.

HM4) You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin — so good, funny and enraging at the same time, I’m glad that Amber and her sister Lacey got to make a bag off of the stupid racist shit that they’ve encountered while just being their best selves and living their lives

HM5) This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith — romance with a twist, a big twist.. not even romance more like yeah it’s a romance novel, kinda.. anyway it was dope

One extra Tumblr bonus —

HM6) Shoutin’ in the Fire by Dante Stewart — left me speechless, bought two copies one for my brother and one for my friend and sent them out into the world. Powerful work!

Best classic read: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas — I’m glad that I got into this classic this year. I’m glad my handsome cool friend decided to read it with me because it just made it even more fun and hilarious. I can’t wait to engage in some more buddy reads this year. I got one lined up for the Song of Solomon by the legendary Toni Morrison in the next couple months.

More bonuses!!!

Best short story collection I read this year: The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You by Maurice Carlos Ruffin.. yo it was soooo good and that story Ghetto University was probably the best short story I’ve read all year. Runner up Hitting A Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston, which was amazing and levels of dope.

I had so many other reads that I loved but the above were my favourite.

A couple amazing things I’m currently working through slowly that I didn’t finish and will finish in 2022:

1) Girlhood by Melissa Febos — so heavy I had to stop and start numerous times, heavy like a brick, so many times I thought I was ready only to realize that I wasn’t ready same for #3

2) What’s a Black Critic to Do? by Donna Bailey Nurse — insane and amazing. So many great reads to read out of this one book. I’m savouring all the profiles

3) The Will to Change by bell hooks (RIP) — I cry through reading this book.. much like Girlhood, I start and I stop and I think I’m ready but I’m not, hopefully I can do it in 2022. It’s hard work.

4) Will by Will Smith it’s a fantastic read and listen but much like his movies, can only deal with it in small doses so I’m sure I’ll finish it in 2022,

Anyway y’all — this was a long post that enjoyed writing immensely. As I just learned that Betty White passed, I hope that everyone is taking care of themselves in 2022 so that we can all live until 99 or 100 years old. That would be amazing. Imma try some more this year to live in a continued mentally healthy space. I had a great time reading this year and I anticipate a year of awesome and amazing reads and more and more buddy reads and BC-filled nights. RIP TO THE QUEEN, Betty White.🕊

As usual I want to read more and more work by women, more work by younger Black men, more Black Canadian reads, more reads by Caribbean authors and I’m going to copy from myself and paste here: this upcoming year I want to read more.. I want to read more Toni Morrison, more bell hooks more writers from the Caribbean, more Danticat, more legendary Black Canadian authors like Austin Clarke, I want to read more Nalo Hopkinson, more Dionne Brand & Cecil Foster, more more more more more more and yoooo we’ll get there!

Happy New Year. 🥳 ✌🏾🥂❤️

[aotopmha]

I have a whole bunch of AoT shipping asks ranging from neutral to angry to looking for validation and I'm so tired of this stuff.

Counter to this wierd trend about how the final arc of the series is trash because Eren turned out to be an "embarrassing loser", I think there is a whole bunch to talk about in there that isn't about shipping.

(If you like shipping and are a decent person, cool, but I'm just tired and frustrated with the bad parts of it.)

The whole damn point of this series for the longest time for me has been that none of the characters are "cool".

They're all fucking losers. Kind of like real people.

Why does shit like psychics and flat earth theory still have followers to this day, even gaining popularity in these recent years? Why don't people just overcome their prejudice for other races? Why do people stay in unhealthy relationships?

Why doesn't that suicidal person just start loving themselves again?

I think this irrationality is the main aspect of humanity AoT wants to highlight.

I see people looking in from the outside being mystified by these "irrational" decisions done by people all the time. People laugh at and mock these "stupid" behaviours while perhaps not being able to recognise they themselves might have similar ones.

For a personal example, I always think about people who are angry at animal cruelty, but then pretty casually eat beef, pork or chicken, the production of which often entails a lot of animal cruelty.

For an even stronger personal example that kind of source of frustration for me comes from people who claim their perspective is objective. What makes that particular person the arbiter of all truth?

But going back to AoT, Erwin might be a genius tactician, but he's a human being still affected by his personal experiences and perspective. He hates himself for all of the deaths he has caused so all of his most desparate tactics are going to involve self-harm.

There is a very large difference between emotional intelligence and tactical intelligence.

I think this is Zeke's flaw, too. He is smart when it comes to tactics, but in turn is heavily affected by his personal need of connection and validation. The potential kinship he could find with Eren was the determining factor of his strategy and so were his relationships with Grisha and Xavier, not what the most logical option was.

This is what I think tearing Eren's mask away in the final chapter brought full circle and I think is the most interesting aspect of the story I'm left with after its end.

It tore away Eren's dignity and was embarrassing and stupid, but I think that was the point and because this kind of behaviour is viewed as childish, stupid and hard to watch, it destroyed a lot of (lady) boners. That's not comfy or escapism. It's not the specific kind of narrative that has some conflict, but never really veers into the uncomfortable.

Eren's flaws aren't a slap on the wrist. He is a loser. Period.

I think the aspect of Eren being exhausted came out the most in the anime for me and as I've read the final chapter so many times now, I get much more exhaustion from Eren than anything else.

He is exhausted and desparate and Armin tries everything in his power to change his mind and try to reach Eren. But because Even has grown so strong and is so set in his ways, there is nothing he can do but make the best of his situation.

Hence the now infamous line of thanking Eren for doing something horrible for them. I think the biggest nuance any analysis of that scene misses is that it's Armin accepting he can't change Eren. I get a very strong "if that's how it is, so be it" vibe from that scene. He can't change Eren, but he wants a good closure with him.

I think what a lot of people also don't consider is that again, I don't think any of the characters truly comprehend the scale of what is happening.

I think a lot about people who still deny the existence of Covid-19 even this far in the pandemic and I think many people will only truly comprehend the extent of it when they or someone they care about is affected by it and even then this is even worse when you don't really have time to digest everything that is happening. I don't think Hange's death or the death of Shadis really reached anyone even by the end of the battle because boy were these a busy few days.

I think we had a similar thing happen with the Reiner and Bert reveal. Annie's reveal and the reveal of Bert and Reiner basically happened on the same day and I think that matters however small of adetail that might be.

Same for the fact that the return to Shiganshina was a few hours at most.

All of this can be just handwaved as bad writing. All of it. But that kind of stuff bores me.

So whenever I analyse stuff, I do my best to be fair and assume the best out of a story and its writer.

So I got the most out of AoT's ending philosophically because I think the what if it presented is fascinating.

If you had to choose between you and your country and the rest of the world, what would you do?

I think in AoT's case, there was a small window of time in which patience would've solved everything, but Eren didn't have the perspective to go that way because of various factors, largely the basement memories.

But if you were put in the same circumstances without any kind of outside perspective, would you make a better choice than this?

It's so easy to say you could've done better when you can see the bigger picture.

But if you had the choice pushed on you without any context and without that bigger picture, what then?

The irrationality and stupidity of the characters is what makes AoT interesting to me.

I think when Isayama talked about whiny Eren "being back" he didn't mean it in a condescending manner. I think he likes that irrational and embarrassing Eren.

But the fact that it is willing to have its characters be that way to an extreme degree is I think what also causes alienation and removes some people's ability to empathise with the story and instead be frustrated with it, let down by it and being unable to connect with it.

It's just a fascinating piece of media for me and if there is anything, any piece of media that makes human irrationality as a big part of it, I'm all ears.

I think human irrationality has to be a part of any story. It's called characters having flaws, but if that's the exclusive, overwhelming focus, I'm right there day one and the truth is, I haven't seen many stories like that.

[kataracy]

What's up with people just disliking Aang anyway? He's completely fine as a character, you don't have to like him and not everyone needs to know that you don't (though maybe you should try to understand him however as the protagonist). Also, criticism and nitpicking that could be easily construed as hate is not the same thing, hence the still very weird and redundant anti Aang posts that are being tossed around instead of posts like, "respectfully, this aspect could've been improved if this, this, and that happened instead." etc, etc. Hence "Aang stans" complaining about this occurence. How was Aang's treatment in fandom pre-resurgence? I find solace in that it definitely didn't feel as awful since not every person who took a minimum of one course in social sciences/women's history/"the west is just awful" had full, easy and free access to ATLA, but they do now and are making this fandom tragic to be apart of. Don't even get me started on Instagram and Twitter, which consists of irritating vibes everywhere. And for what reason other than us being trapped at homes during a pandemic? Don't you guys want to be healthy?

What's up with people just disliking Aang anyway?

So what had happened was from my recollection, what usually makes fandoms spiral out of control: shipping.

In this fandom, every resurgence, we get lovely new people with their inclusive art, personal cultural takes and honest improvements to the treatment and understanding of characters who otherwise weren’t prominent talking points at the time (for example: Toph being a cop. Everybody was too busy wondering who her 2 baby daddy’s were and why Toph was written as a absentee mom so, we half the new people get to debate that it makes no sense for her to grow up to be a cop while others of us who understand white passing can kind of see how the daughter of a prominent background and impressive fighting career and sticky fingers managed to quickly place herself as head of authority) like Ty Lee being an Air descendant or Sokka being hot. We were all kinda trying to make sense of Korra back then my g

But its tumblr yknow so we have conflict and the quickest conflict to join, the quickest way to interact if you aren’t skilled in long dissertations or gif making, is probably shipping? In my diagram that I made up while typing this I explain: Artists and writers need new fans to boost morale, it fuels the creative process creates amazing art, that art is seen by even more because its being shared around the fans, people form friendships, get inspired - the whole fandom gets nourished.

The problem is somebody starts liking how somebody look wit somebody else, they get mad that you don’t, somebody shouts ‘You silly new fans fighting about this new ship. I was here for Zu-‘ and really that’s where you should stop its going to be an actively bad time if you let it.

Aang for a long time was kind of safe? So, you could say it was his turn to get hate because maybe some fans see things in Aang they somehow disagree with and you can’t fault them for that. One problem is everything starts getting cross tagged bc now everyone wants to find people with the same opinions as them and have the same fun they see everyone having in a fandom and a lot of fans think yelling at each other every day is the fun part.

Aang is an easy target for a “hero wins trophy” debate but it falls short when you realize at no point was said girl treated as a trophy and if they see her as that, its not the shows fault? Some people don’t see the strength in knowledge, and I mean hey, its just fiction at the end of the day. There’s plenty of this same story told in different ways on other platforms to slap an element bending AU on.  

Aang is a nonviolent character introduced as an innocent child and some people cannot see through such a perspective, especially for their hero (there’s also certain people who already had the experiences new fans are getting and don’t know how to be happy for the new demographic target). But Aang’s nonviolence is a constant struggle for him; Aang is a more subtle character when it comes to his redemption arc and a lot of viewers miss it, don’t care about or think its poorly executed.

Simply put idk don’t listen to me I’m just sayin fandoms cycle through character hate like seasons. I personally suggest you spread positivity about Aang, as its incredibly easy find. On twitter especially please remember that those are the same freaks that would yell over here, and we all ended up ignoring it, that’s why they’re twitters problem now. A more proactive approach I find, is to make fun of it- child have you seen their material? They call the boy abusive I mean you have to laugh, meanwhile artists are making Aang brown like baby we’ve progressed past the need

[itsclydebitches]

I like grim dark, tho. My most popular stories are grim dark. I feel those two also forget that grim dark comes with its fair share of catharsis. I found it a good way to work off stress, and others agree.

There’s nothing wrong with grimdark - no more than any other subgenre - but what I think that other post fails to tackle (which is fine, it’s making a different point) is that “grimdark” can be used to describe a lot of different stories connected by only the broadest of threads. It can mean a tale about a hero out to achieve a goal due to selfish reasons, rather than purely doing what’s Right. It can mean “grim” in the sense of “realistic”: there’s definitely hope and optimism, but this is a war and it’s inevitable that people will die. No more “and everyone lived happily ever after”s. It can mean a story that has a particular level of violence/dystopian vibes/suffering that extends to important characters (rather than keeping things to the sidelines). It can mean a story that’s just so damn depressing you need to sit with it weeks after you’ve finished. 

Here I have no intention of claiming what grimdark “really” is because the point is that the subgenre, like any subgenre, is subjective, broad, and has a tendency to change. That means there’s a lot of material that people might label “grimdark,” or claim that it at least includes grimdark aspects. Over the last decade we’ve seen an influx of not just darker stories, but darker stories done badly. That is, things like character deaths included for the shock value rather than the emotional/thematic/cathartic satisfaction. Or sensitive allegories included for the “I tackled racism” bragging rights rather than because the author has something to say using these darker tools. A lot of people are tired of the heavy, gritty realism that’s become a popular staple of media fantasy when they want their stories to function as uplifting escapism. Others are tired of those otherwise enjoyable tropes not being done well. Still others were fine with both until a pandemic hit and their real life was already dark enough, thanks. Some people thrive on dark stories in dark times, but others don’t. So there’s been a call not to get rid of grimdark, but to provide happier stories too, as well as to consider what emotion authors are striving to evoke beyond, “Omg so depressing.” 

It’s like walking into a buffet and noticing that there’s a lot of rich food now. It’s not necessarily that you dislike rich food, but... can’t we have some more lighter dishes too? Or can the people cooking consider what ingredients they’re putting in because chucking carrots into the mashed potatoes as a “surprise” really didn’t work for most people. No one is saying that those who do still love all the rich food (or even the mashed potatoes!) aren’t allowed to anymore, or that rich foods should be removed from the table entirely, just broaden the menu and think about the recipes some more. 

[black-arcana]

After The The Aftermath – An Interview With Sharon Den Adel Of Within Temptation

Sharon Den Adel Talks About The Bands Recent Virtual Reality Show, New Album, Tours, And More

Dutch symphonic metal legends Within Temptation have been quite busy as of late. The band recently held an impressive virtual reality stream event, which was unlike anything we’ve seen before. Along with ‘The Aftermath – A Show In A Virtual Reality,’ the band has also released a brand new single, ‘Shed My Skin,” featuring German metalcore act, Annisokay. I caught up with frontwoman Sharon Den Adel, to talk about the recent stream, the new single, and what the band has planned in terms of a new album, and going on tour.

Thanks for speaking with me, Sharon. You’re coming off the release of your event, ‘The Aftermath, A Show In Virtual Reality’, which has been getting a lot of praise. How have you felt about the feedback you’ve been received?

A lot of fans seemed to have liked it. The technology is something new. It’s only the tip of the iceberg that we touched. And it looks a little bit like a game crossed with a music video. It being a show, it did not look as flashy as, say, some of our music videos. Which most people understood, but some didn’t. It’s a new technology after all .I was really happy to see that a lot of people did get the idea behind it, and how we made the show.

The show had to be postponed briefly, and during the filming, did you encounter many technical hurdles?

It was something that we were afraid of that might happen. That was also why the show was prerecorded because we didn’t want to have the show stopped halfway because the data might not have been managed. So that’s why we prerecorded it.

But we still had a lot of technical difficulties because we are pioneering here. After all, it’s a new program. Everybody does it in their own way, and it’s only been out recently. There’s only one other, a Dutch dance event, who did it the way we did as well. And because of so many multi-cameras and all this imagery that’s behind them to canalize the data, it’s a big process. And when something goes wrong, you have to start over again. So there are a lot of technical things that can go wrong, and it takes a lot of time to process.

Fans like to try and immerse themselves as much as they can into streamed content because live shows are something that we all missed, and we miss the feeling of being there. But how difficult is it as a performer to get some of those feelings when there’s no audience to feed off of, and you’re surrounded by green screens?

It’s difficult because you have to really imagine the audience there. But we did have the crew there trying to get me into that vibe, applauding and stuff like that. But it of course, it’s different. I also knew that I had to do it in a very short amount of time. We did it in one day, like the recordings of everyone and all band members.

So it was like, okay, you have one shot, and you better do it well, and immediately go into that vibe as if you are on stage. So you really have to use your imagination a little bit. But I was really happy that people would be watching this, and keeping that in mind is what got me through it.

Something the band is notorious for is performing with these elaborate stage setups, beautiful wardrobes, and stunning visuals. How important was the storytelling aspect of the show, and who came up with the idea of the post-apocalyptic theme?

Robert was really working on that, and I worked with it as well. We’ve seen so many doomsday kind of films over the years. These big, epic movies and stuff. So that was the inspiration, especially coming from a pandemic and talking about where is the world going, and how we living in it.

There was the inspiration from that. It’s something that’s an ongoing process. We also have the Silent Force album; we were inspired very much by that theme, especially because a lot of things were happening in the world at that time as well, as it is now.

How did you go about choosing a setlist for this show? Of course, there was new material, but did you select songs on storytelling aspects to match the overall apocalyptic theme?

Yes, that’s the case because we felt like if you’re telling a story, you need to find the right songs to back it up and give that atmosphere. It also helped that we’ve also had a lot of songs in the past touching this theme. I think it’s also nice for the ones who bought a tickets to see some older songs. Songs that we haven’t played for a long time, like for instance, ‘Forsaken’, which is really an old and golden song from the Silent Force album.

Fans were greeted with many surprises and big moments, but personally for you, what was your favorite moment from the show? And what song did you enjoy playing the most?

The song that registers for me is ‘Shed My Skin”. For the vocal nerd that I am, it’s nice to go from really high to really low. And it’s a real challenge for a singer. So I was really happy to put that song in the setlist.

And very well done too! It was great to see Tarja again; what was it like working with her and getting her to make an appearance for the event?

We always keep in contact with each other, and it’s always an easy connection to make with each other. And we’ve always worked really well with each other, and it’s always fun to work with her. She’s somebody who goes really for the music and is passionate about it. It’s really nice working with her, always.

I’ve always had contact with her throughout the year, and it’s always great, but this time it was not face-to-face. We had a camera crew go to Spain so she could be recorded there. She was very busy with a lot of other stuff as well. So that was the best way to record her live.

Speaking of collaborations, your most recent single, which we’ve talked about, ‘Shed My Skin,’ has a bit of a metalcore twist, and you appropriately collaborated with metalcore act, Annisokay for the song. How did the collaboration come about? And did you specifically write this song for the collaboration?

It’s more that we are always interested in bands who are new and who bring a new sound to the scene. This was a sound we’ve never noticed before. Not for Annisokay, but the metalcore scene was just something that we didn’t listen to much. So for us, it was kind of a new sound with a new vibe, and one of the bands that we like was Annisokay.

And we felt like, okay, let’s approach them and see if they are interested in doing a song with us. And we had already written it. Everything was finished, but they were able to do their own interpretation, but they stayed close to what we had written. It was really fun to work with them.

They are very talented guys, they are very melodic with their music and that’s something that we always like as well. Because we wanted to bring something heavy with the guitars and everything in the music, but we also wanted to bring out a lot of melodies, and that’s something that they do with metalcore.

So we wrote the music and thought it would be cool to approach a band that comes from that scene. And they were our favorites, so we called them and they were really cool and very down to earth and easy people to work with. So yeah, I was happy to meet them and work with them.

Do you enjoy working with other styles of metal and sub-genres, and do you think you’ll do more in the future?

We’ve always done that throughout the years. I think we’re a typical kind of band who likes orchestras and epic kinds of sounds. Throughout our career, we have worked with so many different people. Mina Caputo of Life of Agony, Papa Roach, and some Polish artists. It’s not always people that everybody knows. Sometimes it’s a singer-songwriter, sometimes it’s from totally different kinds of genres that people would not expect from us. But it’s just that some people you really admire or a style that you think is so beautiful that you want to integrate it into your own music. And we’ve always done that in our own way.

Do you plan on releasing any more new music this year, and when can we expect a new album?

We are planning to do maybe one more song this year if things turn out the way we want them to. And, hopefully, at the end of next year, we have a new album out, so we’re working hard trying to manage everything that we have in mind and trying to release new singles every few months. That’s a new idea that we want to try, releasing a new song every three or four months. And so far, we have managed to do that. We’ll see if we can keep it up. You also need to have the right inspiration, of course, to write new stuff.

Are there any shows that you’ll be playing during the festival season?

We’re going to Finland next week, so I’m looking forward to that stuff first, and it’s the only summer festival this year, unfortunately. We also have one in October, which is in the Netherlands, which is also a big festival. I’m looking forward to that as well. But I’m wondering if it will be able to take place because a lot of festivals in the Netherlands have been canceled because of COVID again, unfortunately.

Otherwise, it’s just the shows that we have with Evanescence on the ‘When Worlds Collide” tour, which starts in March and in April. We also have some Russian shows in February, but we have to see how this pandemic is going to go, and where it’s gonna go.

I was just about to bring up the ‘When Worlds Collide’ tour with Evanescence. Do you think that any time in the future we might see a North American tour as well?

I hope so. I think that it’s something that’s on our list, but we don’t know when we’re going to go, because we did have some things cooking, but then the whole pandemic started. We still have to catch up with all these tours that are planed. All the tours and the festivals that we have planed are going to continue and hopefully, after that will be, we will come your way.

We would love to have you guys here. We’re really excited for the upcoming single and the ‘When Wolrds Collide tour,” Which I think is going to happen because everything is opening back up. I just shot my first huge festival here. I travel all over, and there are festivals opening up all over here. So I think that we will be the world stage in seeing how things go in terms of these big festivals if they continue or get postponed due to COVID.

Yeah, I totally understand. And I would love to come to America again, it’s been a while!

We can’t wait to have you guys here, and thank you for speaking with me, Sharon, do you have anything else that you would like to add or say to the fans?

More Within Temptation

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[booksbeyondimagining]

Send Me Their Souls (Bring Me Their Hearts #3), by Sara Wolf

Publish Date:  November 3, 2020 Published by: Entangled Teen Length: 429 pages Genre: YA Fantasy My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars)

Synopsis:

There are worse things than death. 

With the rise of Varia d'Malvane comes the fall of the Mist Continent. Cavanos is overrun by the brutal rampage of the valkerax, led by its former crown princess. Vetris is gone. Helkyris is gone. As each mighty nation falls, the grip of the crown princess closes around the throat of the world. 

But Zera Y'shennria isn't out yet. 

Alongside Malachite, Fione, Yorl, and her love Lucien, Zera seeks aid from the High Witches and the Black Archives, with the valkerax horde hot on their heels. Seemingly unstoppable, Varia can track Zera through her dreams, ensuring there is nowhere to run. Thankfully, an ancient book holds the key to stopping the incursion forever. 

But at what cost comes freedom? 

At what cost comes love? 

At what cost comes the end of the world, and the beginning of a new one?

My Review:

I just want to preface this review with what I read in the acknowledgements: that this book was mostly worked on during quarantine; so while I am still going to write out my opinions, please take it all with that thought in hand as I myself am. Onto the actual review. This series blew me away. I know it took me forever to read them, but I don't care because that is going to make them stick with me longer. I loved the characters, their arcs, the plot, the magic, the world-building - everything. It is so beyond well-written - I swear every other line had me swooning with the word combinations alone. (I mark quotes that I love and I swear there was at least one every other page.) The way Sara Wolf writes is gorgeous in how she captures every day moments and feelings in ways you would not have imagined, and end up giving such depth and life to these moments that you hadn't thought of before.

Anyway, enough waxing poetic about the prose. I definitely enjoyed how this trilogy ended, but I did feel like some of the character dynamic was off. The best way I can describe it is that the main characters - Zera, Lucien, Fione and Mal - felt more like the teenagers they actually were supposed to be than how they had been acting in the previous two books. There was this weird shift in the beginning when Zera decided to stop punishing herself and be with Lucien and the others, and while I liked that shift it aslo felt a little abrupt compared to the previous books. Maybe it was because the hunger wasn't as strong, and that seems like a plausible explanation, but it just felt off for me because of how I had grown to know Zera and how I felt like I had missed something of a character growth? Lucien, too, felt off. Yes, I was beyond thrilled that he spent most of the book being happy and in love with Zera, but also, there was a war going on. His own sister had murdered his parents and destroyed over half his kingdom and was being controlled by an angry ancient tree of magic. While he definitely had many moments of self-reflection and worry and anger, I just felt like those light-hearted moments were so opposite in their emotion they almost didn't feel real. I was kind of disappointed in Varia - I never really felt like she redeemed herself. I know what she had planned wasn't exactly what she got, and had resulted in far more death and destruction that she wanted, but she still made that decision. The way she had treated Zera in the second book and how she frightened and tried to control her even in this one, and the way Zera still put her first because Lucien and Fione loved her, hurt. I was just so disappointed in how she reacted to Zera at the end despite the fact that Zera was saving her life, and even worse [SPOILER] how she spoke about her own son [END SPOILER], I just felt like I will never understand why she is so beloved. I will say that ending left me with many questions. Sometimes I like open-ended conclusions, but sometimes I need more.  [SPOILER] For one, I REALLY want to know how Zera survived. There are SO MANY questions concerning that - did she live through the explosion? If so, where was she for three years? Or did the Tree of Souls save her somehow? Did it just mess up on returning her to the right moment in time? Has she aged at all? And what the hell is up with the jewelry? How is it that the two pieces that Malachite and Lucien were able to find were the two pieces that had clasps, and the one ring that she had on was not found? And they were undamaged?? Also, just in general, I never felt like I quite understood how Zera knew from the moment that she realized she had to heal the Tree that she would not survive it. [END SPOILER] On a more positive note, I want to talk about how much I loved the extended world-building in this book. It honestly made me disappointed that the first two novels took place mostly in Vetris. With all these new cities and places the four of them visited, with all the interesting technology and characters, I wanted more. I knew towards the end of the second book when the description of Evlorasin had me thinking of Haku from Spirited Away that I was starting to get Studio Ghibli vibes, but this one - with the airships and the matronics - cemented it. All the mentions of other countries and cultues - I just want more stories from this world because it is beautiful and has so much potential. Also, a map. I want a map. Taking into consideration what I said at the beginning that this book was written during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and that may have influenced certain aspects of the characters and plotline, I still have to say that this was a wonderfully almost-satisfying conclusion to this part of Zera's story. I know that she will have more, and maybe we will get to know some of it and maybe we won't. But I know that this trilogy will stay in my heart (or unheart) for long, long while.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Robert Finley Interview: Ready for the Race

BY JORDAN MAINZER

At the risk of sounding cliché, it’s truly been a long, often hard road for blues and soul singer Robert Finley. On his new album Sharecropper’s Son (out tomorrow on Easy Eye Sound), he delves into his past. Ever since he hooked up with Dan Auerbach on 2017′s Goin Platinum!, Finley’s 60-year backstory has been more often chronicled in the mainstream, from being born and raised in Bernice, Louisiana and enlisting in the army as a teenager to suffering from a car accident, a divorce, and eventually ending his carpentry career after being deemed legally blind. And yes, he never gave up and eventually got lucky, being discovered busking by Music Maker Relief Foundation, touring, releasing an album, and eventually establishing a long-term collaborative relationship with Auerbach. Yet, until now, Finley hasn’t written about his early childhood, being raised along with his 7 siblings on a crop share in Louisiana.

Sharecropping refers to an agricultural legal arrangement where a landowner allows a tenant to use land in exchange for the share of the crops produced. It was a popular arrangement in the South from the Reconstruction to Jim Crow years following the abolishment of slavery; in reality, it was just another way for white Americans to maintain economic hegemony over Black Americans. “You get all the work, and the money never seems to come,” Finley told me over the phone in March from his home in Louisiana. “You always break even, and unless you own the farm, you really didn’t benefit. The checks from the cotton and from the corn didn’t come in your name.” In other words, Finley said, “Sharecroppers don’t get their share.”

Sharecropping was backbreaking, “out in the hot red sun,” Finley sings on the album’s title track, “where the work is never done,” Auerbach’s blistering guitar and keyboards shimmering like rays from the sun. That said, Finley never realized how rough things truly were. “We were poor and didn’t know it,” he told me, citing the fact that because they were never hungry, he actually thought they were rich. “We had cows. We had chickens. We had hogs. We had fresh milk...It was like we were really living it up!” he said. Moreover, since many of their neighbors didn’t have direct access to fresh food, Finley’s father would share their bounty, from meat to vegetables. And, as the youngest son, he spent a lot of time helping his mom in the kitchen, citing that experience as partially inspiring his love of cooking to this day.

With Sharecropper’s Son, Finley is not trying to provide a list of lamentations. “It’s not a pity party,” he said. Even more than not going hungry, Finley cites his father’s optimism and generosity as formative. “My dad, in his religious beliefs, always hoped for better things and a brighter tomorrow...at the end of the day, after picking the cotton, or pulling the corn, we had plenty to give away. I don’t know if my dad sold some of it, but I think he did way more giving than selling.” Eventually, his father “wised up” and gave up sharecropping, and to this day, Finley’s brothers and sisters, despite only his oldest and youngest sister graduating from school, live comfortably. Notably, Finley also holds where he grew up near and dear to his heart. On “Country Child”, he juxtaposes harsh memories of cotton fields with yearning for the more comforting aspects of the South, especially country girls who “give you a country smile.” He mentioned me that the sparse population of rural Louisiana meant that he had to cross rivers just to see his neighbors, but also that folks in a many mile radius knew each other well, to the point that “you could get a couple boards and put them in front of your house, and someone would ask you what you’re doing with them.”

Above it all, Finley learned from both his father’s mindset and his own ability to overcome. “That’s why I tell my story / So you could start dreaming too,” he sings on “My Story”, while the hand percussion-laden “Starting To See” details the symbolic perspective on life he gained after losing his sight. And the album ends with spiritual gospel waltz “All My Hope”. Even better, Finley offers himself up for his listeners, on tracks like “I Can Feel Your Pain”, a church organ hymn where he empathizes with folks suffering from everything from COVID-19 to police brutality. It’s why he stays positive and keeps on keeping on. As someone who walked again after an accident despite the odds and who was “discovered’ so late in life, he doesn’t let practicality tamper his ambitions. “Like a horse in the stall,” he said, “I’m ready for the race.”

Below, read my conversation with Finely, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: What made you want to sing more autobiographically this time around?

Robert Finley: I guess it was a chance to express myself and talk about these true stories. It’s not a made-up fantasy. It’s real life. It’s a chance to tell what life was like being a sharecropper. I was talking to all my siblings--4 brothers and 3 sisters, so there were 8 of us. My youngest sister doesn’t remember that much about it, but I’m the second youngest, so I wanted to get it out while all of us siblings would be able to form their opinion on it.

SILY: Would you say that the pandemic and the reckoning around the Black Lives Matter movement and subsequent increased awareness among White Americans gives these songs extra resonance?

RF: Yeah, I feel like it really opened the world’s eyes to what’s really going on. A lot of times, things happen we just don’t want to talk about, but that don’t stop ‘em from happening. In this case, it was a blessing to be writing about the right thing at the right time. 

Even me and Dan Auerbach meeting, that was heaven intervention, too. What do a 30-something year old man and a 67-year old man have in common that can reach the people? It would have to be the music. Music is not a racial thing. Music, to us, is what comes from the heart and goes to the heart. If you need a blood donor or kidney donor, you’re not gonna ask what color the person was or what race the person was who’s giving the blood and giving the kidney. The whole purpose is for you to get the kidney and stay alive. Music is pretty much the same thing. Even if people can’t speak the language, they can feel the vibes of the music. There’s always somebody that can translate what the artist is really saying, but if the music is right, and the message in the music is right, it really doesn’t matter what color the person is or where they come from. It’s all about what comes from the heart and goes to the heart. 

That’s where my songwriting comes in. To be able to reach out and touch people, because you want to give people something they can feel, that they can relate to. Not just a cool beat, not just a pretty voice, or whatever. The song needs to have a message that people can relate to. [And] as far as whether it’s soul, blues, country-western, jazz--if you’re looking for rock and roll, you can find it on the album, if you’re looking for soul, if you’re looking for country and western. It’s got a little of everything. That was the goal, and hopefully it’s being accomplished.

SILY: It seems like everybody who works with Dan has a musical connection and shared love of the same thing, even if not a widely known song or album. Do you feel that connection?

RF: Yeah. You gotta have something positive going even for Dan to reach out to you. Dan is looking for originality. People who want to stand out, not someone who’s trying to fit in. He looks for raw talent and gives them [opportunity] to express themselves. He’s open-minded and open to suggestions. He wants to know Robert Finely and produce Robert Finely and not to make me into something I’m not. 

SILY: On “Country Child”, you talk about driving by a cotton field as an older man and still feeling your back hurting. But on the same song, you talk about preferring a country girl to raise a country child. Was it important for you to talk about that complex relationship with where you came from?

RF: Yeah. Don’t get me wrong--I don’t have a thing against city ladies--nobody in the city smiles because it makes them look tough and look hard. In the country, they wave at everybody whether they know ‘em or not. It doesn’t matter because everybody’s just saying hi! In the city, people live across the hall or across the street and don’t know their neighbors. It’s a whole different lifestyle. They don’t let their guard down. I was trying to keep it as real as possible.

The country girls, they just wave and smile, and if you say something they don’t agree with, they move on. But they’ll talk for a while, and they give you the benefit of the doubt.

Sometimes, if you’re too friendly, you can become a victim. If you go in the city smiling at everybody, they automatically know you’re not from the city. It’s not what they do. Unless you’re properly introduced, the person across the hall won’t talk to you or know you. It’s all about the approach. But I have learned that a smile is universal. It doesn’t matter what country you’re in. If you smile, people will smile back. If you’re open-minded and open-hearted, there’s always somebody. People will be glad to see somebody who looks at them and smiles. It breaks barriers and opens doors, even for people trying to look hard and tough.

SILY: On a couple songs on here, you improvised the lyrics, calling it “speaking from the heart.” Do you find that the way to go when the subject matter of the song is more difficult to talk about?

RF: Yeah, I mean if you stay real with everybody, it’s not a problem. You’ve gotta be open-minded and open-hearted. Put yourself in anybody’s situation. If you do that, you can see it from their point of view. With all the stuff that’s negative in the world today, it’s good to be positive every chance you get. It needs to be something people can relate to in the real world, or that people can say, “I’ve been through that or I’ve done that.” It’s not something that’s been made up like a fairytale. It has to have meaning where people can say, “Yep, I remember those days.” 

I have 7 siblings. They all have to tell the story from their point of view. I try to leave the door open [in case] they want to tell what they remember, because they might remember something I don’t or had to experience something I didn’t. So when I was writing [the title track], I talked to them about it. In reality, I wanted it to be a true song that dealt with real life. Not made up. It needed to be something real they could identify with and their friends identify with where people could say, “I remember those days.” I also definitely didn’t want to make it seem harder than it already was. I only went back to the cotton field and put on the overalls for the video because nobody was wearing shiny shoes in the cotton field. They might have had a pair they put on on the weekend, but they definitely didn’t wear them in the field. The video could have been done anywhere, but to keep it real, I thought we needed to take it back to the country.

SILY: What did it mean for you to play with so many of the same session players as on Goin’ Platinum?

RF: It was like a family reunion. We toured together in the East Coast and West Coast. It was really an honor because everybody knew everybody. Everybody was excited to get back together because of the success of the first album. We built more or less what you could call a family relationship. Everybody knows everybody, and getting back in the studio, we got straight to work, what everybody came for. I don’t know how much time Dan spent with the musicians before I got there. When I got there, it was to lay the vocals down.

What I really noticed is that all the musicians played what they feel. They listened to the groove. And all the local musicians were in a 50-mile radius of each other. I could have them all together within a couple hours.

I was probably the youngest person in the band, besides Dan--I’m almost twice his age. When you’re with the band, it breaks out the best in you. Learning from their experience, everything they’ve done and who they’ve done it with, it makes you feel privileged to be in the company of them. They’re not on big ego trips and nobody has a big agenda. I’m easy. I don’t put no pressure on nobody--I just want the best out of everybody.

I love working with the Easy Eye Sound label because to me, I walk in, meet and greet, we break bread together, and we go to work. The work is hard, but I don’t know if you’d even call it work.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album art?

RF: The label mostly [does it] and asks me for approval. There’s not much I’d object to anyway. It’s a picture of me. I seldom walk outside even to go to the mailbox without my hat on. That’s one of my trademarks. I always wear hats or caps. I love the artwork. To be honest, I haven’t met the individual that did the artwork on it, but it very much had my approval when I saw it. Meeting everybody, sometimes it’s way down the line where I can actually meet them face to face.

[liminalweirdo]

hey, i was wondering if u had any gingersnaps fics that u enjoyed. i haven’t been able to find any that were well written (imo) besides yours, have u found any that u liked urself? i trust ur taste so i thought i might ask. thank u <3

I dooooo!

GS fanfic is like... notoriously difficult to find and I don’t know why?! I hope you find something you like in this reclist (Thanks so much for asking, btw, I LOVE RECCING FIC! Fic authors rarely get the credit they deserve imo).

So... I do find that the vibe of most(?) GS fic differs from mine which is probably a major reason why I felt the need to write what I did, but still, here are some of the ones I enjoyed.

° and in lupine ways, we’ll alleviate the pain by Xelly-chan ~ 2k ~ this is a ff.net fic (don’t judge me, i’ve been doing this for 10,000 years) and I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else. Still, this is the first one that came to mind because I just adore their writing style so much!? Told from Sam’s POV, in a shitty little inn in a shitty little town. Please heed the warnings.

° Out of Love by colorofakiss ~ 5k ~ There are several OCs in it, but I feel like they do serve to add to the story. It’s a unique piece within the fandom, significantly less dark than most. I do rec it highly because it’s so well-written and thought out, but it leans, for me, a little too far into a YA feeling, which is a genre I generally don’t care for. (I could get INTO how I feel about YA, but I won’t here. People, let me know if anyone cares. It’s NOT because it’s a genre for teenagers/girls, and is actually largely related to how it’s marketed, what gets published, character(!!!!!!) etc. I’ve worked in bookstores for nearly fifteen years before the pandemic. I have THOUGHTS.) Don’t let my YA bias tarnish this fic for you, it is good, and I’ve had it saved on my computer for years and still revisit it sometimes.

° Empty Nest by Northlight ~ drabble ~ Told from Pamela’s POV, but don’t let that turn you off this fic. Beautifully written, a tiny little sliver of a fic that delves deeply into her character and her... loneliness, I guess.

° Ginger Snapped series by Kount_Xero ~ 25k ~ A series in which my favourite part is 25s and the Royal Blues. The author is talented and is still one of the most unique writers, stylistically, that I’ve come across in any fandom. I still think about these stories, and I first read them almost ten years ago? I’m not always on-board with the characterization, but I feel like it’s always brought round to a place that’s true, if that makes sense. Like always, please heed the warnings.

° After Ginger Snaps by Kount_Xero ~ 12k ~ A little bit softer and less sad than Ginger Snapped series iirc. A fix-it (kind of) with a lovely ending. If the other one didn’t vibe for you bc of the heavier tone, this one might.

° Knotted by anenko ~ drabble ~ Sam POV again (we get so little of him in the film, and I feel like the film cut a lot of his important scenes...) some really nice lines, hints of the unhealthy G/B relationship, but not exactly overt?

Now, I definitely recall writing some Ginger/Brigitte subtext because I feel like that’s a major facet of the unhealthy nature of their relationship. I realize it’s not for everyone, but if you do want to venture into that realm where the pairing is explicit, here are some more recs:

° Fairytale Endings by anenko ~ 1k ~ Interesting, fun take on the ending of the second film -- Ghost-heavy.

Honestly, anenko’s done a lot of good stuff for this pairing, and I feel like they write the sex/desire aspect really well. Redefining Normal is also good, as is Some Girls Don’t.

° In Escape by Anonymous ~ drabble ~ Short little fic that displays the girl’s dysfunctional relationship with some pretty gorgeous lines.

° you run in my veins by clytemnestras ~ drabble ~ Lovely and sharp. Brigitte is becoming the wolf. you’re a wolf, girl, get out of this town.

Let me know if any of the links are wrong or broken and I’ll fix them. also, if YOU find a GS story you really like or one you wrote, and you think of it, please don’t hesitate to send it my way, I’d love to read it!

[cherry-valentine]

Summer 2020 Anime Season

What I’m Watching:

Deca Dence is one of the better shows this season, probably the best one that started fresh this summer. It has a very strange setup that I won’t detail very much here to avoid spoilers. It’s strange in that it’s a fairly unique twist and in that they waited until episode two to actually drop that particular bomb (whereas most anime would definitely try to cram it into episode one). The bare bones premise of episode one is that there is a huge, mobile fortress that contains some of the last remnants of humanity as they try to survive in an apocalyptic world overrun by monsters of unknown origin that range in size from tiny insects to huge kaiju. A young girl named Natsume dreams of being one of the warriors who fight the monsters, but is instead given the lowly job of armor maintenence, where she meets the older, gruff Kaburagi whom she learns was once a famed warrior. Natsume’s relationship with Kaburagi sets off the actual plot, but the story takes several turns that I honestly didn’t see coming. The series is quite violent, with literally tons of monster blood flowing and plenty of human death, but it maintains an overall upbeat, adventurous feel, with some well-done humor and genuinely touching moments. The art is colorful and bright, with some truly impressive animation. It clearly has high production values. Natsume is a fun character (even if we’ve seen characters like her many times before). She’s your typical optimistic, never-give-up, spunky sort of girl but she works really well as a hero in this kind of story and is generally entertaining to watch. Kaburagi is also a fun character that we’ve seen the likes of before (the stern former soldier type with a heart of gold). Overall a great series and very high on my watch list.

Gibiate is an oddity. It’s a series that had the potential to be top tier. I mean this show could have been not only the best of the season, but possibly the best of the year. It has gorgeous character designs by Yoshitaka Amano. The voice acting is top notch. And the premise is awesome: In 1600, a samurai and a ninja are both suddenly transported to a modern, near future Japan that has been completely ravaged by a disease that turns humans into powerful, grotesque monsters. They fall in with a small group of survivors that have gathered around a couple of scientists and a doctor who are working on a cure. Sure, it’s not 100% original, but it’s an exciting premise that results in some great samurai and ninja action. The problem is, for all the show’s great ideas, the execution is totally flubbed. For starters, the animation budget is obviously quite a lot smaller than it needed to be. What should have been thrilling battles of katana and shuriken on monster violence end up just being sort of bland. Too many cut corners. The writing also suffers, with often nonsensical dialogue and character behaviors that are so illogical that they end up being unintentionally hilarious. A good example of this is how practically everyone in the group of survivors just takes the fact that these two guys are time travelers from the past totally in stride. Hardly anyone is surprised at all or even questions it. The show tries to dismiss the stupidity of this by having one character say, “Well we have these monsters running around so why not have people traveling here from the past?” Which is still dumb because he’s a doctor who has been studying the virus and knows how it works, scientifically. But he has no questions for the guys who show up out of nowhere claiming to be from 1600? Another example would be how the samurai and ninja react to modern technology. Basically, there’s very little reaction. They don’t even react to a freaking helicopter! They should be losing their minds over this stuff! Still though, despite the show’s many shortcomings, there remains a small nugget of greatness. I can almost imagine how fantastic this show would have been with decent production values. And because I can see that potential, I’m still watching and I’m actually enjoying it very much. The characters, poorly written as they are, somehow remain interesting. The visuals, despite being sabotaged by clunky animation, are still appealing. I know it’s strange to watch and enjoy a series because of what it COULD have been, rather than what it IS, but here we are. Surprisingly high on my watch list.

Koi to Producer is an otome series with very pretty art and a supernatural plot. It’s based on a Chinese phone game that I’ve never played but sounds a lot like Mystic Messenger in how the game is played. It follows a young woman trying to produce a television show about various rumors, urban legends, etc. who gets mixed up in the world of Evolvers (humans who have developed special powers). Of course four of these Evolvers are handsome single men who are very successful and clearly attracted to her. She also ends up becoming a target of Black Swan, a shady group studying Evolvers. The show is somewhat plot-heavy, in that it tends to focus a bit more on the overarching story than on the romance. This is fine by me. The men are handsome, but two of them look a little too similar to each other, making it hard to tell them apart when they’re both in the same scene. It’s nice that the heroine is an adult and a big part of the story is about her career, but other than that she’s a bit bland and could be switched out for any other bland otome heroine and no one would notice. So far the series has hinted at an interesting back story for her so I’ll just have to hope it follows through on that. I’m enjoying the show because it’s pleasant to look at and not boring, but it’s the lowest title on my watch list.

Appare Ranman is my overall favorite of the season, which is ironic because it actually began last season. It was put on hiatus due to the pandemic and resumed this season. If you remember the old cartoon Wacky Races, this is basically the anime version of that. It focuses largely on two Japanese men who end up stuck in California after some crazy hijinks: Appare, an aloof and eccentric mechanical genius, and Kosame, a straight-laced but genuinely kind samurai who had been given the thankless job of keeping Appare in line. Broke and lost in an unfamiliar land, the two of them decide to enter a cross-country race and use the prize money to get back to Japan. Along the way they meet a whole cast of wild, crazy, and fun characters (including my favorite, the lovely, badass, and determined Jing Xialian, the only woman in the race, who had to fight against sexism and discrimination just to get the opportunity to drive in the race). The series has a very fun vibe, but has enough serious moments to keep it from being a straight up comedy (the aforementioned discrimination felt very realistic, and at least two characters are still suffering emotional trauma from losing family members to violence when they were children). One of my favorite aspects is Appare himself. He pays absolutely no mind to social norms and doesn’t care in the slightest what anyone thinks of him. This resulted in his family back in Japan being ashamed of him and everyone else viewing him as a weirdo. But Appare doesn’t mind any of that, and happily pursues his dreams. An interesting scene early on is when Jing is grappling with the fact that she’ll never be accepted as a racer because she’s a woman. She’s clearly in emotional turmoil. Kosame, who is the kinder, more compassionate of the two leads, can’t really help her. He can sympathize with her plight, but his own rigid regard for social norms prevents him from telling Jing to just go ahead and be a racer, society and their expectations be damned. It’s Appare, the guy who seemingly has very little regard for, or interest in, other people, who encourages Jing to follow her dreams. To Appare, there’s absolutely no reason why Jing can’t be a racer. The fact that society refuses to accept her means nothing. Jing has the skill to be a racer. She should be a racer. The scene did a lot to endear Appare to me. Aside from great characters (and there are so many that I can’t possibly mention them all here), the animation and design work are amazing. The characters as well as the vehicles look fantastic. The music is also great, with my favorite opening and ending themes of the season. If you want totally fun and wild romp, you can’t go wrong with this series.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons: Black Clover Ahiru no Sora Major 2nd Season 2

Best of Season: Best New Show: Appare Ranman Best Opening Theme: Appare Ranman Best Ending Theme: Appare Ranman Best New Male Character: Appare (Appare Ranman) Best New Female Character: Jing Xialian (Appare Ranman)

[medea10]

My Review of Toilet Bound Hanako-kun

How did I… *giggles inappropriately like a 7 year old* What the hell kind of anime is this? Does this anime take place on the crapper? Shit, I gotta watch this mess!

And seriously, who animated this? Was it the same guys that did Danganronpa?

Let me see…Studio Lerche…YEP! And that also explains why the main boy is played by Megumi Ogata again!

At Kamome Academy, there’s said to be seven wonders haunting the school. One of the wonders revolves around an apparition by the name of Hanako-kun. Hanako resides in the third stall of the third floor to the girl’s bathroom. It is believed that Hanako has the ability to grant any wish when summoned. We begin our tale with young girl, Nene Yashiro, seeking Hanako’s help to get a young boy to fall in love with her. But when she summons Hanako it is quickly discovered that Hanako is a boy living in a girl’s bathroom stall.

Your guess is as good as mine! Add another questionable character Megumi Ogata plays!

Due to a misunderstanding with a mermaid artifact, Yashiro is now bound to Hanako. Kind of like a slave or a hostage or a new friend. However you interpret this contract! And then there’s this monk in training (named Minamoto) who has a vendetta against Hanako. So we see this guy throughout the series as well.

Let’s have fun with the wacky misadventures of Yashiro, a gung-ho monk, and the toilet-bound spirit, Hanako-kun.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This is a FUNimation licensed anime and they managed to dub several episodes prior to the COVID pandemic. I never got a chance to watch the dub, so I’ll just focus on the sub. Megumi Ogata is back to play another mysterious boy. And as for Akari Kitou, I’m starting to hear her a lot more often in the last two years. I really enjoyed her as Yashiro. Almost reminds me of her voice in Hitoribocchi! She’s in quite a bit of animes in 2020, so I would watch out for her. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from!

JAPANESE CAST: *Hanako is played by Megumi Ogata (known for Haruka/Uranus on Sailor Moon S, Yukito on CCS, Kurama on Yu Yu Hakusho, Naegi on Danganronpa, Shinji on Evangelion, Ayato on Angel Beats, and Yugi on YGO)

*Yashiro is played by Akari Kitou (known for Aru on Hitoribocchi, Kotoko on In/Spectre, and Kaho on Blend S)

*Minamoto is played by Shouya Chiba

ENGLISH CAST: *Hanako is played by Justin Briner (known for Deku on My Hero Academia, Yukito on CCS: Clear Card, Luck on Black Clover, and Mitarai on Danganronpa 3)

*Yashiro is played by Tia Ballard (known for Happy on Fairy Tail, Yamato on My Love Story, Kagura on Fruits Basket 2019, Komari on Little Busters, Zero Two on Darling in the FranXX, and Megumi on Shiki)

*Minamoto is played by Tyson Rinehart (known for Daru on Steins;Gate, Enji on Tokyo Ghoul, Hifumi on Danganronpa, Matsuda on High School DxD, and Bartolomeo on One Piece)

SHIPPING: At the beginning of the series, it seems as though Yashiro was the type to fall in love easily with pretty-looking boys. But will always meet up with disappointment as all these boys prefer someone else or they suddenly have standards. There’s even a running joke about Yashiro having fat ankles (or daikon legs), that has been a turn-off to some of the boys that she falls for. But a few episodes later, we notice Yashiro having a little crush on Hanako. I shouldn’t question a little girl falling in love with a ghost who loiters around the girl’s bathroom because this is Japan. Absurdity at best! There’s also this sort of admiration that Minamoto has for Yashiro. I really didn’t think too much on that due to this anime laying on the Hanako x Yashiro ship thick. And also…

…

I support Minamoto x Mitsuba.

I found this cute and I really wish for more between these two characters if this series gets a continuation. Don’t at me! I don’t care if Mitsuba’s an apirition and dumbass over here has to exercise demons. This is cute!

ANIMATION: Aside from this animation looking like it came from the ghost of Danganronpa past, I would like to commend this on something else. So one thing I do have to give credit to is that this anime, more often than not feels like you’re reading a manga from the way the design is setup. I just thought that was neat and felt like saying something about that.

ENDING: Pretty much all of the strange anomalies surrounding the school are just rumors (but the ghosts are very much real, just the tales about them are fake). And the one spreading those rumors is Hanako’s twin brother (who is also a ghost), Tsukasa. I should also point out that Hanako’s real name is Amane. But we really shouldn’t worry about this sibling rivalry as we know nothing about how or why Hanako killed his brother and it’s not brought up all that much in the finale. Yeah, this is balls-to-the-wall trippy.

Instead, we get a small arc of Minamoto befriending a spirit named Mitsuba. However this goes south really fast when Mitsuba’s soul is used by one of the seven wonders of the school and is then manipulated by Hanako’s twin brother Tsukasa. After that, Mitsuba is unable to know why he died or even the time he spent with Minamoto is erased.

In the final episode, we kinda go back to aspects of the first episode. As you may recall, Yashiro swallowed a mermaid artifact that makes her turn into a fish whenever she gets wet. Yashiro is visited by two fish spirits who want her to drink this mermaid blood potion so that she can cut the hold Hanako has on her and become the mermaid princess in their realm. Yashiro was kind of in an awkward situation as she cares for Hanako, but is constantly thrown bags of reality at her with how Hanako has treated her since forming the contract. They promise her popularity, a harem of eligible fish bachelors, and an escape from her body issue with her “daikon legs”.

Hey, you’d develop a complex too if people constantly taunt you for having fat ankles!

Anyways, she denied their request. But they were rather persistent and grabbed her by force. Thankfully, Hanako wasn’t far behind and saved her and set the fish packing.

Yashiro and Hanako’s relationship as a whole takes a turn for the better as Yashiro decides to stay by Hanako and he will eventually confide in Yashiro about his past.

This was a unique series. I mean, it was all over the place in where this story was going to go. But in terms of conclusions, not so much! I mean, Hanako’s brother is still spreading rumors around the school and unsuspecting students repeat it despite it being mostly false. We’re unsure of many things about those ghost brothers and the drama that went down when Tsukasa died. Hell, I’m not even sure the manga is that far ahead either. I loved the animation to this. Sure it looks like a Danganronpa clone, but again Studio Lerche animated it. But their direction of making this feel like a colorized manga at times was something I like to commend it for.

Each episode had a nice, quirky vibe to it whenever Hanako’s on the screen. So I say give it a try. It’s not a long series.

FUNimation has all 12 episodes available for streaming. Now that FUNimation is doing simuldubs again, Hanako-kun has a few more episodes available in English.

[popwasabi]

Lockdown Lookback: Catching up on the past months’ Pop Culture

Aaaaannnd we’re back!

It’s amazing what a little pandemic can do to shake you out of your creative cobwebs but if we’re all going to die, I want to make sure all my pop cultural hot takes are up to date at least.

Many of us are already on lockdown and many major movies including “007,” “Black Widow” and ummm I guess “Mulan” are all getting pushed to the backburner as no one is leaving their God damn homes unless they’re told to!

(Didn’t realize the thing I wish I had more of in the apocalypse would be sweatpants...)

But there’s still plenty to talk about from the previous months and other hot topics I have been meaning to write about but just hadn’t found the time or energy for. Life has been hard I think for just about all of us these days thanks in no small part to this pandemic. For me personally, I’ve had two different vacations canceled because of the virus and currently working understaffed at my job which is considered essential. Not to mention my therapist is on call only at this time and both my martial arts schools have been suspended, so I can neither talk nor punch my feelings out of my system.

So, I might be just a LITTLE on edge at the moment.

(My internal monologue for most of these past few weeks, more broadly years...)

Anyways, I digress, you come here because you like to read my highly unprofessional takes on pop culture and genuinely to those who have cheered me on from the beginning thanks, you guys are my prime motivators. But anyways let’s talk about all the shit I was supposed to write about these last two and a half months.

 “Birds of Prey” was a hot, but needed, mess

Earlier last month I got to see the sort of sequel to the much-maligned “Suicide Squad” in “Birds of Prey and the…waaaay too long of a title for me write here.” I had cautious optimism for it because it looked strange and off the beaten path of most comic book movies and seemed to promise at the very least a fun time at the theater but it’s still also a DCEU movie so the floor was pretty low on its possible quality as well.

In the end, the movie is kind of bit of everything; the best and worst parts of the DCEU. 

In terms of the good, it’s definitely outside the box, a sort of fem Deadpool first person story as told frenetically by Harley herself. Margot Robbie is, of course, still quite great at this role and you can tell she’s having a blast as this character. The humor is mostly good and visually the bright colors and cinematography pops on each screen and on that front there isn’t much to complain about.

But as a DCEU movie it does suffer from some narrative imbalance partially due to it’s psycho storyteller but mostly, and more than likely, due to corporate editing that probably axed an entire dance number that I was honestly looking forward to from the trailers.

(Seriously, I actually wanted to see the full unedited version of whatever hell this ended up being.)

It’s definitely in the “could’ve been better” camp of comic book movies but you know what? I’m still glad it exists. You know why? Because comic book movies dominate our blockbuster culture right now and if the genre wants to survive, at least artistically, it needs some outside the box films like this. I HATED “Joker” but I appreciate that it opened the door for stranger, more unique takes on a genre that is getting increasingly more stale. This movie falls into that unique category too.

(Also, to all the faux-intellectuals and alt-right nerds making a culture war out of “Sonic” vs “Birds of Prey” *kindly* reevaluate your lives please...)

We’re at the point now where comic book movies should be getting weirder, not more formulaic, and that means swinging for the fences even if a couple don’t quite make it out of the ballpark. If it takes a few not so stellar takes on the genre for Hollywood to greenlight a truly fantastic one I’m all for it.

In any case “Birds of Prey” doesn’t quite end nor continue the DCEU’s recent hot streak but it is enjoyable enough to where I would be more than open to a sequel. It’s worth a watch.

 The Mandalorian and The Witcher: Two shows about violent mercenaries and fatherhood

Both these shows are old news at this point, but I did want to talk a little about both for a bit if you would have me.

First, “The Mandalorian” which was Disney+’s flagship production to begin its streaming chapter late last year is definitely a more than welcome addition to the galaxy far, far away. It’s pretty easy to feel fairly jaded about Star Wars these days given how flat the new trilogy ended but for what it’s worth “The Mandalorian” was a good mix of nostalgia bait and something new and interesting for fans to chew on. Its production value is obviously top-notch, no doubt because of all the Disney money pumped into it, it’s well-acted and thrilling and fun from start to finish. It plays heavily on the genres that influenced the series, primarily westerns and old samurai flicks, and fans of those will certainly enjoy the homages to them all.

The series was something of a coming out party for Deborah Chow who directed two of the season 1’s best episodes. Her steady hand, eye for details and tributes to Asian cinema throughout really gave the series an extra kick at times and showed how Star Wars can evolve still. Chow is set to helm the upcoming “Kenobi” series and one can only hope that she *really* leans into the samurai genre for that show.

(Hopefully, there are some “Yojimbo” vibes in there somewhere...)

The Mandalorian’s best and worst parts though are its semi episodic nature making each episode easy to digest as a one-off but also lacking some narrative tension between each. It plays kind of like a Saturday Morning cartoon to both its benefit and detriment with bite-size easy to digest plots and dialogue for the viewers but not offering a ton of depth beyond that.

The Mandalorian himself is also kind of a Gary Stu. His armor is basically impenetrable and far and away the best killer onscreen typically, making more than a few action scenes lack real stakes and tension. Baby Yoda certainly helps at times to make him more vulnerable and puts him in precarious positions plenty of times but outside a few moments (mainly episode 2 and to a lesser extend the final episode) he’s just a little too overpowered to be a more interesting character.

But this show and frankly the Star Wars series as a whole is meant for kids, no matter what the neckbeards try to tell you (violence =/= adult), and that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. Plenty of kids productions can be both great and even sophisticated and while I wouldn’t say “The Mandalorian” is either of those it’s a good and fun kids show for the fans.

(And yes I’m aware that the books, some comics, and games have touched on more adult stuff, you weirdos. But how would you describe the overall tone and presumptive audience of the movies and TV series as a whole, guys??)

As far as “The Witcher” goes it also has a bit of an episodic style to it as well with an overarching, albeit, convoluted story that runs parallel to it. The first 3-4ish episodes can be classified as a quasi “Game of Thrones” clone leaning perhaps a little too heavily into the tropes of that series. Once the series finally starts leaning into its real identity, a dry-witted hack and slash fantasy, the series is much more consistent both tonally and narratively.

Henry Cavil is solid as Geralt of Rivia and the supporting cast of Joey Batey as Jaskier, Freya Allen as Ciri and even more so Anya Chalotra as Yennefer are all great in their respective roles delivering some great moments throughout the season.

(And lest you forget this earworm...)

“The Witcher’s” early season struggles keep it from being as tonally or narratively consistent as “The Mandalorian” but where the monster slayer beats the bounty hunter is that it has overall more compelling drama and has more to say, leaning much more heavily into the thematic greys of the plot. There are tons of problems with “The Witcher” on a story-telling level but you can definitely say it cares more about adding some depth in between the more pulpy aspects of the story which is something you can’t say as much for in “The Mandalorian.”

Of course, I’m partially overselling “The Witcher” a bit here, it’s not anywhere near “Game of Thrones” best (yet at least), and on the flipside one could argue that “The Mandalorian’s” more subtle sense of story-telling does its themes better. But when it comes down to these two shows you get somewhat similar story-telling ideas, mostly involving both characters and their smaller counterparts, in two very different genres with equally diverging conclusions to their respective seasons. 

(🎵 Toss an “Oof” to your Witcher...🎵)

All in all, they’re both good and worth a watch and I think they deserve a chance to evolve and hopefully showcase more of what they have to offer moving forward.

“Parasite” wins Best Picture! Many people have some hot takes, including the president...

Last month one of my favorite films of 2019 “Parasite” won Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s a movie that is becoming increasingly relevant as elites and celebrities alike are getting front of the line testing despite being asymptomatic in the middle of pandemic and think they can assuage our concerns and dread by poorly singing “Imagine” together within the comfort of their McMansions.

It’s about as a good time as any to revisit this movie, I mean where else are you going to go during this timeline, and at a later date I’ll write something more extensive about it eventually (hopefully) but first here’s a helpful video on one particular thing that came out after director Bong Joon Ho took home the night’s top honors:

 “Cats” is still a fever dream of madness

Back in late December, I watched “Cats” for science, as I had AMC A-List and a friend crazy enough to join me. I figured it would be bonkers and unlike anything I had seen before in the worst way but even then, I don’t think I was truly prepared for what I ended up seeing that fateful night.

I remember quite vividly going to the bar inside the theater and ordering a stiff drink beforehand to numb the pain and the bartender asking “So what are y’all watching tonight?” and beginning to laugh manically like an insane asylum patient at the innocuousness of the question. Walking into the theater was like that feeling you get before getting on a particularly scary-looking rollercoaster at Six Flags but instead of the pre-ride jitters eventually subsiding to the eventual fun and joy of the ride, only a deep sense of existential dread built up and sustained itself through what felt like six hours of the most baffling thing put to screen in front of my eyes ever.

(The music that played in my head as I exited the theater...)

Have any of you watched the Stanley Kubrick movie “Eyes Wide Shut” before? You know the scene when Tom Cruise is walking around in his mask observing the strange occult sex orgy going on around him at the mansion? That’s kind of what “Cats” felt like except way more terrifying, somehow MORE sexual, and definitely crazier.

(Is...this some type of...intepretative dance to summon an eldritch horror??)

There’s a voyeuristic terror that comes from sitting in that theater room as you watch bipedal humanoid looking felines dance to confusing songs about “Jelicle” cats (whatever the fuck that means) and all other manner of things that should NOT take human form throughout it’s near-endless runtime. A lot was made about Rebel Wilson and the disgusting roach people she consumes but NO ONE warned me about the frankly HORRIFYING mice children in the same scene!

(I am not perusing the internet to find that image again for y’all. I have enough nightmares each night...)

The saddest thing about the whole movie is everyone, save for Ian Mckellen who seemed to be acting as if a gun was pointing at him offscreen and Judi Dench who looked 100 percent like a geriatric in her digi fur, was giving the movie their fullest effort in what can only be described as a Titanic-sized level of hubris by all parties involved. This movie really needed a “Chaostician” involved in evaluating the production for studio heads and shareholders because there were definitely NOT enough people on this project wondering whether or not this film SHOULD exist...

(Dr. Ian Malcolm coming to Universal Pictures to access the film.)

What has “Cats” wrought upon this world? The universe has been clearly out of balance since this movie came out and while I’m not saying it’s director Tom Hooper’s fault, I’m not saying it isn’t either.

“Cats” is one of those things, much like The Matrix that cannot be simply described but must be seen to believe. It’s one of the worst things I have ever seen onscreen but with the right group of people and a few stiff drinks it’s certainly an experience you won’t forget. Consider it for your next Google Hangout during this apocalypse.

  Anyways, that about wraps up my thoughts on the last few months. Going to try to be more consistent going forward especially given how much more time I have now to write, for better and worse. But more importantly, just want to say stay safe y’all. It’s going to be a process to get through this and while things are more likely to get worse before they get better there will be a day when this all ends and some normalcy may yet return to our life but in order for us to get there we need to remain vigilant. 

So stay at home, wash your hands, and if you want to watch movies just order it online for now and we’ll just wait until aaaallll this blows over…hopefully.

Don’t panic...